Class Action

March 21, 2023
$285M Fee In $1B Dell Settlement Faces Close Chancery Look

An unprecedented $285 million attorney fee application for a $1 billion settlement of a stockholder suit challenging a $24 billion Dell Technologies stock swap in late 2018 appears headed for Delaware Chancery Court scrutiny, court filings show.
March 21, 2023
Yale Wants 2nd Circ. To Nix Jury Trial In ERISA Case

Yale University wants the Second Circuit to review a lower court's decision to send a class action accusing the school of saddling its $5.5 billion retirement plan with excessive fees to a jury trial, saying courts are split on whether a jury trial is appropriate.
March 21, 2023
$626M Flint Deal Gets Final OK From Michigan State Judge

A Michigan state judge has signed off on the historic $626 million settlement between Flint residents and government officials, marking the latest step in resolving sprawling litigation over lead contamination in the city's drinking water.
March 21, 2023
DOL Leads Chorus Asking Full 9th Circ. To Tackle UBH Case

The U.S. Department of Labor urged the full Ninth Circuit to rehear an appeal in a federal benefits lawsuit against United Behavioral Health, joining a coalition of medical associations, health advocates and attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia in calling for rehearing en banc.
March 21, 2023
Wells Fargo To Settle Ponzi Suit Claims For $26.6M

Wells Fargo Bank NA has agreed to pay out $26.6 million to end a lawsuit alleging it failed to prevent a $200 million fraud that is the crux of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit, with a Florida federal judge moving the settlement one step closer to final approval on Tuesday.
March 21, 2023
Freezer Co. Says Supplier Must Chip In On $15M Embryo Loss

Freezer maker Chart Inc. took one of its suppliers to Ohio federal court Tuesday, claiming it needs to reimburse part of a $15 million verdict after one of Chart's cryopreservation tanks imploded in 2018 and destroyed or damaged human eggs and embryos stored within it.
March 21, 2023
Justices Split Over Request For Automatic Arbitration Stays

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared closely divided Tuesday in a case involving cryptocurrency platform Coinbase Inc. over whether judges can proceed with discovery while a defendant appeals a denied arbitration order, given that Congress didn't explicitly provide such automatic stays in the text of the Federal Arbitration Act.
March 21, 2023
Norfolk Southern Derailment, Spill, Fire Draw Another Suit

Norfolk Southern was hit with a putative class action Tuesday filed by Ohio residents who were evacuated and face health concerns after a train derailed and caused a chemical spill last month, the latest in a series of suits targeting the railway company.
March 21, 2023
Hyundai And Kia Eye $326M Deal To End Brake Defect Suits

Drivers have asked a California federal judge to sign off on a $326 million deal, including full reimbursements for repairs and extended warranties to end consolidated class claims Hyundai and Kia sold vehicles with faulty anti-lock brake modules that could spark fires.
March 21, 2023
Tupperware Hid Accounting Errors, Investor Says In Fla. Suit

Tupperware Brands Corp., its CEO and chief financial officers were hit with a proposed class action in Florida federal court brought by an investor alleging that they issued misleading financial reports, resulting in a significant decrease in stock price earlier this month.
March 21, 2023
GW Pharma Investors Ink $7.75M Deal In Suit Over Jazz Sale

GW Pharmaceuticals investors urged a California federal judge on Monday to grant preliminary approval to a $7.75 million settlement that ends their claims the British company misled shareholders to push through its $7.2 billion sale to Ireland-based Jazz Pharmaceuticals, calling it an "excellent" result.
March 21, 2023
ADA Suits Against CorePower Yoga, SoulCycle Both Ended

A legally blind plaintiff has dropped a proposed class action against CorePower Yoga that alleged the company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not providing proper features that would enable visually impaired individuals to use its website, a little over a month after settling a similar suit against SoulCycle.
March 21, 2023
Judge Tosses FCA Side Airbag Defect Claims

A Michigan federal judge has tossed a proposed class action that claimed Fiat Chrysler sold vehicles with defective side window airbags that do not deploy during certain kinds of rollover crashes, calling the suit "lacking" in actual injury since the airbags work "exactly as programmed."
March 21, 2023
DiCello Levitt Opens In Calif. With 5 Attys From Robbins Geller

DiCello Levitt said Tuesday it will expand to California with a newly launched securities litigation practice that will include a group of five securities class action and corporate governance attorneys from Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP.
March 21, 2023
Glancy Prongay Drops Out Of Blood Drug Lead Counsel Race

Glancy Prongay & Murray withdrew its bid to serve as lead counsel in a proposed class action brought against an Israeli biotech company accused of misleading its investors, stating that after further review it does not think its client is the "most adequate plaintiff."
March 21, 2023
Nevada Inks $55M Deal After Losing FLSA Immunity Challenge

The state of Nevada will pay a group of correctional officers $55 million to end litigation over uncompensated off-the-clock work after a federal judge lent her final stamp of approval to the deal, ending a long-running suit that began nearly a decade ago.
March 20, 2023
Influencer To FTX Investors' Atty: 'You Made A Big Mistake'

Counsel for a proposed class of investors in collapsed cryptocurrency platform FTX told a Florida federal judge on Monday that one of the suit's named defendants has been threatening and harassing one of the plaintiffs' attorneys through vulgar calls, emails, tweets and other social media posts, allegedly saying things like, "Expect a counter suit bitch."
March 20, 2023
Caramel Co. Dunks Consumer Suit Over 'Real Milk' Claims

An Illinois federal judge dismissed a putative class action on Monday accusing the Ferrara Candy Co. of deceptively claiming the fat content in its Brach's branded caramels comes from milk when it actually comes from vegetable oil, ruling that the suit failed to allege any misrepresentations on the product's packaging.
March 20, 2023
AME Church, Plan Managers Can't Escape Retirement Suit

A Tennessee federal judge dismissed claims under federal benefits law from multidistrict litigation brought by African Methodist Episcopal Church pastors and employees who allege more than $90 million was stolen from their retirement plan, but preserved many state law allegations in the sprawling class action.
March 20, 2023
Providence Patients Get Chance To Keep Suit In State Court

A Washington federal judge said he can't decide the proper venue for a suit accusing a hospital and two of its doctors of performing unnecessary spinal surgeries until he has more information about the citizenship of the proposed classes.
March 20, 2023
Bumbu Isn't Rum Due To Flavors And Low Liquor, Suit Says

Bumbu Rum Co. was hit with a proposed class action Saturday in New York federal court by a customer who alleged the company's rum product doesn't qualify as rum due to added flavoring and an alcohol content below the 40-percent-by-volume minimum for rum.
March 20, 2023
Colorado Biopharma Co. Settles Stock Split, Share Award Suit

Biopharmaceutical venture Aytu BioPharma Inc. and its shareholders have tentatively settled two Delaware Chancery Court suits accusing the company's CEO and four directors of wrongly awarding themselves more than $10 million in shares while ignoring limits on incentive payouts.
March 20, 2023
YouTube Says Composer Seeks To 'Gut' DMCA In Piracy Suit

YouTube and its parent company Google LLC are urging a California federal judge to reject a Grammy-winning composer's "dystopian vision" of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in her bid to secure an early win in a proposed class action over mass copyright infringement.
March 20, 2023
Man Accuses Adidas Of Selling Fake NHL Jerseys To Fans

A hockey fan has filed a proposed class action in an Illinois federal court alleging that sports apparel manufacturer Adidas America Inc. is duping its customers by selling fake jerseys under its brand instead of the authentic pieces it leads people to believe they are buying.
March 20, 2023
Michigan High Court To Hear Gym's COVID Shutdown Suit

The Michigan Supreme Court will consider a gym's claim that it deserves compensation for the approximately six months it was forced to close under the state's COVID-19 public health orders, in alleged violation of the Fifth Amendment.

Expert Analysis

How Arbitration May Need To Adapt To Blockchain Disputes

As rapid technological developments such as blockchain, cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens and smart contracts increasingly lead to legal disputes — as evidenced by the recent Voyager Digital and FTX bankruptcies — arbitration may need to adopt new resolution techniques that fit the novel landscape, says Peter Kamminga at JAMS.
Legal Standing For Nature: The Road Not Taken

Fifty years have passed since former U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas asked whether natural objects like trees and rivers should have standing — and while the high court has since narrowed access to the courtroom for potential environmental plaintiffs, Douglas' vision is worth revisiting, says Ninth Circuit Judge Margaret McKeown.
5 Major Drug And Device Developments Of 2022

Some of the most interesting and consequential developments affecting drug and device law in 2022 involved artificial intelligence, legal and ethical questions surrounding ownership of one's own body, and the nuances of specific personal jurisdiction, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
The Securities Litigation Issues That Matter Most For 2023

The role of class certification, cryptocurrency, greenwashing, and environmental, social and governance issues in last year's securities litigation docket, coupled with anticipated rulings in several high-profile cases, shows that 2023 promises to be a significant year for securities litigation, say attorneys at Willkie.
6 Ways To Avoid Compounding Errors When Practicing Law

For lawyers and law firms, inevitable human error can lead to claims of malpractice or ethical violations, but the key is to avoid exacerbating mistakes by adding communication failures, conflicts of interest or insurance coverage losses, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.
9th Circ. Trend Affects Tech Terms Of Service Enforceability

New cases in the Ninth Circuit threaten the enforceability of online terms of service for many major tech companies, calling into question precedent that considered customers’ continued use after an email update as acceptance of new terms, say Jonathan Blavin and Roman Leal at Munger Tolles.
What Will Keep Legal Talent Professionals Up At Night In 2023

Hybrid work environments, high demand for lateral hires and a potential slowdown of the economy defined 2022 in the always-busy marketplace for legal talent, and as BigLaw looks at the year ahead, there are five major sources of concern for the teams charged with securing and retaining that talent, say advisers at Baretz+Brunelle.
The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2022

A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from the "great resignation" to potential expansion of attorney-client privilege.
What 3 Legal Industry Trends From 2022 Mean For Next Year

Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey & Africa looks back on the year in legal recruiting, including practice areas that saw the most movement, which regions seemed most ripe for new office openings and who was promoted to partner, and makes some look-ahead predictions for 2023.
Next Compliance Steps For Health Cos. Using Tracking Tech

In light of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights' expansive view of what constitutes protected health information, regulated entities seeking to provide websites and mobile apps for patients may need to choose between several imperfect compliance pathways if they wish to continue using tracking technologies, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
Learning From This Year's Legal Industry Discrimination Suits

To limit the risk of lawsuits and make the workplace a more welcoming environment for female attorneys, it is important to reflect on lawyers' recent discrimination and sexual harassment claims against law firms and public employers, says Hope Comisky at Griesing Law.
Series

The Future Of Legal Ops: AI Has Important Role To Play

Though the debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT has prompted some fears about negative impact on lawyers, artificial intelligence technology can be a powerful tool for legal operations professionals if used effectively to augment their work, say Justin Ben-Asher and Gwendolyn Renigar at Steptoe, and Elizabeth Matthews at TotalEnergies.
4 Proactive Strategies For 'Rocket Docket' Discovery In SDNY

With more than half of Southern District of New York judges now allowing four or fewer months for fact discovery, civil litigators in this aspiring "rocket docket" jurisdiction should prioritize case management methods that make the most of this compressed timeline, say Jaclyn Grodin and Nicholas Cutaia at Goulston & Storrs.
2022 Data Privacy Suits Tested New Liability Theories

In the absence of a comprehensive federal data privacy law, plaintiffs lawyers are testing new theories of liability under state laws, and a look at recent lawsuits against online companies that have resulted in large settlements shows these attempts are more frequently being met with success, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.
Opinion

Medical Malpractice Settlements Shouldn't Require NDAs

Hospitals and insurance companies can go to great lengths to avoid accountability — as depicted in the recent Netflix film "The Good Nurse" — and nondisclosure agreements used to settle medical malpractice cases out of court leave patients without crucial information when seeking treatment, says Andrew Barovick at Sandra Radna.