6th Circ. Eyes Reviving Kellogg, FedEx Mortality Table Suits

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Sixth Circuit on Thursday appeared open to reviving suits against Kellogg and FedEx from married pensioners who alleged their employers' outdated actuarial assumptions shortchanged their joint-and-survivor benefits, with multiple judges seeming to doubt a lower court's assertion that employers had unfettered latitude when choosing what data to use.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

6th Circ. Says BlueCross Can't Nix NH Fertility Benefit Probe

By Grace Elletson

The Sixth Circuit said Thursday that it was fair game for New Hampshire to challenge BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee's decision to deny a worker's claims for fertility treatment on the basis that it violated state law, ruling the insurance company can't shield itself from enforcement under federal benefits law.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Brookfield Leader Says He Was Fired For Whistleblowing

By Hailey Konnath

A former managing partner at Brookfield Asset Management lobbed wrongful termination and defamation claims at his former employer Thursday, claiming that he was fired for refusing to accept a bribe and for filing a whistleblower complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Says SC Firm Owes Triple Damages For Not Paying Her

By Emmy Freedman

A South Carolina law firm failed to pay an attorney her earned wages during several pay periods until she got her own lawyers involved, she told a federal court, saying the firm should be put on the hook for triple damages and attorney fees.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Oppenheimer Slips Suits Over Fraudster's $110M Ponzi Scheme

By Chart Riggall

A cohort of investors who said they were victims of a $110 million Ponzi scheme run by a former Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. adviser can't hold the investment firm liable for their losses, the Georgia Court of Appeals has said, ruling their losses were "at best, an indirect result" of the firm's alleged efforts to cover up the scheme.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook

The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

McDermott, Schulte Roth Unveil Plans To Join For $2.8B Firm

By Marialuisa Taddia

McDermott Will & Emery LLP said Friday that it was wrapping up a deal to join forces with Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP to create a law firm with more than $2.8 billion in global revenue, the latest merger in an increasingly competitive legal landscape.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

More BigLaw Partners Back Jenner & Block In EO Suit

By Emily Sawicki

The number of BigLaw partners publicly backing litigation against the federal government over executive orders targeting firms continues to grow, as a group representing more than 800 partners and members of major U.S. law firms has filed an amicus brief in support of Jenner & Block.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Judge Blocks Trump's Gov't Reorganization, Job Cuts

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked federal agencies and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from carrying out President Donald Trump's directive to reduce the government workforce, saying the president doesn't have the constitutional or statutory authority "to reorganize the executive branch."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

CFPB's Vought Set To Ditch Dozens Of Guidance Docs

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's acting Director Russell Vought is withdrawing dozens of the agency's interpretive rules, policy statements and other guidance documents dating back to 2011, according to a Federal Register draft notice filed Friday.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Why Rule Of Law Actions Can Help Ease Anxieties

By Aebra Coe

As anxieties soar across the profession amid attacks on law firms and the rule of law, taking action can be a strong antidote to ease stress and foster a sense of meaning and well-being, according to panelists who spoke Thursday during an Institute for Well-Being in Law event.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

From Fox News To DOJ: This Is The Next Interim DC US Atty

By Courtney Bublé

Former Fox News host and judge Jeanine Pirro will soon take the helm of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia after more than a decade at the network where she was a figure in high-profile defamation cases.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Bar Seeks Provisional Licenses And More For Exam Snafu

By Emily Sawicki

California Bar trustees voted on Friday to ask the state Supreme Court to grant provisional licenses to the hundreds of applicants who did not pass the tumultuous February bar exam, which was rife with technical, proctoring and procedural issues.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Immigrants Find Workers' Rights Behind Bars

By Daniela Porat

Immigration detainees are bringing about a sea change in workers’ rights behind bars, chipping away at the assumption that people in civil detention or in prison fall outside the reach of minimum wage laws and protections against forced labor.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Working While Caged: The Fight To End Forced Prison Labor

By Marco Poggio

Inmates battling wildfires are just the tip of the iceberg in a largely invisible workforce of more than 800,000 people who work for meager pay while incarcerated. Civil rights lawyers, advocates and some elected officials are pushing to change the legal framework that enables prison labor practices, which many trace back to American slavery and the 13th Amendment.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Nonprofits Urge More Money For Judge Security Amid Threats

By Ryan Boysen

Good government groups on Friday urged lawmakers to increase judicial security funding amid a wave of violent threats against judges, and to reject proposals that "undercut the judiciary's independence" like stripping judges of contempt powers and the ability to issue national injunctions.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tufts Student Wins Bail As Judge Cites Free-Speech Concerns

By Julie Manganis

A Vermont federal judge on Friday ordered the immediate release of a Tufts University doctoral student taken into custody outside her home in March by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying Rümeysa Öztürk had raised "very substantial claims of due process and First Amendment violations" by the government.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sandy Hook Families Want Alex Jones To Pay Up Amid Appeal

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut appeals court should not extend a stay on the enforcement of a $1.3 billion judgment against bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones while he brings his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims said in opposition to his pending motion, arguing that his newly raised constitutional claims are late and meritless.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen a subsidiary of State Street Corp. sue British sports betting giant Entain, Manolete Partners and HSBC tackle action just weeks after signing a £17 million revolving credit facility agreement, and a commercial fraud claim launched by EFG Bank against Mirabaud & CIE.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Stories in corporate legal news in the past week include a Fifth Circuit order affirming in part and reversing in part a Texas federal court's decision in a wrongful termination suit against Southwest Airlines, in which in-house attorneys were ordered to undergo "religious liberty training."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Winston & Strawn LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Jones Day lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after an Illinois federal judge held in a bellwether case in multidistrict litigation that Abbott Laboratories isn't liable for the death of a baby who consumed Similac baby formula.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »