Colo. Justices Spell Out Burden Of Proof For Gov't Immunity

By Zach Dupont

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday articulated for the first time the burden of proof required in tort cases against public entities, ruling that a woman's slip-and-fall claims failed to eclipse Jefferson County's immunity under a state law.

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Sam's Club Sued Over Botulism Death Linked To Potato Soup

By Ryan Harroff

Sam's Club West Inc. sold a 76-year-old woman some potato soup that was "tainted by botulism" and caused her to be hospitalized for almost a month before she ultimately died from her illness, according to a wrongful death suit the grocer removed to Colorado federal court.

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Brief

Investment Firm Lead Admits To Insider Trading Biotech Stock

By Ryan Harroff

The former head of equity trading at Denver-based capital markets firm Irving Investors LLC admitted to receiving insider information on multiple companies and using that nonpublic knowledge to guide trading decisions to make an unlawful $220,912 profit, Connecticut U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan announced.

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15 States, DC Sue ATF Over Machine Gun Trigger Turnaround

By Ryan Harroff

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia sued the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi on Monday, alleging the Trump administration "suddenly reversed course" on regulations of machine gun conversion devices called forced reset triggers, switching from banning the triggers to returning them to their owners.

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Okla. Says High Court Shouldn't Skip 10th Circ. PBM Ruling

By Patrick Hoff

Oklahoma told the U.S. Supreme Court the federal government wrongly suggested that the justices bypass the state's challenge to a Tenth Circuit decision nullifying parts of a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing Monday that the solicitor general doesn't recognize the magnitude of the issue.

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Husch Blackwell Hires 5 Quarles & Brady Life Sciences Pros

By Andrea Keckley

Amid its efforts to grow in the life sciences space, Husch Blackwell LLP announced Monday that it has brought on three lawyers and two non-attorney professionals from Quarles & Brady LLP.

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Justices Widen Gap Between Federal, Calif. Enviro Reviews

While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, narrowed the scope of National Environmental Policy Act reviews, it may have broadened the gulf between reviews conducted under NEPA and those under the California Environmental Quality Act, say attorneys at Hanson Bridgett.

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In 2nd Place, Va. 'Rocket Docket' Remains Old Reliable

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was again one of the fastest civil trial courts in the nation last year, and an interview with the court’s newest judge provides insights into why it continues to soar, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

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WilmerHale Seeks Full Fed Compliance On Struck-Down Order

By Ali Sullivan

WilmerHale is asking a D.C. federal judge to make clear that a ruling invalidating an executive order against the firm applies to all federal agencies subject to President Donald Trump's directives.

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Judge Denies Obstructing ICE As Disciplinary Hearing Begins

By Julie Manganis

An attorney for a Massachusetts state judge, who was accused of plotting to let a man wanted by immigration agents escape out of a back door of a courthouse in 2018, said at the start of a disciplinary inquiry Monday that the judge did not know about the plan, pointing the finger at the wanted man's lawyer.

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Legal Industry Boosts Cuomo's Bid For NYC Mayor With $1.6M

By Anna Sanders

The legal industry has spent at least $1.57 million to support Andrew Cuomo’s candidacy for New York City mayor, with attorneys shelling out thousands to his campaign and an independent committee bolstering his bid.

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Simpson Thacher Mourns Chair, Pioneering Dealmaker Beattie

By Anna Sanders

Richard "Dick" Beattie, the senior chairman of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP whose pioneering deal work helped cement private equity's place in mergers and acquisitions, died on Friday at 86, the firm announced.

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Pro Bono Civil Counsel Not A Guarantee, 7th Circ. Rules

By Emily Sawicki

In a precedential ruling, the Seventh Circuit has found that a federal court in Peoria, Illinois, did not err when it ended the search for a pro bono attorney to represent a prisoner in a civil rights suit over medical care provided behind bars because it could not find willing counsel.

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Senate Confirms Brett Shumate To Head DOJ Civil Division

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 51-41 along party lines on Monday evening to confirm Brett Shumate to be assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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2nd Circ. Affirms Dechert's Victory Over Hacking Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

The Second Circuit on Monday refused to revive a North Carolina trade executive's lawsuit alleging hacking by a private investigator on Dechert LLP's behalf, ruling in a nonprecedential opinion that a district judge's failure to review disputed portions of a magistrate judge's recommendation to dismiss the suit was ultimately harmless.

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Boies Schiller Faces DQ Bid In Law Firms' Battle In Florida

By Madison Arnold

Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and its attorney Sashi C. Bach are facing a disqualification bid in a Florida state court case between pharmaceutical mass tort firms and their former counsel, with the suing firms arguing that Boies Schiller cannot represent its co-defendants because of a conflict.

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Vice Chancellor Wants Clarity On Del. Corporate Law Change

By Jeff Montgomery

Citing "an important and urgent" need, a Delaware vice chancellor has asked the state supreme court to rule on the constitutionality of recent corporate law amendments providing conflicted directors or controlling investors expanded "safe harbor" liability shields for contested actions.

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Speaker Johnson Defends AI Moratorium In Reconciliation Bill

By Courtney Bublé

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave a full-throated defense on Monday of the AI moratorium included in the House's version of the budget reconciliation bill, which has drawn bipartisan criticism.

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Fla. Bar Rejects Ethics Probe Of Bondi While She's In Office

By Rose Krebs

The Florida Bar has told a group of lawyers, law professors and former judges that it will not open an ethics investigation into Pam Bondi's actions as attorney general, saying in a letter that it doesn't "investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office."

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Justices Urged To Keep Pause On 'Breakneck' Gov't Overhaul

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court should leave in place a California federal judge's order barring implementation of layoffs and reorganizations at various federal departments and agencies, several unions and nonprofits argued Monday, claiming a decision allowing the changes would irreversibly harm the federal government and render Congress and the judiciary powerless.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Hagens Berman's Steve W. Berman

By Ryan Boysen

Steve Berman turned 70 recently, and his long career as one of the nation's foremost plaintiffs attorneys is now littered with society-changing milestones and multibillion-dollar courtroom victories. Even so, he hasn't slowed down a wink.

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