Amazon Can't Shake Return Policy Suit, Wash. Judge Rules

By Greg Lamm

A Washington federal judge refused Tuesday to dismiss claims accusing Amazon of unlawfully recharging consumers under its "advanced refund" return policy, ruling that the e-commerce giant could face tort and quasi-contract liability alongside breach of contract allegations.

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No 'Hobson's Choice' For Foley & Lardner, Ex-Clients Say

By Catherine Marfin

Two former Foley & Lardner LLP clients are slamming the law firm for telling a Texas appellate court it was faced with a "Hobson's choice" in their suit alleging the firm failed to disclose conflicts of interest.

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BNSF Says Tribe's $400M Trespass Win Unjustly Taps Profits

By Greg Lamm

BNSF Railway Co. has urged the Ninth Circuit to derail the nearly $400 million a trial judge ruled it owes for years of illegally running oil cars across a Washington tribe's land, saying the disgorgement judgment goes after legitimate profits far removed from where the trespassing occurred.

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4th Circ. Rules Honeywell Royalty Fight Belongs In Fed. Circ.

By Adam Lidgett

The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday found that a fight over royalty payments between technology conglomerate Honeywell and its Japan-based rival should be kicked to the Federal Circuit, which has jurisdiction over all patent-related lawsuits.

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Highmark Must Face Bulk Of Data Breach Lawsuit

By Ganesh Setty

A group of individuals who said their personal information was compromised in a phishing attack against health insurer Highmark can largely proceed with their proposed class action against the company, a Pennsylvania federal court ruled, finding the plaintiffs sufficiently alleged they'll suffer imminent and concrete injuries, thereby establishing standing.

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Deal Terms An Issue In $60M Mortgage Loan Sale Con Case

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge suggested on Tuesday that she might hold off on interpreting the terms of a multimillion-dollar mortgage loan sale agreement at issue in a racketeering suit, since a contractual dispute involving the same deal is slated for a bench trial before her in October.

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5th Circ. Backs $1.6M Pipeline Project Arbitration Award

By Rae Ann Varona

The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday unanimously affirmed a more than $1.6 million arbitration award covering stand-by costs an underground drilling company incurred on a subcontract for a pipeline construction firm, saying in a published opinion that the construction company failed to show that an arbitration panel exceeded its authority.

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Insurers Say 9th Circ. Extended Tribal Jurisdiction Too Far

By Hope Patti

A group of insurers again urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision ordering them to litigate COVID-19 coverage claims in Suquamish Tribal Court, saying Tuesday that the lower court's conception of tribal sovereignty is so broad that even the tribe is unwilling to defend it.

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Sports Illustrated Owner Ends TM Row With Former Publisher

By Gina Kim

Sports Illustrated's owner has agreed to permanently end its trademark dispute against its former publisher over claims that the publisher tore apart a long-standing licensing agreement while sabotaging the brand and holding hostage valuable intellectual property, according to a stipulation filed Tuesday in New York federal court. 

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Boston Seafood Co. Says Salmon Exec Stole Trade Secrets

By Brian Dowling

A former C-suite executive and head of salmon accounts at a Boston-area seafood distributor spent months emailing sensitive trade secrets from his work account to a Norwegian competitor before joining it to launch a rival business in the U.S., according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday. 

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5th Circ. Hints Exclusivity Could End Tata's $168M Woe

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel asked whether Tata Consultancy Services had taken trade secrets to solely build a product for a specific customer, questioning Tuesday whether to keep intact a $168 million judgment finding Tata stole an IT company's technology concerning source code and life insurance software documentation.

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'Alvin And The Chipmunks' Owner Says Arbitrator Overstepped

By Caroline Simson

The owner of the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" franchise is urging a California federal court to vacate a $2.2 million arbitral award favoring its international distributor based on the arbitrator's alleged "egregious errors," including inflating the damages owed over a rejected Nickelodeon deal.

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Brief

NCAA Says NY Case's Demise Dooms NC State '83 Team's Suit

By Ryan Harroff

The NCAA told North Carolina's business court that a New York federal judge's decision to throw out a proposed antitrust class action against it brought by former men's basketball players should also doom a similar suit brought by the 1983 North Carolina State University men's basketball national championship team.

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X Can't Escape Unjust Firing Claim In Severance Suit

By Irene Spezzamonte

Three former Twitter executives can proceed with their claim that Elon Musk and the company owe them millions in severance benefits after falsely claiming they were fired justly, a California federal judge ruled, pointing to another suit mirroring nearly identical allegations.

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3rd Circ. Denies Post-Gazette Bid To Tweak Benefits Order

By Matthew Santoni

The publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette can't get the Third Circuit to clarify or tweak an order to put its newsroom employees back on their old health insurance plan, despite concerns from the newspaper company that it may not have been eligible to reenroll them in the plan and would rather go back to bargaining instead.

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Kroger-Owned Chain Fights To Keep UFCW Suit Alive

By Emily Brill

The Kroger-owned grocery chain King Soopers urged a Colorado federal judge Tuesday to preserve its lawsuit against a United Food and Commercial Workers local, saying the company can prove that the union is placing unlawful pressure on it to bargain with multiple locals at once.

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Duke Energy Rival Tells Justices Not To Review Monopoly Suit

By Ali Sullivan

Independent power producer NTE Energy is urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to review a decision that revived its monopoly suit against Duke Energy, saying the North Carolina-based company is asking the justices to issue an advisory opinion answering a hypothetical question.

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Firm In Salmon Antitrust Case Owes Referral Fee, Suit Says

By Brian Dowling

A Boston law firm says another firm that served as co-lead counsel in a salmon purchaser antitrust case is refusing to honor a referral fee agreement for 15% of the attorney costs in the Florida litigation, according to a federal complaint filed Monday in Massachusetts.

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Dominican Republic Not Immune In Postal Suit, 11th Circ. Told

By David Minsky

A Florida company suing the Dominican Republic over allegations it failed to pay $10 million after breaching a contract to modernize its postal service told an Eleventh Circuit panel Tuesday the country isn't exempt from legal action, arguing the country can be held liable under exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

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OKCoin Says Crypto Holders Can't Tie Firm To $2M Theft

By Sydney Price

Digital asset exchange OKCoin and its affiliates urged a California federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action accusing them of enabling cryptocurrency thieves, arguing the real cause of the plaintiffs' losses was the initial theft, not any actions by the exchange.

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BCBS Wants Hospital Sanctioned For 'Cat-And-Mouse' Tactics

By Ryan Harroff

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina asked a federal judge to sanction a hospital company and its related entities for their purported "evasion, obfuscation, misdirection and outright misrepresentation" during discovery in a $32 million billing dispute that has gone on for seven years.

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Ex-Homeland Security Secretary Joins Pillsbury As Consultant

By Jack Rodgers

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen will work as a strategic consultant at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where she'll be a senior policy adviser supporting a range of defense, national security and government practice groups, the firm recently announced.

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Key Questions When Mediating Environmental Disputes

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency implements dramatic regulatory changes, companies seeking to use mediation to manage increased risks and uncertainties around environmental liabilities should keep certain essential considerations in mind to help reach successful outcomes, says Edward Cohen at Thompson Coburn.

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Independent Contractor Rule Up In The Air Under New DOL

In several recent court challenges, the U.S. Department of Labor has indicated its intent to revoke the 2024 independent contractor rule, sending a clear signal that it will not defend the Biden-era rule on the merits in anticipation of further rulemaking, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

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The 2025 Lawyer Satisfaction Survey

Law firms and the legal profession are facing new uncertainties, shifting the stress levels, economic pressures, and overall contentment of lawyers in private practice, according to the 2025 Law360 Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey.

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'The Court Is Not A Cartoon': Judge Rips Dragon Watermark

By Hailey Konnath

A Michigan federal magistrate judge Monday ordered an East Lansing, Michigan, firm called Dragon Lawyers PC to stop plastering its pleadings with a large, suit-clad purple cartoon dragon watermark on each page, saying it's not only "distracting, it's juvenile and impertinent."

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Analysis

Feds Have Strong Hand On Judge Charged With Blocking ICE

By Danielle Ferguson and Carolyn Muyskens

A Wisconsin state judge faces an uphill battle in defending against federal criminal allegations that she helped a man evade immigration officials at a Wisconsin courthouse, but she may be able to stake out a defense in arguing the government can't prove intent, experts told Law360. 

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California Judge Loses Pay After Conviction For Murdering Wife

By Gina Kim

The California Commission on Judicial Performance formally suspended a California judge without pay after a state jury found him guilty of second-degree murder last week for shooting his wife to death in their Anaheim Hills home on Aug. 3, 2023, following a heated argument. 

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Q&A

Sullivan M&A Chief Sees Opportunities Amid Tariff Turmoil

By Al Barbarino

After a rocky start to 2025, the mergers and acquisitions landscape is grappling with economic volatility, shifting trade policies and a complex regulatory environment. But even in a "choppy" market, there are always deals to be made, says Melissa Sawyer, global head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's M&A group and co-head of its corporate governance practice.

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NJ Judge Apologizes Through Waylon Jennings Lyrics

By George Woolston

Clark Township, New Jersey, Municipal Judge Antonio Inacio said Tuesday that he isn't proud of all the things that led him to appear before a Garden State judiciary disciplinary committee, but he can say that he never intentionally hurt anyone by his conduct.

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$10M Brown Rudnick Deal With Guo Trustee Gets Judge's OK

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved a $10 million deal between Miles Guo's Chapter 11 trustee and the Chinese exile's onetime attorneys at Brown Rudnick LLP, and greenlighted 10 lesser settlements with other firms and luxury retailer Versace.

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Analysis

GOP Plan To Shutter Audit Watchdog Could Strain SEC

By Jessica Corso

Congressional Republicans are renewing the push to get rid of a financial regulator that conservatives have complained is costly and lacks proper oversight, but some former staffers at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board wonder whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has the manpower or expertise to take over the board's duties.

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Federal Defenders Of NY Staff Announce Union Drive

By Andrea Keckley

Staff members at the Federal Defenders of New York have announced their plans to join their attorney colleagues as members of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys.

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Justices Scoff At Feds' Defenses In Mistaken FBI Raid Case

By Chart Riggall

Supreme Court justices Tuesday appeared flummoxed by the government's "ridiculous" arguments it should be immune to a Georgia resident's lawsuit over a mistaken FBI raid on her house, but seemed unlikely to issue a blanket ruling on when an officer's discretion trumps their liability for injuries caused by their actions.

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Alex Jones Wants High Court Look At $1.3B Sandy Hook Case

By Brian Steele

Bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a mammoth libel judgment that families of Sandy Hook shooting victims secured against him and his company over his conspiratorial broadcasts calling the massacre a hoax, he told a Connecticut appellate court in seeking to extend a pause on the payout.

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Breyer To Talk Pragmatism At NJ Bar Association Convention

By Carla Baranauckas

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will bring his pragmatic legal philosophy to center stage when he appears at the New Jersey State Bar Association Convention on May 16 in Atlantic City.

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