Homeowners, Chubb Settle Water Damage Suit Ahead Of Trial

By Hope Patti

Illinois homeowners and a Chubb unit agreed to end their dispute over coverage for damage caused by a burst water pipe during an extreme temperature drop, weeks after an Illinois federal court cleared the case for trial, according to a court filing.

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Gun Exclusion Prevents Coverage For Ga. Bar Shooting Suits

By Hope Patti

An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a bar against underlying suits over a shooting that injured several patrons, a Georgia federal court ruled, finding that a firearms exclusion in the bar's commercial general liability policy precludes coverage.

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Insurers Sued Over Refusal To Cover Arbitration Defense

By Jeff Montgomery

Institutional financial services venture StoneX Group Inc. sued XL Specialty Insurance Co., Ironshore Indemnity Inc. and others in Delaware state court, alleging multiple unjustified refusals to provide defense coverage in arbitration over trade secret and no-compete violations by five employees.

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Patent Damages Explode As Practice Areas See Wild Swings

By Cara Salvatore

Damages in plaintiff-won federal patent cases have soared in the past decade while those in environmental cases and some other types of civil litigation have plummeted, a new report from Lex Machina shows.

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Electrolux Range's Defect Led To Fire, Insurer Tells Court

By Abraham Gross

Three Electrolux companies manufactured ranges with a foreseeable defect that allowed the products to unintentionally activate, a property insurer told a Connecticut federal court as it sought to recover the claim payout for a homeowner's kitchen fire.

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Insurer Must Cover Runoff Settlement, Auto Co. Says

By Jennifer Mandato

An automobile auction company told a Texas federal court that a Liberty Mutual unit must indemnify a settlement reached over underlying claims that the company caused storm water runoff in neighboring properties when it cleared several parcels of land for car and machinery storage.

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Insurer Seeks Exit From Privacy Suit Against Optometry Clinic

By Ganesh Setty

A Hartford unit told an Illinois federal court it should owe no coverage for a proposed class action accusing an optometry practice of violating patients' privacy rights by transmitting their sensitive information to Alphabet Inc., arguing a raft of exclusions apply.

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6th Circ. Revives Fired State Farm Worker's Retaliation Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Sixth Circuit reinstated a former State Farm worker's retaliation suit claiming she was fired for helping a co-worker pursue a disability bias complaint, ruling that she showed she may have been targeted for timekeeping violations out of revenge for her advocacy.

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Broker's Countersuit Says Ex-Worker Tried To Poach Clients

By Matthew Santoni

An insurance brokerage being sued by an ex-employee who says his former boss broke a promise to sell him a local agency alleges in its own Pennsylvania state court lawsuit that the employee had actually been scheming to steal clients from the brokerage and take them to a new firm.

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Firm Can't Escape Atty's Whistleblower Suit​ In Fla.

By Madison Arnold

A Florida state judge has rejected Matthiesen Wickert & Lehrer SC's bid to dismiss a whistleblower case by the former leader of its Jacksonville office.

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Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From ATF Director To BigLaw

As a two-time boomerang partner, returning to BigLaw after stints as a U.S. attorney and the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, people ask me how I know when to move on, but there’s no single answer — just clearly set your priorities, says Steven Dettelbach at BakerHostetler.

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Jackson Walker Settles Judge Romance Claims For $485K

By Emma Cueto

Jackson Walker LLP has reached a $485,000 settlement with two former bankruptcy clients to resolve a dispute related to the concealed romance of a former partner and former Texas bankruptcy judge David R. Jones, according to a motion filed Friday.

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Fed. Circ. Panel Calls For Extending Newman's Suspension

By Ryan Davis

A three-judge Federal Circuit panel recommended Monday that U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman remain suspended, saying her refusal to undergo medical tests by doctors chosen by the court is a "serious form of continuing misconduct" that is hindering an investigation into her health.

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New Jersey US Atty Faces Authority Challenge In Drug Case

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey man facing federal drug and firearms charges is mounting what appears to be the first formal legal challenge to Alina Habba's continued role as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, arguing that her appointment is unlawful and undermines the legitimacy of his prosecution.

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Qui Tam Relator's Atty Admits Fake Citations In DC FCA Suit

By Emily Sawicki

An attorney representing the estate of a Washington, D.C.-based construction company's former director in a False Claims Act suit launched against the contractor has withdrawn from the suit due to "recent failure to provide adequate representation" after his co-counsel alleged that the attorney used AI to file a brief "riddled with citation errors."

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Analysis

Merger Settlements Return As Enforcers Keep Busy

By Matthew Perlman

The first half of 2025 saw a string of settlements by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice allowing mergers to move forward, a marked shift from the prior administration.

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Texas Judge 'Perplexed' By 5th Circ. Sanction Reversal

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge said he was "perplexed" by a Fifth Circuit panel's decision to reverse his sanction order against an attorney, saying in a Monday opinion that the attorney seemingly flouted the case governing litigation conduct by opposing a bid for an extension to reply.

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Retired Judges Say DOJ Suit 'Threatens' Core Of Judicial Role

By Hailey Konnath

A group of retired federal judges on Monday threw their support behind Maryland federal judges targeted in a Trump administration lawsuit over their habeas petitions standing order, arguing that the suit "threatens the judicial role to its core" and is trying to block judges from employing "a commonplace docket-management technique."

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J&J Loses Bid To Probe Beasley Allen Talc Litigation Funding

By Jake Maher

A special master found Monday there is no reason to believe third-party funders are influencing Beasley Allen Law Firm's decisions in a massive talc litigation in New Jersey, defeating a subpoena from Johnson & Johnson digging into alleged third-party litigation funding.

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Firms Rip Ford's 'Retaliatory' RICO Suit Over Lemon Law Bills

By Dorothy Atkins

Knight Law Group LLP and other firms urged a California federal judge Friday to toss The Ford Motor Co.'s allegations they conspired to dupe clients and defraud automakers by inflating billing, arguing that the racketeering claims are "retaliatory," insufficient and time-barred, and the firms are shielded under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine.

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Biotech GC Says She Was Ousted Amid 'Systemic' Bias

By Chris Villani

A former general counsel at Massachusetts life sciences firm Repligen has filed a lawsuit in state court claiming that a pervasive culture of gender bias led to her and other women being treated differently and paid less.

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Analysis

Trump Wants Ex-Death Row Inmates In 'Supermax' ADX

By Rachel Rippetoe

Advocates argue that President Donald Trump's effort to send the inmates whom President Joe Biden saved from federal death row to the country's most restrictive federal "supermax" prison is testing the limits of the justice system.

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State Justices' Financial Disclosures 'Didn't Get Worse' In '24

By Jack Karp

Several states are making information about their Supreme Court justices' finances and potential financial conflicts somewhat more accessible, according to a new report.

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