Chubb Unit Must Defend Calif. Diocese In Sex Abuse Suits

By Hope Patti

A Chubb insurer has a duty to defend a Roman Catholic diocese in California against more than 200 consolidated child sex abuse suits, a federal court ruled, saying the claims trigger an umbrella policy provision requiring defense coverage of occurrences that are not covered by the primary policy.

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9th Circ. Revives Duty To Defend Claims In Wash. Crash Suit

By Ben Adlin

A Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday partially revived a Washington couple's claims accusing Integon Preferred Insurance Co. of flouting its duty to defend them from a lawsuit over a 2017 pedestrian collision, reversing a lower court's ruling that the policyholders failed to promptly notify the insurer of the suit.

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Detroit, Water Authority Must Face Insurers' Flood Payout Suit

By Danielle Ferguson

A Michigan federal judge on Tuesday largely kept intact three insurers' lawsuit seeking reimbursement for payouts to residents of homes damaged after 2021 flooding, finding the city of Detroit and the Great Lakes Water Authority are not immune to claims alleging the sewer system couldn't handle a foreseeable amount of rain.

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Mich. Firm Says Insurer Can't Avoid Bad Faith Counterclaim

By Hope Patti

A Michigan law firm urged a federal court not to toss a counterclaim alleging that its professional liability insurer handled the firm's bid for coverage of an underlying malpractice suit in bad faith, saying the claim properly seeks declaratory relief under the state's insurance code.

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Insurer Denies Coverage For Alleged Rodeo Horse Poisoning

By Danielle Ferguson

An insurer for a seller of alfalfa and grass hay told a Texas federal court Monday that it does not owe coverage for a lawsuit alleging the business sold animal feed contaminated with toxic compounds from invasive weeds that led to the death and hospitalization of rodeo horses.

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Publix Says Snack Co.'s Insurers Owe Slip-Fall Coverage

By Carolina Bolado

Publix has urged a Florida federal judge to find that insurers for salty snack food maker Snyder's-Lance Inc. should have covered the supermarket chain's defense in a $3 million slip-and-fall case under an agreement to indemnify the retailer for injuries involving the snack maker's agents.

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Fed. Circ. Won't Save Farm Patents, But Reopens Fee Issue

By Theresa Schliep

The Federal Circuit on Tuesday revived a company's bid for attorney fees after defeating an infringement case by AGI Suretrack over agricultural data patents, saying a lower court correctly deemed those patents invalid, but failed to explain why it didn't find the case exceptional for fee purposes.

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Brief

Religious Org., Insurer Settle Abuse Coverage Dispute

By Danielle Ferguson

A Missouri Christian ranch for at-risk boys has settled a lawsuit from its nonprofit insurer that claimed it did not owe coverage for a case alleging a former resident experienced physical and sexual abuse during his time at the organization. 

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2 'Rocket Dockets' And The Rules That Propel Them

The fastest civil trial courts in the country are currently in the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Florida, and their chief judges provide insights into the court rules that keep them ahead, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

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Milbank Raises Associate Pay Scale, Topping Out At $455K

By Kevin Penton

Milbank LLP is increasing associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually, with new salary floors of $235,000 and pay reaching as high as $455,000 for more experienced attorneys, according to the firm.

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BigLaw Could Tap PE Money For Advantage In Talent Wars

By Ryan Boysen

BigLaw firms may soon partner with private equity to gain an edge in the talent wars, potentially reshaping the U.S. legal industry despite fears that the shift could corrode firms' cultures.

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Fox Rothschild Atty Censured Over $2.7M In Unapproved Fees

By Adrian Cruz

A New Jersey-based bankruptcy partner at Fox Rothschild LLP has been censured by the Supreme Court of New Jersey after she was found to have wrongfully disbursed over $2.7 million in fees to her former firms without approval.

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Chicago US Atty Report Denies Grand Jury Misconduct Claim

By Lauraann Wood

The Northern District of Illinois' top prosecutor sought to offer clarity Tuesday surrounding accusations of his possible interference with grand jury proceedings that preceded a criminal conspiracy indictment against six protesters, releasing a special report one defendant's attorney says raises more questions than it answers.

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7th Circ. Fines Deported Migrant's Atty For ChatGPT Misuse

By Emily Sawicki

The Seventh Circuit has rejected a Mexican citizen's petition challenging an immigration court's removal order on the merits, while sanctioning his attorney $5,000 for filing two legal briefs "riddled with" fabricated quotes and case citations hallucinated by ChatGPT.

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Exclusive

Cooley Launches Global Hearings Practice As Scrutiny Rises

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Cooley LLP has established a global hearings and inquiries practice to help companies prepare comprehensive strategies as they face increased regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions, the firm exclusively told Law360 on Tuesday.

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Ex-McDermott, Venable Attys Sued Over Estate's $40M Tax Bill

By Dorothy Atkins

The estate of a successful dentist who died in 2017 sued McDermott Will & Schulte LLP, Venable LLP and two attorneys in California state court Monday, alleging they gave negligent legal advice in planning the dentist's estate causing it to owe the IRS $40 million in taxes and penalties.

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Dem AGs Slam Climate Science Removal From Judicial Guide

By Jack Karp

The federal judiciary's decision to strike a chapter on climate change from its guide to scientific evidence is misguided, partisan and "will impede the judiciary's ability to pursue truth," according to a Tuesday letter from nearly two dozen Democratic state attorneys general.

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Bipartisan Bill Would Modernize Court Records Systems

By Matt Perez

U.S. Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Tuesday jointly introduced the Open Courts Act, which they said would modernize the court records systems PACER and CM/ECF.

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Feature

AI Software Contracts Need Careful Review, Attys Are Warned

By Aaron Keller

Attorneys considering adopting artificial intelligence tools must ensure software contracts comply with data privacy laws, and firms should not be afraid to quiz software sales representatives, including by asking how long the software retains data, representatives from two law firms told Connecticut lawyers Tuesday.

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Analysis

Attys Worried Where ICE Will Draw Line In Asylum Crackdown

By Britain Eakin

Immigration attorneys are bracing for heightened scrutiny after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would crack down on attorneys filing fraudulent asylum claims, expressing fears that the agency could blur the line between fraud and legitimate advocacy.

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DOJ Won't Move Forward With $1.8B Fund, Blanche Confirms

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday, "we're not moving forward" with the controversial $1.8 billion settlement fund.

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Senate Confirms Montana, Kansas Judges

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate confirmed judges Tuesday for Montana and Kansas, one of whom was the first judicial nominee of the second Trump administration to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Arias Sanguinetti's Mike Arias

By Joyce Hanson

When she was team captain with a track and field scholarship at the University of Southern California in the 1990s, Nicole Haynes was in good health and rarely had to see a doctor. So when she got a bad stomachache and her friends encouraged her to visit the USC health center, Haynes said she didn't have the right words to explain why her experience with Dr. George Tyndall had felt so invasive and wrong.

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