A Pennsylvania jury has delivered a $7.8 million verdict against the Alpha Sigma Tau sorority in a lawsuit filed by the family of a Bloomsburg University student who became overly intoxicated at a rush party held at the sorority house and fell off a 75-foot cliff to his death, the plaintiffs' attorneys said Thursday.
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Sorority Owes $7.8M Over Student's Death After Rush Party

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania jury has delivered a $7.8 million verdict against the Alpha Sigma Tau sorority in a lawsuit filed by the family of a Bloomsburg University student who became overly intoxicated at a rush party held at the sorority house and fell off a 75-foot cliff to his death, the plaintiffs' attorneys said Thursday.

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Bondi Elevates Pa. US Atty Amid Appointments Scrutiny

By Matthew Santoni

The first assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania is being retained and elevated to full U.S. attorney, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced Thursday, though the appointment will have to remain temporary or he could face the same questions about his appointment as other top prosecutors in President Donald Trump's administration.

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Pa. High Court Orders New Hearing In Killing Of Police Officer

By Elizabeth Daley

Pennsylvania's highest court has ordered a new hearing in a murder case involving the 2001 death of a Pittsburgh-area police officer, finding in a reversal that a third party's claim that someone else had confessed to the crime constituted a newly discovered fact that should be considered for postconviction relief.

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2 Foreign Cos. Escape Pa. Polyurethane Price-Fixing MDL

By Lauren Berg

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday unsealed his opinion from earlier this month dismissing two parent companies in Germany and China from multidistrict antitrust litigation that accuses several companies of conspiring to manipulate the prices of two chemicals used to make polyurethane, saying the court doesn't have jurisdiction.

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Pa. Nursing Home Disputes Patient Death Suits' Coverage Cap

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Pennsylvania nursing home told a federal court that an insurer should pay up to $3 million in coverage for lawsuits by six patients' estates alleging a staff member murdered them, arguing the insurer misconstrued a state medical negligence statute in order to limit coverage.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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POLICY & REGULATION

ITC To Review Medical Imaging Imports For Infringement

By Elliot Weld

The U.S. International Trade Commission said it is looking into medical imaging device imports for alleged patent infringement in response to a complaint from a Canadian-American firm.

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ENFORCEMENT

NJ Justices Disbar Pa. Atty Over Client Theft Conviction

By Adrian Cruz

The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to prohibit a now-imprisoned Pennsylvania attorney from practicing law in the state, following a recommendation to disbar the man convicted for stealing around $90,000 from clients.

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LITIGATION

Landmark Divestiture Order Scrutinized By 4th Circ. Again

By Matthew Perlman

A Fourth Circuit panel questioned whether door manufacturer Steves and Sons Inc. needs to prove its case all over again to save a landmark order requiring its rival Jeld-Wen to unload a Pennsylvania factory during Thursday's oral argument on a bid to vacate the ruling.

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Sandoz, Teva Beat Malicious Prosecution Claims, For Now

By Bryan Koenig

Sandoz and Teva have won a reprieve from a former pharmaceutical marketing executive claiming the drugmakers and their officers offered him up to federal prosecutors with fabricated assertions of price-fixing, with a New York federal judge concluding the suit "does not come close" to the standard for malicious prosecution.

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DC Circ. Urged To Revive PJM Watchdog's Access Fight

By Keith Goldberg

The electricity market watchdog for PJM Interconnection on Thursday urged the D.C. Circuit to reconsider its dismissal of its lawsuit over the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denying it access to certain committee meetings held by the regional grid operator.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Feature

From TikTok To The Courtroom, The Rise Of Lawfluencers

By Chris Villani

A growing group of legal influencers with huge followings say social media use is helping them expand their practices along with their brands and offering marketing lessons that even BigLaw can learn from.

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Ex-Worker Says Goldstein Offered Crypto, Gifts As IRS Probed

By Jared Foretek

A former employee at Thomas Goldstein's law firm who resigned after the Internal Revenue Service began investigating the firm said that the SCOTUSblog founder suddenly began offering her bitcoin, payment from case settlements and potential student loan relief after federal agents visited the office.

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Clemency Favors White Collar Offenders, New Study Shows

By Phillip Bantz

White collar criminal defendants are more likely than other types of offenders to receive presidential pardons, especially under the Trump administration, a new analysis of clemency actions shows, raising concerns about a system one expert called "broken."

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Attacks Haven't Killed Judiciary's AI Rule, May Strengthen It

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary advisers Thursday confronted the most extensive opposition yet in their campaign to ensure the reliability of evidence utilizing artificial intelligence, but the criticism appeared constructive, possibly upping the odds of a digital age addition to U.S. court rules.

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DOJ Awards $1M In First For Antitrust Whistleblower Program

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division awarded a whistleblower $1 million for providing information that led to charges and a $3.28 million criminal fine against used-vehicle auction site EBlock, marking the first-ever award under a new antitrust whistleblower program, the DOJ announced Thursday.

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Crowell & Moring Loses DC Appeal In $30M COVID Rent Dispute

By Isaac Monterose

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled against Crowell & Moring LLP's appeal for its $30 million rent dispute with a D.C. office landlord that refused to grant a coronavirus-related rent abatement.

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Promo that reads 2025 Practice Groups of the Year

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Barnes & Thornburg

Block & Associates LLC

Crowell & Moring

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dentons

DiCello Levitt

Dorsey & Whitney

Fieldfisher

Frederick M. Lehrer Attorney at Law

Goldstein & Russell

Hartley LLP

Hausfeld LLP

Hogan Lovells

Hunton Andrews

Kasowitz LLP

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kline & Specter

Linklaters LLP

Marshall Dennehey

Marshall Gerstein

McGuireWoods

Munger Tolles

Ogletree Deakins

Pietragallo Gordon

Proskauer Rose

Redgrave LLP

Reed Smith

Seyfarth Shaw

Shook Hardy

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Ven Johnson Law

Vinson & Elkins

Walden Macht

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Allergan PLC

Amazon.com Inc.

American Civil Liberties Union

BASF SE

Binance Holdings Ltd.

CNA Financial Corp.

Coinbase Global Inc.

Covestro AG

Dow Inc.

Herzog

Huntsman Corp.

Instagram Inc.

JELD-WEN Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

Mitsui Chemicals

Ohio State University

OpenAI OpCo LLC

PJM Interconnection LLC

Sandoz International GmbH

Steves & Sons Inc.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

The Home Depot Inc.

TikTok Inc.

YMCA of the USA

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Election Commission

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Internal Revenue Service

International Trade Commission

Judicial Conference of the United States

New Jersey Supreme Court

Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Postal Service

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court