Late Plaintiff Substitutions Sink Hospital Health Data Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge has dismissed a proposed data breach class action against Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals Inc. over the named plaintiffs purported inability to serve as leaders of the suit, ruling that they had two years to find substitutes.

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Philly Agency Sued Over Police Officers' Brain Cancer

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A public development corporation in Philadelphia has been sued by a city police officer and the estates of two deceased officers who developed brain cancer allegedly from toxic chemicals present in a converted Army building used as the police department's narcotics unit headquarters.

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Security Co. Loses $1M Coverage Bid For Pa. Bar Attacks

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Pennsylvania federal court blocked a security company from seeking up to $1 million in coverage for ongoing litigation stemming from violent attacks against two Philadelphia bar patrons, finding the claims fell within an expansive policy exclusion for assault and battery.

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Litigation Funding Scheme Suit Dropped Against Pa. Atty

By Y. Peter Kang

The former client of a Pennsylvania attorney has ended his suit accusing the lawyer of conspiring with a litigation funder to charge him inflated legal fees to cover high-interest litigation finance loans, according to a federal court filing.

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Former Judge Eyes Return To Courtroom With Blank Rome

By James Boyle

The retired former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is going back to private practice, joining Blank Rome LLP's Philadelphia office at the start of the new year.

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Avis Did Not Waive Arbitration In Traffic Fines Suit: 3rd Circ.

By Caroline Simson

The Third Circuit has concluded that Avis did not waive its right to arbitrate a long-running class action over traffic fines incurred during a rental with certain members of the class by continuing to litigate the dispute years after incorporating an arbitration clause in its rental agreement.

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29 State AGs Want Unified Meta Youth Addiction Trial

By Mike Curley

A group of 29 states and their attorneys general is doubling down on a request in California federal court to hold a single, unified trial in their suit claiming Meta Platforms Inc. is designed to addict and harm minors, saying they have now identified another case where such a singular trial was held involving multiple attorneys general's claims.

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Meta Blamed For Teens' Instagram 'Sextortion' Suicides

By Lauren Berg

The parents of a 16-year-old boy from Scotland and a 13-year-old boy from Pennsylvania blame Meta and Instagram for their children dying by suicide after being "sextorted" through the photo sharing platform, alleging in a lawsuit Wednesday that the social media companies know the app connects predators to children.

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Analysis

Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To 2025's Most Memorable Moments

By Jeff Overley

Federal circuit courts in 2025 strained under a crush of Trump administration lawsuits, as judges directed animated language at litigants and even their fellow judges. And while the president only added a handful of appellate jurists, they had outsize impacts on circuit benches as they joined the cadre of conservatives seated in his first term.

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2025 State AI Laws Expand Liability, Raise Insurance Risks

As 2025 nears its end, claims professionals should be aware of trends in state legislation addressing artificial intelligence use, as insurance claims based on some of these liability-expanding statutes are a certainty, say attorneys at Wiley.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

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$3.6B Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader Deal To Form Top 5 Firm

By Kevin Penton

Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft are planning to combine, creating what the firms say will be the world's fifth-largest firm by revenue, they announced Thursday.

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Fake Quotes In Pa. Patent Case Lead To Judicial Rebuke

By James Boyle

Two Barley Snyder attorneys have been directed to explain to a Pennsylvania federal judge how nonexistent quotes from cited cases appeared in a July filing, according to a recently published order that also denied a holiday light clip manufacturer's request for a temporary restraining order preventing a rival company from selling a similar product.

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Calif. AG, Bar Officials Fight Bid To Stop ABS Fee-Sharing Ban

By James Mills

Both the California attorney general and the California State Bar are opposing a California attorney's attempt to block a new law preventing fee-sharing with out-of-state law firms owned by nonlawyers set to go into effect on Jan. 1.

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Boies Schiller Must Face Fla. Fee Suit, Court Told

By Lynn LaRowe

In pushing back on a bid to toss a Florida state court lawsuit against Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and related defendants, a pharmaceutical mass tort law firm and other parties said the lawsuit outlines a clear breach of a nondisclosure agreement and interference with existing business relationships, making the complaint legally sufficient under Sunshine State law.

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Dems Offer Bill To Shine Light On High Court 'Shadow Docket'

By Ryan Boysen

Democratic lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to explain its "shadow docket" rulings, criticizing the high court for issuing "harmful, backwards decisions" that "impact millions of Americans' lives" but are often unaccompanied by a formal opinion.

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DC Circ. Told Transferred Ethics Suit Bolsters Newman's Case

By Adam Lidgett

Suspended Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman is contending that a decision in which an ethics complaint against a Fourth Circuit judge was transferred out of his home court bolsters her argument that her fellow circuit judges shouldn't have investigated her fitness to remain on the bench.

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Trump's Picks To Lead FDIC, CFTC Win Senate Approval

By Jon Hill

The U.S. Senate on Thursday signed off on two more of President Donald Trump's picks for top financial regulator jobs, confirming Travis Hill and Michael Selig as chairs of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, respectively.

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Senate Package Includes US Attorney, DC Judge Confirmations

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate confirmed 13 U.S. attorneys and three local judges for the District of Columbia as part of a nominations package confirmed 53-43 along party lines on Thursday.

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Chancery Sr. Magistrate Leaving Bench For Role As Neutral

By Rose Krebs

Delaware's Chancery Court will soon be losing its senior magistrate, as she is returning to private practice to serve as a professional neutral.

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