PacifiCorp To Pay $150M To 1,400 Survivors Of 2020 Wildfires

By Lauren Berg

PacifiCorp announced Wednesday that it has reached a $150 million settlement with more than 1,400 plaintiffs who blame the Berkshire Hathaway-owned utility's equipment for sparking deadly Labor Day 2020 wildfires in Oregon.

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29 AGs Want Social Media Addiction Fight Decided In 1 Trial

By Dorothy Atkins

A coalition of 29 state attorneys general Wednesday urged a California federal judge presiding over social-media addiction multidistrict litigation to consolidate state law claims into a single jury trial, while Meta's counsel argued that there's no case law precedent for such a single trial and it would be prejudicial.

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Pfizer To Pay $41.5M To Settle Adulterated ADHD Drug Claims

By Spencer Brewer

Pfizer Inc. and Tris Pharma Inc. agreed Wednesday to cough up $41.5 million to settle claims brought by Texas that it gave adulterated ADHD drugs to children, ending a lawsuit alleging the companies violated a state healthcare fraud law.

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Mass. Court Says Waiver Valid In Adventure Park Injury Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Massachusetts appellate court on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a suit seeking to hold an adventure park liable for a woman's injuries, saying the liability waiver she signed is valid and enforceable.

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4th Circ. Says Immigration Board Ignored Key Evidence

By Tom Lotshaw

A split Fourth Circuit panel has said immigration courts ignored evidence of the threats a Honduran man faced from MS-13 gang members if he was sent back to that country, while a dissenting judge faulted him for not reporting to police alleged harms.

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Doc Takes Plea, Avoids Prison In Novel Opioid Death Case

By Julie Manganis

A retired Massachusetts doctor pled guilty and was sentenced to five years of probation in a first-of-its-kind involuntary manslaughter case over a patient's 2016 opioid overdose death, the state attorney general's office announced.

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Princeton Sued Over Student, Alumni Data Exposed In Breach

By Lauren Berg

Princeton University faces two proposed class actions in New Jersey federal court accusing it of failing to take the necessary measures to protect the personally identifiable information of thousands of students, alumni, donors, faculty and other members of the university community, which was exposed during a data breach this month.

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Wash. Judge Narrows Claims In Seaplane Crash Dispute

By Tom Lotshaw

A Washington state judge largely denied a charter flight company's attempt to put blame for a seaplane crash that killed 10 people onto an aircraft company, and said there are genuine questions about whether sole cause can be attributed to either party.

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'Wrongly Decided' Case Backs Insurer Loss, Mich. Panel Says

By Hope Patti

An insurer is statutorily barred from suing an auto shop to recoup personal injury protection benefits it paid to policyholders injured in a crash, a Michigan state appeals court affirmed, though saying it is bound by a 1993 case it believes was "wrongly decided" and should be reviewed.

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Religious Org. Not Covered For Sex Abuse Suit, Insurer Says

By Mark Payne

A nonprofit insurer said a Christian ranch for "at-risk" boys isn't owed coverage for a lawsuit alleging physical and sexual abuse, telling a Missouri federal court that the ranch failed to adequately provide notice of the underlying claim. 

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Colo. High Court Considers Insurers' Noncooperation Defense

By Rachel Konieczny

Colorado Supreme Court justices on Wednesday questioned the scope and effects of a state law requiring insurers to meet certain requirements in requesting information from policyholders before bringing a failure-to-cooperate defense, in a case where a man was denied claims after not turning over medical records.

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Justices' Ruling Will Ease Foreign Arbitral Award Enforcement

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization suggests that U.S. courts can constitutionally decide whether to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards in accordance with U.S. treaty obligations, regardless of the award debtor's connections to the U.S., says David Cinotti at Pashman Stein.

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Bonus Spotlight

Law Firms Begin Upping The Ante For Associate Bonuses

By Tracey Read

Trial boutique Wilkinson Stekloff LLP is exceeding the year-end associate bonus scale set by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, announcing bonuses late Wednesday that are 150% of market.

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CFPB Will Shift Remaining Lawsuits Over To DOJ

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be handing off its enforcement lawsuits and other litigation to the U.S. Department of Justice as the Trump administration prepares for the consumer agency to run out of money, Law360 has learned.

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Analysis

Trump's Epstein Directive Puts SDNY Prosecutor In A 'Pickle'

By Phillip Bantz

Manhattan chief federal prosecutor Jay Clayton appears to have been backed into a "horrible" corner with a "no-win" outcome as a result of a directive from President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats, experts say.

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Comey Says DOJ's Conduct 'Shocks The Conscience'

By Hailey Konnath

James Comey on Thursday reiterated his request that the U.S. Department of Justice be forced to disclose all grand jury materials related to his indictment, noting the government has conceded that the grand jury never saw the operative indictment and saying the purported misconduct "shocks the conscience."

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NJ Panel Expands Scope Of Ex-Reed Smith Atty's Bias Claims

By Rose Krebs

A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday ruled that a former Reed Smith LLP attorney is entitled to pursue more damages and obtain expanded wage data in her gender discrimination suit against the firm, saying a trial court incorrectly applied certain statutes when it limited the damages and data she could seek.

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X Corp. Ends $90M Fee Suit Against Wachtell

By James Mills

X Corp. has ended its California state lawsuit against Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz over $90 million in legal fees tied to the fight over Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, according to a court filing.

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Analysis

Meta Loss Shows Time Not On Enforcers' Side In Tech Cases

By Bryan Koenig

Meta's triumph over a Federal Trade Commission antitrust case Tuesday hinged on a D.C. federal judge's finding that the company lacks a monopoly in the present day, highlighting some of the challenges of using slow-moving litigation to challenge fast-moving markets.

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Senate Panel OKs Miss. Judge, US Atty Nominees After Delay

By Courtney Bublé

After weeks of holdup, nominees for Mississippi federal courts and U.S. attorneys were voted out of committee on Thursday, following an impasse between Republican senators.

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Brief

Senate Passes Bill To Protect State Judges From Threats

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to beef up security for state and local judges.

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DOJ Antitrust Chief Says Agriculture A 'Top Priority'

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Department of Justice's top antitrust official said enforcers have already opened several investigations in the agriculture sector, including into meatpackers at the direction of President Donald Trump, and called the industry a "top priority" for the agency.

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