Tort Report: Nuked 'Nuclear Verdict' Stays, Texas Justices Say

By Y. Peter Kang

The fate of a "nuclear verdict" that was used to jump-start tort reform campaigns across the country and a settlement of a suit over a Kiss guitar technician's death lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Kentucky AG Enters Roblox Fray, Says App Attracts Predators

By Emily Field

The Kentucky attorney general has filed his own suit against Roblox, joining other plaintiffs alleging that the popular gaming platform fails to safeguard against adult sexual predators seeking to target and exploit minors despite assurances to parents that its platform is safe for their children.

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Mich. Justices Mull Tort Damages Bar For Nonresident Drivers

By Carolyn Muyskens

Members of Michigan's Supreme Court on Thursday expressed reservations about an intermediate appellate court's decision that nonresidents who fail to carry Michigan insurance for a vehicle they regularly drive in the state can recover tort damages after a car accident.

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Alex Jones Wants Justices To Pause $1.4B Sandy Hook Award

By Hailey Konnath

Infowars host Alex Jones has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay enforcement of a Connecticut court judgment awarding more than $1 billion to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, arguing that he has faith in the high court overturning the judgment against him.

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BNSF Must Face Trial Over Mont. Woman's Death On Tracks

By Y. Peter Kang

A Montana federal judge on Thursday refused to toss a suit accusing BNSF of causing the death of a woman hit by a train while walking her dog, saying it should be up to a jury to decide if the railroad failed to provide adequate signage in the area.

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Feds Probe Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' Over Traffic Violations

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. auto safety regulator is investigating Tesla's advanced driver-assistance system known as Full Self-Driving after reports of accidents involving vehicles operating with FSD that have run red lights or crossed into opposing lanes of traffic.

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Brief

San Antonio Abandons Out-Of-State Abortion Travel Appeal

By Spencer Brewer

The city of San Antonio on Thursday conceded defeat in its request for court approval to go forward with a program that included funding for out-of-state travel for abortions, handing a victory to the state's attorney general.

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9th Circ. Changes Stance On Appeals Of Anti-SLAPP Denials

By Hailey Konnath

The full Ninth Circuit on Thursday held that denials of California anti-SLAPP motions can no longer be appealed in the midst of litigation, diverging from 22-year-old circuit precedent and finding that such orders aren't immediately appealable because they don't resolve issues "completely separate from the merits."

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McKesson Aims To Escape Dealer Claims In Overdose Death

By Chart Riggall

Pharmaceutical distributor McKesson urged the Georgia Court of Appeals Thursday to throw out a suit trying to hold the company liable for a man's prescription opioid overdose death, arguing that allowing it to go forward would wrongly expand the scope of liability under a statute designed to punish illegal drug dealers.

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Ga. Panel Considers Reviving Suit Over Fatal Work Fall

By Kelcey Caulder

The family of a man who fell to his death at SK Battery America Inc.'s lithium-ion battery production plant in Commerce, Georgia, on Thursday urged the state's intermediate appellate court to revive the case, arguing a trial court wrongly granted summary judgment to SK and its contractors.

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Va. Panel Nixes $2.5M Med Mal Verdict Over Jury Instruction

By Mike Curley

A Virginia state appeals court has overturned a $2.5 million verdict awarded to a woman who sued an anesthesiologist because he did not provide anesthesia before her cesarean section, finding that the jury should have been given an instruction on superseding cause.

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Patient Asks 4th Circ. To Revive Faulty Ethicon Stapler Suit

By Mike Curley

A surgery patient is asking the Fourth Circuit to reinstate his suit against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon Endo-Surgery LLC over faulty staples used in his procedure, saying the district court was wrong to deny his request to extend an expert deadline after he finally narrowed down the type of stapler used.

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Tire-Maker Takes 13 Revived Asbestos Suits To NC High Court

By Hayley Fowler

Continental Tire is asking North Carolina's top court to review whether more than a dozen workers' compensation cases linked to alleged asbestos exposure at one of its factories should carry on, saying the claimants cannot skirt the results of a bellwether trial.

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Brief

Ohio Judge OKs Trimmed Norfolk Southern Derailment Suit

By Isaac Monterose

An Ohio federal judge approved on Thursday a joint dismissal motion filed by two kennel owners and Norfolk Southern that will permanently toss the kennel owners' property claims from their derailment suit against the railroad company.

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Insurer Pushes For Default Win In Trench Injury Coverage Suit

By Hope Patti

An insurer is seeking a default win in its dispute over coverage for a man's trench injury lawsuit, telling an Illinois federal court Thursday that the man has failed to appear or respond to the coverage action.

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Weinstein Says Jurors Traded Threats, Tainting Verdict

By Cara Salvatore

Harvey Weinstein's legal team said his June sexual assault convictions were tainted by juror misconduct, including physical threats and an unfounded bribery claim, arguing in a motion for a new trial that a judge refused to properly investigate.

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Megan Thee Stallion Wins Sanctions Over Deleted Messages

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida magistrate judge Thursday sanctioned online personality Milagro "Mobz World" Cooper for deleting thousands of text messages and WhatsApp data after being told to preserve evidence in rapper Megan Thee Stallion's defamation and cyberstalking suit against her.

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UMG Beats Drake's 'Not Like Us' Diss Track Defamation Suit

By Lauren Berg

A New York federal judge Thursday tossed Drake's defamation suit against Universal Music Group over the hip-hop artist's rival Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us," saying the diss track's lyrics accusing Drake of being a "certified pedophile" are opinion and trash talk, not factual statements that are actionable.

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What 2 Recent Rulings Mean For Trafficking Liability Coverage

Two recent federal district court decisions add to a growing number of courts concluding that Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act claims may trigger coverage under commercial general liability policies, rejecting insurer arguments regarding public policy and exclusion defenses, says Joe Cole at Shumaker.

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Series

Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

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Up Next At High Court: Voting Rights & Warrantless Entries

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Tuesday to hear oral arguments in four cases, including a dispute over the constitutionality of the last remaining provision of the Voting Right Act and whether federal prisoners seeking postconviction relief are subject to the same rules as state inmates.

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Atty's Due Process Claims Challenging Disbarments Trimmed

By Emily Sawicki

A former attorney has had most of a due process suit fighting his disbarment in Florida and reciprocal discipline in Massachusetts and New York thrown out, with a Manhattan federal judge finding that New York lacks personal jurisdiction over out-of-state disciplinary officials.

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CFTC Crypto Task Force Head Returns To Akin

By Aislinn Keely

The former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Digital Asset Task Force has left the agency to return to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as senior counsel in its white collar defense and government investigations practice.

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9th Circ. Flouting 'Imperial Judiciary' Warning, Judges Assert

By Jeff Overley

A large contingent of Ninth Circuit judges accused colleagues Friday of ignoring recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions limiting legal remedies in politically charged disputes, adding fresh fuel to a heated debate over the judiciary's handling of suits against the Trump administration.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen Paddington Bear's creators and Studio Canal sue the company behind Spitting Image, Blackpool Football Club's former owner Owen Oyston bring a fresh claim against the club, and Mishcon de Reya sue a Saudi investment group.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the full Ninth Circuit held that denials of California anti-SLAPP motions can no longer be appealed in the midst of litigation.

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NJ Senate President Calls For Monitor Of State AG Unit

By Madison Arnold

New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari on Friday called for the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the state's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, saying it has been troubled with failed prosecutions, botched investigations and misconduct.

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Ga. Judge Charged With DUI At Florida Strip Club

By Chart Riggall

The Georgia judge who heads up the state's council of superior court jurists was arrested for driving under the influence outside a Jacksonville, Florida, strip club this week after hitting another vehicle with his Mercedes, according to arrest records.

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Brief

Bill Would Let Judges, Prosecutors Carry Concealed Guns

By Courtney Bublé

Two Republicans have introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate that would allow current and retired federal judges and state, local and federal prosecutors to carry concealed firearms in response to increasing concerns about judicial security.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

It is of little solace to general counsel that most big law firms hiked their billing rates this year just slightly less than last year's increase. And it looks like Elon Musk is settling with the former chief legal officer and the general counsel of Twitter, along with two other executives, over their suit to obtain millions in promised severance pay. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Retribution, Intent Claims May Defuse Bombshell James Case

By Phillip Bantz

The Trump administration's indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James is tightly crafted and offers a straightforward presentation of the government's case, but experts say James appears to have a strong argument that she did not intend to break the law and is being unfairly targeted for what amounts to a minor offense.

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