John Deere Inks $99M Deal In Farmers' Right-To-Repair Suit

By Celeste Bott

John Deere has agreed to pay $99 million to a putative class of farmers to resolve claims that it limits competition for farm equipment repairs by preventing unaffiliated shops from acquiring the necessary tools, and will also provide injunctive relief that would allow those independent repair providers to be able to diagnose and fix John Deere-brand agricultural equipment.

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Ohio Derailment Class Attys Fight Morgan & Morgan Fee Probe

By Matthew Santoni

Co-counsel for plaintiffs in litigation over a Norfolk Southern train derailment urged a federal court to reject Morgan & Morgan's bid to investigate the allocation of attorney fees stemming from a $600 million class settlement, arguing that it was unnecessary to revisit the issue and that the firm may have even gotten more than it deserved.

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Uber Says Atty Ads To Rider Admissible In NC Bellwether Trial

By Hayley Fowler

Uber wants to introduce evidence at an upcoming bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation for alleged passenger sexual assaults that a North Carolina plaintiff was exposed to advertisements from attorneys before she sued, saying the evidence goes to her credibility.

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Law Profs Back Boeing In 7th Circ. Bid To Void 737 Max Class

By Linda Chiem

Law professors have told the Seventh Circuit that an Illinois district court improperly certified a class of investors alleging Boeing misrepresented the 737 Max 8 jets' safety after two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019, saying there's been a "troubling" pattern of courts blessing classwide damages theories backed by zero evidence.

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DOJ Backs Wrong View Of Accounting Error, 11th Circ. Told

By Anna Scott Farrell

A hedge fund manager challenging the denial of a $1.9 million tax refund related to his private jet told the Eleventh Circuit that the federal government is wrongly parroting a lower court's unreasonable approach to the accounting error underlying the dispute.

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Delta Passengers Say They Were Injured In Fire Evacuation

By Kelcey Caulder

Two passengers of a Delta Air Lines flight were injured when an electrical fire forced them to be evacuated from the plane after it landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, according to a suit filed in Washington state court.

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$1.4M Chicago Tow Notice Settlement To Receive Initial OK

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois federal judge signaled Tuesday he'll greenlight a $1.4 million settlement to end litigation over claims the city of Chicago tows vehicles it deems abandoned without properly notifying their owners.

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Mercedes Says Shatter-Prone Sunroof Claims Lack Evidence

By Kelcey Caulder

Mercedes-Benz customers offered no evidence that vehicles were sold with defects that caused sunroofs to spontaneously shatter, the automaker told a Georgia federal court, arguing it should be granted an early win in the customers' suit.

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First Brands IP Sale Decision Paused For Possible New Bidder

By Emlyn Cameron

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Tuesday put off a final decision on auto parts maker First Brands' move to speedily sell several of its filter and windshield wiper brands for $25 million, saying he wanted to know whether the buyer is dead set on purchasing a bundle.

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Colo. Justices Say Disputed Costs OK In Public Works Claim

By Benjamin Morse

Disputed or unliquidated costs, including delay and disruption damages, can be included in claims under Colorado's Public Works Act, the state's highest court has ruled, reviving a subcontractor's bid to recover a roughly $13 million claim tied to a Denver-area rail project.

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CSX Shortchanged Workers On Meal Allowances, Union Says

By Katherine Smith

CSX Transportation shortchanged employees on meal allowances that were guaranteed under an arbitration award involving the company and a labor union, according to a complaint filed in D.C. federal court Tuesday.

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11th Circ. Faults Job Seeker's Atty But Upholds $3.4M Win

By Grace Elletson

The Eleventh Circuit declined Tuesday to grant a trucking company a new trial on a $3.4 million verdict handed to an applicant who claimed the business walked back a job offer after learning that he is Black, ruling his attorney's "improper" arguments didn't taint the trial's outcome.

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Squires Rejects 2 PTAB Petitions, Grants 2 In Merits Orders

By Adam Lidgett

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has shot down a pair of requests from automakers Kia and Toyota challenging vehicle technology patents, while granting a separate duo of challenges Amazon had asked for.

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Fishermen, Seafood Sellers Sue LOOP Over La. Oil Spill

By Mike Curley

A group of fishermen and seafood companies is suing the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP LLC, over a February oil spill that saw 31,500 gallons of heavy Venezuelan crude oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, saying LOOP's slow-walking of cleanup puts their livelihoods and the local ecosystem in danger.

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Auto Insurance Co. Escapes Retirement Fund Suit

By Patrick Hoff

An auto insurance company defeated a proposed class action claiming its employee retirement plan was unlawfully overinvested in a conservative default investment option, with a Michigan federal judge saying Tuesday that the suit lacked information about participants who voluntarily put money in the fund.

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1-Year Biofuel Exemptions Eligibility Upheld For 2 Refineries

By Gautama Mehta

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated its own regulations by denying exemptions from biofuel blending requirements to two oil refineries in Louisiana and Wyoming, the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday.

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What Voluntary Calif. Carbon Reports Show About Compliance

While the enforcement of California's S.B. 261 is currently paused due to a Ninth Circuit injunction, more than 130 companies have nonetheless chosen to voluntarily publish climate-related financial risk disclosures, providing a useful snapshot of how the market is interpreting the law's requirements in practice, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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DLA Piper Offered Pregnant Atty 'Dignified' Exit, Jury Told

By Pete Brush

A former DLA Piper associate who claims she was unlawfully fired after announcing her pregnancy was offered a chance to transition out of the firm "without anyone knowing that her work was subpar," a partner told a Manhattan federal jury Wednesday.

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Spencer Fane Adds 75 Attys Through Tie-Up With Okla. Firm

By Tracey Read

Missouri-headquartered Spencer Fane LLP announced Wednesday that it plans to combine with Southwest firm Conner & Winters LLP on July 1 in its largest tie-up to date and its third already in 2026.

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AEG, BigLaw Atty In Hot Seat As Live Nation Trial Nears End

By Stewart Bishop

Live Nation on Wednesday concluded its defense case with glowing testimony about it from the manager for rap star Drake, while the Manhattan federal judge overseeing the case said rival company AEG Worldwide and a Hogan Lovells lawyer may face sanctions for revealing confidential information about a witness.

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DOJ's Lead Google Attys Both Leave Agency Same Day

By Bryan Koenig

The lead attorneys on both of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's monopolization cases against Google left the agency Wednesday or said they would be doing so.

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Mich. Federal Judge Pleads No Contest In Drunk-Driving Case

By Gina Kim

A Michigan federal judge pled no contest Wednesday to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge in Emmet County court in connection with an incident where he crashed his Cadillac and registered a 0.27% blood alcohol level, apologizing and saying he "looks forward" to continuing his judicial service.

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ABA, State Bars Blast DOJ Proposal To Block Bar Probes

By Emily Sawicki

The American Bar Association and a chorus of state and local bar groups have come out against a proposed rule that would allow the U.S. Department of Justice to pause and review state-level ethics complaints against its attorneys, calling the proposal "unlawful and unconstitutional."

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ABA Rates Montana Judicial Pick 'Not Qualified'

By Courtney Bublé

Katie Lane, senior legal counsel at the Republican National Committee who has been tapped for a federal judgeship in Montana, is the first nominee to receive a majority "not qualified" rating by the American Bar Association in the second Trump administration.

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NY Panel Backs DLA Piper's $482K Fee Win In Malpractice Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

A New York appellate court affirmed Tuesday the dismissal of a Chinese software company's legal malpractice suit against DLA Piper, along with a $482,000 sanctions order against the company and its counsel, noting that the company's frivolous claims also drew a $635,000 sanctions ruling in "mirror" federal court litigation.

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Bondi To Skip Epstein Deposition After DOJ Cites AG Exit

By Courtney Bublé

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will not sit for her scheduled deposition next week on the Epstein files now that she has left the role, and the Justice Department has asked the House Oversight Committee to withdraw its subpoena.

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Trump Asks NY's Top Court To Toss AG's 'Flawed' Fraud Case

By Lauren Berg

President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked New York's highest court to throw out New York Attorney General Letitia James' "deeply flawed" civil fraud judgment entirely after a lower appellate court tossed what it called an "excessive" $489 million penalty against the president, his sons and his real estate companies.

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