PacifiCorp Link Should DQ Appeal Judge, Plaintiffs Say

By Cara Salvatore

Counsel for a class of Oregon property owners asked an appeals court Tuesday to disqualify the judge who authored a decision overturning classwide liability against PacifiCorp for wildfire damage, saying the judge's alleged work for the utility in prior private practice would cause a reasonable person to question her impartiality.

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Meta To Head To Aug. Advisory Trial In States' Addiction MDL

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge laid out plans during a hearing Wednesday to empanel an eight-member advisory jury panel in August to help her decide claims from state attorneys general against Meta Platforms Inc. in multidistrict social-media-addiction litigation, while expressing concerns that the states haven't disclosed their specific damages demands yet.

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Pharmacies Beat Fla. Hospitals' Opioids Suit

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida state judge has handed Walmart, Walgreens and CVS a win in a fight with hospitals over treatment of opioid-addicted patients, finding the hospitals cannot recover damages under state racketeering law because their injuries are indirect.

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Rapper Says Ex-Manager Presented Business Deals As 'Favor'

By Lauraann Wood

Chance the Rapper testified Wednesday that he would not have kept his former manager employed if he knew the person he relied on to represent him in business dealings had been abusing their relationship "to enrich himself and get a certain influence in the industry."

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Toyota Settles Fatal 'Smart Key' Suit Just Before Trial

By Kelcey Caulder

Toyota has settled a lawsuit over the fatal carbon monoxide poisoning of a man who accidentally left his 2017 Tacoma running in his attached garage, just before trial was set to start on his wife's claims that buyers weren't warned about risks associated with the truck's keyless ignition system.

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Samsung Sued Again Over Pictiva Patent After $99M Verdict

By Elliot Weld

Pictiva Displays has again sued South Korean technology giant Samsung in Texas federal court, asserting claims of patent infringement months after securing a $99 million jury verdict over the same patent.

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FIFA Corruption Charges Get Officially Tossed

By Stewart Bishop

A New York federal judge signed off Wednesday on the dismissal of charges in the massive FIFA-related corruption dragnet against a former 21st Century Fox executive and an Argentine sports marketing company, months after prosecutors said they were dropping the case.

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Chicago US Atty Revamps Grand Jury Rules After Misconduct

By Parker Quinlan

Chicago's top federal prosecutor announced on Wednesday a new suite of rules for how grand jury investigations are handled after an Illinois federal judge accused the prosecutor's office of misconduct in a case against six immigration activists.

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Live Nation Wants AGs' Discovery To Wait On New Trial Bid

By Bryan Koenig

Live Nation has told a New York federal judge that its bids for a new trial or judgment in its favor should go before state attorneys general to get discovery as they seek the forced divestiture of Ticketmaster to address the live music giant's monopoly.

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ProPublica Denied Access To Ranbaxy Antitrust MDL Docs

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Massachusetts federal court denied ProPublica's bid to unseal court filings in settled multidistrict litigation alleging a subsidiary of Indian drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals illegally delayed market entry of generic drugs, ruling the nonprofit news organization's request came too late in the case.

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Fla. Panel Says Confederate Tag Didn't Bias Crash Case Jury

By Elizabeth Daley

A man sentenced for seven crimes in connection with crashing his car into another vehicle was not unfairly prejudiced when the trial court admitted into evidence photos from the crash showing the Confederate flag tag he had affixed to his car, a Florida state appeals court said Wednesday.

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NJ Justices Revive Eye Injury Suit For 'Gatekeeping' Test

By George Woolston

The Supreme Court of New Jersey revived a woman's suit alleging she suffered serious eye injuries because of a defect in Allergan USA Inc.'s product Ozurdex, ruling Wednesday that the trial court failed to conduct the gatekeeping inquiry required when there is a dispute over the reliability of expert testimony.

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Opinion

Murdaugh Reversal Masks Deeper Justice System Issues

The South Carolina Supreme Court's recent reversal of Alex Murdaugh's murder conviction leans heavily on improper jury influence by an ex-county clerk of court while underbilling other errors in the case, which are emblematic of larger issues with the justice system, says Barry Edwards at Fair Trial Analysis.

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Analysis

Meet Biden's Attys Fighting DOJ Release Of Memoir Materials

By Jeff Overley

Former President Joe Biden has selected Hecker Fink LLP lawyers well acquainted with politically charged litigation for his extraordinary new lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of orchestrating a congressional inquiry in order to divulge "highly personal" records to the Heritage Foundation.

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Pierce Atwood Rips Billionaire's 'Absurd' Suit Over Asset Sale

By Sydney Price

Pierce Atwood and two attorneys urged a Massachusetts federal judge to reject a Ukrainian billionaire's suit blaming them for a $1.8 billion damages order in investor litigation over the billionaire's failed biotech company, saying his own wrongdoing led to the judgment.

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Ex-Judges Urge Court To Scrutinize Trump-IRS Deal

By Jack McLoone

A group of 35 former federal judges pushed for a Florida federal court to reopen President Donald Trump's now-settled $10 billion tax leak case against his own Internal Revenue Service, alleging that Trump and the DOJ deceived the court.

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Trump Taps Ohio Appeals Judge For Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he's nominating state Judge Matthew Byrne as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Ohio.

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Perkins Coie Docs At Issue In Omani Co.'s Malpractice Case

By Sarah Jarvis

An Oman-based screw and nail manufacturer has urged a Washington state judge to force Perkins Coie LLP to hand over a trove of documents related to the firm's past work representing the Middle Eastern company in a U.S. Department of Commerce probe, saying more information is needed to assess the law firm's defenses against claims its mistakes cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Keller Rohrback's Gretchen Freeman Cappio

By Andrea Keckley

By the time Volkswagen was exposed for touting the low emissions of cars that secretly released nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times the legal limit in the U.S., Keller Rohrback LLP's Gretchen Freeman Cappio knew she wasn't interested in defending corporate giants.

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