Oil Giants Sued Over Climate-Linked Rise In Insurance Costs

By Ben Adlin

The fossil fuel industry spent decades pushing a coordinated disinformation campaign to conceal its central role in climate change, saddling homeowners with a multibillion-dollar increase in insurance costs as disasters grew more frequent and severe, according to a proposed class action filed Tuesday in Washington federal court.

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9th Circ. Slams 'Unimpressive Excuses' In L'Oréal Rival's Suit

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a trade secrets case against L'Oréal USA Inc., saying the plaintiff company's "unimpressive excuses" for fabricating evidence and other misconduct do not override the district court's conclusion that the proper sanction was to dismiss the case.

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UnitedHealth Gets OptumRx Antitrust Suit Sent To Arbitration

By Rachel Riley

A group of independent pharmacies must arbitrate their proposed class claims that UnitedHealth-owned OptumRx gatekeeps its network of Medicare prescription patients by imposing unfair fees, a Washington federal judge said Tuesday, concluding the pharmacies haven't shown the arbitration clauses in question are unenforceable.

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HUD Housing Aid Limits Will Drive Homelessness, States Say

By Rachel Riley

Washington and 19 other states launched a lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Rhode Island federal court, seeking to stop abrupt policy changes they claim will result in tens of thousands of formerly homeless people being ousted from publicly subsidized housing and onto the streets.

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FBI 'Surge' Tackles Violent Crime, Missing Indigenous Cases

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Justice Department says a six-month "surge" of FBI assets in Indian Country to address crimes relating to missing or slain Indigenous people has yielded hundreds of criminal charges and arrests and provided services to nearly 2,000 victims and their family members.

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Yardi Looks To Calif. Win In Wash. Rent-Fixing Suit

By Grace Dixon

Yardi Systems Inc. told a Washington federal court that source code it turned over confirms that its revenue management software doesn't rely on confidential competitor data, echoing defenses that led to one of the first defeats of algorithmic rent-setting antitrust suits.

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Feds Argue No Urgent Harm In Wash. Lake Cleanup Project

By Joyce Hanson

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asked a D.C. federal court to pause an open government advocate's bid for a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit against a lake and estuary restoration project near his residence in Washington state.

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9th Circ. Offers Mixed Ruling On Jack In The Box Wage Claims

By Irene Spezzamonte

A trial must address whether Jack in the Box willfully deducted too much from workers' wages, the Ninth Circuit ruled on Tuesday, flipping workers' win on claims the fast-food company over-deducted their wages while reviving their claims over deductions for nonslip shoes.

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NRDC Tells 9th Circ. EPA Would 'Neuter' Public TSCA Rights

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The Natural Resources Defense Council has asked the Ninth Circuit to reject the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's narrow reading of citizen enforcement rights under the Toxic Substances Control Act, saying it would unfairly restrict challenges to agency inaction.

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Winston & Strawn Promotes 18 To Partner

By Matt Perez

Winston & Strawn LLP has elevated 18 attorneys to partner, two shy of last year's class.

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Considerations When Invoking The Common-Interest Privilege

To successfully leverage the common-interest doctrine in a multiparty transaction or complex litigation, practitioners should be able to demonstrate that the parties intended for it to apply, that an underlying privilege like attorney-client has attached, and guard against disclosures that could waive privilege and defeat its purpose, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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Bonus Spotlight

Magic Circle Firms Enchant Associates With Top-Tier Bonuses

By Tracey Read

U.S. associates at Linklaters LLP and Clifford Chance LLP have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, as the Magic Circle firms Wednesday became the latest to match the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.

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Analysis

After Big Win For 2 Trump Foes, A Third Faces 'Tougher Job'

By Phillip Bantz

The recent dismissal of federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey does little to help President Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser John Bolton, whose defense in a classified-materials case presents a thornier set of legal and factual issues, experts say.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: ISP Liability & State Subpoena Suits

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the first week of its December oral argument session, during which the justices will consider whether internet service providers can be held liable for contributing to their customers' infringing activity online and whether the subjects of state subpoenas are required to first challenge them in state court. 

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Interview

For Covington's Adrian Perry, Music Is A Family Affair

By Theresa Schliep

Despite having a famous rock star dad, Covington & Burling LLP partner Adrian J. Perry wasn't all that interested in being a musician as a young child, but he knew as early as 6 years old that he wanted to be a lawyer.

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Analysis

Calif. Privacy Agency Gaining Steam Ahead Of 5th Anniversary

By Allison Grande

California's data privacy regulator has taken several notable steps in recent months, including handing down its first penalty upward of $1 million dollars and finalizing long-awaited rules on topics such as cybersecurity audits and technologies that use artificial intelligence, and the groundbreaking agency shows no signs of slowing down as its fifth anniversary approaches. 

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Split 6th Circ. Shields Baker Donelson, Not City Councilman

By Matt Perez

In a published opinion, the Sixth Circuit has found that Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC is shielded by qualified immunity as outside counsel for the city of Nashville in litigation over the law firm's firing of a city election commission chair and member of the firm.

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Foley & Lardner Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Chancery Loss

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP has been sued in Delaware Superior Court by three officers of a now-defunct food recycling company who say the firm was negligent when representing them in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment against them and another officer.

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DOJ Asks Court If It Can Release Epstein Files Under New Law

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a New York federal court's permission to publicly release the files related to the investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, clarifying Wednesday that it wants to release search warrant results, travel and financial records, police reports, and other materials.

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Keesal Young Poaching Suit Against Stradley Ronon Trimmed

By Madison Arnold

A California state judge cleared Keesal Young & Logan to pursue most of its lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young crossed the line when it recruited 10 former Keesal Young attorneys, finding that claims such as inducing breach of contract could move forward, in part, because of conversations among the attorneys.

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DOJ Says Ex-Employees Can't Challenge Firings In Fed. Court

By Rose Krebs

The government says a D.C. federal court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and two other ex-Department of Justice employees, alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Hub Hires: Todd & Weld, Freshfields, Shipman

By Julie Manganis

It was a busy November in Boston's legal community as another firm expanded into the market, and a longtime judge traded his gavel for the ability to address his growing concerns about the Trump administration.

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