9th Circ. Restores Boeing's $72M Loss In Electric Jet IP Suit

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel reinstated a $72 million jury verdict against Boeing in an electric jet startup's trade secret case on Thursday and said a new judge should handle future proceedings, flagging the trial judge's late disclosure that his spouse acquired Boeing stock through an IRA during the litigation.

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2 Face Charges Over $200M Water Vending Machine Fraud

By Katryna Perera

A Washington business executive and a former investment adviser were hit with civil and criminal charges in New York federal court Thursday stemming from an alleged yearslong $200 million Ponzi scheme that hawked investments in nonexistent water vending machines.

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DHS Can't Ax Suit Challenging Dissolution Of TSA Union Deal

By Beverly Banks

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security can't defeat unions' suit alleging the agency's move to end a collective bargaining agreement covering Transportation Security Administration workers is retaliatory, a Washington federal judge ruled, finding the district court has jurisdiction to weigh in on the case.

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Staffing Co. Says Ex-Partner Stole Tech For Rival Product

By Ivan Moreno

A company that connects staffing agencies to temporary workers in real time has accused a onetime business partner of stealing trade secrets to build a competing platform, alleging in a complaint in Seattle federal court that the defendant has filed patents that falsely claim ownership of the technology.

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20 States Win Injunction Against ICE's Use Of Medicaid Data

By Rachel Riley

A California federal judge has blocked the federal government from using Medicaid information from 20 states for immigration enforcement purposes, marking a partial victory for the coalition of states challenging a new data-sharing arrangement between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security.   

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Wilcox Case Dims Amazon NLRB Injunction Hopes At 9th Circ.

By Braden Campbell

A Ninth Circuit panel appeared unlikely Thursday to block the National Labor Relations Board from pressing a case against Amazon, as judges noted the company appears to already have the prize its suit seeks: an end to the bar on the president removing NLRB members.

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9th Circ. Won't Revive 3M Worker's Noncompete Dispute

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday declined to revive a former 3M Co. employee's lawsuit over a noncompete provision in his employment contract, agreeing with a Washington federal court's finding that the complaint failed to allege 3M actually enforced or leveraged the noncompete in violation of state law.

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Anthropic Asks 9th Circ. To Halt AI Copyright Trial For Appeal

By Ivan Moreno

Artificial intelligence developer Anthropic has urged the Ninth Circuit to overturn a California federal judge's refusal to delay trial in a copyright lawsuit from authors who allege their works were illegally obtained to train the company's large language model, Claude.

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Zillow Brings Goldman Fight To Skeptical 9th Circ.

By Jessica Corso

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday cast doubt on Zillow Group Inc.'s efforts to decertify an investor class claiming that the real estate listing site oversold a now-shuttered home-buying program, appearing skeptical of arguments that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision worked in the company's favor.

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9th Circ. Affirms Damages In Litigation Support Services Dispute

By Emily Sawicki

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a Nevada federal court's judgment awarding a litigation support services company a combined $350,000 in liquidated damages and attorney fees after finding a competitor breached their years-old settlement and violated its trademark, determining the district court had not selectively enforced the rules.

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9th Circ. OKs Returning Calif. Farm Wage Suit To State Court

By Emily Brill

A California farmworker's wage and hour suit against Sunsweet Growers Inc. can proceed in state court, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled Thursday, rejecting the company's argument that the suit belongs in federal court and should be dismissed.

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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses key takeaways from federal appellate decisions involving topics including antitrust, immigration, consumer fraud, birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment, and product defects.

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Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

Vehicle valuation challenges regarding the use of projected sale adjustments continued apace in insurance class actions this quarter, where insurers have been scoring victories on class certification decisions in federal circuit courts, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.

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Series

Hiking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

On the trail, I have thought often about the parallels between hiking and high-stakes patent litigation, and why strategizing, preparation, perseverance and joy are important skills for success in both endeavors, says Barbara Fiacco at Foley Hoag.

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Meet The Family Law Atty Who Is ABA's New President-Elect

By Alison Knezevich

As she steps into her new role as president-elect of the American Bar Association ahead of a one-year term as president that will begin next summer, Barbara J. Howard told Law360 Pulse in a recent interview that defending democracy and the rule of law remains top of mind.

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Defense Attys Predict Rise In Shareholder Suits, Report Says

By Jessica Corso

Nearly three-quarters of defense attorneys surveyed by high-risk insurance firm Inigo believe there will be an increase in private securities litigation over the next year, especially in the area of artificial intelligence, according to a report released by Inigo.

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Judge Questions How New Jersey US Atty Ascended To Role

By Matthew Santoni

A federal judge tasked with deciding if acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba was legitimately serving as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor was curious about how she ascended to the role in the first place, suggesting at one point during a hearing Friday that the government proposed a game of "musical chairs" designed to "shoehorn" her into the position.

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Trump Admin Calls Judge's Inaction An 'Affront' To High Court

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Trump administration said a Massachusetts federal judge who didn't vacate a decision barring certain staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Education is showing "disregard" to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, calling it an "affront" to the high court's authority.

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Perkins Coie Beats Claims It Aided Client's Alleged $12M Theft

By Gina Kim

Perkins Coie LLP has defeated an investment company's lawsuit in Illinois state court accusing the firm of helping the plaintiff's onetime investment manager fleece $12 million from company accounts and playing a "critical" role in the theft and cover-up.

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US Trustee Blasts Deals Over Jackson Walker-Judge Romance

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. trustee for the Southern District of Texas on Friday objected to Jackson Walker LLP's proposed settlements with former bankruptcy clients meant to resolve fee disputes related to the concealed romance of a former lawyer with the firm and a former bankruptcy judge, arguing they should be denied or considered at trial.

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Judge Removes Atty From Case Over 'Egregious' Citations

By Sarah Martinson

An Arizona federal judge has revoked a Washington state-based attorney's ability to practice in the Grand Canyon State and removed her as counsel in a social security disability lawsuit over a court filing containing fake and misleading case citations.

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DC Circ. Paves Way For Trump Admin To Resume CFPB Cuts

By Jon Hill

A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday tentatively cleared President Donald Trump's administration to carry out mass layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, rejecting a lower-court hold on those efforts but giving time for groups representing consumers and agency workers to request an appeal.

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Judiciary Starts Rule Debate Spanning AI, Subpoenas, More

By Jeff Overley

The federal judiciary's comment clock officially started ticking Friday for rulemaking efforts spanning a smorgasbord of subjects, from high-tech testimony utilizing artificial intelligence to the low-tech tasks of hand-delivering subpoenas and paying witness fees.

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Interim US Atty In NM Named To Acting Role, Sens. Protest

By Courtney Bublé

The interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico has been designated acting U.S. attorney — the latest in the Trump administration's efforts to bypass the Senate confirmation process and install the president's picks.

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Feature

'Creative' $2.5B DuPont Deal In NJ Is PFAS Road Map For AGs

By George Woolston

After six years of litigation between New Jersey and E.I. du Pont de Nemours, including a series of bench trials, the chemical manufacturer agreed to a deal that committed more than $2 billion to cleaning up the Garden State from "forever chemical" contamination at four of its facilities, in the largest environmental settlement ever achieved by a single state.

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Famed Trial Atty, 'Country Lawyer' Gerry Spence Dies At 96

By Ryan Boysen

Gerry Spence, the celebrated "country lawyer" known for his Stetson hats, plainspoken style and high-profile courtroom victories, has died after a singular career that saw him tackle tough cases while preaching a gospel of emotional honesty and vulnerability.

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Analysis

Nat'l Guard Deployment In States Won't Be As Easy As In DC

By Madeline Lyskawa

President Donald Trump's power to deploy the D.C. National Guard and federalize local police lays bare the unique vulnerability of the district, but that power may be more limited in states where Trump has threatened to take similar action.

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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 Transport for London hit with a procurement claim by the operator of Oyster card, while Mastercard and Visa face claims from the Rocco Forte Hotel Group, and Liverpool Football Club lobbed a claim against a security company.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Law firms are feeling pressure from in-house legal departments that want artificial intelligence tools now, but the firms are struggling as companies take different approaches to the tools and regulations keep changing.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Cozen O'Connor leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Sixth Circuit determined that an employer can only be held liable for a customer's harassment of an employee if the company intended for the misconduct to happen.

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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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