Transportation

  • April 26, 2024

    French Auto Parts Co. Can't Nix Ford Supplier's $4.5M Suit

    A French automotive company can't evade a $4.5 million lawsuit accusing it of selling defective speed sensors that were later built into Ford vehicles, causing oil leaks and short circuits, a Michigan federal judge ruled, saying the company is subject to the court's jurisdiction.

  • April 26, 2024

    Feds Probe Tesla Autopilot Recall Fix Amid 'Misuse' Risks

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether Tesla's software update following a December recall, intended to more clearly warn drivers to stay alert and attentive while using its vehicles' Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system, effectively addressed the risks of "driver misuse."

  • April 26, 2024

    Alaska Airlines Rogue Pilot Suit Not Grounded Yet

    A Washington state court judge ruled Friday that Alaska Airlines passengers' state negligence claims were entirely preempted by federal regulations, but gave them a chance to revise their suit to claim the airline violated federal safety rules by allowing an off-duty pilot into the cockpit who allegedly tried to sabotage the flight.

  • April 26, 2024

    Texas Justices Rule Trial Court Must Admit Out-Of-State Attys

    An El Paso court that barred two out-of-state attorneys from appearing pro hac vice because they seemed to have signed a filing prior to being admitted must let the lawyers into the case, the state high court ruled Friday, finding the trial court abused its discretion in blocking them.

  • April 26, 2024

    5th Circ. Reverses Coverage For Fatal Race Accident Suit

    An insurer doesn't have to defend the organizers of an amateur drag racing event against underlying negligence claims stemming from a fatal car crash, the Fifth Circuit ruled Friday, reversing a lower court's decision and determining that a commercial general liability policy was not ambiguous.

  • April 26, 2024

    Panama Canal Project Fight Sent Back To Chancery

    A Delaware federal judge on Thursday remanded litigation arising from a lucrative port project near the Panama Canal in an order that also notes his "deep concerns" over a theory that the dispute belongs in arbitration, made by the companies accused of stealing control of the project.

  • April 26, 2024

    US Says 2 Chinese Nationals Smuggled Semiconductor Tech

    The U.S. has charged two Chinese nationals with conspiring to smuggle semiconductor technology to a blacklisted Chinese company, according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • April 26, 2024

    Pacific Territories Temporarily Freed From 'Buy America' Rules

    The Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and American Samoa are exempt from "Buy America" requirements for certain federally funded infrastructure projects until March 2025, according to a policy the U.S. Department of Transportation released Friday to reduce the far-flung territories' infrastructure costs.

  • April 26, 2024

    Flight Attendants Seek Class Status In FMLA Penalty Suit

    Former and current Southwest flight attendants have asked a California federal judge for class status in their suit claiming the airline punished workers who took family or medical leave by blocking them from improving their disciplinary records, arguing that their allegations are best resolved collectively.

  • April 26, 2024

    Mass. Justices Dash Deported Man's Hope For Remote Retrial

    Massachusetts' high court ruled Friday that a man deported to the Dominican Republic cannot appear remotely for his retrial on charges that the justices previously vacated, citing court rules.

  • April 26, 2024

    Parking Co. Strikes $1.4M Deal To End Pay Transparency Suit

    A parking lot company has agreed to pay a class of almost 300 job seekers $1.4 million to shutter a suit claiming it shirked a Washington pay transparency law requiring that all job postings include salary and benefit information, according to state court filings.

  • April 26, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen budget airline Ryanair file a claim against NATS PLC after the air traffic controller's system collapsed, Mastercard and Visa Europe face group claims from Christian Dior and dozens of other beauty retailers, an intellectual property clash between the publisher of The Sun and ITV, and ISC Europe sue a former director for alleged money laundering. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • April 25, 2024

    Tesla Says Investors May Want To Influence Shareholder Vote

    Tesla on Thursday questioned the motives of investors who want billions of dollars in company stock put into a trust, saying that their push to hasten the court's decision in their suit over Elon Musk's compensation plan raises concerns that they want to "elicit commentary" ahead of a shareholder meeting.

  • April 25, 2024

    Rubrik Leads Trio Of IPOs That Buoy Recovering Market

    Three companies debuted trading Thursday following initial public offerings that raised nearly $1.4 billion combined under guidance from six total law firms, including two offerings that priced above range by data security firm Rubrik and aerospace company Loar, providing fresh energy for a strengthening IPO market.

  • April 25, 2024

    Manufacturer To Pay $3M To End Retirement Kickback Suit

    An aerospace and auto parts manufacturer will pay nearly $3 million to settle a suit claiming it pushed workers' retirement savings into lackluster funds through an investing tool that prioritized kickbacks for the plan's recordkeeper over returns for employees, according to a filing Thursday in Michigan federal court.

  • April 25, 2024

    Patent Holder Settles Transfer Fraud Case Tied To $17M Win

    The holder of a patent on a device that prevents New York City subways from flooding on Thursday settled a case adjacent to a $17.8 million infringement feud by agreeing to accept $850,000 from an individual and two companies accused of helping siphon money away from the infringers.

  • April 25, 2024

    Mich. Pizzeria, Drivers Ready To Reopen Mileage Cost Fight

    A pizza place in southern Michigan and its delivery drivers have asked a federal judge to revive the workers' wage-and-hour lawsuit, a month after the Sixth Circuit overturned the lower court's ruling on how the drivers should be reimbursed for their work-related car use.

  • April 25, 2024

    Rival Amazon Union Attys Get Warning From Federal Judge

    A Brooklyn federal judge expressed displeasure Thursday with how federal litigation between rival factions inside a nascent Staten Island, New York, union representing Amazon warehouse workers has been conducted, saying it has wasted time and raising the possibility of sanctions.

  • April 25, 2024

    Atty Slams Mogul's Fight For Bank Records As Waste Of Time

    An attorney struck back against an airline mogul's attempt to acquire his bank records as part of a hacking lawsuit, telling a federal court that a subpoena was invalid because it was sent under an improper bank name.

  • April 25, 2024

    Indictment Says 'Car Wreck Clyde' Skimmed From Client Deals

    A federal grand jury has indicted a Houston attorney and his former office manager over claims they defrauded clients by skimming nearly $2.4 million from settlement proceeds and using the funds for personal expenses, including private school and Ferraris.

  • April 25, 2024

    Celebrity Cruises' Morgues Are 'Run To Fail,' Family Claims

    The family of a man who died aboard a Celebrity Cruises ship and whose body decomposed after being stored in an ill-equipped cooler is urging a Florida federal judge to reject the cruise line's bid for an exit from its suit, arguing the company's "run-to-fail" maintenance programs for its shipboard morgues made it inevitable a morgue would break while storing a body.

  • April 24, 2024

    Lyft Denied $1M Fees In Patent Suit Because Of Previous Deal

    A California federal judge on Tuesday denied Lyft Inc.'s request for $1 million in attorney fees in its patent dispute against Quartz Auto Technologies LLC, saying the parties' agreement to dismiss certain claims clearly stated that each party would "bear its own costs and attorneys' fees."

  • April 24, 2024

    DOL Says Firm 'Repeatedly' Misclassified Highway Workers

    The U.S. Department of Labor recently determined that a subcontractor "repeatedly misclassified" employees who worked on 25 federal highway construction projects in Pennsylvania, according to a notice filed in Pennsylvania federal court Wednesday in a lawsuit against three construction firms.

  • April 24, 2024

    EU Court Won't Disturb Spanish Tax Break Rulings

    A Spanish company on Wednesday lost its attempt to legitimize a tax scheme declared illegal by the European Commission when the European Union's General Court rejected its appeal, refusing to disturb prior decisions in the long-running dispute.

  • April 24, 2024

    Investors Can't Hit Reset In 737 Max Fraud Suit, Boeing Says

    Investors claiming Boeing wiped out billions in stock value by misrepresenting the 737 Max's safety shouldn't be allowed to "effectively hit the reset button" and pursue an amended complaint that relies on statements already deemed inactionable, the aerospace giant argued Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • High Court Bakery Driver Case Could Limit Worker Arbitration

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    Employers that require arbitration of worker claims under the Federal Arbitration Act should closely follow Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries as it goes before the U.S. Supreme Court, which could thoroughly expand the definition of “transportation workers” who are exempt from compulsory arbitration and force companies to field more employee disputes in court, says Nick Morisani at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Series

    Playing In A Rock Cover Band Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing in a classic rock cover band has driven me to hone several skills — including focus, organization and networking — that have benefited my professional development, demonstrating that taking time to follow your muse outside of work can be a boon to your career, says Michael Gambro at Cadwalader.

  • How To Advertise Carbon Reductions Under New Calif. Law

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    As more companies advertise their efforts to reach the status of carbon neutral or net zero, California's recently enacted Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act aims to force companies to more clearly disclose the basis for such claims — and there's not a lot of time to comply, say Gonzalo Mon and Katie Rogers at Kelley Drye.

  • 5 Ways Maritime Cos. Can Enhance Sanctions Compliance

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    With economic sanctions evasion in maritime shipping at an all-time high, companies must do more than merely search for parties on sanctions lists to limit the serious legal and commercial risks they may face if compliance efforts fall short, say Jeffrey Orenstein and Catherine Johnson at K&L Gates.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'

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    The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.

  • Calif. Right To Repair Law Highlights A Growing Movement

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    New legislation in California is a comprehensive victory for the "right to repair" movement — signaling that this push for legal reform represents a multifaceted challenge to the status quo not only on the consumer rights front, but also in the fields of copyright, software, antitrust and warranty law, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane Meadows.

  • Calif. GHG Disclosure Law Will Affect Companies Worldwide

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    California's Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, which will require comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions disclosures from large companies operating in the state, will mean compliance challenges for a wide range of industries, nationally and globally, as the law's requirements will ultimately trickle out and down, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • What Panama Canal Award Ruling Means For Int'l Arbitration

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    As the prevalence of international arbitration grows, the Eighth Circuit’s recent decision in Grupo Unidos v. Canal de Panama may change how practitioners decide what remedies to seek and where to raise them if claims are rejected, says Jerry Roth at FedArb.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Clarifies Title VII Claim Standards

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    The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Banks v. General Motors, although it does not break new ground legally, comes at a crucial time when courts are reevaluating standards that apply to Title VII claims of discrimination and provides many useful lessons for practitioners, says Carolyn Wheeler at Katz Banks.

  • Opinion

    Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform

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    The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.

  • 3 Personal Jurisdiction Questions Mallory Leaves Unanswered

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    The due process framework that has cabined personal jurisdiction over nationwide and global businesses for the last eight decades looks increasingly precarious after this summer's fractured U.S. Supreme Court decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., which left three key questions unanswered, says Andrew Rhys Davies at WilmerHale.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Expands The Horizons Of Debt Discharge

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    The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s recent ruling in RS Air v. NetJets demonstrates that creditors should not be quick to conclude that their recoveries are limited if a debtor commences bankruptcy and receives a discharge, and should instead consider other potential paths for recovery, like alter ego claims, say Dania Slim and Claire Wu at Pillsbury.

  • EPA's Final PFAS Rule Greatly Expands Cos.' Reporting Duties

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recently released final regulation requiring reporting by entities that have manufactured or imported products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances will require considerable time and attention from affected companies — including many that have not previously faced such obligations, say Lawrence Culleen and Judah Prero at Arnold & Porter.

  • EPA Report A Reminder That Fuel Credits Are 'Buyer Beware'

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    A recent report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General is a reminder that fraud risk in the renewable fuel identification number market remains, and that purchasers are ultimately responsible for ensuring the validity of credits they buy, say David McIndoe and Nick Hillman at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • A Look At Competition Enforcers' 2026 World Cup Game Plan

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    Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, competition authorities of the host nations, the U.S., Mexico and Canada, have recently launched a joint initiative to police collusive schemes, setting an example for other countries' cross-border collaboration — so companies pursuing tournament opportunities should take note, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at Norton Rose.

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