Cancer Patients Target J&J Talc Unit's Asset Shuffles

By George Woolston

Cancer patients who have sued Johnson & Johnson alleging that its talcum powder caused their illness alleged Wednesday that the company has tried to intentionally prevent tort victims from getting their day in court through a scheme of fraudulent corporate transactions.

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Zillow Trade Practices Case Meets Skeptical Conn. Judge

By Aaron Keller

A federal judge in Connecticut on Wednesday seemed skeptical of a real estate sales associate's proposed class action complaint against Zillow Inc., suggesting that the website's "Zestimates" of home values are protected by the First Amendment during a summary judgment hearing on the sole remaining claim in the dispute.

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$600M Norfolk Southern Derailment Deal Gets Early Court OK

By Linda Chiem

Consolidated class litigation over last year's fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, cleared a court hurdle Tuesday after a federal judge tentatively signed off on a proposed $600 million settlement between the rail giant and thousands of impacted residents and businesses.

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Nokia Can't Escape Suit Alleging Costly 401(k) Investments

By Patrick Hoff

Nokia must face a proposed class action alleging it failed to keep the costs of its employee 401(k) plan in check, a New Jersey federal judge said Wednesday, finding the plan participants leading the suit provided enough detail to back up their claims of costly investment options.

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Stryker Agrees To Settle Calif. Misclassification Suit

By Irene Spezzamonte

Medical device company Stryker told a California federal court Wednesday it has agreed to settle a proposed class action accusing it of misclassifying workers as overtime-exempt and failing to pay them overtime during their mandatory training.

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Investors Say FIS Must Investigate Derivative Suit's Claims

By Sydney Price

An investor of fintech corporation Fidelity National Information Services has pushed back on the company and its executives' bid to escape a derivative lawsuit over a $46 billion market cap drop resulting from a business spinoff, saying the company must investigate the suit's allegations.

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Del. Supreme Court Affirms AMC Shareholder Settlement

By Leslie A. Pappas

Delaware's Supreme Court declared Wednesday that there shall be no sequel to the drama from common stockholders of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. who objected to a class settlement of litigation in the state's Chancery Court.

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Robbins Geller, Motley Rice Seek To Rep Solar Co. Investors

By Emilie Ruscoe

Motley Rice LLC and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP want to represent investors of energy company Shoals Technologies Group Inc. in consolidated proposed class action claims taking aim at the company and its brass and underwriters for allegedly concealing costly issues with wires in its products.

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Accepting Price-Fix Tech Invite Can Be Enough: DOJ Official

By Bryan Koenig

An advisor to the Justice Department's top competition official continued to argue Wednesday that signing onto a price setting algorithm can be enough to trigger antitrust liability if the program was billed as fixing prices.

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Axon Says Deal Saved 'Vital' Services In Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

Axon Enterprise Inc. is looking to toss allegations that it monopolized the Taser and body-worn camera markets, arguing that its acquisition of a body camera supplier preserved vital services for police departments while a trio of municipalities said the deal resulted in higher prices.

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Teva, Bristol-Myers Cite Bystolic Against Cancer Drug Case

By Bryan Koenig

Celgene and parent Bristol-Myers Squibb pointed a New Jersey federal judge to the dismissal, recently upheld by the Second Circuit, of an antitrust suit over delayed generic competition to AbbVie's hypertension treatment Bystolic to argue the same logic applies to their bid to duck antitrust claims over cancer therapies.

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American Air Pilots Win Cert. Over 401(k)'s ESG Investments

By Lauren Berg

A Texas federal judge on Wednesday certified a class of pilots accusing American Airlines of packing its $26 billion retirement plan with investments that focused too heavily on environmental, social and governance factors, like climate change, and too little on financial returns.

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Energy Contractor Can't Get Quick Appeal In 401(k) Suit

By Emmy Freedman

A Texas federal judge refused to allow an energy contractor to immediately appeal a decision declining to dismiss a proposed class action accusing it of stacking its retirement plan with underperforming funds, saying allowing the Fifth Circuit to weigh in now would only slow down the litigation.

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Wash. Health System Wants $230M Worker Class Win Axed

By Rachel Riley

A Washington hospital system is seeking to derail a nearly $230 million judgement in favor of workers in a class wage case, contending the plaintiffs' key expert who testified at a state court trial recommended that jurors calculate damages based on a flawed equation that didn't account for differences in pay classifications.

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Chanel Stiffs Calif. Workers On Meal Breaks, OT, Court Told

By Abby Wargo

Hourly employees at Chanel in California have not been paid for all their hours worked, including missed meal breaks and overtime, a former worker told a state court.

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Caesars Escapes Privacy Suit Over Online Video Games

By Henrik Nilsson

A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday tossed without prejudice a proposed class action accusing Caesars of illegally sharing the personal identifying information of those who played video games on its casino website, saying the online games are not covered under the law the plaintiff alleges the casino violated.

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WeChat Users Must Arbitrate Privacy Row, Calif. Panel Says

By Gina Kim

California appellate justices said Monday that WeChat users must arbitrate their proposed class action accusing Tencent of using politically motivated practices to censor their communications, saying plaintiffs can't argue they never agreed to terms of service with the arbitration provision while also basing their complaint on those same terms of service.

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Stubhub, Attys Beat Sanctions Bid For Lost Hyperlinked Docs

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal magistrate judge on Monday rejected a request for sanctions against StubHub and its counsel over problems finding hyperlinked documents in a case brought by consumers seeking refunds for events that were canceled or rescheduled due to COVID-19, saying the court's order requiring their production was "in most cases impossible to comply with."

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Wells Fargo Tries 2 Tactics To Get Overdraft Fee Suit Bounced

By Ayden Crosby

Wells Fargo is arguing to a South Dakota federal judge that customers suing as a potential class fully knew they were subject to penalties when they bounced checks, and that an arbitration clause obligates them to handle disputes outside court.

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ATM Plaintiffs Must Share New Data In Visa, Mastercard Suit

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge ordered ATM operator plaintiffs on Wednesday to turn over updated data showing average interchange fees and transaction surcharges at the center of a discovery dispute in their long-running class action against Visa and Mastercard, telling the plaintiffs that she wanted to err on the side of "liberal discovery."

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Brief

Mich. Judge Gives Final OK To Engineering Co. $8M Flint Deal

By Madeline Lyskawa

A Michigan federal judge has granted final approval of an $8 million settlement between a civil engineering company and Flint, Michigan, residents, putting to rest claims the company failed to warn them of likely lead contamination that triggered a drinking water crisis in the city.

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EB-5 Investors Say Developers' $150K Shouldn't Go To Attys

By Alyssa Aquino

Chinese investors looking to recoup a nearly $40 million investment in failed developments urged an Illinois federal court against allowing bankrupt developers to use $150,000 in assets to pay the developers' attorneys, saying the lawyers shouldn't be paid before the investors.

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Likely NCAA Deal Negates Need For Transfer, Athletes Say

By Daniel Ducassi

Athletes suing the National Collegiate Athletics Association in Colorado over compensation rules have told a Colorado federal judge that the NCAA may have undermined its own bid to transfer the suit to California, citing recent news reports that the NCAA is in settlement talks in two other cases in the Northern District of California.

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Series

Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

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Law360 Names Attys Who Moved Up The Firm Ranks In Q1

A promotion to partner or election to practice group chair means a slew of new responsibilities and also lots of well-deserved recognition. Law360 reveals the list of attorneys whose commitment to legal excellence earned them highly coveted spots in the law firm leadership ranks. Find out if your old legal friends — or rivals — moved up in the fourth quarter of last year.

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200th Lifetime Judge Confirmed Under Biden

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted 66-28 on Wednesday to confirm U.S. Magistrate Judge Angela M. Martinez as U.S. district judge in the District of Arizona, marking the 200th lifetime federal judicial confirmation under President Joe Biden.

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NY Judicial Nominee Defends Record Amid GOP Criticism

By Courtney Bublé

A judicial nominee for a New York federal court stood by her ruling allowing an inmate convicted of sex offenses to transfer from a male to female prison, amid concerns from Republicans that led to some dramatics Wednesday in a congressional hearing room.

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'Appeal To Heaven' Flag Flew At Alito's Vacation Home: Report

By Hailey Konnath

Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday called for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to immediately recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and face censure after The New York Times reported that flags tied to Donald Trump supporters had flown outside two homes owned by the justice in 2021 and again last year.

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Analysis

Justices' CFPB Alliance May Save SEC Courts, Not Chevron

By Katie Buehler

A four-justice concurrence to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme last week carries implications for other cases pending before the court that challenge the so-called administrative state, or the permanent cadre of regulatory agencies and career government enforcers who hold sway over vast swaths of American economic life.

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DA Willis, Trump Judge, And Justice All Roll To Victory In Ga.

By Chart Riggall

The judge and district attorney at the center of former President Donald Trump's Georgia prosecution easily fended off their electoral challengers Tuesday night, while an abortion-rights candidate for the Peach State's highest court fell well short of the mark.

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Feature

Spencer Fane Lures In Big-Name 'Misfits' For Patent Group

By Dani Kass

Spencer Fane LLP has spent the past two years building up what it hopes to be a top-tier intellectual property group, pulling together a "band of misfits" from firms like Fish & Richardson PC and McKool Smith, according to the group's co-leader.

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NY Federal Reserve Associate GC Rejoins Covington

By Jack Rodgers

A former Covington & Burling LLP associate who left the firm 13 years ago to join the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has returned to work as of counsel, the firm announced Tuesday.

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Texas Attys Get Green Light To Charge Subscription Fees

By Lynn LaRowe

An opinion recently issued by the Professional Ethics Committee of the State Bar of Texas gives Lone Star State lawyers the go-ahead to offer subscription-based legal services so long as the arrangement doesn't result in the charging of an "unconscionable fee."

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Feds To Extend Plea Offer To Oath Keepers Atty In Jan. 6 Case

By Ali Sullivan

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that they plan to extend a plea offer to an attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, but the specifics of the offer could depend on the U.S. Supreme Court's stance on a federal statute often used to prosecute alleged Capitol rioters.

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NC County Sued Over 'Faithful Slaves' Courthouse Monument

By Adrian Cruz

A group of residents of North Carolina's Tyrrell County has sued the county's board of commissioners in North Carolina federal court over an allegedly racist monument outside a courthouse that commemorates "faithful slaves" deemed loyal to the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

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