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Commercial Litigation UK Corporate Crime & Compliance UK Employment UK Financial Services UK Insurance UK Intellectual Property UK Pulse UK Transactions UK Commercial Litigation UK Corporate Crime & Compliance UK Employment UK Financial Services UK Insurance UK Intellectual Property UK Pulse UK Transactions UK - May 22, 2024### Mich. Judge Gives Final OK To Engineering Co. $8M Flint Deal

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.

• May 22, 2024### Chanel Stiffs Calif. Workers On Meal Breaks, OT, Court Told

  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.

• May 21, 2024### Pacific Seafood Beats Crab Price-Fixing Claims, For Now

  A California federal magistrate judge on Tuesday dismissed a proposed class action claiming Pacific Seafood fixed the price paid to fishers for Dungeness crab in the Pacific Northwest but will allow the fisherman who filed the suit the opportunity to amend most of his claims.

• May 21, 2024### Paramount Pictures Violated Wage Laws, Crew Member Says

  Paramount Pictures Corp. failed to pay crew members working on movie productions their total wages, denied them proper rest breaks and refused to reimburse them for out-of-pocket expenses, according to a proposed Private Attorneys General Act class action filed Monday in California state court.

• May 21, 2024### MetLife Workers Tell 3rd Circ. Higher Premiums Give Standing

  A group of MetLife Group Inc. retirees insisted to the Third Circuit on Tuesday that they would have had lower health insurance premiums had MetLife not kept millions in pharmacy rebates, and that MetLife’s actions gave them standing to sue — or at least to seek more information on how the company should spend the money.

• May 21, 2024### LoanDepot’s $3.5M Deal In IPO Disclosure Suit Gets Final OK

  A California federal judge has granted final approval to LoanDepot’s $3.5 million settlement in a suit alleging it misled investors leading up to the company’s initial public offering, despite a shareholder’s objection that the settlement is insufficient.

• May 21, 2024### Foxwoods Restaurant Servers Win Class Cert. in Wage Feud

  A Connecticut state court judge has granted certification to a class of tipped workers in their wage-and-hour suit against a steakhouse at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, ruling they have plausibly shown that the restaurant failed to pay them a fair wage under state law.

• May 21, 2024### Ship Engineers Take Case Against Shipbuilders To 4th Circ.

  A pair of naval engineers are challenging a Virginia federal judge’s decision to toss their proposed class action accusing a collection of shipbuilding military contractors of entering into secret “no-poach” agreements, asking the Fourth Circuit to take up their appeal in a new filing.

• May 21, 2024### Molson Coors’ Mimosas More Water Than Wine, Suit Says

  Two consumers hit Molson Coors Beverage Co. with a proposed class action Monday in Missouri federal court, alleging that the company’s mimosa drinks are misbranded because they are not made with sparkling wine but rather made with sparkling water and sugar and contain only small amounts of orange juice.

• May 21, 2024### Conn. Bank Hit With Suit Over ‘Crippling’ Overdraft Fees

  Connecticut-based Ion Bank is the latest financial institution to face a putative class action alleging it violated its agreements with customers by imposing overdraft fees on certain transactions.

• May 21, 2024### MLB Scouts’ Colo. Age Bias Suit Moved To New York

  A Colorado federal judge refused to dismiss an age bias suit brought against Major League Baseball by a group of 40-and-older scouts and instead transferred the case to New York, saying he was using his discretionary authority because most defendants have no ties to his district.

• May 21, 2024### NY High Court Upholds State Abortion Coverage Mandate

  New York’s highest court on Tuesday upheld a state law requiring employee health plans to cover medically necessary abortions, finding a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision didn’t change the state court’s determination that an exemption process in the law was constitutional.

• May 21, 2024### Colo. Hotel Denies Directly Hiring H-2B Workers In Wage Suit

  A Colorado luxury hotel told a federal judge that it doesn’t belong in a proposed class action accusing it and its cleaning contractor of unlawfully deducting Mexican housekeeping workers’ wages, saying the contractor is the workers’ sole employer.

• May 21, 2024### SPAC Investor’s Suit Changes Came Too Late, Chancery Rules

  A shareholder of a special-purpose acquisition company that merged with a now-defunct medical technology company in 2021 waited too long to amend his year-old proposed class action and must defend the case against a motion to dismiss in June, Delaware’s Court of Chancery said Tuesday.

• May 21, 2024### Towing Co. Denies Liability For Chicago Scrapping Rule

  Chicago’s contracted towing company says it is not the “moving force” behind a policy at the center of a proposed class action by Windy City residents whose vehicles were scrapped because they failed to pay tickets.

• May 21, 2024### Tuna Buyers Seeking $1B In July Price-Fixing Trial

  Tuna buyers who are taking StarKist, its parent company and a private investment firm that put money into Bumble Bee Foods to trial on allegations of conspiring to hike the price of the tinned fish will be asking for over $1 billion in damages once all is said and done.

• May 21, 2024### 9th Circ. Rejects Quick Section 230 Appeal In Casino App MDL

  The Ninth Circuit refused to weigh in Tuesday on whether the Communications Decency Act’s Section 230 shields Google, Apple and Meta from consolidated multidistrict litigation over allegedly illicit “social casino” game apps on their platforms, finding that deciding the issue on an interlocutory appeal would be a premature, advisory opinion.

• May 21, 2024### Binance User Must Arbitrate Facial Scan BIPA Fight

  An Illinois federal judge has sent to arbitration a proposed class action alleging Binance.US’ trading platform violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act by scanning and storing users’ unique facial geometry as part of its identity-verification process, finding the lead plaintiff hasn’t shown she never agreed to arbitration.

• May 21, 2024### Online Game Sites Hit With Class Claims For ‘Illegal’ Gambling

  The operators of online games Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker have been slapped with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court accusing them of conducting illegal commercial gambling operations in the Peach State.

• May 21, 2024### BASF Agrees To $316.5M Settlement In PFAS Foam MDL

  Attorneys representing public water systems in a South Carolina multidistrict litigation over so-called forever chemicals in drinking water announced Tuesday that they’ve reached an agreement in principle with defendant BASF Corp., which will pay $316.5 million to resolve the claims.

• May 21, 2024### $93M Lipitor Antitrust Deal Sparks Dispute Over Fee Division

  Attorneys representing a class of buyers in antitrust litigation against Pfizer over the cholesterol medication Lipitor are squabbling over how to divide up to $31 million in attorney fees before a New Jersey federal judge even approves the total, according to court documents.

• May 21, 2024### Conn. Law Firm’s Trade Secrets Case Likely Moving To Fla.

  A trade secrets lawsuit brought by a Greenwich, Connecticut, law firm against a former independent contractor is poised to move to the Southern District of Florida after a federal judge in Hartford said Tuesday that a new venue appears to be more appropriate.

• May 21, 2024### Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

  The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

• May 21, 2024### The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

  The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.

• May 21, 2024### Cisco Slips Ex-Workers’ Suit Over BlackRock Funds, For Now

  A California federal judge threw out a proposed class action that former workers brought accusing Cisco of breaching federal benefits law by including several BlackRock funds as options in its $16.4 billion 401(k) plan, saying the ex-employees failed to put forward meaningful comparator investments to support their claims.

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.

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.

A California federal magistrate judge on Tuesday dismissed a proposed class action claiming Pacific Seafood fixed the price paid to fishers for Dungeness crab in the Pacific Northwest but will allow the fisherman who filed the suit the opportunity to amend most of his claims.

Paramount Pictures Corp. failed to pay crew members working on movie productions their total wages, denied them proper rest breaks and refused to reimburse them for out-of-pocket expenses, according to a proposed Private Attorneys General Act class action filed Monday in California state court.

A group of MetLife Group Inc. retirees insisted to the Third Circuit on Tuesday that they would have had lower health insurance premiums had MetLife not kept millions in pharmacy rebates, and that MetLife’s actions gave them standing to sue — or at least to seek more information on how the company should spend the money.

A California federal judge has granted final approval to LoanDepot’s $3.5 million settlement in a suit alleging it misled investors leading up to the company’s initial public offering, despite a shareholder’s objection that the settlement is insufficient.

A Connecticut state court judge has granted certification to a class of tipped workers in their wage-and-hour suit against a steakhouse at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, ruling they have plausibly shown that the restaurant failed to pay them a fair wage under state law.

A pair of naval engineers are challenging a Virginia federal judge’s decision to toss their proposed class action accusing a collection of shipbuilding military contractors of entering into secret “no-poach” agreements, asking the Fourth Circuit to take up their appeal in a new filing.

Two consumers hit Molson Coors Beverage Co. with a proposed class action Monday in Missouri federal court, alleging that the company’s mimosa drinks are misbranded because they are not made with sparkling wine but rather made with sparkling water and sugar and contain only small amounts of orange juice.

Connecticut-based Ion Bank is the latest financial institution to face a putative class action alleging it violated its agreements with customers by imposing overdraft fees on certain transactions.

A Colorado federal judge refused to dismiss an age bias suit brought against Major League Baseball by a group of 40-and-older scouts and instead transferred the case to New York, saying he was using his discretionary authority because most defendants have no ties to his district.

New York’s highest court on Tuesday upheld a state law requiring employee health plans to cover medically necessary abortions, finding a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision didn’t change the state court’s determination that an exemption process in the law was constitutional.

A Colorado luxury hotel told a federal judge that it doesn’t belong in a proposed class action accusing it and its cleaning contractor of unlawfully deducting Mexican housekeeping workers’ wages, saying the contractor is the workers’ sole employer.

A shareholder of a special-purpose acquisition company that merged with a now-defunct medical technology company in 2021 waited too long to amend his year-old proposed class action and must defend the case against a motion to dismiss in June, Delaware’s Court of Chancery said Tuesday.

Chicago’s contracted towing company says it is not the “moving force” behind a policy at the center of a proposed class action by Windy City residents whose vehicles were scrapped because they failed to pay tickets.

Tuna buyers who are taking StarKist, its parent company and a private investment firm that put money into Bumble Bee Foods to trial on allegations of conspiring to hike the price of the tinned fish will be asking for over $1 billion in damages once all is said and done.

The Ninth Circuit refused to weigh in Tuesday on whether the Communications Decency Act’s Section 230 shields Google, Apple and Meta from consolidated multidistrict litigation over allegedly illicit “social casino” game apps on their platforms, finding that deciding the issue on an interlocutory appeal would be a premature, advisory opinion.

An Illinois federal judge has sent to arbitration a proposed class action alleging Binance.US’ trading platform violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act by scanning and storing users’ unique facial geometry as part of its identity-verification process, finding the lead plaintiff hasn’t shown she never agreed to arbitration.

The operators of online games Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots and Global Poker have been slapped with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court accusing them of conducting illegal commercial gambling operations in the Peach State.

Attorneys representing public water systems in a South Carolina multidistrict litigation over so-called forever chemicals in drinking water announced Tuesday that they’ve reached an agreement in principle with defendant BASF Corp., which will pay $316.5 million to resolve the claims.

Attorneys representing a class of buyers in antitrust litigation against Pfizer over the cholesterol medication Lipitor are squabbling over how to divide up to $31 million in attorney fees before a New Jersey federal judge even approves the total, according to court documents.

A trade secrets lawsuit brought by a Greenwich, Connecticut, law firm against a former independent contractor is poised to move to the Southern District of Florida after a federal judge in Hartford said Tuesday that a new venue appears to be more appropriate.

The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.

A California federal judge threw out a proposed class action that former workers brought accusing Cisco of breaching federal benefits law by including several BlackRock funds as options in its $16.4 billion 401(k) plan, saying the ex-employees failed to put forward meaningful comparator investments to support their claims.

• Benzene Contamination Concerns: Drugmakers’ Next Steps

  After a citizen petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a flurry of class actions over benzene contamination in benzoyl peroxide acne products, affected manufacturers should consider a thoughtful approach that includes assembling internal data and possibly contacting the FDA for product-specific discussions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Opinion

  States Should Follow Federal Lead On Expert Evidence Rules

  The recently amended Federal Rule of Evidence 702 will help ensure expert testimony in federal courts reflects adequate data and reliable methods properly applied to a given case, and state courts — home to the overwhelming majority of U.S. litigation — should adopt similar changes, says retired attorney Michael Harrington.

• Opinion

  Post-Moelis Del. Corp. Law Proposal Would Hurt Stockholders

  The proposed Delaware General Corporation Law amendment in response to the Court of Chancery’s recent opinion in West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis would upend the foundational principle of corporate law holding that directors govern corporations in the interest of stockholders — and the potential harm would be substantial, say attorneys at Block & Leviton.

• Back Labels In False Ad Cases Get Some Clarity In 9th Circ.

  Courts in the Ninth Circuit have recently delivered a series of wins to advertisers, making clear that any ambiguity on the front of a product’s package can be resolved by reference to the back label — which guarantees defendants a powerful tool to combat deceptive labeling claims, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

• Opinion

  Federal MDL Rule Benefits From Public Comments

  The new Federal Rule of Civil Procedure concerning multidistrict litigation that was approved this week by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules incorporates ideas from public comments that will aid both plaintiffs and defense attorneys — and if ultimately adopted, the rule should promote efficient, merits-driven MDL case management, say Robert Johnston and Gary Feldon at Hollingsworth.

• Tips For Orgs Defending Against Daniel’s Law Claims

  With Daniel’s Law recently amended to require courts to award statutorily defined damages to aggrieved parties, organizations should identify whether they are subject to the law and ensure they have implemented a comprehensive compliance program to better avoid litigation costs and reputational harm, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

• Practicing Law With Parkinson’s Disease

  This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

• Series

  Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

• Opinion

  High Court Should Settle Circuit Split On Risk Disclosures

  The U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for writ of certiorari in the Facebook case to resolve a growing circuit split concerning when risk disclosures can be misleading under federal securities laws, and its decision should align with the intent of Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.

• For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

  A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

• Intent-Based Theory Of Liability In Hwang Creates Ambiguity

  A case against Archegos Capital founder Bill Hwang alleging that he participated in a securities manipulation scheme, which goes to trial next month in New York federal court, highlights the need for courts to clarify the legal standard defining “market manipulation,” says Edward Imperatore at MoFo.

• What NAR Settlement Means For Agent Commission Rates

  If approved, a joint settlement agreement between the National Association of Realtors and a class of home sellers will likely take the onus off home sellers to compensate buyers’ agents, affecting considerations for all parties to real estate transactions, say attorneys at Jones Foster.

• Opinion

  New Mexico Fire Victims Deserve Justice From Federal Gov’t

  Two years after the largest fire in New Mexico’s history — a disaster caused by the U.S. government’s mismanagement of prescribed burns — the Federal Emergency Management Agency must remedy its grossly inadequate relief efforts and flawed legal interpretations that have left victims of the fire still waiting for justice, says former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas.

• Opinion

  Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

  A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

• 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

  As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

After a citizen petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a flurry of class actions over benzene contamination in benzoyl peroxide acne products, affected manufacturers should consider a thoughtful approach that includes assembling internal data and possibly contacting the FDA for product-specific discussions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

The recently amended Federal Rule of Evidence 702 will help ensure expert testimony in federal courts reflects adequate data and reliable methods properly applied to a given case, and state courts — home to the overwhelming majority of U.S. litigation — should adopt similar changes, says retired attorney Michael Harrington.

The proposed Delaware General Corporation Law amendment in response to the Court of Chancery’s recent opinion in West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. Moelis would upend the foundational principle of corporate law holding that directors govern corporations in the interest of stockholders — and the potential harm would be substantial, say attorneys at Block & Leviton.

Courts in the Ninth Circuit have recently delivered a series of wins to advertisers, making clear that any ambiguity on the front of a product’s package can be resolved by reference to the back label — which guarantees defendants a powerful tool to combat deceptive labeling claims, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

The new Federal Rule of Civil Procedure concerning multidistrict litigation that was approved this week by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules incorporates ideas from public comments that will aid both plaintiffs and defense attorneys — and if ultimately adopted, the rule should promote efficient, merits-driven MDL case management, say Robert Johnston and Gary Feldon at Hollingsworth.

With Daniel’s Law recently amended to require courts to award statutorily defined damages to aggrieved parties, organizations should identify whether they are subject to the law and ensure they have implemented a comprehensive compliance program to better avoid litigation costs and reputational harm, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

The U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for writ of certiorari in the Facebook case to resolve a growing circuit split concerning when risk disclosures can be misleading under federal securities laws, and its decision should align with the intent of Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.

A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

A case against Archegos Capital founder Bill Hwang alleging that he participated in a securities manipulation scheme, which goes to trial next month in New York federal court, highlights the need for courts to clarify the legal standard defining “market manipulation,” says Edward Imperatore at MoFo.

If approved, a joint settlement agreement between the National Association of Realtors and a class of home sellers will likely take the onus off home sellers to compensate buyers’ agents, affecting considerations for all parties to real estate transactions, say attorneys at Jones Foster.

Two years after the largest fire in New Mexico’s history — a disaster caused by the U.S. government’s mismanagement of prescribed burns — the Federal Emergency Management Agency must remedy its grossly inadequate relief efforts and flawed legal interpretations that have left victims of the fire still waiting for justice, says former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas.

A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

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