Law360 Articles

A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Monday sided with three entities targeted in a $27 million clawback action by the FTX Recovery Trust and cut them from the case, saying the trust had not proven they are alter egos of a cryptocurrency exchange holding estate assets.

A suit accusing Delta Air Lines of failing to include a compensation range in job postings should remain in federal court because the job applicant who sued established an injury, the airline told a Washington federal court.

A New York bankruptcy judge on Monday said he will approve a move by Spirit Airlines to transfer two of its four preferential gate assignments at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to American Airlines for $30 million.

European competition enforcers approved snack food and candy giant Mars Inc.'s planned $35.9 billion purchase of Cheez-It and Pringles maker Kellanova, after an in-depth review found the move would not give the combined company too much leverage over retailers.

A federal appellate judge has upheld the Delaware bankruptcy court's decision to pay out almost nothing on $800 million in claims against collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, agreeing with the bankruptcy judge that the crypto assets tied to those claims were essentially worthless.

Kellogg escaped a former employee's proposed class action alleging the food manufacturer lost its workers millions in retirement savings because of excessive recordkeeping fees, after a Michigan federal judge ruled Monday that the allegations failed to state a claim for violating federal benefits law.

Tax and legal services provider Andersen Group launched plans for an estimated $165 million initial public offering, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The former president of the company behind the Josh Cellars wine brand disputed Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's version of events around his allegedly unpaid legal bills, saying he has questions about the reasonableness of the firm's charges, which must be arbitrated per his contract with the firm.

Former national drugstore chain Rite Aid asked a New Jersey bankruptcy judge to sign off on the sale of its name, social media accounts and customer loyalty data for $7.8 million.

An insurer can't escape a financial technology company's suit seeking coverage for losses stemming from a 2024 data breach caused by its former CEO, a Florida federal court ruled, finding that the company adequately pled a claim for breach of contract.

With Vinson & Elkins LLP, Latham & Watkins LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP advising, natural gas company Antero Resources Corp. announced an expansion on Monday by paying $2.8 billion for assets from HG Energy, while an affiliate reached a separate $1.1 billion acquisition deal with the privately held company.

A certified class of Afghan and Iraqi nationals urged a D.C. federal judge to enforce a court-approved plan for the U.S. government to make headway on its extensive delays processing special immigrant visa applications from people who assisted troops overseas.

Counsel for US Magnesium told a Delaware bankruptcy judge Monday that the debtor has met with several regulatory agencies ahead of a hearing next week to convert the case to a Chapter 7 liquidation, but that the former magnesium producer has yet to reach a resolution with them.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on pace to run out of funding in the new year, threatening current and future rulemaking efforts, but a rapid series of recent actions still carries significant implications for regulated entities and warrants careful monitoring in the remaining weeks of the year, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told a Washington federal district court that its decision to freeze funding for a low-income solar energy program should stand while states pursue a lawsuit to free up the money.

The State Department's recent designation of President Nicolás Maduro, and other Venezuelan government and military officials, as members of a foreign terrorist organization drastically increases the level of caution companies must exercise when doing business in the region to mitigate potential civil, criminal and regulatory risk, say attorneys at Freshfields.

Ondo Finance said Monday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ended an investigation into the crypto project without filing any claims, following similar announcements from multiple other crypto firms coinciding with the change of presidential administration earlier this year.

Rent-to-own furniture and appliance retailer Buddy Mac has hired attorneys from Kane Russell Coleman Logan PC to guide it through a Chapter 11 the company recently launched in hopes of reorganizing or selling the business as a going concern to address up to $50 million in debt.

A tribal lending entity accused of charging customers illegal interest rates ranging from about 500% to 700% does not have any legitimate connection to a Native American tribe, a proposed class has claimed in Kentucky federal court.

Private equity-backed ProAmpac on Monday unveiled plans to acquire TC Transcontinental Packaging from TC Transcontinental in a $1.51 billion deal built by four law firms.

Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination, and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.

A Florida fertilizer producer asked the Eleventh Circuit to toss a lawsuit challenging a new roadway on its property using radioactive materials, arguing the court cannot provide any remediation or relief for a road it already constructed.

Growth is top of mind for Eversheds Sutherland's two global leaders, but as they wrap up 2025 in their new leadership roles with the transatlantic firm, they emphasized in a recent interview with Law360 Pulse they're taking a strategic approach to expansion.

Corporate legal teams overall are expected to pull back on internal and external legal spending by the year's end, according to data out on Monday, as general counsel continue to prioritize efficiency amid increasing workloads and rising demands.

Alina Habba stepped down Monday as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey following a Third Circuit ruling that she was unlawfully appointed to the position, with the U.S. Department of Justice unveiling that a trio of officials will take on her responsibilities.

A Florida federal judge allowed Carlton Fields and its attorneys on Monday to withdraw from representing the plaintiffs in a dispute over the ownership of the Miss America pageant, after the firm said "irreconcilable differences" drew it to ask to step down.

In National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments about the constitutionality of coordinated party contribution spending caps, and its decision will have immediate practical effects just as the 2026 election gets underway, says Bill Powers at Spencer Fane.

A Florida-based litigation funder has sued two California attorneys and a law firm, alleging they secretly settled a client's civil dispute and steered the money so they wouldn't have to repay over $1.5 million.

A California tribe is asking a D.C. federal court to dismiss three challenges to a U.S. Department of the Interior decision to place 160 acres into trust for its $700 million hotel and casino project, arguing that the consequences of denying its intervention in the litigation would be "grave and severe."

A Connecticut judge bristled at a celebrity doctor's failure to overturn key records that may bolster a former WWE staffer's abuse claims against the company, saying on Monday that his prior order to unearth the documents "is not being taken seriously."

A Connecticut attorney was suspended from practicing law for one year on Monday after formally pleading guilty to interfering with an officer investigating the high-profile disappearance and presumed death of Jennifer Farber Dulos, even though the lawyer maintained his innocence to the conduct alleged.

Toronto-based legal technology company Dye & Durham Ltd. announced a settlement on Friday with investor OneMove Capital Ltd. that will see the group back the company's full slate of board nominees at an upcoming shareholder meeting in exchange for immediate board changes, including the addition of two directors.

A year after moving from Reed Smith LLP, the chief financial officer for Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC has seen his duties expanded to also lead the firm's operations.

Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP announced Monday that it has welcomed back a prominent shareholder lawyer to co-lead its corporate governance practice following the controversial departure of the group's former leader to launch a boutique firm.

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday held that a series of public education reforms allow for a Garden State municipality to withdraw from two school districts in order to join one regional school district that would serve all of its public school students.

A Manhattan hotel operator must hand over $4.1 million to a hotel and hospital workers union, a New York federal judge ruled, finding that the operator has failed to respond to accusations that it owes money to multiple health benefit funds.

After appearing in a video encouraging members of the military and intelligence community to not follow illegal orders, Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., have established legal defense funds.

Freshfields LLP announced Monday that it has brought on the former deputy assistant attorney general for criminal enforcement in the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division to the firm's San Francisco office.

Class members who scored a $675K settlement resolving their case alleging that the defunct firm Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP misdirected money meant for attorneys' retirement accounts to stay afloat have asked a Pennsylvania federal judge for counsel fees in the amount of one-third of the settlement.

Delaware's chancellor on Monday tossed some but not all amended counterclaims in a long-running battle among some relatives of the musician known as Prince and managing members of his estate, while saying a neutral party could help resolve the case.

An Israeli venture capital-backed cultivated meat company breached a payment agreement for work on its inaugural facility in North Carolina and now owes the builder over $35 million, according to a lawsuit filed in North Carolina federal court.

A New York federal judge overturned Gol Linhas' Chapter 11 plan over third-party releases. Linqto was cleared to solicit creditor votes on its Chapter 11 plan; AmeriFirst received conditional approval for its disclosure statement despite the Office of the U.S. Trustee's objection. A Missouri judge approved 23andMe's $16.5 million cyber insurance buyback settlement.

A New Jersey federal judge granted final approval to a class action settlement for 3.9 million Volkswagen and Audi owners, resolving claims tied to alleged turbocharger defects and awarded $1.95 million in fees and expenses to the plaintiffs' attorneys.

A Massachusetts federal judge stayed a proposed federal benefits class action Monday against Smith & Nephew that accused the medical device company of imposing excessive fees on an employee 401(k) plan, after the parties told the court Friday they had agreed to settle their dispute.

The 2025 transition to the Trump administration, augmented by the reversal of Chevron deference in 2024, has resulted in unprecedented shifts, and bank-fintech partnerships are no exception, with key changes affecting a number of areas including charters, regulatory oversight and anti-money laundering, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

An Eleventh Circuit panel revived Florida's lawsuit against a federal rule that reduces Medicaid funding based on agreements between hospitals, but upheld a lower court's decision to deny the state's request for an injunction after finding it wouldn't likely succeed on the merits of its complaint.

The former chief of the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey moved into private practice as a partner at the white collar boutique Abell Eskew Landau LLP after a 13-year run as a prosecutor.

The Federal Circuit on Monday affirmed an Ohio federal judge's decision to erase a $64 million jury verdict against Goodyear, agreeing that a Czech self-inflating tire company's suit had alleged misappropriation of trade secrets that were insufficiently defined, not secret or not used by Goodyear.

Bucks County Community College in eastern Pennsylvania can't move ahead with a $2 million expansion of its HVAC training program because a potential bidder convinced a majority of the Commonwealth Court on Friday that the school's preexisting "public labor agreement" was likely discriminatory to nonunion workers and met no urgent need.

A Second Circuit panel appeared skeptical Monday of arguments by two former NBA players convicted of defrauding a league healthcare plan that they were tricked into participating by the scheme's leader, saying the trial evidence included "red flags."

Daniel J. Cerqueira of Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP's M&A practice advised on high-profile deals, including Wiz's $32 billion acquisition by Google and Paramount's $28 billion merger with Skydance, earning him a spot as one of the 2025 Law360 M&A MVPs.

Clifford Chance LLP's Renée Latour played a key role advising the firm's global team to secure relief earlier this year for aircraft lessors with planes stuck in Russia following global sanctions imposed on the country, earning her a spot as one of the 2025 Law360 International Trade MVPs.

Dan Feldman of King & Spalding LLP's energy infrastructure team is advising on what is thought to be one of the largest nonnuclear power transactions in Middle East history and led a group of attorneys working on Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.'s multibillion-dollar investment in a Texas ExxonMobil facility, earning him a spot as one of the 2025 Law360 Energy MVPs.

Katherine Stoller of Allen Overy Shearman Sterling has helped Danske Bank navigate the aftermath of its $2 billion settlement in a major financial fraud scandal and worked closely with Binance Holdings Ltd.'s outside monitor after a more than $4 billion resolution in a high-profile anti-money laundering and sanctions violations case, earning her a spot among the 2025 Law360 White Collar MVPs.

Benjamin D. Brown of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC pushed the UFC to increase its settlement payout to "life-changing" sums for fighters accusing it of wage suppression, earning his place as one of the 2025 Law360 Competition MVPs.

Dechert LLP's Michael McGinley and Steven Engel had three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court during its previous term, including a unanimous ruling that clarified how final judgments can be reopened, earning them spots as 2025 Law360 Appellate MVPs.

Steve W. Berman, managing partner of plaintiffs' class action firm Hagens Berman, helped secure a historic $2.78 billion class action settlement for college athletes and a $418 million settlement for home sellers from the National Association of Realtors, earning him a spot among the 2025 Law360 Class Action MVPs.

A Georgia federal judge has declined to reconsider his ruling tossing a suit by four women against comedian Katt Williams, rejecting claims that judicial bias infected the ruling and defending his decision to refer their attorney to the state bar for filing a brief with numerous fake case citations generated by artificial intelligence.

A health supplement company's CEO, who was largely acquitted of federal fraud and conspiracy charges last month, asked a Georgia federal judge Friday to toss the lone conviction he faced, arguing that allowing the charge to stand "would constitute a miscarriage of justice."

A New Hampshire defense attorney representing a defendant charged for crimes related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sued in D.C. federal court for allegedly stealing a copyrighted study analyzing attitudes in the jury pool of the District of Columbia.

A Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP attorney, who was named to that firm's partnership in January, has joined Kirkland & Ellis LLP's Washington, D.C., office as an investment funds partner, the firm announced Monday.

Mineral producer Imerys Talc America has told the Delaware bankruptcy court it is planning to combine its reorganized debtors under a so-called merger toggle in its proposed Chapter 11 plan, a maneuver the lead debtor said would simplify postbankruptcy claims processing.

Most class actions brought under the federal securities laws are either settled or won by the defendants following a motion to dismiss, but two alternative strategies have the potential to lower discovery costs and allow defendants to obtain judgment without the uncertainty of jury trials on complex matters, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.

After winning a Fifth Circuit case involving fines from the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T has nonetheless agreed with the U.S. solicitor general that the U.S. Supreme Court should review the need for jury trials when the agency seeks certain penalties.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a pair of disputes over the scope of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act, a 1988 law that has sparked a flood of litigation over the viewing data disclosure practices of website operators ranging from the NBA to streaming provider Flipps Media.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday to not grant a nonprofit's review petition for a Ninth Circuit ruling that sided with a Hawaii county in a dispute over a special land use permit.

A Jewish nonprofit organization isn't entitled to coverage for a fraudulent $7.5 million wire transfer, a Maryland federal court ruled, finding that its policy's extended reporting period was not active when it submitted the claim due to the start of another insurance program.

A panel of D.C. Circuit judges appeared to agree Monday that a class of over 20,000 Hilton employees hadn't justified its request for detailed discovery on the hotel chain's compliance with a 14-year-old injunction requiring it to pay additional retirement benefits.

A former One Sotheby's International Realty agent accused of stealing $3.7 million in proceeds from the sale of a Miami-area beachfront luxury condo told jurors Monday that while there may have been wrongdoing on his part, there was no fraud.

A Texas law firm should face sanctions after it flouted a court's order to turn over emails that could determine how much overtime a former paralegal worked, the former employee told a federal court, saying the firm provided "unusable garbage."

Tech company IBM, advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, on Monday unveiled plans to acquire data streaming company Confluent, led by Cooley LLP, in an $11 billion deal.

Property management software company RealPage is asking for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of a New York law that prohibits building owners from using software to set residential rental rates while its case challenging the statute plays out.

A federal magistrate judge recommended tossing a lawsuit accusing Zeichner Ellman & Krause LLP and one of its partners of aiding a scheme to divert tens of millions of dollars from the Orly Genger 1993 Trust, finding on Friday that every claim lodged by the trust's assignee is barred by the statute of limitations.

The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 released Sunday night extends U.S. Supreme Court police protection for retired and former justices and their immediate family members.

Hogan Lovells announced Monday that it has bolstered its tax, pensions and benefits offerings with a Houston-based attorney who came aboard from Latham & Watkins LLP.

The U.S. Supreme Court told a Louisiana appeals court Monday that it incorrectly found that a state law protecting healthcare providers from civil liability during public health emergencies bars an HIV patient from alleging federal discrimination claims after being denied aquatherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investment firm KKR said Monday that it has provided $348.9 million to support Tristan Capital Partners' acquisition of easyHotel, a budget hotel operator across Europe, in a transaction advised by Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP and Linklaters LLP

The Delaware Chancery Court delivered a busy first week of December, featuring commercial disputes, post-closing merger and acquisition battles and renewed scrutiny of fiduciary conduct ranging from oil and gas investments to healthcare acquisitions.

A Louisiana bankruptcy judge on Monday approved the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans' Chapter 11 plan, allowing it to go forward with a $230 million settlement with sexual abuse claimants.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked a California federal judge to throw out a suit aiming to force it to stop oil refineries from using hydrogen fluoride, saying the groups behind it rely on speculative hypotheticals to allege harm.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a union's bid to seek review of a Fifth Circuit ruling that entitles employers targeted by the National Labor Relations Board to court orders blocking the agency's cases.

A Georgia federal jury has handed a $600,000 verdict to a man who accused a former metro Atlanta sheriff of arresting and abusing him in custody after the sheriff intervened in a business dispute with one of his deputies.

The U.S. Supreme Court's forthcoming decision in Flowers Foods v. Brock, addressing whether last-mile delivery drivers are covered by the Federal Arbitration Act's exemption for transportation workers, may require employers to reevaluate the enforceability of arbitration agreements for affected employees, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a former restaurant worker who said she was unlawfully fired after a diabetic episode, declining her invitation to review a legal test used to determine the viability of employment bias claims.

The number of U.S. lawyers showed marked growth for the first time since 2020, due to a 2024 graduating class that was nearly 12% larger than any other class since 2012, a study from the American Bar Association released Monday showed.

Christopher Y. Chan, general counsel at JLL Technologies, recently spoke with Law360 Real Estate Authority about how he and his team balance advances in technology — including the rapid growth of AI — with company guidelines, and the issues currently keeping them busy.

Duane Reade will pay $7.2 million to more than 2,000 New York Police Department officers who claimed in New York federal court that the drug store chain didn't properly compensate them for work performed during off-duty hours.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday requested input from the solicitor general on the case of two former Georgia college employees who have claimed that federal Title IX laws protecting students from sex discrimination should also apply to professors and coaches.

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it won't review a New Jersey Supreme Court decision that a state requirement to treat patients regardless of the patient's ability to pay does not amount to unconstitutional per se or regulatory taking.

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it will not rethink the dismissal of an ex-firefighter's disability bias suit alleging he was forced to retire because the city of Denver gave him work that aggravated a hand injury, leaving intact a Tenth Circuit ruling that shut down his case.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a Christian bakery owner's challenge to a California appeals court's decision that the business' policy against selling baked goods for same-sex ceremonies amounted to unlawful discrimination.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to tackle a lawsuit accusing a NASA contractor of overbilling for labor costs, keeping in place dismissals of the suit from the Sixth Circuit and a lower court after the federal government declined to intervene.

Eliminating the so-called law of the circuit doctrine — as recently proposed by a Fifth Circuit judge, echoing Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurrence in Loper Bright — would undermine public confidence in the judiciary’s independence and create costly uncertainty for litigants, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

Robins Kaplan LLP and Pendley Baudin & Coffin were hit with proposed class actions in New Jersey state court from former clients in multidistrict litigation over the blood pressure medication Benicar alleging that the firms overcharged on their fees.

Litigation funder Certum Group has purchased a managed services organization that handles back office operations and tech support for mass tort and personal injury firms, amid growing interest in the MSO model within the legal industry.

A New York law firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief a week after its creditors filed involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation petitions and more than a month after the firm's founder accused the creditors of a hostile takeover of his firm.