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Good morning. The search for the missing submersible ended in tragedy, but the investigation into the disaster’s cause could clarify what kind of liability the company may face. Plus, FTX is suing a former aide to Hilary Clinton in an effort to claw back $700 million in investments, and 3M has reached a tentative deal to pay more than $10 billion to resolve claims about toxic forever chemicals. Lots to get to on this Friday – read on.
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OceanGate Expeditions/Handout via REUTERS
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Legal experts say liability waivers signed by passengers on a submersible lost at sea during a dive to the Titanic wreck may not shield the vessel’s owner from potential lawsuits by the victim’s families, reports Jack Queen.
The Titan submersible operated by OceanGate Expeditions was found in pieces after what the U.S. Coast Guard said was a “catastrophic implosion” of its pressure chamber, killing all five people aboard. The passengers, who paid as much as $250,000 each for the journey to 12,500 feet below the surface, are believed to have signed liability waivers.
But “if there were aspects of the design or construction of this vessel that were kept from the passengers or it was knowingly operated despite information that it was not suitable for this dive, that would absolutely go against the validity of the waiver,” said personal injury attorney and maritime law expert Matthew Shaffer, who is based in Texas.
The degree of any potential negligence and how that might impact the applicability of the waivers will depend on the causes of the disaster, which are still under investigation.
OceanGate could seek to shield itself from damages by filing a so-called limitation of liability action under maritime law, which allows owners of vessels involved in accidents to ask a federal court to limit any damages to the present value of the vessel. OceanGate would need to prove that it had no knowledge of potential defects with the submersible.
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- A magistrate judge said former U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner should have to face claims of breach of contract and unjust enrichment in a lawsuit brought by an Indiana man who says he is owed $170,000 in unpaid wages for working at a short-lived center for self-represented litigants founded by the prominent jurist. U.S. Magistrate Judge Joshua Kolar of the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana, however, said in his non-binding recommendation that plaintiff Brian Vukadinovich’s fraud claim should be dismissed. (Reuters)
- In the wake of the Tom Girardi scandal, the California Supreme Court adopted a so-called “snitch rule,” requiring lawyers in the state to report fraud, misappropriation of funds and other criminal acts or conduct by a fellow lawyer that raise “a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer.” (Reuters)
- A bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced two new bills to clarify standards for patent eligibility and modify procedures for challenging patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, both controversial issues in American patent law. (Reuters)
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That’s how much co-lead counsel at plaintiffs law firms Keller Rohrback and Bleichmar Fonti & Auld are seeking in fees from a $725 million data privacy settlement with Facebook parent company Meta Platforms resolving claims over sharing of user information with third parties. In a motion, the firms said the fees would represent 25% of the settlement fund, minus about $800,217 in sanctions Meta and its counsel at Gibson Dunn have already paid.
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“Existing rules impose a gatekeeping role on attorneys to ensure the accuracy of their filings.“
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- The Manhattan District Attorney’s office faces a deadline to reply to Donald Trump’s written arguments in support of his motion to move the criminal case against him from state court to federal court. Trump is charged with falsifying business records connected to a hush money payment allegedly made to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has pushed back against the move, arguing that Trump is not entitled to the change in venue because he is not a federal officer.
- The National Transportation Safety Board is holding an investigative hearing on the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, where it will hear testimony about what happened and what led to the decision to burn five tank cars carrying vinyl chloride. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against Norfolk Southern over the disaster, with residents claiming the derailment has made it dangerous to live nearby. The hearing, which began on Thursday, can be viewed online here.
- InfoWars talk show host Owen Shroyer is expected to plead guilty in Washington, D.C., federal court to charges of unlawfully breaching the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attacks. Shroyer, whose talk show is called “The War Room With Owen Shroyer,” is accused of unlawfully entering a restricted area at the west side of the Capitol during the deadly rampage that interrupted the formal congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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What to catch up on this weekend
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- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Navajo Nation’s bid to require the federal government to develop a plan to secure water access for the tribe on reservation lands in the parched Southwest. The justices, in a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, concluded that an 1868 peace treaty between the U.S. and the tribe did not require the government to take steps such as assessing the tribe’s water needs and potentially building pipelines, pumps and wells. (Reuters)
- U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle struck down a Florida rule and a statute that banned state Medicaid payments for transgender healthcare. Hinkle declared the state’s practices invalid, saying they violated the constitutional right to equal protection under the 14th amendment in addition to violating the federal Medicaid statute and the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition of sex discrimination. U.S. district court judges elsewhere have blocked state laws banning gender-affirming care in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana and Oklahoma. (Reuters)
- The 11th Circuit vacated an April 2022 ruling that declared unlawful a government order requiring masks on airplanes and other transportation modes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The DOJ had asked the appellate court to declare the issue moot after President Joe Biden ended the COVID-19 public health emergency. (Reuters)
- George Santos’ father and aunt were identified as the guarantors of the indicted U.S. representative’s $500,000 bail, after Santos fought unsuccessfully to keep them anonymous. Gercino dos Santos and Elma Preven agreed to guarantee Santos’ bail, after the first-term New York congressman pleaded not guilty last month to 13 criminal charges including fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds. (Reuters)
- Pop star Kesha settled a lawsuit brought by her former producer Dr. Luke, who claimed that she defamed him by accusing him of raping her. The agreement, the terms of which were not made public, came just over a week after New York’s highest court handed Kesha a significant legal victory. The New York Court of Appeals found that Dr. Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, was a public figure and therefore would need to prove that Kesha acted with “actual malice” in order to prevail in his 2014 lawsuit. (Reuters)
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