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Good morning. A plan for culling weak cases from mass tort litigation is on the table as part of the federal judiciary’s proposal for new rules governing MDLs. Plus, U.S. Supreme Court justices and federal judges have to reveal more about the free trips and gifts they receive; Vegas hotels are denying claims they conspired to fix room prices; and Donald Trump won’t be able to narrow rape accuser E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case as a trial nears. Here’s Wednesday.
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The federal judiciary’s rulemaking body is moving forward with a proposed rule that would guide judges overseeing multidistrict litigation — and potentially cull the weakest cases, reports Nate Raymond.
The federal judiciary’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules voted in favor of publishing a draft rule for public comment that would apply to federal multidistrict litigations across the country, affecting hundreds of thousands of consolidated lawsuits against companies.
It says judges should schedule initial hearings to develop management plans once they are assigned cases by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, and it encourages the appointment of plaintiffs’ leadership counsel. Significantly, the rule also encourages parties to exchange information about the factual bases for their claims and defenses early in the litigation, which business groups say could help screen out “meritless” claims early on.
The vote comes after top legal officers at companies like 3M and Johnson & Johnson had urged the committee to adopt a policy to allow for early evaluation of cases, arguing that MDLs are clogged with meritless cases.
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- The legal issues brought up in HBO’s corporate drama “Succession,” which follows the power struggle within the fictional Roy family over their media conglomerate, is the subject of an online discussion group run by law professors and lawyers called “The Waystar/Royco School of Law.” (Reuters)
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White & Case settled a lawsuit it filed seeking legal fees from a special purpose acquisition company whose plans for a $480 million merger fizzled. The firm last week sued former SPAC client Colonnade Acquisition Corp II and its directors in New York state court for more than $8.2 million. The two sides said they have “amicably resolved their disputes.” (Reuters)
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John Roesser, a former partner at three major law firms, was arrested for allegedly making false statements to a U.S. bankruptcy court, part of what U.S. prosecutors said was an effort to hold onto a multimillion-dollar house and a luxury sports car despite owing millions in unpaid taxes. Roesser was a partner at Alston & Bird, Arnold & Porter and Dechert between 2013 and 2018. He resigned from the bar in 2020. (Reuters)
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed an amicus brief backing Sysco in its fight with major litigation funder Burford Capital, which accused the food distributor of violating the terms of an investment deal of more than $140 million. Sysco has accused Burford of unfairly trying to control the outcome of the company’s antitrust litigation. (Reuters)
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As Congress and President Joe Biden edge closer to barring the immensely popular video sharing app TikTok from devices in the U.S., free speech advocates are preparing for a fight that would pit the First Amendment against lawmakers’ concerns about national security. Alison Frankel digs into Supreme Court precedent, policy statements from free-speech groups and a trio of cases arising from Trump-era online platform prohibitions to predict what arguments we can expect from both sides.
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“We vacate the circuit court’s order vacating Mr. Syed’s convictions, which results in the reinstatement of the original convictions and sentence.“
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—Judge Kathryn Grill Graeff of the Appellate Court of Maryland, which in a 2-1 opinion reinstated the murder conviction of “Serial” subject Adnan Syed after finding the circuit court failed to properly notify the victim’s family of the hearing on the state’s motion to vacate Syed’s conviction for the murder of Hae Min Lee. Victims have a right to be notified and a right to attend these hearings, the court said, but the state gave Lee’s brother, Young Lee, just one day’s notice so he wasn’t able to attend in person. Graeff wrote that the appellate court had an obligation to remedy those violations as long as it “can do so without violating Mr. Syed’s right to be free from double jeopardy.”
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- The FCC faces a deadline in the D.C. Circuit to respond to a request by hedge fund Standard General to fast-track its legal complaint over the agency’s decision to hold hearings on the hedge fund’s $5.4 billion plan to buy television station operator Tegna. The third-largest shareholder of Tegna alleged the FCC Media Bureau’s decision to conduct the proceedings was “an unprecedented and legally improper maneuver,” because it had not expressed any concerns with the transaction in its nearly year-long review. Gibson Dunn’s Miguel Estrada is chief counsel to Standard General. A team from Covington represents Tegna.
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In the Delaware Supreme Court, Tesla investors will make their case to revive their lawsuit against Elon Musk that sought billions in dollars in damages from the electric carmaker’s chief executive for allegedly coercing the company’s board into buying rooftop solar panel maker SolarCity in 2016. Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights of Delaware’s Court of Chancery last year ruled Musk did not unjustly enrich himself when he guided Tesla to acquire SolarCity, where Musk was chairman and the largest shareholder.
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The U.S. House’s Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing entitled “The Federal Regulators’ Response to Recent Bank Failures,” which will feature testimony from FDIC Board Chairman Martin Gruenberg; Michael Barr, the vice chair for supervision on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors; and Nellie Liang, the U.S. Treasury’s Under Secretary for Domestic Finance. Watch the hearing here.
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Former Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz will appear before the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for questioning about the company’s handling of employee unionization efforts. The committee is chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders, who will likely question Schultz on what critics say are Starbucks’ illegal anti-union practices. Schultz is expected to defend the company’s labor talks, saying it has engaged in “good faith” bargaining while union leaders have used illegal and unfair tactics.
Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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- Donald Trump lost his bid to throw out E. Jean Carroll’s defamation claim from next month’s high-profile trial over whether Trump raped the former Elle magazine columnist in the mid-1990s. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan rejected Trump’s claim that “absolute litigation privilege” immunized the former president for allegedly defaming Carroll last Oct. 12 on his Truth Social media platform by denying the rape occurred. (Reuters)
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Caesars, MGM and other Las Vegas hotel operators named in an antitrust lawsuit asked a Nevada federal judge to dismiss claims that they conspired to keep the price of rooms artificially high. Defense firms for the hotels and a technology company that was also sued include Skadden, Munger Tolles, Latham and Kirkland. (Reuters)
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A 10th Circuit panel said in a 2-1 ruling that an insurance company owned by private equity firm Eldridge Industries must face a lawsuit claiming it misrepresented how much investors stood to gain on certain fixed annuities. The appeals court revived a proposed class action alleging Security Benefit Life Insurance engaged in fraud and racketeering. An attorney for SBL did not immediately comment. (Reuters)
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Oil and gas company Matador Production will pay $6.2 million after federal inspectors said they discovered pollutant leaks at nearly 20 drilling sites on portions of the Permian Basin in New Mexico. The EPA and New Mexico announced the proposed settlement on the same day a complaint was filed in New Mexico federal court. Matador did not admit liability. (Reuters)
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U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews in Wilmington, Delaware, affirmed the Boy Scouts of America’s $2.46 billion settlement of decades of sex abuse claims, rejecting appeals by some of the group’s insurers and abuse claimants. Andrews said the agreement, which would create the largest sexual abuse settlement fund in U.S. history, was a good faith effort to resolve claims by more than 80,000 men who say they were abused as children by troop leaders. (Reuters)
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Boies Schiller added Andrei Yakovlev in the firm’s London office, where he will focus on investor-state disputes. He was previously at King & Wood Mallesons. (Reuters)
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Herbert Smith Freehills said its Singapore alliance firm Prolegis launched a disputes practice in the country with the addition of a four-attorney team from Morgan Lewis. (Reuters)
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Womble Bond Dickinson added corporate and securities partner Howard Herndon in the firm’s Nashville office. He was previously at Frost Brown Todd. (Reuters)
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Greenspoon Marder brought on Marie Wrighten as a Los Angeles-based labor and employment partner. Wrighten previously was at Lewis Brisbois. (Greenspoon Marder)
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Morrison & Foerster added San Francisco-based partner James Beach to the firm’s private equity and mergers and acquisitions groups. He was previously at Massumi + Consoli. (Morrison & Foerster)
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Shipman & Goodwin added litigation and appellate partner Eric Del Pozo in the firm’s Hartford, Connecticut, office. He was previously an assistant solicitor general for the New York attorney general’s office. (Shipman)
- Morrison Cohen brought on Eric Creizman and Melissa Madrigal as white-collar partners. Madrigal will be based in Miami, and Creizman will work from New York. They were previously at Armstrong Teasdale. (Morrison Cohen)
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