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Massachusetts is set to become the next focal point of a more than decade-long nationwide battle over whether Uber and Lyft ride-share drivers should be treated as independent contractors or employees entitled to benefits and wage protections, Nate Raymond reports.
The state’s highest court is expected to hear arguments on Monday over whether to allow dueling ballot measures to go before voters in November that would redefine the relationship between app-based drivers and companies like Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash whose businesses help fuel the gig worker economy.
One industry-backed measure would treat app-based drivers for the companies as independent contractors entitled to some new benefits but would make clear they are not employees, while a labor-backed proposal would allow Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize. Lyft and Uber are meanwhile preparing to face trial on May 13 in a lawsuit filed by the state over claims that the companies misclassified their drivers as contractors to avoid treating them as employees entitled to a minimum wage, overtime and earned sick time.
Should the industry fail in court and at the ballot box, those two companies face the prospect of a radical reworking of their business model, one that Uber’s lawyers in court papers say could force it to cut service or shut down in Massachusetts. But a victory for the companies in a state with some of the most employee-friendly laws could embolden them in other states, labor activists say.
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- Mayer Brown said that it plans to separate from its current Hong Kong operations, as many international law firms rethink or reduce their presence in China. Mayer Brown said it plans to continue to operate in Hong Kong through a new partnership focused on corporate and other work. Hong Kong partners will reestablish their firm as Johnson Stokes & Master.
- Columbia Law School’s final exams are proceeding remotely instead of in-person amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests and the closure of the university campus, according to a message to students from law dean Gillian Lester. Students may opt to have any or all of their exams graded on a pass or fail basis. Representatives from other law schools at universities with large encampments or where protester arrests have been made said no changes have been made to their final exams.
- Airline parts manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems asked a U.S. judge to block a probe by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, calling the state’s demand for internal documents and other information unreasonable and unlawful. Spirit Aero in the lawsuit said it had significant legal concerns with the investigation that Paxton’s office announced in March focused on the safety of airplane parts provided to Boeing.
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That’s how many times clothing retailer rue21 has filed for bankruptcy, after the company petitioned for insolvency protection in Wilmington, Delaware, bankruptcy court on Thursday. The company is seeking to shut down its 540 stores and sell its intellectual property. The Warrendale, Pennsylvania-based company, which previously filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and 2017, has about 4,900 employees and $194.4 million in debt.
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When lawyers over the years have asked the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – all 29 active judges sitting together – to review a case, the answer has always been no. But if ever there was a dispute that merits a hearing by the entire bench instead of a “limited” 11-judge en banc panel, Jenna Greene in her latest column writes that the bid by a coalition of Western Apaches to save a sacred religious site from being destroyed by a copper mine might be it. Read more.
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“It stays with you for the rest of your life.“
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—6th Circuit Judge Helene White, who seemed skeptical of Tennessee’s claim that the state uses birth certificates to maintain accurate data that is crucial for public health research. White was on the appellate panel hearing arguments from a group of transgender women who challenged Tennessee’s decades-old policy of not allowing people born in the state to amend their birth certificates to reflect their gender identity. The women appealed the district court’s ruling that said birth certificates are merely historical records that do not implicate the women’s constitutional rights. It wasn’t clear from the arguments how the panel will rule.
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- The California State Bar is set to release its February bar exam results, as pass rates are trending up. Among the 42 jurisdictions that have reported February results thus far, 31 have a higher overall pass rate than in February of 2023. California is the last large state to report its results.
- Exxon said it plans to close its $60 billion purchase of Pioneer today after getting a green light from the FTC, although it barred Pioneer’s former CEO Scott Sheffield from Exxon’s board on allegations he attempted to collude with OPEC to raise oil prices. The approval for Exxon is a positive sign for several other energy merger reviews.
- Testimony is expected to resume in former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan. Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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- A lawyer for Donald Trump sought to portray the hush money payment at the center of his criminal trial as extortion, questioning a lawyer involved in the deal about his cash-for-dirt negotiations with other celebrities. Defense attorney Emil Bove’s questioning of the lawyer Keith Davidson hinted at a strategy by Trump’s legal team to undermine the credibility of prosecution witnesses in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
- The 7th Circuit lifted a lower court’s order blocking a land exchange that developers need to complete with the federal government before they can build a major clean-energy transmission line through a Mississippi River wildlife refuge. The appellate panel said a preliminary injunction issued in March by a Wisconsin federal court blocking work on a last stretch of the $655 million Cardinal-Hickory Creek high voltage line was issued without adequate justification.
- Environmental groups sued FEMA in an attempt to force the agency to develop rules that would ensure that billions of dollars in disaster recovery funds are spent on renewable energy projects rather than fossil-fuel infrastructure that exacerbates climate change and makes disasters worse. The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups said in a lawsuit filed in D.C. federal court that FEMA is making major funding decisions after natural disasters without first developing policies to ensure the projects getting funded are helping communities withstand future storms.
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- Davis Polk hired leveraged finance partner Luke McDougall in London. He previously was co-head of the global finance practice at Paul Hastings. (Davis Polk)
- Wiggin and Dana absorbed Boca Raton-based trust and estate law firm Ellis Law Group. Wiggin and Dana adds four lawyers through the combination, including partner Seth Ellis. (Wiggin and Dana)
- Simpson Thacher brought on real estate finance partner Aron Zuckerman in New York from Cleary Gottlieb. (Simpson Thacher)
- Nixon Peabody added partners Frederick Miller from Spencer Fane and Andrew Rubin from Greenberg Traurig in D.C. to its community development finance practice. (Nixon Peabody)
- DLA Piper picked up Jason Vismantas as a real estate partner in Chicago. He previously was at Katten. (DLA Piper)
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- K&L Gates hired Torsten Limberg in Frankfurt as a finance partner from Ashurst. (K&L Gates)
- Wiggin and Dana absorbed Boca Raton-based trust and estate law firm Ellis Law Group. Wiggin and Dana adds four lawyers through the combination, including partner Seth Ellis. (Wiggin and Dana)
- Akerman brought on Dennis Kerbel from the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office as chair of its Florida land use and entitlements practice. (Akerman)
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Most people interested in real estate have heard about the recent settlement involving claims of price-fixing by the National Association of Realtors. By the terms of that settlement, broad changes were implemented in the way that realtors will do business with respect to the purchase and sale of single-family homes, writes Robert Steeg of Steeg Law Firm. Of note: The rules regarding commissions for seller’s and buyer’s agents have changed.
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