Mich. School Gains Per-Wound Coverage For Shooting Suits

By Elizabeth Daley

A Michigan school district has access to at least $55 million in coverage from its insurer for a mass shooting that killed four students and injured seven people at a high school in 2021, a state court found, determining each bullet striking a victim was its own occurrence.

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GM Can't Get Full 6th Circ. Redo Of Duramax Emissions Case

By Linda Chiem

The full Sixth Circuit on Wednesday left untouched a divided panel's recent decision partly reviving drivers' claims alleging General Motors deceptively marketed Chevrolet Silverado and Sierra vehicles as being more environmentally friendly than they actually were, but two dissenting judges said the case warranted en banc review.

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German Tesla Supplier Says Mich. Is Wrong Venue For Parts Suit

By Danielle Ferguson

A German auto parts supplier referenced Elon Musk's diverse business ventures in an attempt to convince a Michigan federal judge Wednesday that it doesn't belong in a lawsuit over one of its North American affiliates' alleged breach of a supply contract for Tesla vehicles, arguing the foreign entity has no ties to the Wolverine State.

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Hospital's Med Mal Win Axed By Mich. Appeals Panel

By Hannah Albarazi

A divided Michigan Court of Appeals panel has revived a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Michigan hospital, finding that the patient established a genuine fact dispute regarding her reasonable belief that the gynecologist treating her was acting as the hospital's agent. 

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Flint School Atty Can't Get Immunity In Defamation Case

By Carolyn Muyskens

Outside counsel for Flint Community Schools who accused her predecessor of overcharging the public school district is not entitled to a form of immunity that shields government officials from liability for statements made during official proceedings, a state appellate court panel ruled on Tuesday.

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FERC Says There's No Need To Ref Mich. Grid Upgrade Fight

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission defended its decision that Michigan Electric Transmission Co. failed to establish that shared ownership of new grid updates needed to serve a Michigan solar farm was necessarily precluded, telling the D.C. Circuit the electric utility hasn't shown how it's harmed.

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Michigan Hospital Can't Escape Amputee's Malpractice Claims

By Mike Curley

A Michigan appeals court refused to throw out an expert opinion proffered by a patient who alleges that doctors and staffers at a Michigan hospital are responsible for the loss of his right hand, but said the trial court must fully evaluate whether the expert is qualified under state Supreme Court precedent.

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Ohio Mortgage Co. Gets Rival To Change Name In TM Fight

By Hayley Fowler

A Michigan mortgage company has agreed to change its name to end a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by a rival business in Ohio that claimed it was fielding complaints from confused customers over allegedly questionable telemarketing practices.

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6th Circ. Revives 401(k) Fund Suit Against Parker-Hannifin

By Kellie Mejdrich

A split panel of the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday revived a proposed class action against Parker-Hannifin Corp. from workers who alleged mismanagement of their employee retirement plan, finding a lower court erred in dismissing claims that high-fee and poorly performing investment offerings in the plan violated federal benefits law.

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6th Circ. Ruling Prevents Disability Insurer Overreach

The Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in McEachin v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance offers disability insurance claimants guidance on how they might challenge misapplications of policy limitations for mental illness when a medical condition accounts for their disability, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

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Bonus Spotlight

BigLaw Begins Matching Milbank On Associate Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

Following the news Tuesday that Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP will pay associates year-end and special bonuses in line with those handed out by Milbank LLP this year, the firms' peers have begun to respond, with swift matches Wednesday by Paul Hastings LLP and McDermott Will & Emery LLP.

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DOJ Settles With Atty Who Reported Judge's Sexual Misconduct

By Lauren Berg

A former Alaska federal prosecutor who made allegations of sexual misconduct against then-U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred has reached an undisclosed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice resolving claims she suffered retaliation for speaking up, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Wednesday.

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Foley Shouldn't Face Data Breach Claims, Calif. Panel Says

By Dorothy Atkins

A California appellate panel affirmed the dismissal of Accellion Inc.'s cross-complaint against law firm Foley & Lardner LLP in an insurance company's lawsuit claiming the software-maker should be held liable for a $1 million ransomware attack that targeted the law firm, finding that Accellion's cross-claims are untimely.

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Weil Litigation Leaders Jump To Paul Weiss In NY

By Tracey Read

The co-chair of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's global litigation department and the co-head of Weil's patent litigation practice will soon be joining Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York, the latter firm announced Wednesday.

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Akerman Opens In Charlotte With 2 Moore & Van Allen Hires

By Xiumei Dong

Akerman LLP announced Wednesday the firm opened its second North Carolina office in Charlotte and brought on two new partners from Moore & Van Allen PLLC, including the former head of its renewable energy project finance team and a tax law expert.

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Judiciary Touts Reforms In Handling Workplace Complaints

By Ryan Boysen

The federal judiciary is successfully reforming the controversial process that aims to protect its 30,000 employees from sexual harassment in the workplace, according to a new internal report released Wednesday, even as lawmakers have called for scrapping that process altogether and replacing it with a new one.

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Trump Wants 'Immediate Dismissal' Of NY Hush Money Case

By Frank G. Runyeon

President-elect Donald Trump's legal team told the New York judge who presided over his hush money trial that his conviction should be thrown out due to his "overwhelming victory" at the polls, according to a filing released Wednesday.

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Musk, Ramaswamy Say High Court Rulings OK Federal Cuts

By Lauren Berg

Billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Donald Trump's picks to lead a newly created "Department of Government Efficiency," on Wednesday said two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings will give them the authority to cut off power to regulatory agencies and conduct massive federal layoffs.

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House Dem Proposes Vote Forcing Release Of Gaetz Report

By Hailey Konnath

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten on Wednesday introduced a resolution that would require the House of Representatives to vote on whether the House Ethics Committee must release its report on the allegations against former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a proposal unveiled the same day the ethics committee failed to reach a consensus.

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Fed. Judges Still Seek New Bench Seats Amid Dems' Loss

By Courtney Bublé

The Federal Judges Association is urging the House to pass the bipartisan bill that would expand the federal courts in order to meet rising caseloads, even as the Biden administration appears to be cooling on the idea it once supported.

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Calif. Judicial Nominee Asked About Race, Parenting Writings

By Courtney Bublé

A California judicial nominee's previous writing about the murder of George Floyd in 2020, which sparked a national reckoning on race, was the subject of debate during a Senate nomination hearing on Wednesday.

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Washington State, DC District Court Picks Secure Seats

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate on Wednesday voted 50-48 to confirm Washington Court of Appeals Judge Rebecca L. Pennell to the Eastern District of Washington and 50-49 to confirm Amir Ali, former president and executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center and co-director of the Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic at Harvard Law School, to the District of Columbia.

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Girardi Pushes For New Trial Over Competency Claims

By Cara Salvatore

Counsel for Tom Girardi told a federal judge the disbarred attorney is plainly mentally incompetent and deserves a new trial over charges he defrauded clients of $15 million worth of settlement money.

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