The overnight global tech outage that prompted a cascade of flight delays and cancellations and disruptions to certain transit, shipping and port operations, left transportation providers and other critical infrastructure reeling and wondering how to avoid further crippling computer failures.
Law360
Transportation
MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

How Did The Global Tech Outage Impact Transportation?

By Linda Chiem

The overnight global tech outage that prompted a cascade of flight delays and cancellations and disruptions to certain transit, shipping and port operations, left transportation providers and other critical infrastructure reeling and wondering how to avoid further crippling computer failures.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Platform Sciences Hit With $19M Omnitracs Patent Verdict

By Lauren Berg & Dani Kass

A California federal jury on Friday determined that Qualcomm spin-off Omnitracs is entitled to $19.3 million in lost profits and a $140,000 royalty after a former executive's new company willfully infringed one of its fleet management software patents, but cleared it of infringing two other patents.

Verdict attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Says Fueling Planes Is Arbitration-Exempt Work

By Abby Wargo

The Ninth Circuit on Friday affirmed that an airplane fuel pumper can proceed with his unpaid wage claims in federal court rather than in arbitration, ruling his work is involved in the flow of interstate commerce and he is thus a transportation worker exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mich. Panel OKs Nonresidents To Seek No-Fault Tort Damages

By Ganesh Setty

Nonresidents of Michigan or individuals whose vehicles aren't registered in Michigan can still recover tort damages for their in-state auto injuries under Michigan's no-fault insurance law, a state appeals court ruled, even if they violate a statute requiring proper no-fault insurance if they stay in Michigan for over 30 days.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Boeing Judge Indicates Blowout Suit May Not Belong In Calif.

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge indicated Friday he was leaning toward dismissing a product liability suit against Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems by passengers of an Alaska Airlines flight that experienced a door plug blowout midair, saying he lacked of personal jurisdiction over the defendants.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

RAIL

PTAB Invalidates Claims In Amsted Railcar Patent

By Andrew Karpan

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has wiped out several claims in an Amsted Rail Co. Inc. patent covering a way of monitoring the performance of railcars, after the patent had become the subject of a suit between the railcar parts manufacturer and a former executive.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

AVIATION

Jury Finds Booking.com Owes Ryanair $5K For Data Scraping

By Andrew Karpan

Irish discount airline Ryanair has convinced a Delaware federal jury to find that online travel website giant Booking.com should pay $5,000 for using screen scraping software in a way that ran afoul of computer fraud laws, which the airline likened to "internet piracy."

Verdict attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Defense Co. Loar Buying Applied Avionics For $385M

By Al Barbarino

Loar Holdings Inc., the White Plains, New York-based aerospace and defense parts maker that went public in April, said Friday that it has agreed to purchase Applied Avionics Inc. for $385 million in cash.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

AUTOMOTIVE

Feds Taxed $6M Race Car Like Any Old Jalopy, Importer Says

By Dorothy Atkins

Importers have accused U.S. Customs and Border Protection in a new lawsuit of misclassifying a $5.6 million 1955 Jaguar sports car as being subject to a 2.5% duty imposed on common "station wagons and racing cars" instead of classifying the vintage vehicle as a duty-free collectible.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Judge OKs $47.5M QuantumScape Shareholder Deal

By Sydney Price

A California federal judge granted preliminary approval to a $47.5 million deal ending class action allegations by QuantumScape investors that the company made misleading statements about the quality of its batteries.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

INSURANCE

Mich. Driver's Providers Can't Obtain PIP Benefits, Panel Says

By Hope Patti

Medical providers who treated a man injured in a car crash and were assigned his insurance rights cannot recover personal injury protection benefits from a Nationwide unit, a Michigan state appeals court ruled, citing the man's failure to secure statutorily required no-fault insurance.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

TRUCKING

SEC Sues Brokers Linked To Alleged $112M Truck Co. Fraud

By David Minsky

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued two Florida men connected to a Ponzi-like scheme involving a trucking and logistics business, saying the pair illegally sold most of the $112 million worth of unregistered company securities to victims in a fraud targeting the Haitian-American community.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LOGISTICS

12 Firms Guiding IPO Quartet Projected To Exceed $5B

By Tom Zanki

Twelve law firms are on tap to guide four initial public offerings scheduled for the week of July 22 that could exceed $5 billion combined, led by potentially the year's largest IPO from cold-storage warehouse giant Lineage Inc.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

MARITIME

2nd Circ. Rejects Webuild Discovery Bid In Panama Arbitration

By Elliot Weld

The Second Circuit on Friday affirmed a Manhattan federal judge's order that quashed a subpoena from Italian builder Webuild SPA to engineering firm WSP USA for use in an arbitration related to an expansion of the Panama Canal.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen a libel clash between comedian Paul Currie and the Soho Theatre Company over allegations of anti-semitism, technology giant Huawei face a patents claim by Mediatek, Westfield Europe pursue action against Clearpay Finance for contract breaches and tour operating company Carnival hit chartered airline Maleth Aero for significant flight delays. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ENERGY

DC Circ. Upholds EPA's Revised Biogas Accounting Rules

By Ali Sullivan

The D.C. Circuit on Friday backed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's revamp of how it accounts for renewable transportation fuel derived from biogas, rejecting a petition from an industry group that challenged the regulations as unduly burdensome and an agency overreach.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EXPERT ANALYSIS

New State Climate Liability Laws: What Companies Must Know

New legislation in Vermont and New York creating liability and compliance obligations for businesses deemed responsible for climate change — as well as similar bills proposed in California, Massachusetts and Maryland — have far-reaching implications for companies, so it is vital to remain vigilant as these initiatives progress, say Gregory Berlin and Jeffrey Dintzer at Alston & Bird.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LEGAL INDUSTRY

BCLP Seeks Merger Partner As Departures Continue

By Aebra Coe

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP's headcount has declined by more than 20% since the law firm's seminal combination, according to firm data, with a surge of lateral departures this spring and summer. Sources have told Law360 Pulse that firm leaders are currently seeking a merger partner.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Several State Courts Impacted By Global Tech Outage

By Sarah Martinson

Several state courts have been impacted by a global Microsoft Windows outage Friday morning causing operational challenges and courthouse closures.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Seeks Probe Of Conflicts In Ex-Fed. Judge's Cases

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked its internal watchdog to look into why federal prosecutors kept quiet about the fact that they allegedly knew now-resigned Alaska federal Judge Joshua Kindred had inappropriate relationships with several attorneys appearing before him, the DOJ confirmed to Law360 Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NASCAR Names New General Counsel Amid Shake-Up

By Sue Reisinger

NASCAR Holdings' has named a new general counsel and a new deputy general counsel and head of privacy to fill out the team of chief legal officer Amanda Oliver.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Bar Backs Creating New Virtual Bar Exam To Cut Costs

By Hailey Konnath

The State Bar of California's Board of Trustees has signed off on plans to negotiate a potentially $8 million, five-year deal with Kaplan North America LLC to replace the Multistate Bar Exam with its own state exam that could be taken remotely, according to a statement issued Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Kavanaugh Murder-Attempt Suspect Set To Face Trial

By Rae Ann Varona

A man charged with attempting to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has failed to reach a plea deal after nearly two years of negotiations, setting his case up for trial in Maryland federal court, federal prosecutors said Friday.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2nd Circ. Upholds Ax Of Ex-Ropes & Gray Clerk's Bar Exam Suit

By Ryan Boysen

A former Ropes & Gray LLP attorney who was fired after twice failing the New York bar exam can't sue the state agency that administers the test for failing to accommodate her disabilities, the Second Circuit ruled Friday, finding the agency is protected by sovereign immunity.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apple Wants Litigation Funder To Explain Role In Patent Row

By Rose Krebs

Apple Inc. wants a Delaware federal judge to order litigation funder Omni Bridgeway LLC to turn over documents explaining its relationship with Finnish company MPH Technologies Oy and its financial interest in MPH's ongoing patent litigation against Apple in California.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NYC Bar OKs Attys' Financial Stakes In Alternative Biz Entities

By Andrea Keckley

A new ethics committee report says a New York City lawyer may hold a financial interest in alternative business structures in jurisdictions that let them provide legal services, provided the lawyer is merely a financial investor, not practicing law through the entity.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Recuses As Tech Firm Slams Dow Chemical's Request

By Ryan Harroff

An Ohio federal judge has recused himself from a trade secrets case brought against Dow Chemical Co. after the technology firm that sued it showed the court a settlement offer without approval that would grant Dow Chemical's recusal motion, which the tech firm said was a "cavalier approach to a drastic remedy."

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Class Seeks $1.5B Settlement In Payday Loan Dispute

By Crystal Owens

A class of borrowers has urged a Virginia federal court to approve what would be the largest settlement ever obtained in a challenge to participants in the tribal lending industry, arguing that the agreement would give significant relief to hundreds of thousands in the form of debt cancellations and cash payments.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law Profs Throw Flag On NFL's 'Unconscionable' Arbitration

By David Steele

Allowing the NFL's arbitration system, with commissioner Roger Goodell as the arbitrator, to prevail in Brian Flores' discrimination dispute with the league is "unconscionable" and "egregious," a dozen law professors have told the Second Circuit in an amicus brief supporting the former Miami Dolphins head coach.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Firm Beats Rival's Claims In 'Sweet Justice' TM Fight

By Rachel Rippetoe

A California federal court on Thursday nixed a personal injury firm's countersuit against its rival in a battle over the trademark use of the term "Sweet Justice," ruling that the firm's counterclaims are a "mirror-image" of the underlying suit.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'Texit' Atty Sues State Rep., Judge Over Defamation Fees

By Catherine Marfin

A civil rights attorney who has represented the group behind the "Texit" movement filed a lawsuit against a state representative and court officials in a North Texas county, accusing the group of colluding to run up attorney fees against him in a defamation case connected to the pro-Texas-secession group.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. Federal Judges Point Out Recent High Turnover

By Daniel Ducassi

Colorado's chief federal judge on Friday observed "there has been a lot of turnover" on the bench in the district over the past several years, noting five out of the seven active district court judges were nominated by President Joe Biden. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Blanche Law PLLC and Continental PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Florida federal judge tossed the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his allegedly illegal retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

A kidney care company has asked a federal judge to throw out a former in-house counsel's lawsuit that claims she was fired for raising concerns about violations of federal anti-kickback statutes, and a study showed the world's most extensive public country-by-country tax reporting rules would require 51% of large U.S. multinational corporations to disclose tax arrangements. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Promo that reads Law360 Diversity Snapshot Promo that reads 2024 Rising Stars

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AXA SA

Adobe Inc.

Aegon NV

American Airlines Group Inc.

American Arbitration Association

Amsted Rail Co. Inc.

Apple Inc.

Aviva SA

Booking Holdings Inc.

Booking.com BV

Carnival Corp. & PLC

Chevron Corp.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Colorado Bar Association

Comerica Inc.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.

Delta Air Lines Inc.

Denver Broncos Football Club

Dow Inc.

EMI Group Ltd.

FedEx Corp.

Google LLC

Grange Mutual Casualty Group

Houston Texans

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

Leo Burnett Worldwide Inc.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group

LinkedIn Corp.

Loyola University New Orleans

Menzies Aviation PLC

Mercedes-Benz USA LLC

Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Miami Dolphins

Microsoft Corp.

Morningstar, Inc.

NASDAQ Inc.

NFL Enterprises LLC

Nascar Digital Media LLC

National Hockey League

New York City Bar Association

New York Football Giants Inc.

New York University

Omni Bridgeway Ltd.

Omnitracs LLC

Panoramic Health

Porsche

Purdue Pharma LP

QUALCOMM Inc.

Renaissance Capital

Ryanair Holdings PLC

Select Medical Holdings Corp.

SolarWinds Corp.

Solicitors Regulation Authority Ltd.

Southwest Airlines Co.

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc.

State Bar of California

Syngenta AG

The Boeing Co.

The Tennessee Titans

Twitter Inc.

Union Pacific Corp.

United Parcel Service Inc.

University of Southern California

Valeo Partners LLC

Vodafone Group PLC

WSP Global Inc.

WSP Holdings Ltd.

Walmart Inc.

Woodruff-Sawyer & Co.

YouTube Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Alston & Bird

Altshuler Berzon

Anselmi Mierzejewski

Arnold & Porter

Baker Donelson

Baker McKenzie

Benesch

Bernstein Litowitz

Blake Cassels

Bryan Cave

Cleary Gottlieb

Clyde & Co

Continental PLLC

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

DAC Beachcroft

DLA Piper

Davis Polk

Dechert LLP

Dentons

Dorsey & Whitney

Eggleston King

Elefterakis Elefterakis

Engstrom Lipscomb

Fieldfisher

Fish & Richardson

Foley & Lardner

Fox Rothschild

Franco Environmental Law

Gibson Dunn

Goodman Acker

Goodwin Procter

Gowling WLG

Hahn Loeser

Haynes & Boone

Hogan Lovells

Hogen Adams

Holland & Knight

Howes Percival

Husch Blackwell

Jo Anne Simon PC

Jones Day

Kelly Guzzo

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kratz & Barry

Latham & Watkins

Levi & Korsinsky

Loeb & Loeb

Machado Meyer

Matern Law Group

McCarthy Tetrault

McGuireWoods

Miller & Chevalier

Mishcon de Reya

Morgan Lewis

Morris Nichols

Morrison Foerster

Munger Tolles

Nelson Mullins

Norton Rose

Osborne Clarke

Paul Hastings

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Pirkey Barber

Quinn Emanuel

Richards Layton

Robinson Bradshaw

Ropes & Gray

Rutan & Tucker

Seyfarth Shaw

Sidley Austin

Simmons & Simmons

Simon Gluck

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Siri & Glimstad

Spencer Fane

Stein & Vargas

Sullivan & Cromwell

Sweet James LLP

Thompson Hine

Troutman Pepper

Venable LLP

Ward Hadaway

Washington & Washington

White & Case

Wigdor LLP

Wilson Sonsini

Worthe Hanson

Wright Hassall

gunnercooke LLP

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Environmental Protection Agency

Companies House

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

European Union

Federal Bureau of Investigation

HM Revenue & Customs

Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

Michigan Legislature

National Railroad Passenger Corp.

National Transportation Safety Board

New York Attorney General's Office

Port of Los Angeles

Supreme Court of Nevada

Texas Legislature

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio