Pennsylvania

  • November 13, 2024

    Highway Workers Reach Deal In Misclassification Row

    Three construction firms have agreed to settle a False Claims Act suit after the U.S. Department of Labor agreed with an electrical workers union and a whistleblower that a subcontractor misclassified employees who worked on 25 federally funded highway projects in Pennsylvania.

  • November 13, 2024

    DOJ Says Disarming Pot Patients Has Historic Precedent

    The U.S. Department of Justice is again urging a Pennsylvania federal court to throw out a suit challenging a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives policy prohibiting medical cannabis users from buying or owning firearms, saying the policy is analogous to laws disarming people who are intoxicated or deemed dangerous for use of illegal drugs.

  • November 13, 2024

    3rd Circ. Wary Of Easing Cheesesteak Shop Owner's Sentence

    Third Circuit judges seemed mostly skeptical of overturning an extension to the prison sentence of a Philadelphia cheesesteak shop owner who admitted to paying employees off the books, saying during oral arguments it was unclear whether the employees should be considered co-conspirators in the tax fraud.

  • November 13, 2024

    Settlement Talks Falter In Schnader Harrison Pension Fight

    Negotiations between a former Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP partner and the now-shuttered firm appear to have failed for now in the former partner's proposed Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action as the parties missed the deadline for a deal this week.

  • November 13, 2024

    Blue Cross Workers Get Final OK On $667K Unpaid OT Deal

    A Pennsylvania federal judge greenlighted a $667,000 deal that resolves two customer service representatives' proposed class action accusing a Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee of failing to compensate them for their preshift tasks, which they said led them to lose out on overtime pay.

  • November 12, 2024

    3rd Circ. Won't Revive Port Authority Worker's Race Bias Suit

    The Third Circuit won't revive a Black woman's suit claiming the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey didn't promote her because of her race and her complaints about discrimination, ruling that the bistate agency had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for not promoting her.

  • November 12, 2024

    Penn State TM Jury Asked To Ponder Sponsorship Confusion

    A central Pennsylvania federal jury will have to weigh whether consumers are likely to be confused by a Seattle-based online retailer's use of historic logos and art associated with Pennsylvania State University, with opening arguments Tuesday promising dueling experts on consumer surveys and interpretations of trademark law.

  • November 12, 2024

    Nationstar Gets COVID-19 Loan Aid Suit Tossed For Good

    Nationstar Mortgage has beaten for good a lawsuit alleging it wrongly denied COVID-19 loss mitigation assistance for delinquent mortgages, with a Pennsylvania federal judge ruling homeowners did not amend their suit to prove the company violated the law.

  • November 12, 2024

    Pennsylvania Atty Text Solicitation Ban Stands, For Now

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday declined to temporarily halt the state's prohibition on attorneys soliciting potential clients using text messages while litigation filed by a legal marketer over the legality of the ban plays out, reasoning that there was no threat of irreparable harm to the company.

  • November 12, 2024

    3rd Circ. Says County Not Liable For Accused Harassers' Acts

    The Third Circuit refused to give a Delaware county worker a second shot at his suit claiming one male colleague targeted him with homophobic and racist harassment and another sexually assaulted him, saying the worker didn't do enough to put the company on notice that it needed to intervene.

  • November 08, 2024

    Tort Report: Royal Caribbean Spycam Victim Seeks Class Suit

    A proposed class action over Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s alleged failures regarding an employee's surreptitious installation of cameras in passengers' cabins and a D.C. Circuit ruling on a gun magazine ban lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

  • November 08, 2024

    Real Estate Recap: Trump, Big 4, Office Demand?

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including how the next Trump administration could affect commercial real estate, where the Big Four brokers saw traction in Q3 and an interesting anomaly in the distressed office market.

  • November 08, 2024

    PPG Seeks $23M Fees In Sherwin-Williams Coating IP Suit

    PPG Industries told a Pennsylvania federal judge Friday that Sherwin-Williams should pay it $23 million in attorney fees after the Federal Circuit backed a jury's verdict invalidating five paint coating patents, saying the litigation was "premised on directly contradicting" admissions Sherwin made to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  • November 08, 2024

    GOP Candidate Sues To Nix Pa. Ballots In Tight Race

    Republican senatorial candidate for Pennsylvania Dave McCormick, who claimed victory over longtime Democratic incumbent Bob Casey by a razor-thin margin, is nonetheless challenging the validity of up to 20,000 provisional ballots in the U.S. Senate race.

  • November 08, 2024

    Landowners Ink $6.5M Deal To Cap Inactive Gas Wells

    A group of landowners is asking a West Virginia federal court to approve a proposed settlement that would have Diversified Energy Co. more than quadruple its commitment to plugging inactive gas wells that it obtained from EQT Corp., meaning that it will cap off at least 2,600 wells in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee by 2035.

  • November 08, 2024

    Mark Zuckerberg Beats Liability In Social Media MDL

    A California federal judge dismissed claims against Mark Zuckerberg in multidistrict litigation alleging Meta concealed social media's risks to young users, finding that plaintiffs failed to show Zuckerberg directly participated in or authorized the alleged concealment despite his control over the company.

  • November 08, 2024

    Pa. Atty Suspended For Cocaine Use At Time Of Court Hearing

    A former public defender in Erie County, Pennsylvania, who previously told the state disciplinary board that the use of cocaine made him a better lawyer has been suspended from practicing in Pennsylvania by the state Supreme Court.

  • November 08, 2024

    3rd Circ. Unsure Progressive Can Undo Car Value Suit Cert.

    A Third Circuit panel on Friday grappled with whether an adjustment that Progressive Specialty Insurance Co. did every time it calculated the value of a totaled vehicle was enough to warrant class certification for a lawsuit claiming the adjustment was unfair, or if classwide treatment was inappropriate when each class member could have a different outcome of that assessment.

  • November 07, 2024

    3rd Circ. Says Tainted Bayer Antifungals Clearly 'Worth Less'

    Four of the nine named plaintiffs in a proposed class action over Bayer's 2021 recall of potentially benzene-tainted antifungal sprays can revive their claims against the company on the grounds that they'd paid for an effectively worthless product, a Third Circuit panel ruled Thursday.

  • November 07, 2024

    How Penn State Trial Against Retailer Could Upend TM Law

    The Pennsylvania State University and an online retailer of goods bearing retro logos and images of schools and sports teams are set to clash in a trademark trial next week that could upend how courts examine infringement claims.

  • November 07, 2024

    Vanguard Investors Ink $40M Settlement In Tax Liability Suit

    Vanguard investors have asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to give the first green light to a $40 million settlement reached with the firm over it allegedly breaching its fiduciary duty when it triggered a sell-off of assets that left investors with massive tax bills.

  • November 07, 2024

    Discovery Paused In Parts Co.'s Suit Against Pratt & Whitney

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has agreed to halt discovery in a parts supplier's antitrust suit against Pratt & Whitney Wednesday, as the aerospace engine manufacturer moves to get the suit tossed.

  • November 07, 2024

    DOL Secretary Seeks Unpaid OT From Health Staffing Cos.

    A pair of health care staffing companies in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania failed to pay overtime to a group of employees it classified as independent contractors, the U.S. Department of Labor alleged Thursday.

  • November 07, 2024

    Indicted Power Broker Says Civil Suit Repeats Earlier Claims

    Indicted Garden State power broker George E. Norcross III and his attorney brother have urged a New Jersey state judge to toss the civil racketeering suit brought against them by a Philadelphia developer, arguing that the developer's claims are time-barred and should have been filed in previously litigated and resolved actions.

  • November 07, 2024

    Atty Says Ex-Colleague Can't Escape Assault Claim

    A former Young Conaway attorney has argued that a onetime colleague he sued did not provide enough evidence to claim she was defending her friend when she allegedly assaulted him, urging a Pennsylvania federal court to toss the defendant's motion for summary judgment.

Expert Analysis

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

    Author Photo

    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

    Author Photo

    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Perspectives

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

    Author Photo

    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • Opinion

    To Shrink Jury Awards, Address Preventable Medical Errors

    Author Photo

    While some health industry leaders complain about large malpractice awards — like the recent $45 million verdict in Hernandez v. Temple University Hospital — these payouts are only a symptom of the underlying problem: an epidemic of preventable medical errors, says Eric Weitz at The Weitz Firm.

  • With Esmark Case, SEC Returns Focus To Tender Offer Rules

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent enforcement action against Esmark in connection with its failed bid to acquire U.S. Steel indicates the SEC's renewed attention under Rule 14e‑8 of the Exchange Act on offerors' financial resources as a measure of the veracity of their tender offer communications, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

    Author Photo

    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

    Author Photo

    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Navigating Complex Regulatory Terrain Amid State AG Races

    Author Photo

    This year's 10 attorney general elections could usher in a wave of new enforcement priorities and regulatory uncertainty, but companies can stay ahead of the shifts by building strong relationships with AG offices, participating in industry coalitions and more, say Ketan Bhirud and Dustin McDaniel at Cozen O’Connor.

  • 3rd Circ. Hertz Ruling Highlights Flawed Bankruptcy Theory

    Author Photo

    The Third Circuit, in its recent Hertz bankruptcy decision, became the latest appeals court to hold that noteholders were entitled to interest before shareholders under the absolute priority rule, but risked going astray by invoking the flawed theory of code impairment, say Matthew McGill and David Casazza at Gibson Dunn.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

    Author Photo

    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

    Author Photo

    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

    Author Photo

    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

    Author Photo

    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • What Pennsylvania Can Expect From Anti-SLAPP Law

    Author Photo

    Pennsylvania's anti-SLAPP law is an important step in protecting speech on matters of public concern against retaliatory claims, and is buttressed by a robust remedy for violations as well as procedural requirements that lawyers must follow to take advantage of its application in practice, says Thomas Wilkinson at Cozen O'Connor.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Pennsylvania archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!