Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse

Thirty states will receive over $102m from Delaware following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that the state could not retain uncashed MoneyGram checks. The settlement resolves outstanding damages after the court determined that the unclaimed funds belonged to the states where the MoneyGram products were purchased, not Delaware. The ruling penned by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson marks a pivotal moment in a lengthy dispute. Under the agreement, Delaware will transfer the funds it held from 2011 to 2017, while an additional $89m from an escrow account will be distributed among all 50 states, with $55m going to the suing states. Brenda Mayrack, Delaware State Escheator, expressed satisfaction with the resolution, stating, "We look forward to working cooperatively and constructively with our sister states."

 

Reuters

General Motors has been ordered by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to face a class action lawsuit concerning faulty transmissions in several hundred thousand vehicles. The lawsuit claims that GM knowingly sold Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC models with defective 8L45 and 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmissions from 2015 to 2019. Drivers reported issues such as shuddering and hesitation, even after repairs, and alleged that GM misled dealers into assuring customers that these harsh shifts were "normal." Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore stated that overpaying for allegedly defective vehicles was sufficient to establish standing for the class action. Ted Leopold, representing the drivers, expressed optimism, stating: "We look forward to holding GM accountable before a Michigan jury." The case is Speerly et al v. General Motors LLC, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-1940.

 

Reuters

London's City AM reports that Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has been found to have paid bribes in exchange for business in Angola but will not face prosecution after agreeing a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). The firm was found to have paid its agent in Angola around $4.3m in commissions to help it obtain business with the Angolan government. Some BCG employees in Portugal were found to have taken “steps to conceal the nature of the agent’s work for BCG when internal questions arose, including by backdating contracts and falsifying the agent’s purported work product.” A spokesperson for the firm said it will “disgorge $14.4m, which the DOJ calculated to reflect BCG’s profits from the impacted work.”

 

City AM

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to immediately clear the way for the Biden administration’s new student loan relief and repayment plan. The Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) initiative offered lower monthly payments and a faster path to loan cancellation. It launched months after the justices divided along ideological lines to invalidate a separate, $400bn Biden administration program to forgive student loan debt. More than 8m people are enrolled in the new program, with debts already cleared for more than 400,000 borrowers. The justices on Wednesday left in place a sweeping order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit that halts the program — and affects several older student-loan-forgiveness programs — while that court weighs the merits of one suit, brought by Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, North Dakota, Ohio and Oklahoma. The justices did not include an explanation for their action.

 

New York Times

Washington Post

Fox Rothschild has significantly expanded its presence in New York's real estate sector by recruiting a 10-lawyer team from Armstrong Teasdale. This new group, which includes six partners, two counsel, and two associates, will form the foundation of Fox Rothschild's new cooperative and condominium practice. Dale Degenshein, the former managing partner of Armstrong Teasdale's New York office, and Howard Schechter, who co-led the firm's condominium and cooperative housing practice, are among the key additions. Dianna G. El Hioum, Fox Rothschild's chief growth strategist, noted that “New York's real estate market has regained momentum.” The move comes amid a series of challenges for Armstrong Teasdale, which has recently closed offices in Boston and Salt Lake City and lost several lawyers to other firms.

 

LawFuel

Sidley Austin has appointed Jon Dean, previously the head of McDermott Will & Emery's Los Angeles litigation practice, to bolster its commercial litigation and disputes team in Southern California. With nearly 30 years of experience, Dean has a strong focus on complex commercial litigation, including patent and trade secrets cases, and has successfully defended clients like Airbnb against significant allegations. This hire follows Sidley's recent expansion, including the opening of a new office in San Diego.

 

The Global Legal Post

Law

Nicole Bertsch has joined DLA Piper as of counsel in its government affairs and public policy practice in Washington. Her role involves monitoring and analysing legislative and regulatory proposals, with a focus on advising clients in the health care sector, including pharmaceutical companies, patient groups, providers, and scientific researchers.

 

Bloomberg Law

Melissa Anyetei has joined White & Case as a partner in its intellectual property practice and global technology industry group in Chicago. Her expertise encompasses patent litigation, procurement, and counselling, along with intellectual property transactions across diverse technologies, including medical devices and software. Anyetei represents clients in federal district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

 

Bloomberg Law

California lawmakers have passed a contentious artificial intelligence safety bill. It will need one more process vote before Governor Gavin Newsom decides whether to sign it into law or veto it. Tech companies developing generative AI say the legislation, called SB 1047, could drive AI companies from the state and hinder innovation.  Supporters say it would set some of the first much-needed safety ground rules for large-scale AI models in the United States. The bill targets systems that require more than $100m in data to train. No AI models to date have reached that threshold. The proposal was authored by Democratic senator Scott Wiener, who said his legislation took a “light touch” approach. “Innovation and safety can go hand in hand – and California is leading the way,” he said in a statement after the vote. Alphabet's Google, Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Meta Platforms have expressed their concerns in letters to Wiener. Supporters include Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also runs an AI firm called xAI.

 

Reuters

The Guardian

Two U.S. House members, Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Shontel Brown (D-OH), are pressing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to explain its repeated delays in proposing a ban on hair straighteners, used by primarily Black women, containing formaldehyde, a chemical linked to cancer. In a letter, they request clarity from FDA Commissioner Robert Califf regarding the postponements, which have shifted from an initial target date of April to September. Pressley said that Black women look to straightening treatments in part because of hair discrimination, observing "If you do a Google search right now of unprofessional work hairstyles, you'll be besieged by images of Black women." The FDA has acknowledged the proposed ban as a priority but has not provided a timeline for its finalization. Studies have shown that the use of these products increases the risk of uterine cancer, prompting thousands of lawsuits against beauty companies for misrepresenting health impacts.

 

ABC News

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has rejected Amazon's request to overturn the results of a 2022 election in which workers voted to unionize a warehouse at Staten Island, New York. The online retailer had claimed that the Amazon Labor Union, and the NLRB regional office that oversaw the vote, created an unfair playing field for the election. It also took issue with the legal actions the NLRB took against the company during the election. The decision means Amazon has essentially run out of options to reject the election results through the NLRB and will likely have to sue the agency if it seeks to present its arguments in court.

 

Wall Street Journal

In a significant ruling, a Hong Kong court convicted former Stand News editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam of sedition, marking a pivotal moment for media freedoms in the city. The trial, the first of its kind since the 1997 handover, saw the editors charged under a colonial-era law for publishing articles deemed seditious. Judge Kwok Wai-kin stated that the outlet had become a tool for “smearing the Beijing and Hong Kong governments” during the 2019 protests. Chung expressed that “accurately recording and reporting their stories and thoughts is an inescapable responsibility of journalists.” The verdict has drawn condemnation from Reporters Without Borders, which described it as a blow to the city’s already fragile press freedom. Hong Kong is now ranked 135 out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index.

 

The Globe and Mail