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ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 10 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insured in its lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying negligence suits arising from a 2018 shooting spree at a Parkland, Fla., high school, finding that the term “occurrence” is ambiguous and must be construed in favor of the insured and the lower court correctly determined that shooting was one occurrence under the policy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 granted the solicitor general’s motion to participate in oral arguments as amicus curiae and for divided argument in a case between closed-end funds (CEFs) and a hedge fund, asking it to determine whether the CEFs violated the Investment Company Act of 1940 (ICA) and whether Congress intended there to be a private right of action in Section 47(b) of the ICA.
CAMDEN, N.J. — The first bellwether case in the valsartan, losartan and irbesartan hypertension drugs multidistrict litigation was dismissed with prejudice on Nov. 10 after the New Jersey federal judge overseeing the MDL found that testimony from the plaintiff’s expert that ruled out other causes of a man’s liver cancer was “nothing more than speculative ipse dixit.”
LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an insurer in its lawsuit seeking a declaration that it has no duty to cover its insured’s alleged loss after an airport owner seized the insured’s aircraft, saying that it sees no reason why the airport owner’s act of blocking the aircraft with a truck was not an “accident” under the policy and rejecting the insurer’s argument that the insured did not incur “direct physical loss” because it eventually recovered the aircraft (U.S. Specialty Insurance Company v. D S Avionics Unlimited LLC, Nos. S-24-628 and S-24-630, Neb. Sup., 2025 Neb. LEXIS 105).
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia high court has affirmed two lower courts and held that a group of coal miners who sued the makers of respiratory devices failed to file their lung injury lawsuits before the statute of limitations expired.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal government contractors following federal government instructions are immune from a class case alleging forced labor, and a denial of such immunity is immediately appealable, the attorney representing the for-profit company that operates a private immigration detention facility in Colorado argued Nov. 10 before the U.S. Supreme Court.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 granted the petition for a writ of certiorari of Mississippi’s secretary of State, who seeks review of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel decision striking down a COVID-era Mississippi state law providing that mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day may be received by the registrar within five days of Election Day and still be valid.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 granted the U.S. government’s motion to participate in oral argument when the high court considers whether it should overturn a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals finding that an internet service provider (ISP) is liable for contributory infringement for internet users who pirated copyrighted materials of record labels and music publishers; the high court also granted the government’s request for divided argument.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 10 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former congressman seeking review of an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that affirmed a district court’s ruling that granted defendants $740,710 in attorney fees in a case that hinged on allegations of harassment and defamation.
SAN FRANCISCO — A more than decade-long class suit accusing Sutter Health of monopolizing northern California hospital markets to raise prices and decrease competition will be settled for $228.5 million, according to a federal magistrate judge in California’s orders granting final approval of the settlement, attorney fees, costs and service awards.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 7 affirmed a district court’s ruling finding three tribal officers of the Alturas Indian Rancheria not immune from claims brought against them by California for the allegedly illegal sales and distribution of cigarettes, including claims against the tribal officers for injunctive relief to comply with state cigarette taxation laws and claims against two officers for civil penalties and money damages.