SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A New York federal bankruptcy court should approve a request by new Chapter 11 debtor Vanderbilt Minerals LLC to allow a stalking horse bidder and bid procedures for the sale of most of the debtor’s assets over the objections of counsel for asbestos claimants and the U.S. trustee so potential bidders have timely information on the sale, the debtor says in a March 4 reply to the objections.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two groups representing agricultural business interests on March 3 filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Monsanto Co. in its case over whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts state law failure-to-warn claims based on the content of pesticide product labels related to the herbicide Roundup.  The amici, whose brief is one of many that have been filed in support of Monsanto, argue that “under federal law, Monsanto need not—indeed, must not—include a cancer warning in the labeling of its glyphosate-based products.”

PHILADELPHIA — Affirming a decision against a multiemployer pension plan fund in a 2-1 opinion issued March 3, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that “timely notice and demand is an element of a withdrawal liability claim, so the existence of this element may be decided by a court sua sponte and without first submitting the matter to an arbitrator.”

BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling that dismissed Boston’s claims against pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for contributing to the opioid epidemic as time-barred and further ruled that the lower court did not err in refusing to disqualify Motley Rice LLC from representing Boston and others in the suit.

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge hearing a trade libel case filed by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff Pecos River Talc LLC against the author of a scientific study on asbestos in talc products has granted the spinoff relief from the judge’s dismissal of the suit and allowed it to amend its complaint after the company presented new evidence.

RICHMOND, Va. — Affirming a lower court’s use of the de novo standard of review in a long-term disability (LTD) benefits case because the plan administrator failed to meet a regulatory deadline during the administrative appeal of its initial decision, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 3 upheld a ruling that the appellee is owed past-due benefits because long COVID symptoms have disabled her from working as an engineer.

RICHMOND, Va. — Concluding in an unpublished opinion that the trial court properly applied the governing principles of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, “credited evidence where warranted, and rejected claims where the proof fell short,” the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 3 affirmed two denials of class certification and two other rulings in a long-running case over termination of a retiree welfare benefits plan that was the subject of consolidated appeals.

LAS VEGAS —  A Nevada federal magistrate judge ordered the parties to appear for a settlement conference after a federal judge granted in part and denied in part cross-motions for summary judgment in insureds’ suit seeking coverage for expenses in defending another suit regarding fraud-based claims.