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Here’s a quick check-in with our friends over at the Legal Solutions blog to see what’s been going on in the legal world this past week: (more…)

A federal judge has dismissed Bloomberg LP’s lawsuit seeking to prevent the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission from implementing certain rules for derivative transactions.

U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of the District of Columbia said the company failed to make a showing of “imminent and irreparable harm” requiring a preliminary injunction.

(Westlaw users: Click here for more articles from Westlaw Journal Derivatives.) (more…)

The United States wrongly asserted that the law allows asbestos personal injury lawsuits against Pfizer Inc. despite the creation of a trust fund to handle such claims against its bankrupt subsidiary, Quigley Co., Pfizer says in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The government is mistaken to suggest that the relationship between [Pfizer and Quigley] … is a mere fortuity or coincidence” that would preclude the application of bankruptcy-law immunity from these suits, the drug company says in a June 3 supplemental brief.

(Westlaw users: Click here for more articles from Westlaw Journal Asbestos.) (more…)

A Pennsylvania federal judge has certified a class of more than 4,000 minors and their parents seeking damages in a civil rights suit against two county judges who pleaded guilty for their roles in a juvenile detention center scandal.

U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo of the Middle District of Pennsylvania focused much of his certification order on the question of common claims and class-wide relief and rejected the defendants’ contention that recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions prevented certification in the suit.

(Westlaw users:  Click here for more stories from Westlaw Journal Class Action). (more…)

As technology innovation continues, the digital marketplace continues to evolve as well. The challenge however is that technology is agnostic: good guys and bad guys all have access to the same tools, and they dictate how it is used – for good or for bad – raising concerns and plenty of anxiety over the emerging virtual economy.

Thomson Reuters and the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children co-hosted a first-of-its-kind conference recently in Washington, D.C. The event, The Virtual Economy: Potential, Perplexities and Promises, was created to explore the issues, opportunities and challenges surrounding virtual economies.

Read more.

A California state appeals court has reversed a verdict in favor of Continental Tire North America and ordered a new trial in a personal injury case involving an allegedly faulty General Road Tamer LX tire.

In an unreported decision, the 1st District Court of Appeal panel said the trial court “prejudicially erred in excluding relevant and admissible evidence” and failed to properly instruct the jury.

(Westlaw users: Click here for more stories from Westlaw Journal Automotive.) (more…)

New York’s attorney general has claimed in a lawsuit that HSBC Bank is not complying with state law requiring foreclosing lenders to timely schedule court-supervised settlement conferences with delinquent mortgage borrowers.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman says HSBC Bank USA and HSBC Mortgage Corp. delay their requests for the settlement conferences while continuing to assess interest, fees and penalties on homeowners.

(Westlaw users: Click here for more articles from Westlaw Journal Bank & Lender Liability.) (more…)

Four plaintiffs in a mass-tort action over an underground gasoline leak did not suffer prejudice when a trial court severed their claims and held a bellwether trial on exposure, causation and damages, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled.

The court ruled 5-1 to reinstate a defense verdict that the Pennsylvania Superior Court previously vacated in favor of holding a trial on all 45 plaintiffs’ claims.

(Westlaw users:  Click here for more stories from Westlaw Journal Toxic Torts.) (more…)

We spoke with Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft attorneys Jason M. Halper and Ryan J. Andreoli about their recent commentary, “Class action issues in the Supreme Court: Comcast Corp. v. Behrend” published in the Westlaw Journal Class Action in May.

The attorneys told us in more detail about what the ruling means for class action plaintiffs and defendants.

(more…)