“Racing and casino company Churchill Downs, organizer of the world-famous Kentucky Derby race, has agreed to pay $124 million to settle two class action lawsuits, according to news reports. Australian computerized gambling system and spinning reel slot machine maker Aristocrat Leisure Ltd. will pay the rest of the $155 million settlement, or $31 million,” reports Rhian Hunt in The Motley Fool’s Investing News.

“The lawsuits, Thimmegowda v. Big Fish Games and Kater v. Churchill Downs, relate to the Big Fish Games online gambling brand, which Churchill Downs sold to Aristocrat in 2018. That year, a 9th Circuit court ruling said the Big Fish’s virtual chips indeed constitute online gambling, making them illegal in Washington state, where groups of online bettors launched civil lawsuits over their Big Fish losses, which in one instance stacked up to more than $300,000.”

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“J.P. Morgan Chase agreed to pay $9 million to settle allegations by current and former participants in the company’s 401(k) plan that fiduciaries violated their ERISA duties by retaining expensive investment options and failing to look for cheaper and better-performing replacements,” reports Robert Steyer in Pensions & Investments Courts.

“Terms of the preliminary settlement, which still requires court approval, were filed May 22 in U.S. District Court in New York. The parties had announced in early April that they had reached a tentative agreement in the case of Beach et al. vs. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank et al.”

“J.P. Morgan and its affiliated defendants declared there was no wrongdoing, according to the settlement document.”

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“Investors suffering losses from Bayer’s Roundup legal woes are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, as the German conglomerate is said to be nearing a final settlement that could put tens of thousands of lawsuits behind it,” reports Angus Liu in FiercePharma’s Pharma.

“Bayer has reached verbal agreements with a large proportion of about 125,000 U.S. plaintiffs who allege Roundup causes cancer as part of a $10 billion plan to end all legal claims around the weedkiller, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the negotiations.”

“Wrapping up the legal battle at $10 billion would be a win for Bayer, as it has lost $30 billion in market value since the Monsanto buyout, through which it inherited Roundup.”

“So far, Bayer has lost all three trials that ended with combined $191 million in damages, though the company is still fighting them in appeals court.”

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“Plaintiffs lawyers shouldn’t have been awarded $280,000 for negotiating a $15,000 settlement, a Los Angeles appeals court has ruled,” reports John O’Brien in Legal Newsline Stories.

“The California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District issued its ruling on May 21 in a blow to lawyers who claimed to spend more than 800 hours on the lawsuit and initially requested close to $600,000 in fees and expenses.”

“The decision comes in a former server’s lawsuit against Fleming’s Steakhouse & Wine Bar’s. She alleged she was deprived her 10-minute breaks, but her lawyers claimed the settlement included wage and hour claims that entitled them to recover fees.”

“Afterwards, attorneys at Felahy Employment Lawyers and Yash Law Group sought $580,794 in fees and more than $16,000 in costs, claiming they spent 869.6 hours were incurred. They said the wage and hour claims were ‘closely intertwined’ with retaliation and wrongful termination claims.”

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“An Iowa lawyer described as a ‘superb advocate’ has been suspended for overbilling the state public defender for her legal services and car mileage,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Daily News.

“Lawyer Jennifer Meyer was well regarded, but her billing practices require a one-year suspension, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in a May 15 opinion.”

“Meyer provided services to the state public defender as a contract attorney. She billed the agency for more than 24 hours in a day on 30 different days, according to an audit spanning four years. During the same period, Meyer had duplicated reimbursement requests for mileage, attributing trips to a location to multiple clients 147 times.”

“Before the grievance commission, Meyer consistently argued that she did the legal work and was entitled to payment, despite billing irregularities. She often worked beyond customary hours and on weekends, she said.”

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“Santander Consumer USA will pay $65 million to states and forgive hundreds of millions more in consumer debt as part of a settlement with a group of attorneys general over practices in its subprime auto lending business,” reports Laura Alix in American Banker.

“The attorneys general, representing 33 states and the District of Columbia, said the Dallas-based lender had exposed borrowers to unnecessarily risky loans with a high chance of default. In addition to paying $65 million in restitution, Santander Consumer has also agreed to forgive nearly $500 million in car loan debt to borrower nationwide.”

“Santander defrauded desperate consumers by placing them into auto loans the company knew these customers could never afford to pay, resulting in defaults and negative ratings on consumers’ credit reports.”

“The agreement announced Tuesday caps an investigation the attorneys general launched early in 2015 into the U.S. consumer lending unit of the Spanish banking giant Banco Santander. The coalition said its investigation revealed Santander Consumer knew that certain groups of consumers had a high risk of default, but still steered them into loans with high loan-to-value ratios, significant backend fees and high payment-to-income ratios.”

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“A historic settlement reached between the state and Detroit students calls for $94.5 million in future literacy funding, a $280,000 payout among seven plaintiffs and the creation of two Detroit task forces to help ensure a quality education for students,” reports Jennifer Chambers and Beth LeBlanc in The Detroit News.

“News of the agreement came after the Detroit students were locked in a nearly four-year legal battle with the state for better school and learning conditions. The lawsuit was brought by seven students who argued they were deprived access to literacy because of a lack of books, teachers and poor building conditions.:

“Despite the state’s position to defend itself against the students’ accusations of inequality over literacy access, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday she has maintained that every student, no matter where they come from, has a birthright to a quality public education.”

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“In a landmark acknowledgment of the toll that content moderation takes on its workforce, Facebook has agreed to pay $52 million to current and former moderators to compensate them for mental health issues developed on the job. In a preliminary settlement filed on Friday in San Mateo Superior Court, the social network agreed to pay damages to American moderators and provide more counseling to them while they work,” reported Casey Newton in The Verge’s Tech.

“Each moderator will receive a minimum of $1,000 and will be eligible for additional compensation if they are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or related conditions. The settlement covers 11,250 moderators, and lawyers in the case believe that as many as half of them may be eligible for extra pay related to mental health issues associated with their time working for Facebook, including depression and addiction.”

“In September 2018, former Facebook moderator Selena Scola sued Facebook, alleging that she developed PTSD after being placed in a role that required her to regularly view photos and images of rape, murder, and suicide. Scola developed symptoms of PTSD after nine months on the job. The complaint, which was ultimately joined by several other former Facebook moderators working in four states, alleged that Facebook had failed to provide them with a safe workspace.”

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“A California federal judge has denied preliminary approval of a $1.1 million settlement in a wage lawsuit against Western Express, sending the parties back to the drawing board,” reports Tyson Fisher in Land Line.

“On May 1, U.S. District Judge Jesus G. Bernal denied Marc Rivera’s preliminary settlement against Western Express worth more than $1 million. Both Rivera and Western Express were seeking certification of the settlement. The class action lawsuit accuses the company of underpaying California drivers by violating rest and meal break wage laws.”

“Explaining the decision, Bernal pointed to the ‘Release’ section of the settlement. Found in nearly all settlements, the release prevents plaintiffs from bringing a related claim against the defendant in the future. If the agreement were to release claims based on different facts, the court can deny the approval.”

“Calling the release ‘overbroad,’ Markson’s counsel filed the objection on behalf of absent class members in the Western Express lawsuit who are also members of the Markson case.”

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“The Ohio State University announced today details of a $40.9 million settlement reached with 162 survivors in 12 lawsuits related to sexual abuse by Richard Strauss, a university-employed physician from 1978 to 1998 who died in 2005,” was reported in Ohio State News.

“An independent investigation launched by the university determined in 2019 that Strauss abused students during his time at Ohio State and the university administration failed to appropriately respond at the time.”

“In March, Ohio State announced a monetary settlement with nearly half of the individuals who brought claims against the university related to Strauss. All have now signed on to the terms of the settlement.”

“Ohio State continues to participate in good faith in the mediation process with the survivors involved in the remaining lawsuits, and remains committed to a resolution with plaintiffs, including a monetary resolution.”

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“A California appeals court on Tuesday overturned most of a 2017 jury verdict awarding Quincy Jones $9.4 million in royalties and fees from the Michael Jackson estate over the use of Jones-produced Jackson hits in the concert film ‘This Is It’ and two Cirque du Soleil shows,” reports Andrew Dalton in Insurance Journal’s News.

“The state’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that the jury misinterpreted a contract that was the judge’s job to interpret anyway. It took away $6.9 million that jurors had said MJJ Productions owed Jones for his work on ‘Billie Jean,’ ‘Thriller,’ and more of Jackson’s biggest hits.”

“The appeals court found that the jury wrongly granted Jones money from licensing fees, wrongly went beyond the 10% royalty rate Jones was owed for record sales, and incorrectly granted Jones money for remixes of Jackson’s master recordings.”

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“The state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved a $1.9 billion settlement with PG&E that allows it to get credit for wildfire prevention spending while at the same time escape being fined $200 million over regulatory violations stemming from two years of massive wildfires,” reports Jaxon Van Derbeken in NBC Bay Area’s Investigative.

“The unanimous vote came after PG&E challenged the findings of a regulatory judge who urged that the company be fined on top of having to pay a total of $1.9 billion in improvements and upgrades.”

“In advocating for the no-fine deal, Commissioner Clifford Rechtschaffen reminded his colleagues about the devastation associated with 15 fires tied to the utility’s equipment in 2017 and 2018. ‘For the victims of the fire … the damage, the pain and the trauma is ongoing,’ he said.”

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“A federal judge in Houston has ruled that there is no need to sanction a former BigLaw lawyer after a motion accusing him of ‘shaking his behind’ at a mediation went viral,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s News.

“U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal noted that the facts are in dispute about what happened and who is to blame. In any event, she said in her May 4 order, lawyer Dennis Duffy’s reputation has already taken a hit, and that made sanctions unnecessary.”

“Duffy was a partner at BakerHostetler when the sanctions motion was filed in February. He now works at Kane Russell Coleman & Logan, Law360 reports. He no longer represents the Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. in the discrimination case filed against it.”

“Rosenthal began her opinion this way: ‘One of the sentences a judge does not imagine—much less welcome—writing includes the words ‘butt shaking’ in describing a lawyer’s alleged actions at a mediation. Sadly, those words fit here.'”

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“The California Court of Appeal reversed a blockbuster $13 million judgment that was entered against UCLA in favor of one of its former professors of medicine, Dr. Lauren Pinter-Brown.  Dr. Pinter-Brown sued for alleged gender discrimination and unlawful retaliation. The appellate court determined that the trial judge committed a ‘series of grave errors’ that were ‘cumulative and highly prejudicial’ to UCLA and that evidenced ‘the trial court’s inability to remain impartial’,” reports Tony Oncidi in Proskauer’s California Employment Law Update.

“Among other things, the trial judge told the prospective jurors assembled in his courtroom that ‘the arc of the moral universe is long,’ quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, and that ‘if you are selected as a juror, your job will be to help bend that arc toward justice.’ The judge then proceeded to give what can only be described as a multimedia civics lesson about invidious discrimination through the years in which he showed the jurors a video and made solemn reference to civil rights leaders who had marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in the 1960s as well as Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, Harvey Milk, Atticus Finch, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the passage of the 19^th Amendment giving women the right to vote and the advent of gay marriage.”

‘As the judge concluded his remarks, he exhorted the prospective jurors: ‘[Y]ou as jurors in this case are going to become Dr. King. It’s going to be your job to help bend that arc toward justice by rendering a verdict based on the law and the evidence that you are going to be hearing in this case.’ Not surprisingly, counsel for UCLA immediately moved for a mistrial based upon the judge’s remarks and requested that a new panel of jurors be assembled. The judge denied the motion and assured the parties that he gives the same presentation before all trials in his courtroom.”

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“The Newport Beach, California-based company agreed to a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) that will allow it to avoid conviction for adulterating food in violation of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, if it complies with an improved food safety program.”

“According to the facts recited in the DPA and confirmed by Chipotle, the company was implicated in at least five foodborne illness outbreaks between 2015 and 2018 connected to restaurants in the Los Angeles area, Boston, Virginia, and Ohio. These incidents primarily stemmed from store-level employees’ failure to follow company food safety protocols at company-owned restaurants, including a Chipotle policy requiring the exclusion of employees who were sick or recently had been sick. As set out in the DPA, some store-level Chipotle employees from the 2015 to 2018 time period reported inadequate staffing and food safety training. Employees also reported pressure to work while sick, even though that was against Chipotle’s sick-exclusion policies.”

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“A virtual hearing can be challenging for any regulatory lawyer. It requires relying on technology more than ever to advocate for clients. It can feel like talking to an empty room, even if you’re on camera. Plus it requires attorneys to get results for our clients without the benefit of interpersonal contact with the judge, commissioners or staff. However, having survived my first virtual evidentiary hearing before a state energy commission in April 2020 – and with the benefit of hindsight – it’s like everything lawyers do for the first time in our practice: It’s a challenge until you do it. And like the first oral argument we made or the first hearing we ever litigated, we learn lessons and improve each time,” writes Tara S. Kaushik in Holland & Knight’s Insights.

“We will likely face more than a few virtual hearings given the current pandemic and shelter-in-place orders. Currently, many state regulatory agencies have postponed evidentiary hearings or scheduled briefs and telephonic oral arguments to narrow the issues requiring hearings. But that can only last so long, given that utilities, power grid operators, pipelines and other energy companies have to continue doing business as essential services.

The post provides some practical tips to manage the challenges of a virtual hearing.

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“A New York lawyer representing two clients in separate but related criminal matters faces a ‘likely unwaivable’ conflict of interest based on the facts presented, a recent state bar association opinion said,” reports Melissa Heelan Stanzione in Bloomberg Law’s The United States Law Week.

“A conflict of interest exists for a lawyer in this situation if it will involve the lawyer in representing opposing interests, or that there’s a ‘significant risk’ that the lawyer’s professional judgment will be adversely affected by the lawyer’s own interests, the April 22 opinion said.”

“The lawyer asked the bar about ethical implications of the dual representation.”

“The clients are in a relationship, and one is charged with a crime where the other was a victim, the opinion recounted. But the alleged victim was intoxicated when the event occurred, and was arrested for driving while intoxicated after the alleged perpetrator was arrested, it said. And each is a witness in the others case, with the alleged victim wishing to testify in favor of the perpetrator, it said.”

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“Based on a mistake about when a Cook County default judgment became final — plus a 60-cent discrepancy between the amount of the judgment ($238,007.61) and the amount listed in a memorandum of judgment ($238,007.01) that the plaintiffs filed as a lien on the defendant’s real estate in Will County,” reports Steven P. Garmisa in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin’s Courts & Cases.

“Leonard and Cecilia Urban sued Joseph L. Blewitt in Cook County. On August 6, 2003, a default judgment was entered against Blewitt, in favor of Leonard, in the amount on $238,007.61. And on March 29, 2004, a Cook County judge (1) denied Blewitt’s motion to vacate and (2) revised the judgment to include Cecilia. As the judge explained: ‘The order of August 6, 2003, was considered by the court at that time to adjudicate all claims, therefore the order will be considered to include the non-injured spouse (Ms. Urban) nunc pro tunc to August 6, 2003.'”

“A Rule 23 order from the 1st District (a) affirmed the order that denied Blewitt’s motion to vacate (b) ruled that the judge erred in adding Cecilia nunc pro tunc and (c) concluded that the March 29, 2004, order was the final judgment that resolved all the claims of all the parties — with a money judgment for Leonard and no award for Cecilia.”

“On Sept. 16, 2004, the Urbans filed a memorandum of judgment in Will County that listed Leonard and Cecilia having scored a default judgment of $238,007.61 on Aug. 6, 2003. But on Feb. 28, 2006, the Urbans filed a memorandum of judgment that said the default judgment was $238,007.01.”

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“Atlanta lawyer Robert Ward acknowledges that he took off his pants at a security checkpoint at a federal courthouse in Tampa, Florida,” reports Debra Cassens Weiss in ABA Journal’s Trials & Litigation News.

“In an April 13 opposition, Wyndham noted that U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell ordered Ward Feb. 21 to show cause why she shouldn’t revoke his pro hac vice status for taking off his pants.”

“The Jan. 30 incident was precipitated when a court security officer told Ward that he would have to take off his belt for the metal detector. Ward replied that lawyers shouldn’t have to take off their belts. Ward then took off his pants, threw them in the bin and walked through the metal detector.”

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