Chamber Litigation Blog

Jason A. Levine, Gillian H. Clow, and Giles Judd, Alston & Bird LLP

This week’s top COVID-19 litigation developments involve: the dismissal of a securities fraud class action against Norwegian Cruise Lines; a new “taxation without representation” lawsuit by restaurants and bars against the State of California and Santa Clara County; and the expiration of Texas guidelines for state courts regarding the CDC’s residential eviction moratorium.

Jason A. Levine, Ryan Martin-Patterson, Stephen Tagert, Alston & Bird LLP

The top COVID-19 litigation developments this past week include: New York’s repeal of a COVID-19 liability shield for nursing homes; an accused price-gouger’s claim that a key provision of the Defense Production Act is void for vagueness; a lawsuit seeking to invalidate South Carolina’s return-to-work order for state employees; and a putative class action demanding overtime pay for time spent receiving on-the-job COVID-19 screenings.

By Sue Reisinger | March 31, 2021, 3:58 PM EDT

The U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, which represents businesses on leading-edge issues before the courts and federal regulatory agencies, has shaken up its legal department by adding four prestigious lawyers to its in-house team. This group is so experienced that all four have worked at name law firms in Washington, held high positions as attorneys in the federal government, and clerked for federal appeals court judges. The new hires this month, who are replacing others, include two deputy chief counsel, Paul Lettow and Andrew Varcoe. They were joined by associate chief counsel Jennifer Dickey and senior counsel for litigation Stephanie Maloney. The center’s legal team totals eight lawyers.

Read more: https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/1370758/chamber-adds-four-star-attys-to-its-litigation-center

Jason A. Levine, Gillian H. Clow, and Giles Judd, Alston & Bird LLP

This week’s top COVID-19 litigation developments are all decisions on motions to dismiss.  Courts dismissed a privacy class action against Zoom, a refund class action against Ticketmaster, a business interruption lawsuit based on a virus exclusion in the insurance policy, and a tuition refund class action against NYU.  In the one bright spot for plaintiffs this week, a court also denied a motion to dismiss a different business interruption suit based on “standing” grounds.

Jason A. Levine, Gillian H. Clow, and Giles Judd, Alston & Bird LLP

The top developments in COVID-19 litigation this past week were: the dismissal of a workplace exposure suit filed by the infected employee’s spouse; the partial survival of refund class actions against Columbia University and Pace University; and a $100 million business interruption coverage suit filed by In-N-Out Burgers.

Jason A. Levine, Giles Judd, and Stephen Tagert, Alston & Bird LLP

This week’s top developments in COVID-19 litigation include a securities suit against Inovio Pharmaceuticals and a refund suit against United Airlines that survived motions to dismiss; two new securities suits against biotechnology companies for allegedly overinflated promises during the pandemic; and a legal battle between New York State and Amazon over workplace protections.

Jason A. Levine, Gillian H. Clow, and Giles Judd, Alston & Bird LLP

This week we cover an important dismissal of a securities class action arising from the pandemic, two new securities cases alleging distinct types of pandemic-related public  misrepresentations, a lawsuit claiming a company’s recall of defective hand sanitizer was inadequate, and the dismissal of a refund lawsuit against Fordham University.

Jason A. Levine, Gillian H. Clow, and Giles Judd, Alston & Bird LLP

This week, we focus on a constitutional challenge to California’s recent shutdown orders and the dismissal of three distinct business interruption insurance coverage cases in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas.  These cases reflect the surge of business interruption lawsuits filed in 2020, which are now being decided – largely in favor of insurers – and that represent different ways of analyzing the claims, leaving open the possibility for success under certain factual circumstances.

Jason A. Levine, Peter E. Masaitis, Gillian H. Clow, and Giles Judd, Alston & Bird LLP

This week, we focus on four significant decisions in pandemic-related cases.  Courts dismissed putative class actions claiming PPP agent fees and seeking to invalidate Minnesota’s eviction moratorium, and also dismissed a lawsuit by several restaurants seeking business interruption insurance coverage.  Another court denied an employer’s motion to dismiss a complaint for violation of the WARN Act through a layoff necessitated by the pandemic.