Lawsuits Charge Electric Utility With Hawaii Wildfires: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
August 16, 2023 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
Class Actions
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
'JUST THE VERY BEGINNING' - The cause of this month's deadly wildfires in Hawaii remains unknown, but lawyers are already suing the electric utility provider in Maui. On Aug. 12, two class actions were filed in Hawaii state courts against Hawaiian Electric Company Inc. and its affiliated companies, including Maui Electric and parent corporation Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. One of the class actions also named Maui County, where wildfires killed nearly 100 people and destroyed more than 2,200 structures, mostly homes in the populous town of Lahaina. A third lawsuit was filed on Monday by four residents and the owner of a Lahaina business, Maui Memories Inc. Lawyers told Law.com's Amanda Bronstad they anticipate many more lawsuits to come. Graham LippSmith, of L.A.-based LippSmith LLP, who filed one of the class actions, told Bronstad he's "positive it's just the very beginning of what will be a very large case."
'MURDER' FOR HIRE - Practice makes perfect—or at least more prepared to be interrogated by legislators. In the days and weeks before a CEO or top executive gets grilled at a congressional hearing, they often face a "murder board," a simulated version of the event that law firms staff with lobbyists, consultants and lawyers to put executives through the proverbial ringer before their real appearance. As Law.com's Abigail Adcox reports, such simulated hearings are common at a small cadre of Big Law firms that routinely advise chief executives before their appearances on Capitol Hill. Those firms include Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, Hogan Lovells, Covington & Burling, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.
ON THE RADAR - Amazon, Tile Inc. and parent company Life360 were slapped with a consumer class action on Aug. 14 in California Northern District Court over Tile's location-tracking device. The suit was filed by Milstein Jackson Fairchild & Wade and wh Law on behalf of a class of stalking victims who were tracked without consent through the use of a Tile tracker. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 3:23-cv-04119, Ireland-Gordy et al. v. Tile Inc. et al. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.
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Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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