NEW YORK — On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a former superintendent of the New York department that regulates insurance is entitled to qualified immunity on the National Rifle Association of America’s (NRA) First Amendment coercion and retaliation claims against New York state officials and the department “because of the markedly attenuated link between facially valid law enforcement against a third-party associate and an infringement of a plaintiff's First Amendment rights” and reversed a lower federal court’s order denying the former superintendent and the department’s motion to dismiss the NRA’s suit alleging that she unconstitutionally threatened or coerced an insurer or other entities to stifle its speech.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on July 18 entered a stipulated order closing fact discovery in a class action against Apple Inc. after denying in an earlier order the plaintiff’s motion for class certification on claims that Apple wastes iPhone users’ cellular data even when their phones were set to reduce the consumption of data, in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), and denying as moot opposing motions to exclude expert witnesses.

ST. LOUIS — Concluding that there is a genuine dispute regarding an agent’s “intent to be personally bound by the terms of the trust agreement,” the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment against the sole member of a dissolved company in a multiemployer plan Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, also vacating an associated award of attorney fees.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump and other federal officials on July 17 filed in a federal court in the District of Columbia a notice of appeal and a motion to stay pending appeal a summary judgment ruling issued the same day for one of two Federal Trade Commission commissioners purportedly removed from the FTC without cause in March.

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy court should confirm the “almost entirely consensual” Chapter 11 liquidation plan of the U.S. divisions of cosmetics giant Avon over the objections of some insurers because the plan “distributes Estate assets to creditors in a fair, efficient, and expeditious manner,” the debtors say in a July 17 brief in support of confirmation.

WILMINGTON, Del. — On the second day of a trial in Delaware state court over shareholders’ claims of fiduciary breaches by the officers and directors of Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) centering on the company’s high profile consumer privacy issues, the shareholders on July 17 filed a notice informing the court that the parties had settled the almost 15-year-old lawsuit.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal magistrate judge on July 17 dismissed without leave to amend a consumer’s putative class action lawsuit against the maker of “Hamburger Helper” products for allegedly misrepresenting the cheese content of its products with a picture of a bowl of cheesy pasta and the statement “Made With Real Cheese,” finding cheese was not advertised as a primary ingredient and that the labels would not deceive reasonable consumers.

CINCINNATI — Ruling that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act expressly preempts state law claims and that lost monetary benefits are not equitable relief, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 17 affirmed judgment for the administrator of so-called “top hat” deferred compensation and retirement plans.