Insights

On June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court dismissed on procedural grounds the petition for writ of certiorari in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, dba Labcorp, v. Luke Davis, et al., No. 22-55873. The Supreme Court had granted the petition on the following question: “[w]hether a federal court may certify a class action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) when some members of the proposed class lack any Article III injury.” Justice Kavanaugh, writing in dissent, said he would have reached the merits and ruled that federal courts may not certify a damages class that includes uninjured members.

On April 25, 2025, the California DMV released a notice of proposed regulations focused on changes to the testing and deployment of light-duty and heavy-duty commercial autonomous vehicles. California previously released draft regulations and asked for public comment, the last round ending August 30, 2024.

On April 29, 2025, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, dba Labcorp, v. Luke Davis, et al., No. 22-55873. The Supreme Court had granted a petition for writ of certiorari in the case as to the following question: “[w]hether a federal court may certify a class action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) when some members of the proposed class lack any Article III injury.” The Justices focused much of the oral argument on whether the case was moot, suggesting they may not reach the merits. And when soliciting argument on the merits, the Court appeared divided as to how to answer the question.

Looking back at 2024, manufacturers were extremely busy navigating a high number of recalled products and corresponding litigation. A number of these 2024 litigation and class action trends appear to be carrying over into 2025.

Those familiar with the supplier and buyer contracting realm will have likely heard of a “requirements contract” or a “blanket purchase order” which essentially allows parties to mutually guarantee that they will buy and sell to each other for a specific period of time, but lets the parties figure out the exact amount of a product later, often on an order-by-order basis. This approach is often favored for its reliability in knowing your supply needs are met (or you have a reliable buyer), while letting the supply move up or down based on real and variable demand. These arrangements are particularly prevalent in supply agreements in the automobile industry.

On January 24, 2025, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that could resolve whether putative Rule 23(b)(3) classes may be certified in the federal courts when some of the class members are uninjured. Or, as the Supreme Court put the certified question in the case, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, dba Labcorp, v. Luke Davis, et al., No. 22-55873:

On December 28, 2023, the Department of Transportation (DOT) published a final rule increasing the statutory maximum monetary civil penalty for regulated entities. The final rule raised the minimum and maximum fines for 2024 by about 3.2 percent from the 2023 level across most DOT modes. The new fine amounts became effective on December 28, 2023 and will only apply to violations that take place after that date.

Last week, the House passed the Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant Act, which establishes programs within the Department of Transportation (DOT) to support the use of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) when inspecting, repairing, or constructing a variety of types of infrastructure, including roads, electric grids, water, and other critical infrastructure. 

President Biden will soon sign into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provides $750 billion in funding and major federal policy changes impacting the U.S. energy, environment, healthcare and tax sectors. On August 7, 2022, the IRA passed the U.S. Senate by an all-Democrat 50-50 party line vote, with Vice President Harris breaking the tie and ensuring passage. On August 12, 2022, the IRA passed the U.S. House by a vote of 220 to 207. The President's signature, will make the bill law, and allow President Biden, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to claim a major victory while making progress on a portion of the President's Build Back Better agenda just three months before the mid-term elections on November 8, 2022.

After 100 days in office, President Joe Biden has made it clear that he is not afraid to go it alone to pursue policy to match his campaign rhetoric and promises. The first 100 days of the administration were marked by a significant number of executive orders, a historic economic stimulus package passed with only Democratic support in Congress, and sweeping proposals that – if enacted – could transform everyday life for a significant number of Americans.

This week, the FAA delivered on its promise to the drone industry that it would release a final rule of both Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Remote ID) and Operations Over People before we all put 2020 in the rear view mirror. The release of the final rules is a major milestone for the drone industry; once fully implemented, the rules will enable routine, complex unmanned aircraft system (UAS or drone) operations, such as operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and operations over people, and will lay the groundwork for an Unmanned Traffic Management System that will allow for full integration of drones into the National Airspace System.

Transportation policy is a central feature of the incoming Biden administration’s “Build Back Better” economic recovery plan, which includes a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that would reimagine the nation’s transportation sector to one that takes advantage of new technology, new energy sources, and new workers. President-Elect Biden announced Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana and presidential rival, as the nominee to serve as Secretary of Transportation. If confirmed, Buttigieg is expected to play a key role in steering President Biden’s infrastructure plan through Congress and ensuring it does not go off the rails (pun intended). To deliver these changes as promised, Congress and the incoming Biden administration will need to tackle a number of tricky policy issues that have bedeviled previous reform efforts.

Lawmakers continue to negotiate the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), which could prohibit federal procurement or operation of certain foreign-made drones, including those from China, due to national security concerns.  Meanwhile, some executive agencies are moving forward with agency-specific restrictions on use of federal funds for drone operations that rely on Chinese-made aircraft.  The most recent updates come from the Department of Interior (“DOI”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”).

The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting performance of contracts throughout the business world.  Supplies are locked down, deliveries are disrupted or delayed, and shelter-in-place orders are keeping products and services from reaching customers, all along the supply chain. These changes bring a host of vexing challenges and a common and crucial one is this:  Where a business is able to supply some but not all of its customers’ demand as a result of COVID-19 disruption, how does it decide who among its customers gets limited inventory?  Buyers, in turn, will have to evaluate whether any of its orders will be impacted, to what extent, and, if so, whether it can effectively challenge its own allotted allocation.  This alert offers five practical pointers central to most allocation efforts. 

On April 8, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker exercised his powers as an “Authority Having Jurisdiction” to issue a directive designating specific activities to which Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (“PREP”) Act immunity will apply in Massachusetts. The PREP Act provides expansive immunity from liability for claims of loss related to designated “Covered Countermeasures,” and was recently activated with respect to medical countermeasures against COVID-19 pursuant to a declaration issued by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.  However, certain restrictions apply, and there is little precedent to provide guidance as to how PREP Act immunity may attach in practice.

Everyone wants to help by providing necessary equipment to the COVID-19 frontline: hospitals, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers battling COVID-19 need ventilators, masks, gowns and other supplies.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) took its first leap toward removing unintentional regulatory roadblocks for autonomous vehicle (AV) developers. On March 17, NHTSA released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to modernize numerous Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), and clarify ambiguities in current occupant protection standards for vehicles equipped with automated driving systems (ADS) that are designed without traditional manual controls.

The FAA recently released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The long-awaited rule will require almost all unmanned aircraft systems (“drones”) flying in U.S. airspace to transmit certain identifying information to other aircraft and to people on the ground. Remote ID is an important step in building a robust air traffic system for UAS. The identity and location information will promote safety by providing increased situational awareness for manned and unmanned aircraft and quick access to crucial data for law enforcement and public safety officials. Because implementation of Remote ID is essential to enabling complex drone operations, such as operations beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), industry stakeholders should carefully review the proposed rule (available here) and consider commenting on the new requirements. Comments to the proposed rule are due to the FAA by March 2, 2020.

On October 28, 2019, the House and Senate circulated draft legislative text for three sections of an autonomous vehicle bill. The three address federal advisory committees, AV testing expansions, and exemptions to allow for vehicles with novel designs. House and Senate committee staff emphasize that this was only a first cut, indicating there would be more to follow.

Last week, the University of Alaska, in partnership with Iris Automation, Skyfront, Echodyne, and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, completed the first-ever beyond-visual-line-of sight (BVLOS) drone flight without a ground-based visual observer. This successful flight is a breakthrough in both regulatory and operational respects and could pave the way for expanded commercial drone operations in the United States for a variety of drone users, including the energy, agriculture, and insurance industries. The mission also illustrates the gathering momentum for complex BVLOS operations; the FAA’s approval for the University of Alaska comes just seven months after insurer State Farm became the first operator to receive FAA approval for nationwide BVLOS flights using a visual observer.