Latest news with #Liman
Time of India
26-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Concrete And Cement Additives: U.S. Court Dismisses Antitrust Claims Against Major Concrete Additives Firms, ET Infra
Advt A U.S. judge in Manhattan on Wednesday dismissed a nationwide antitrust lawsuit accusing six companies that sell the vast majority of concrete and cement additives in the United States and Europe of conspiring to drive up prices.U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman said the "extreme and persistent" price hikes alleged by purchasers were "episodic," and inconsistent with coordinated activity in the estimated $27 billion global market for additives and so-called admixtures."Plaintiffs' allegations fall short of suggesting that the price increases were not the product of normal market forces or that the explanations given were pretextual so as to suggest an antitrust conspiracy," Liman defendants include Germany's BASF , Britain's Cinven Group, Italy's Mapei, Ohio-based RPM, France's Saint-Gobain and Switzerland's to court papers, they control an estimated 80% to 90% of the $3 billion U.S. market for the additives, which are chemicals added to concrete, cement and mortar to improve the finished products' strength and his 50-page decision, Liman also said "plus factors" such as mergers, memberships in trade associations, and scrutiny by U.S. and European competition regulators suggested at most that a price-fixing conspiracy was possible, not for the purchasers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Liman said the purchasers can try to replead most claims. The alleged conspiracy began in began after the European Commission in October 2023 conducted surprise inspections, which the purchasers called "dawn raids," at several producers of construction chemicals, on suspicion of possible anticompetitive commission said the inspections were a preliminary investigatory step and did not mean it found anticompetitive May 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed a Pennsylvania grand jury had begun probing the concrete and cement additives industry.
News.com.au
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Blake Lively fails in bid to keep Taylor Swift's texts from Justin Baldoni
A judge has denied Blake Lively's motion for a protective order to keep her communications with Taylor Swift regarding It Ends With Us out of Justin Baldoni's hands. In new documents obtained by People magazine, Judge Lewis J Liman denied the order on Wednesday. Baldoni's legal team previously subpoenaed Swift in the ongoing It Ends With Us lawsuit, although the subpoena was later withdrawn. Baldoni's defence then continued to allegedly "demand" access to records of Lively's communications with Swift. The new documents suggest that Baldoni's legal team alleges they have not received access to Swift's communications with Lively, which they now deem necessary to the lawsuit.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blake Lively Says Justin Baldoni Lawsuit Caused Pain and ‘Manufactured Shame' After Judge's Dismissal
Shortly after a U.S. district judge dismissed Justin Baldoni's $400 million defamation lawsuit against Blake Lively, the 'It Ends With Us' star made a rare social media statement admitting to feeling pain and 'manufactured shame' amid her ongoing legal battle. 'Last week, I stood proudly alongside 19 organizations united in defending women's rights to speak up for their safety. Like so many others, I've felt the pain of a retaliatory lawsuit, including the manufactured shame that tries to break us. While the suit against me was defeated, so many don't have the resources to fight back,' Lively wrote in her Instagram stories. 'I'm more resolved than ever to continue to stand for every woman's right to have a voice in protecting themselves, including their safety, their integrity, their dignity and their story. There are protections out there. Check out some of the incredible organizations below for resources and information.' On the story, Lively tagged a list of organizations for relevant resources and information for women to safely speak out: California Employment Lawyers Association; California Women's Law Center; CHILD USA; Coalition Against Trafficking in Women; Equal Rights Advocates; Esperanza United; Her Justice; Herunivercity Inc.; National Network to End Domestic Violence; National Organization for Women; National Organization for Women NYC; New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault; New York Cyber Abuse Task Force; New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition; Sanctuary for Families; Urban Resource Institute; Women's Equal Justice; and Women's Justice NOW. She signed off the note: 'With love and gratitude for the may who stood by me, many of you I know. Many of you I don't. But I will never stop appreciating or advocating for you.' On Monday, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni's $400 million defamation lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and the New York Times, which first reported on the actress' claims of sexual harassment and her director's alleged retaliatory campaign against her in December. 'The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened,' Liman wrote of the Times' reporting. Lively filed a motion to have the defamation lawsuit dismissed in March, citing a 2023 law signed by Gavin Newsom in the wake of the #MeToo movement that protects victims of sexual harassment, assault and related allegations against retaliatory efforts from the accused. 'Today's opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively,' Lively's lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, said in a statement Monday of Liman's dismissal. 'This '$400 million' lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it.' The New York Times also shared a statement Monday applauding Liman's dismissal of the Baldoni suit. 'We are grateful to the court for seeing the lawsuit against The New York Times for what it was: a meritless attempt to stifle honest reporting,' a spokesperson said. 'Our journalists went out and covered carefully and fairly a story of public importance, and the court recognized that the law is designed to protect just that sort of journalism. We will continue to stand up in court for our journalism and for our journalists when their work comes under attack.' The post Blake Lively Says Justin Baldoni Lawsuit Caused Pain and 'Manufactured Shame' After Judge's Dismissal appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blake Lively's Emotional Distress Claims Are DOA, Judge Rules In Win For Justin Baldoni
The trial over Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's bitter dispute on what really happened on It Ends With Us and in the aftermath of the Sony released film doesn't start until March next year, but sometimes justice picks up the pace in the slow moving and sprawling multi-million dollar battle. As both sides took to the court docket and the media Monday to fight over how Lively would or would not withdraw her intentional emotional distress claims from her New Year's Eve filed suit against Baldoni, his Wayfarer Studios, execs and publicists, the judge shut the whole thing down Tuesday lickety-split with a rebuke of Lively's side. More from Deadline Blake Lively Insists She Is Not Dropping Emotional Distress Claims Against Justin Baldoni, Despite What His Lawyers Say & Her Lawyers Seem To Have Said Disney Layoffs Hit TV Development & Casting Executive Ranks Disney Laying Off Hundreds In TV & Film Entertainment, Corporate Finance 'The motion to compel at …is denied based on Plaintiff's representation that the relevant claims will be withdrawn,' wrote Judge Lewis J, Liman this morning in a fairly brisk order. 'Lively's request that 'because the parties have agreed to dismiss Ms. Lively's tenth and eleventh causes of action… the Court exercise its inherent authority and authority under Rule 15 to dismiss them without prejudice' is denied without prejudice to renewal,' the NYC-based federal official (and brother of director Doug Liman) added. 'The parties shall stipulate to whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice, or Lively shall renew her request by formal motion.' As a kicker, a day after Lively's lawyers exclaimed their client in not completely abandoning her emotional distress claims, Judge Liman made where he sits on all this perfectly clear: 'For avoidance of doubt, if the claims are not dismissed, the Court will preclude Lively from offering any evidence of emotional distress. SO ORDERED' After all the hoopla of yesterday's letters to the judge and weekend email exchanges between attorneys for Lively and Baldoni, lawyers and representatives for the latter were mum Tuesday, offering a telling 'no comment' on Judge Liman's move in their favor. For Lively, who now has no window to shift strategy and release her requested medical and therapy records, there was a sidestepping of her loss and a repeat of what her team put out on Monday. 'The court denied Wayfarer's motion,' said Lively lawyers Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb in a statement Tuesday. 'He told the parties to continue their discussions about the technicalities of how 2 of the 15 claims will be voluntarily dismissed. Ms. Lively has offered to dismiss those claims because they are no longer necessary, and she will continue to pursue emotional distress damages through other claims in her lawsuit, including sexual harassment and retaliation. In addition, the Baldoni-Wayfarer strategy of filing retaliatory claims has exposed them to expansive damages under California law. This is exactly where both parties were before the Baldoni-Wayfarer Parties rushed to file this utterly pointless motion to compel, all searching for yet another press moment.' With whispers of all not being well on the domestic violence themed IEWU, even though the pic scored at the box office, and press tour and premiere snubs, this all went public and wide when Lively on December 20 filed her sexual harassment and retaliation complaint against Baldoni and his inner circle with California's Civil Rights Department. A formal suit by her followed on December 31 with a $400 million defamation and extorsion action from the Jane the Virgin actor against Lively, her hubby Ryan Reynolds and their PR team was not long behind. In the months since, the case has ballooned to around half a dozen lawsuits, everyone trying to get dismissed from the cases and the likes of Taylor Swift, Disney, Marvel, the New York Times and others getting dragged in. Sources on both sides have repeatedly and vehemently insisted to Deadline and the courts that there is no chance of a settlement now, with the high profile Lively and Reynolds hauled way out of their carefully created comfort zone and WME-dumped Baldoni's career now dead in the water in Hollywood. The trial is set to start in NYC on March 9, 2026 in the same courthouse where the Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex-trafficking trial is taking place right now. Best of Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More Everything We Know About 'Nobody Wants This' Season 2 So Far List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal judge blocks Trump administration efforts to stop NYC congestion pricing
NEW YORK — A Manhattan federal judge has blocked the federal government from ending congestion pricing before the end of an ongoing lawsuit — issuing a preliminary injunction against Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday. The order, issued by Judge Lewis Liman, comes one day after he issued a temporary restraining order in the case, blocking any such action for two weeks. The injunction indefinitely prevents Duffy or his agency from acting on their claims that they can unilaterally revoke an authorization toll — and blocks any of the so-called 'compliance actions' Duffy has threatened — until Liman rules on the legality of USDOT's efforts to end the congestion pricing program. 'For the avoidance of doubt, (Duffy and the USDOT) are enjoined from taking any of the'compliance measures' ... including withholding federal funds, approvals, or authorizations from New York state or local agencies to enforce compliance with or implement .. (their) purported termination of the Tolling Program,' the 109-page order concludes. Speaking to reporters shortly after the order was filed Paige Graves, MTA's general counsel, said she hadn't yet read the injunction in full. 'I have not looked at the details of his decision, but it's positive news,' Graves said. The congestion toll first began in January — a requirement of New York state's 2019 Traffic Mobility Act, meant to both reduce congestion and back $15 billion in bonds toward specific MTA projects. Duffy first claimed the authority to unilaterally end the toll weeks later, in February. When the MTA sued, Duffy gave Gov. Kathy Hochul a March 21 deadline to end the toll. Duffy then extended the deadline to April 20, then to May 21. As the toll remained in place on May 21, Duffy — in a letter to Hochul — threatened to withhold federal funds for any highway project in Manhattan, refuse to approve Manhattan projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, and refuse to greenlight any funding amendments from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council — unless Hochul ended the toll. In issuing Tuesday's restraining order, Liman said New York stood to suffer irreparable harms from the feds' demands, including the 'delay of numerous public works projects,' 'harm to the bond market' and the 'undermining (of) the authority of a sovereign state' that had democratically passed the law requiring the toll. _____
