Market Effect Key In Authors' IP Suit Against Meta, Judge Says

By Ivan Moreno

Whether it was fair for Meta Platforms to use copyrighted books without permission to train an artificial intelligence platform will come down to how the market for those books is impacted, regardless of how transformative the innovation may be, the California federal judge overseeing a proposed class action from a group of bestselling authors said Thursday.

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Paul Hastings, GenapSys Settle Calif. Legal Malpractice Suit

By James Mills

The legal malpractice suit in which gene sequencing company GenapSys Inc. argued Paul Hastings LLP caused GenapSys' bankruptcy appears to have been settled.

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WhatsApp Trial Judge Bars NSO's 'Outlandish' IP Theft Claim

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge presiding over a damages trial over how much Israeli spyware-maker NSO Group owes for hacking 1,400 WhatsApp users' devices ruled Thursday NSO's counsel violated multiple pretrial orders, finding corrective instructions are warranted and barring counsel from making the "outlandish" claim Meta Platforms' spyware-attack remediation was trade secret theft.

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NCAA Coaches Get Initial OK For $49M Wage-Fix Deal

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge granted preliminary approval Wednesday to a group of roughly 1,000 Division I volunteer baseball coaches for their settlement under which the NCAA would pay $49.5 million to resolve their proposed antitrust class action challenging a since-repealed "uniform wage fix" bylaw.

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Internet Pricing Cap Clears Calif. Assembly Committee

By Christopher Cole

A California Assembly panel has passed a bill to cap internet prices for low-income families, similar to New York legislation now in effect that went through appellate court challenge.

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Senators Reintroduce Patent Eligibility, PTAB Reform Bills

By Dani Kass

U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Chris Coons on Thursday brought back two significant patent reform bills from last term that overall aim to make invalidating patents more difficult.

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Insurance Pros Stress Disaster Mitigation In Senate Hearing

By Jennifer Mandato

A panel of insurance experts stressed in front of a U.S. Senate committee Thursday the importance of mitigation efforts, such as strengthening building codes and hardening homes, as the experts discussed how prices in the property insurance market have soared because of recent natural disasters across the country.

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Brief

House Votes To Axe Another EPA Emissions Waiver For Calif.

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the third of three Congressional Review Act resolutions that would undo Clean Air Act waivers that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued for California's vehicle emissions programs.

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PetroSaudi Insists Pause Not Warranted In $380M Award Suit

By Joyce Hanson

A PetroSaudi unit continues fighting the Trump administration's bid to pause litigation to seize a $380 million arbitral award while related proceedings in Switzerland play out, saying a California federal judge has already denied its stay request once before.

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9th Circ. Asked To Revisit Ruling On Guam Munitions Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

A Ninth Circuit decision allowing a Guam group to challenge an Air Force permit renewal application to detonate expired munitions conflicts with precedent and threatens to burden permit applicants, agencies and courts, the U.S. government said in a rehearing petition filed Wednesday.

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Calif. AG Can't Dodge ACC Recycling Subpoena Suit

By Ali Sullivan

The American Chemistry Council can move forward with its challenge to a since-withdrawn subpoena from the California attorney general tied to a plastics pollution probe, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

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'Open AI' TM Fight Should Go To Trial, Website Owner Says

By Adam Lidgett

Open Artificial Intelligence said key questions in a trademark dispute with OpenAI should go before a jury, arguing there were too many factual issues for the ChatGPT developer to obtain a ruling in its favor in the fight.

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5 Fed. Circ. Clashes To Watch This Month

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit's argument calendar for May includes appeals of two nine-figure patent verdicts — one against Apple and one against Medtronic — and Roku's bid to revive its remote control patent suit at the U.S. International Trade Commission after a loss tied to the commission's domestic industry requirement.

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Judge Rejects Appeal Over Pronoun Use In Trans Athlete Case

By Thy Vo

A Colorado federal judge told a group of athletes Thursday that any stigma they perceive over his choice of pronouns to refer to a transgender volleyball player is "self-inflicted," according to an order declining to get the Tenth Circuit involved in his decision not to recuse from the case. 

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Worker Can't Ring Own Class's 'Death Knell,' Calif. Panel Says

By Craig Clough

A former construction company employee can't appeal an order denying his class certification motion in a putative wage and hour class action, a California state appeals court has ruled, finding it does not qualify under the so-called death knell doctrine because Private Attorneys General Act claims remained active when he appealed.

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401(k) Forfeiture Suit Not Backed By ERISA, Judge Says

By Grace Elletson

An Arizona federal judge nixed a proposed class action from workers who claimed a trucking company illegally used abandoned cash in its retirement fund to pay down its own contributions rather than covering plan fees, saying the workers' "novel theory" wasn't in line with federal benefits law.

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2 Firms To Co-Lead Block Investor Suit Over Cash App

By Emilie Ruscoe

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP will represent a proposed class of investors in a suit alleging Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block Inc. created a "haven for criminal and illicit activities" on its Cash App and Square payment platforms despite touting its anti-money laundering protocols.

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Unlockd Tells 9th Circ. Google Harms Ad Market Competition

By Gina Kim

A defunct advertising app that alleged Google's decision to boot it from the Google Play Store harmed market competition for digital advertising asked the Ninth Circuit to reinstate its claims, arguing Wednesday the lower court wrongly concluded that eliminating a "nascent competitor" in a large market didn't rise to antitrust injury.

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Army Contractor Seeks $1.3M Over Undelivered Cable Sets

By Madeline Lyskawa

A U.S. Army contractor sued a custom cable manufacturer in Texas federal court Thursday, alleging that it is owed more than $1.3 million for specialized cable sets that were never delivered.

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States Urge 1st Circ. To Reinstate Federal Housing Grants

By Grace Dixon

A coalition of states urged the First Circuit to reinstate a ruling that had blocked the Trump administration from cutting $30 million in fair housing grants, saying the federal government failed to consider the impact this decision would have on the groups' operations.

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DHS Urges Justices To Let Venezuelan Protections Be Undone

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security turned to the nation's highest court on Thursday, asking the justices to pause a nationwide injunction blocking the agency from undoing the Biden administration's extension of temporary protected status for Venezuela during its appeal.

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DOJ To Take Over Legal Services For Separated Families

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Executive Office for Immigration Review told a California federal judge it plans to take over the direct administration of legal access services for thousands of immigrant families that were separated under the first Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy.

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Greenberg Traurig Hires Procopio Litigation Duo In San Diego

By Tracey Read

Greenberg Traurig LLP announced Wednesday that it has added a member of Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP's management committee and another partner from that firm to its litigation practice in San Diego.

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Despite SEC Climate Pause, Cos. Must Still Heed State Regs

While businesses may have been given a reprieve from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's rules aimed at standardizing climate-related disclosures, they must still track evolving requirements in states including California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York that will soon require reporting of direct and indirect carbon emissions, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

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Series

Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

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Attys Join Nationwide 'Day Of Action' Rallies For Rule Of Law

By Ryan Boysen and Jack Rodgers

Thousands of attorneys gathered at rallies across the country on Thursday to oppose what they called the Trump administration's "assault" on the rule of law — a rare public demonstration for the normally buttoned-down and risk-averse professionals that they said "sounds the alarm of a looming constitutional crisis."

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Analysis

Hair, Makeup, Legal: The Lawyering Behind The Met Gala

By Theresa Schliep

While the red carpet arrivals of the biggest names in the entertainment industry are sure to win the most attention at the Met Gala on Monday, attorneys also play a significant role in advising the brands and celebrities at the center of fashion's biggest night.

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20 Former Federal Judges Launch Group To Defend Judiciary

By Jake Maher

Twenty former federal district and circuit judges on Thursday launched a coalition to speak out about and defend the federal judiciary as political impeachment attempts against judges increase and the federal courts system faces heightened scrutiny.

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GOP Seeks To Stop 'Frivolous Lawsuits' With Reconciliation

By Courtney Bublé

The House Judiciary Committee approved along party lines a proposal they say will prevent "frivolous lawsuits" by barring courts from enforcing contempt citations for failure to comply with injunctions if the plaintiff has not posted a bond for litigation costs.

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Senate Panel Delays A Vote On Martin Nomination For US Atty

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday held off for now a vote to call for a hearing on Ed Martin's nomination for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a move Democrats say would allow more time to review his record and, they hope, convince enough Republicans to help them block his nomination.

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Ex-Exec's Claims Against Dechert Still No Good, 2nd Circ. Told

By Pete Brush

A North Carolina trade executive's latest trip to the Second Circuit in his quest to win damages for alleged hacking by a private investigator on Dechert LLP's behalf should end like the others, with a dismissal, defense counsel argued Thursday.

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New Bill Holds Judges Accountable Even After They Retire

By Hailey Konnath

A Georgia Congressman on Thursday introduced legislation that would ensure misconduct complaints against judges would still be investigated, even if the judge has resigned, retired or even died.

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Colo. Judge Resigns Amid Allegations Over Misuse Of Bench

By Thy Vo

A Colorado state judge resigned on Wednesday amid a disciplinary complaint accusing him of misusing his position to help a former client that he exchanged sexual and flirtatious texts with, telling an independent panel in a brief that it no longer needs to hear a disciplinary case against him.

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The Top In-House Hires Of April

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires over the past month included high-profile appointments at FanDuel's parent company, American Airlines and soda business Swig. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from the first full month of spring.

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