OpenAI Attys Must Share Internal Comms In Copyright MDL

By Hailey Konnath

A New York federal magistrate judge on Monday ordered OpenAI's in-house attorneys to share their internal communications regarding deleted training datasets with authors suing over the alleged use of copyrighted works to train ChatGPT, rejecting OpenAI's argument that the communications are privileged.

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8th Circ. Won't Force Judge's Recusal In Pork Price-Fixing Case

By Matthew Perlman

The Eighth Circuit has denied a mandamus petition from Agri Stats Inc. and major pork producers who are seeking a Minnesota federal judge's recusal in price-fixing litigation based on a law clerk's previous work on a related case.

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Google Calls Rumble's Recusal Bid Irrelevant To Its Appeal

By Andrea Keckley

Google is urging the Ninth Circuit to disregard concerns Rumble has raised about the trial judge's relationship with the tech giant's litigation vice president, saying Friday that the information is irrelevant to the YouTube rival's appeal of the court's ruling that its antitrust lawsuit was filed too late.

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Schwab's Antitrust Deal Gets Final OK Over Objections

By Sydney Price

The Charles Schwab Corp. and a group of investors Monday received a Texas federal judge's final approval of a settlement of a lawsuit challenging the financial services company's merger with TD Ameritrade on antitrust grounds, following dozens of objections by the Iowa attorney general and others.

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Meta Buried Own Research On Youth Harm, Schools Say

By Emily Field

School districts are alleging that Meta clamped down on internal research showing that the mental health of young users suffered from compulsive use of its social media platforms, even as staff likened themselves to drug pushers.

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Auto Paint Co. Denied Techs Overtime, Suit Says

By Julie Manganis

Auto paint and equipment distributor Albert Kemperle LLC has misclassified its technicians as exempt from overtime, according to a proposed class action filed in Massachusetts state court.

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Naval Architect Says 4th Circ. Got No-Poach Ruling Right

By Madeline Lyskawa

A former naval engineer accusing shipbuilders of conspiring to suppress industry wages has told the U.S. Supreme Court that their petition for review of a Fourth Circuit decision reviving her proposed class action rests on a rule the panel never adopted.

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Colo. Hospitals Accused Of Denying Workers Break Pay

By Zach Dupont

A respiratory therapist told a Colorado state court that two hospitals violated state labor laws by neglecting to pay employees for missed breaks during shifts.

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Chancery Delays Settlement Ruling In Peloton Risk Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

Saying she wants to "get it right," Delaware's chancellor indicated on Monday she would rule before year's end on the Court of Chancery's part in a proposed multicourt settlement of derivative claims accusing Peloton's top officials of cashing in on inside information about an impending treadmill recall.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week delivered a packed mix of fraud allegations, merger fallout, corporate-governance reforms and jurisdictional fights, while a new academic report ignited debate over attorney fee awards in Delaware's influential corporate forum.

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Justices Refuse Drug Price-Fixing Class Action

By Abigail Harrison

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it will not review the Fourth Circuit's decision to back the dismissal of a proposed class action accusing drugmakers of conspiring and inflating the price of a medication for Huntington's disease.

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Apple Fights Bid To Recertify 200 Million IPhone Buyer Class

By Bonnie Eslinger

Apple has urged the Ninth Circuit to deny a petition from customers seeking to restore certification of a consumer class plaintiffs say reaches "upwards of 200 million" with a collective $20 billion in damages, in litigation claiming that the tech giant violated antitrust laws with its App Store policies.

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DOJ Looks To Settle RealPage Rent Price-Fixing Claims

By Isaac Monterose

The federal government filed a proposed final judgment on Monday that aims to settle antitrust claims accusing property management software company RealPage Inc. and multiple landlords of conspiring to use RealPage's revenue management software to fix rent prices.

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Brief

Tennis Australia Gets Stay As Antitrust Deal Looms

By Elaine Briseño

A New York federal judge has granted Tennis Australia Ltd. a stay in a lawsuit filed by professional tennis players that accused it and other tournament organizers of manipulating pay and rankings through an illegal cartel.

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Cooper Cos. Faces Narrowed Claims In Paragard IUD MDL

By Chart Riggall

The Cooper Cos. won't have to face design defect claims ahead of a possible bellwether trial over the Paragard IUD, as a Georgia federal judge on Friday found "nothing in the record" to suggest the company had anything to do with the design of the particular contraceptive devices that three women received.

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Unilever Class Must Show Standing Before OK Of $3.6M Deal

By Aaron Keller

Unilever and two groups of customers have until Dec. 5 to explain to a Connecticut federal judge whether a proposed $3.6 million settlement defines a class so broad that it could include individuals who lack standing to sue on claims that certain aerosol dry shampoo propellants contained benzene.

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Author Claims Snowflake Used Pirated Books To Train AI

By Ivan Moreno

Montana-based AI developer Snowflake Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action from an author who accuses the company of using his published books to train a series of large language models.

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Calif. Personal Injury Law Firm Sued Over Ransomware Attack

By Gina Kim

A former Adamson Ahdoot LLP client lodged a proposed class action in California state court on Friday over a Nov. 3 ransomware attack, alleging the law firm failed to protect his personal information despite touting on its website that it follows industry standards to do so.

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Teamsters Health Plan Wants Data Breach Suit Tossed

By Emily Brill

A Massachusetts federal judge should toss a proposed class action accusing a Teamsters healthcare plan of failing to protect plan participants' personal information, the plan argued, seeking dismissal of a suit that seeks to hold the plan liable for an August data breach.

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Amazon Says Digital Film Sales Are Not Like Owning DVDs

By Ben Adlin

Amazon has urged a Seattle federal court judge to toss a proposed class action alleging the company lies to customers about whether they actually own movies purchased on its Prime Video platform, arguing the e-commerce giant clearly informs buyers that "content might potentially become unavailable" later on.

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Brief

Full Fed. Circ. Rejects Bayer Petition In Xarelto Patent Case

By Elliot Weld

The full Federal Circuit on Monday declined a petition from German pharmaceutical giant Bayer asking the appeals court to take a look at reviving patent claims related to its blood thinner medication Xarelto.

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Mich. High Court Won't Rethink Rejecting 'Rain Tax' Case

By Maria Koklanaris

The Michigan Supreme Court declined for a second time to review a pair of challenges to Detroit's stormwater fees, allowing to stand lower court opinions that said the fees were not taxes subject to constitutional limits.

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Firstrust Savings Bank Hit With 401(k) Investment Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A former Firstrust Savings Bank employee has brought class claims against the bank, alleging it mismanaged workers' retirement savings plans by making employees invest in the bank's underperforming proprietary fund.

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Investor Alleges Real Estate Fund Fraud In Del. Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

Alleging Ponzi scheme-like conduct, limited partners in Florida-based Whitestone Real Estate Fund III (GP) accused the business and its affiliates of shuffling through hundreds of related party transactions without board approval, in an 11-count Delaware Court of Chancery suit that includes fraud claims and seeks appointment of a receiver.

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Gordon Rees Hires Commercial Litigator In Alexandria

By Jack Rodgers

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP has hired a litigator in Alexandria, Virginia, who joined the firm after almost 13 years with Smith Gambrell & Russell, to work with its commercial litigation and antitrust practices, the firm recently announced.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Making The Case To Combine

When making the decision to merge, law firm leaders must factor in strategic alignment, cultural compatibility and leadership commitment in order to build a compelling case for combining firms to achieve shared goals and long-term success, says Kevin McLaughlin at UB Greensfelder.

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Bonus Spotlight

Weil Matches Year-End And Special Bonuses For Associates

By Anna Sanders

Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP on Tuesday joined a cadre of other firms in matching the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.  

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Judges Decline Invites To Senate Hearing On Impeachment

By Courtney Bublé

Two federal judges, both of whom Republicans are looking to impeach, declined to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing next week on the impeachment of "rogue" judges, a source familiar with the situation told Law360 on Tuesday.

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DOJ Official Sues Over Firing For Epstein Talk On Hinge 'Date'

By Alison Knezevich

A longtime official at the U.S. Department of Justice who was fired after he was secretly recorded discussing the Epstein files has sued the agency and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in D.C. federal court.

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Democrats Seek Documents On Emil Bove's DOJ Tenure

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Democrats are turning to public records requests to learn more about the controversial tenure of U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove while he served at the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming that they're being "stonewalled" by the department.

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$255K In Fees To Google For 'Frivolous' Ramey Case Upheld

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a California judge's decision that a client of embattled intellectual property firm Ramey LLP must pay nearly $255,000 in fees and sanctions for bringing a "frivolous" patent suit against Google, finding the award to be "entirely proper."

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Fla. Law Student Expelled For Antisemitic Post To Be Reenrolled

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge has ordered the reinstatement of a law school student who was expelled after he was investigated over antisemitic posts on social media, saying the university didn't prove his speech "constituted a true threat." 

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Texas Law Firm, Atty Reach Tentative Deal In Age Bias Suit

By Rose Krebs

An attorney who sued a Houston-based law firm alleging she was fired in retaliation for having complained about age discrimination has reached "a tentative agreement" to resolve the matter, according to a filing in Illinois federal court.

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Husch Blackwell Blasts Ex-Firm Atty's ERISA Suit

By James Boyle

A former Hush Blackwell LLP partner's claim that the firm violated federal law by withholding monthly retirement account contributions misidentified the funds in question as participant contributions, when they were, in fact, contributions from the firm's year-end profit-sharing program.

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