A California federal judge said Thursday he would likely give final approval to Google's $700 million antitrust deal with states and consumers, but blasted the accompanying request for $85 million in attorney fees, calling the 100,000 hours the consumers' counsel said they spent on the case "grotesquely bloated."
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'Grotesquely Bloated,' Google Judge Rips Consumers' Fee Bid

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge said Thursday he would likely give final approval to Google's $700 million antitrust deal with states and consumers, but blasted the accompanying request for $85 million in attorney fees, calling the 100,000 hours the consumers' counsel said they spent on the case "grotesquely bloated."

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Acadia Investors Get Final OK For $179M Deal, Atty Fees

By Katryna Perera

A Tennessee federal judge has given final approval to a $179 million settlement between investors and Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc., ending a class action that alleged the company misled investors about the strength of its U.K. operations.

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GM Keyless-Theft Suit Trimmed, Core Claims Survive

By Jonathan Capriel

A proposed class of drivers who claim General Motors hid a design flaw that allows thieves to easily access their vehicles saw their claims trimmed by a Texas federal judge, but he allowed most drivers to proceed with their core unjust enrichment claims.

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Brief

Judge Gives $27M Settlement Final Nod In DuPont PFAS Case

By Jonathan Capriel

A New York federal judge has granted final approval to a $27 million deal between DuPont and the Hoosick Falls residents who claimed the company's chemicals contaminated their drinking water for years, damaging their property values and leaving toxic levels of "forever chemicals" in their blood.

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FirstEnergy Investor Class Recertified After 6th Circ. Remand

By Jessica Corso

An Ohio federal judge on Thursday recertified a class of FirstEnergy Corp. investors suing over the company's $1 billion bribery scandal, standing by his earlier ruling that plaintiffs adequately alleged misrepresentations following a Sixth Circuit remand of the case. 

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PRODUCT LIABILITY

J&J Says Ill. Ruling Backs Beasley Allen's DQ From Talc Suits

By George Woolston

Johnson & Johnson told a New Jersey federal court that a recent ruling in Illinois backs the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over its talcum powder.

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EMPLOYMENT & BENEFITS

Steakhouse Chain Servers Get Initial OK For $7M Wage Deal

By Benjamin Morse

A steakhouse chain will pay $7 million to end servers' claims that its tip-pool practices left them underpaid, a Colorado federal judge said Thursday, granting the deal preliminary approval.

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Mental Health Co. Can't Undo Jury Verdict In NC Wage Suit

By MJ Koo

A mental healthcare company's bid to throw out a jury verdict finding it willfully violated federal and state wage laws fell short because its post-trial arguments lacked supporting evidence, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Thursday.

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Walmart Wins Dismissal Of Wage Suit Over Sparse Claims

By Benjamin Morse

A former overnight stocker's allegations against Walmart lacked enough detail to plausibly support claims for missed breaks, unpaid overtime and other violations, a Washington federal judge ruled Thursday, tossing the worker's proposed class action.

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Kroger's Health Plan Tobacco Fee Shirks ERISA, Suit Says

By Grace Elletson

Supermarket giant Kroger violated federal benefits law by requiring workers to pay an extra fee through their health plan if they used tobacco while failing to give them a fair opportunity to avoid the charge, according to a proposed class action filed in Ohio federal court.

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Brief

BofA Denied Quick 4th Circ. Appeal In 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina federal judge has turned down Bank of America Corp.'s request for a quick appeal of his order denying the bank's request for an early exit from a proposed class action alleging forfeitures were misspent from workers' 401(k) plans.

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Ex-Husch Blackwell Partner Urges Discovery In ERISA Dispute

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

A former Husch Blackwell LLP partner has urged a Missouri federal court to ignore the firm's request for summary judgment in a dispute over employee retirement benefits, arguing discovery should proceed in the proposed class action.

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Co. Didn't Give Workers Proper Termination Notice, Suits Say

By Zach Dupont

Former employees of a recently defunct commercial property services company were not given a 60-day notice of their termination, in violation of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, workers alleged in two separate proposed class actions filed in Colorado federal court.

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SECURITIES

Energy Co. Brass Accused Of $58M 'Pump And Dump'

By Jarek Rutz

A stockholder has sued Enphase Energy Inc.'s top officers and directors in the Delaware Chancery Court, accusing them of misleading investors about weakening demand for the solar technology company's products while insiders allegedly sold more than $58.8 million in stock and the company spent nearly $907 million on allegedly inflated share repurchases.

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Generac Beats Investor Suit Over COVID-Era Sales

By Katryna Perera

A Wisconsin federal judge on Thursday dismissed, with prejudice, a proposed securities class action accusing home generator company Generac Holdings Inc. and its top brass of failing to keep up with a surge in business during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding the investors failed to cure deficiencies in their prior complaint.

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Ariz. Bank Hit With Fraud Suit Over Merger Terms

By Sydney Price

A Chicago investment fund has accused an Arizona-based community bank of duping shareholders of an Illinois savings and loan company into approving the institutions' $90 million merger, saying the offering materials touted an unachievable payout for investors.

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COMPETITION

Google Says Ad Tech Rivals Can't 'Circumvent' Time Limits

By Bryan Koenig

Google has formally asked a New York federal judge to dramatically reduce antitrust claims from rival advertising placement technology providers, arguing they're clearly targeting policies they've known about for years and thus cannot get around a four-year statute of limitations pegged to a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit.

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CYBERSECURITY & PRIVACY

Ad Network Can't Ditch Suit Over Mobile App User Tracking

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge refused to toss a putative class action accusing mobile advertising network InMobi of unlawfully collecting detailed, sensitive information from users of apps that integrate its software tools, finding the plaintiff adequately alleged the technology functions as a "pen register" that's prohibited by the state's wiretap law. 

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Medtronic User Says Data Hack Exposed 9M Client Records

By Hailey Konnath

A Medtronic customer filed a proposed class action Thursday accusing the medical device company of failing to safeguard more than 9 million records containing personally identifiable information — including health information — exposed in a data breach earlier this month.

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CONSUMER PROTECTION

Kratom Seller Sanctioned For Deleting Blog During Suit

By Mike Curley

A California federal judge has sanctioned Ashlynn Marketing Group Inc. in a suit alleging it hid kratom's dangerous and addictive effects, finding that it deliberately deleted a blog containing statements about kratom after the suit was filed.

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Borrowers Seek NJ Mass Tort Status For Debt Buyer Suits

By George Woolston

Consumers challenging LVNV Funding LLC's attempts to collect their debts that they say are void under state law have applied to the New Jersey Supreme Court to centralize their suits as multicounty litigation.

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IP & TECHNOLOGY

Roundup

NC Biz Court Bulletin: Corporate Raid, MV Realty Settlement

By Hayley Fowler

A major case settled in the North Carolina Business Court in April as new lawsuits emerged, including a complaint by health information technology company IQVIA Holdings Inc. accusing its former top brass of orchestrating a corporate raid and defecting to a competitor. In case you missed this story and others, here are the highlights.

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INSURANCE

Calif. Insureds Say State Farm's Property Valuation Is Unlawful

By Hope Patti

A class of California homeowners that say State Farm underpaid their property insurance claims urged a federal court to reject the insurer's argument that its method of calculating actual cash value is in line with the state's insurance code and legislative history.

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REAL ESTATE

Tenant Says NC Landlord Imposed 3 Rent Hikes In 5 Months

By Nate Beck

A renter in California claimed in a proposed class action that her new landlord, North Carolina-based Bell Partners, sought to raise her rent nearly 25% in a five-month period after taking over management of an apartment complex late last year.

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IMMIGRATION

Immigrant Minors Lose Bid To Block Repeat Sponsor Vetting

By Lauren Berg

A Washington, D.C., federal judge Thursday refused to block a Trump administration policy requiring that previously approved custodians reapply to sponsor "unaccompanied" children while the minors are held in government facilities, finding that the plaintiffs have not established the government is likely acting contrary to law.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

How They Won It

How Sullivan & Cromwell Won An $18B 'Bet The Country' Case

By Chris Villani

It is not often that a Second Circuit ruling is hailed as "the greatest legal achievement in national history" by a country's president, but that's what happened after a team from Sullivan & Cromwell LLP persuaded the appellate panel to nix an $18 billion judgment against Argentina.

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Jones Day Beats Sanctions Bid In $2M Fee Dispute

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois state judge has ruled that Jones Day can pursue punitive damages on several of its claims in a lawsuit alleging a former client made a series of unlawful transactions to avoid paying over $2 million in legal fees, and also denied sanctions sought by the ex-client against the firm.

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'Christian Witch' Says Jenner & Block Must Face Vax Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

A former Jenner & Block LLP employee told an Illinois federal judge that she didn't need to disclose that she's a "Christian witch" in order to seek an exemption to the law firm's COVID-19 vaccine requirement, urging the court to reject her ex-employer's bid to toss the case.

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Senate Advances Mont. Judge Pick Rated Unqualified By ABA

By Courtney Bublé

A judicial nominee for the District of Montana who was the only nominee of the second Trump administration so far to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association advanced out of committee on Thursday.

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Judge Denies Push To Stop Closed Immigration Hearings

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. federal judge denied a Minnesota human rights organization's request to block immigration judges from restricting public and press access to proceedings, ruling that it failed to show an immediate threat of future harm from unlawful hearing closures.

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LSC Decries House Subcommittee's Proposed Budget Cut

By Marco Poggio

The nation's largest funder of civil legal aid condemned a House appropriations proposal to slash its budget for fiscal year 2027 by more than half, warning Thursday the reduction could leave nearly 3 million Americans without help for critical civil legal problems.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

A pair of door manufacturers ended a landmark private merger challenge, state enforcers are gearing up for a potential Live Nation breakup bid following a crucial jury win, and a separate group of states and DirecTV are challenging Nexstar's $6.2 billion deal for rival broadcaster Tegna.

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Hub Hires: Weil Gotshal, Reed Smith, Morgan Lewis

By Chris Villani

April showers bring legal hires in Boston, with several attorneys on the move. Weil Gotshal snagged an international trade lawyer from Kirkland & Ellis, Morgan Lewis added an attorney from Hunton, and Reed Smith continued to expand its new Boston office.

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Promo that reads Law360 Pulse 2026 AI Survey

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Advisors LLC

Andrews & Springer

Ashcraft & Gerel

Axinn Veltrop

Bailey & Glasser

Barnes & Thornburg

Bartlit Beck

Beasley Allen

Bradford Andresen

Bursor & Fisher

Capezza Hill

Carter Arnett

Chestnut Cambronne

Clement & Murphy

Cohen Placitella

Cotchett Pitre

Cravath Swaine

DJS Law Group

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dortch Lindstrom

Dowd Bloch

Edelson PC

Essex Richards

Faegre Drinker

Faraci Lange

Fenwick & West

Foley & Lardner

Freshfields

Gardner Firm PC

GessnerLaw

Gray Newell Thomas

Haffner Law PC

Herrmann Law PLLC

Hogan Lovells

Hueston Hennigan

Hunton Andrews

Husch Blackwell

Jackson Lewis PC

Jackson Walker LLP

Jenner & Block

Johnson Fistel

Jones Day

K&L Gates

Kaplan Fox

Kellogg Hansen

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Klausner Kaufman

Lankenau & Miller

Lash Goldberg

Lichten & Liss Riordan

Lightfoot Franklin

Livingston Law Group

Lynch Carpenter

Lynch Thompson

Mayer Brown

McGuireWoods

Messner Reeves

Morgan Lewis

Morrison & Foerster

Munger Tolles

Murray Law Firm LLC

Murray Murphy

Nelson Mullins

O'Melveny & Myers

Ogletree Deakins

Pitta LLP

Pomerantz LLP

Raisner Roupinian

Reed Smith

Riley & Jacobson

Robbins Geller

Ropes & Gray

Sanford Heisler

Sheppard Mullin

Shook Hardy

Sills Cummis

Simonsen Sussman

Siri & Glimstad

Snell & Wilmer

Steckler Wayne

Stinson LLP

Sullivan & Cromwell

Susman Godfrey

Swigart Law Group

The Kim Law Firm LLC

Troutman

Weaver Currie

Weil Gotshal

Weitz & Luxenberg

Wiggin & Dana

Williams Cedar

Willkie Farr

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

3M Co.

Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc.

Air France-KLM

Alphabet Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd.

Bank of America Corp.

Bell Partners Inc.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

Boston University

British Broadcasting Corp.

Burford Capital LLC

Chicago Capital Management LLC

Democracy Forward Foundation

DuPont de Nemours Inc.

Enphase Energy Inc.

Epic Games Inc.

Eton Park Capital Management LP

Exela Pharma Sciences LLC

FirstEnergy Corp.

Gannett Co. Inc.

Generac Holdings Inc.

General Motors Co.

Google LLC

Hasbro Inc.

Hawaiian Holdings Inc.

Here Media Inc.

Honeywell International Inc.

IF Bancorp Inc.

InMobi

Index Exchange Inc.

Internet Archive

IonQ Inc.

Iqvia Holdings Inc.

JELD-WEN Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

LCI Industries

Liberty Global Inc.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Match Group LLC

Medtronic PLC

Merck & Co. Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

National Center for Youth Law

Newegg Inc.

Nexstar Media Group Inc.

Norfolk Southern Corp.

Northrop Grumman Corp.

OpenX Technologies Inc.

Orbital ATK Inc.

Patrick Industries Inc.

Plains All American Pipeline L.P.

Prime Therapeutics LLC

PubMatic Inc.

Repsol SA

Saint-Gobain SA

Sappi Limited

SkyWater Technology Inc.

Skydance Media LLC

Soverain Software

Steves & Sons Inc.

TRI Pointe Group Inc.

Tegna Inc.

Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The Advocates for Human Rights

The DIRECTV Group Inc.

The Gap Inc.

The Kroger Co.

Twitter Inc.

U.S. Anesthesia Partners

UPM-Kymmene

Walmart Inc.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe

YPF SA

YouTube Inc.

eBay Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

China's National Development and Reform Commission

Competition and Markets Authority

Cook County Circuit Court

Delaware Court of Chancery

European Commission

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Executive Office of the President

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Legal Services Corp.

New Jersey Supreme Court

North Carolina Department of Justice

Ohio House of Representatives

Surface Transportation Board

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Montana

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio