OpenAI Can Keep Atty Comms Secret After All, Judge Says

By Hailey Konnath

A New York federal judge Friday set aside a magistrate judge's order requiring OpenAI's in-house attorneys to share their internal communications regarding deleted training datasets with authors suing over alleged copyright infringement, holding that the conclusions underlying that decision were "clearly erroneous or contrary to law."

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Beasley Allen Disqualified From NJ Talc Multicounty Litigation

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state appeals court disqualified the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing plaintiffs in multicounty litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, ruling Friday that a former Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP lawyer's collaborative efforts with the firm's attorneys violated ethics rules.

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Google, Meta Get A Jury In 1st Social Media Mental Health Trial

By Craig Clough

A jury was seated Friday in the first California bellwether trial over claims that Google's YouTube and Meta's Facebook and Instagram platforms harm young users' mental health, with the trial to begin Monday in Los Angeles and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg expected to be one of the first witnesses.

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Shake Shack Governance Suit Headed For Dismissal In Del.

By Jarek Rutz

A stockholder lawsuit challenging Shake Shack Inc.'s corporate governance arrangements is set to be dismissed after the parties jointly asked the Delaware Court of Chancery to end the case, cutting off the named plaintiff's claims while preserving the ability of other stockholders to bring similar suits later.

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Kroger And Albertsons Win Dismissal In Antitrust Labor Case

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado federal judge on Friday dismissed a grocery store employee's proposed class action against Kroger and Albertsons alleging the pair violated antitrust law through a no-poach agreement to not hire competitor employees during a strike.

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Class Action Group Of The Year: WilmerHale

By Anna Sanders

WilmerHale helped Meta duck a first-of-its-kind antitrust lawsuit with more than $156 billion at stake, successfully defending the social media giant against claims it would have to pay users a "negative price" in a competitive market, once again earning the firm a spot among the 2025 Law360 Class Action Groups of the Year.

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FLSA Does Not Bar Claim Waivers, Wash. Judge Says

By Benjamin Morse

The Fair Labor Standards Act does not categorically bar a contract's release of an employee's claims, a Washington federal judge ruled, finding that a former pharmaceutical manufacturing company worker's severance agreement that included a general release of claims precludes his wage suit.

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Ricoh Will Pay $1.75M To End 401(k) Forfeiture, Fee Suits

By Kellie Mejdrich

Ricoh USA Inc. has agreed to pay $1.75 million to end two proposed class actions from ex-workers alleging the technology company allowed excessive fees, offered underperforming investments and misspent forfeitures from its $2 billion employee 401(k) retirement plan, according to filings in Pennsylvania federal court.

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Deputies Say Wayne County Flubbed Payroll System Switch

By Melanie Dorsey

Wayne County, Michigan, is facing a proposed class and collective action from sheriff's deputies alleging they were denied straight-time wages, overtime and earned benefits after the implementation of a new payroll system.

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Verizon Workers Will Seek 2nd Circ. Pension Suit Revival

By Kellie Mejdrich

Verizon employee retirement plan participants who allege the telecom and its independent fiduciary illegally converted $6 billion in pension benefits to risky annuities told a New York federal court Friday they'll seek Second Circuit revival of their proposed class action, which was tossed on standing grounds in January.

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Brief

Hospital Pays $595K To End Ex-Workers' Retirement Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A Cambridge hospital system agreed to pay $595,000 to settle a proposed class action claiming it mismanaged its $280 million retirement plan and cost workers millions in savings by failing to reduce management fees and trim costly funds from the plan, according to a Massachusetts federal court filing.

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Judge Gives Final OK For $42M Broker Fees Settlements

By Isaac Monterose

A Missouri federal judge granted final approval for $42 million worth of class action settlements to resolve antitrust claims accusing the National Association of Realtors and multiple brokerages of conspiring to charge home sellers with excessive broker commission fees.

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Takeda Can't Ax Most Of Heartburn Drug Pay-For-Delay Suit

By Lauren Berg

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and TWi Pharmaceuticals must face most of a proposed antitrust class action accusing them of delaying the release of the generic version of Takeda's heartburn medication Dexilant, causing Walgreens, Kroger and other retailers to pay more for the brand-name drug, a California federal judge ruled Friday.

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Chinese News App Beats Investor Suit Over Ad Revenue

By Katryna Perera

Chinese news aggregation app Qutoutiao Inc. and its underwriters have beaten a consolidated investor class action accusing the company of illicit advertising activity following its initial public offering, after a New York federal judge found that the plaintiff does not have standing on all the asserted claims.

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Antitrust Classes Certified Over Altria's Juul Investment

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court has certified several classes of Juul buyers in litigation over tobacco giant Altria's past investment in the e-cigarette company, despite concerns about the damages phase of the case becoming a "Frankenstein's monster."

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Chrysler Muscle Car Drivers Sue Over Seat Height Adjusters

By Spencer Brewer

Chrysler and Dodge's parent company sold millions of vehicles with defective seat height adjusters that create an "unreasonable risk of injury or death" during collisions and then hid the defect from authorities, alleges a proposed class action filed in Texas federal court.

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Lenovo Accused Of Illegaly Sharing Data With Chinese Parent

By Bonnie Eslinger

Lenovo Group's U.S. subsidiary illegally shares American consumers' data with its Chinese parent company in violation of a U.S. Department of Justice regulation restricting bulk transfers of sensitive information to foreign adversaries, according to a proposed class action filed Thursday in California federal court.

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Bojangles Let Russian Hackers Steal Worker Data, Suit Says

By Hayley Fowler

Fried chicken fast food chain Bojangles allegedly let Russian hackers infiltrate its computer system and steal hundreds of thousands of files on its employees, resulting in the exposure of their sensitive personal information on the dark web, according to a new complaint in North Carolina's business court.

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$8M Rent-To-Own Class Settlements Get Final OK

By Abigail Harrison

Five years of litigation — split between sister suits in North Carolina state and federal court — revolving around allegedly exorbitant fees on rent-to-own contracts for storage sheds ended this week after both courts entered final judgments and cemented a combined $8 million settlement.

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NJ Judge Tosses Pacira Investor Suit Over Patent Loss

By Jessica Corso

A New Jersey federal judge on Friday threw out an investor lawsuit against Pacira BioSciences Inc. after a court invalidated a patent for its key pain management drug, ruling that the pharmaceutical company was not required to disclose litigation setbacks it encountered before the final ruling.

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WithU, Scratchpay Sued Over Alleged 568% Loan Interest Rate

By Rachel Riley

Online direct lender WithU and California fintech platform Scratchpay were hit with a proposed class action in Washington federal court on Friday by a consumer who claims he was cornered into borrowing a loan with a nearly 568% interest rate to pay for his cat's cancer treatment.

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Paycheck Advances Aren't Loans, Fintech Orgs Tell 9th Circ.

By Jon Hill

Fintech trade groups on Friday urged the Ninth Circuit to rein in class litigation over earned wage access products, arguing it should recognize the products as distinct from credit under federal lending laws or risk upending a popular, safer alternative to traditional loans.

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Wintrust Beats Mortgage Loan Racial Bias Suit For Good

By Emilie Ruscoe

Wintrust Financial Corp. and a mortgage lender subsidiary no longer face a proposed class action accusing them of discriminating against Black homebuyers after an Illinois federal judge found the amended suit doesn't show that the alleged discrimination was intentional or resulted in disparate lending outcomes.

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Citing Feds' 'Lies,' Judge Orders 3 Families Returned To U.S.

By Rae Ann Varona

The Trump administration must return three immigrant families wrongly deported in violation of a family separation settlement agreement, a California federal judge said Thursday, stating the removals were unlawful and "involved lies, deception, and coercion."

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DHS Sued Over ICE Citizenship Proof Requirement

By José Luis Martínez

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was hit with proposed class claims Friday alleging the proof-of-citizenship requirement that agents impose during immigration enforcement actions flouts due process for U.S. citizens.

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Sidley Brings On Cooley Class Action Leader In San Diego

By James Mills

Sidley Austin LLP is boosting its litigation team, announcing Friday it is bringing in a Cooley LLP class action expert as a partner in its San Diego office.

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Analysis

Arbitrators Take Cautious Approach To Integrating AI

By Emily Sawicki

Norms, practices and regulations surrounding the use of generative artificial intelligence in arbitration are developing just as rapidly as they are in the courts. Here, Law360 Pulse talks with legal tech vendor Veritext's senior vice president in charge of alternative dispute resolution about how the arbitration industry is interacting with AI.

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Louisiana Attys Face Possible Sanctions For AI Slop Usage

By Adrian Cruz

As part of an order dismissing the remaining claims in a real estate matter, a Louisiana federal judge has threatened to sanction attorneys from two local firms for submitting a brief riddled with errors generated by artificial intelligence.

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Q&A

Va. Prosecutor Calls For Courage In Charging Feds

By Brandon Lowrey

Several district attorneys have formed a group with a singular goal: to charge and convict federal agents who violate civil rights. Here, Law360 speaks to one of these prosecutors about the creation of Fight Against Federal Overreach and the plans for the organization.

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DC Courts To Tag In Non-Attys To Help Civil Litigants

By Emily Johnson

The District of Columbia Courts is the latest court system in the U.S. to allow non-attorneys to help guide civil litigants who face matters without an attorney, creating a program that expands who can advise people facing evictions, child custody disputes and other matters.

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Judge Shooting Probe Draws Alleged Gunman's Confession

By Lynn LaRowe

The man accused of shooting an Indiana Superior Court judge confessed to carrying out the shooting to achieve a higher rank in his criminal gang and to erase debt he owed to co-conspirators — one of them scheduled for a criminal trial before the judge, according to court documents filed Friday.

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Trump's BigLaw Executive Order Appeals Consolidated

By Emily Sawicki

The D.C. Circuit on Friday consolidated the government's appeals of losses in four cases BigLaw firms launched against the White House and Justice Department over executive orders against them related to the clients they represent.

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Graham Pushes Bill To Allow Suits Over Smith Investigations

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is working on a bill to allow nonmembers of Congress to sue for damages after being investigated by special counsel Jack Smith.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London saw a unit of Johnson & Johnson sue the U.S. government in a patent dispute, Southampton Football Club file a claim against Aviva Insurance, and an events business face a claim by Live Nation (Music) over potential licensing issues for Chelmsford City Live, a music festival that featured Justin Timberlake last year. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Attacks on alleged anticompetitive behavior took the spotlight in the past week, with a federal jury ordering medical device maker Medtronic to pay $382 million for its monopolistic practices, including bundling sales and punishing customers for using rival products. And the Federal Trade Commission warned 42 law firms that participating in the Diversity Lab's diversity, equity and inclusion program could constitute anticompetitive collusion.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California federal jury ordered Medtronic to pay nearly $382 million to business rival Applied Medical Resources Corp. for antitrust violations.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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