Authors' Attys Call Anthropic's $1.5B IP Deal Their 'Creation'

By Rae Ann Varona

Asked to justify a massive $187.5 million attorney fee request in litigation accusing Anthropic of copyright infringement, counsel for the plaintiff class of authors told a California federal judge Thursday that the resulting $1.5 billion settlement was "the creation of class counsel."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Jury Clears Exxon Of 10-Year Securities Class Action

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal jury Thursday cleared Exxon Mobil Corp. of a decade-old securities class action claiming the energy giant misled investors, finding that Exxon did not breach securities laws with its representations of how much money some of its operations were making.

Verdict attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Oppenheimer Customers Ink $70M Cash Sweep Rate Deal

By Lauren Berg

A class of Oppenheimer & Co. customers are asking a New York federal judge to greenlight a $70 million settlement resolving their claims that the investment bank pocketed hefty fees from its cash sweep account program while paying customers "unreasonable, below-market interest rates."

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Human Reproduction Proves Talc Can Reach Ovaries, Jury Told

By Craig Clough

A medical oncologist on Thursday told a Los Angeles bellwether jury considering claims that Johnson & Johnson's talc products caused three women's deadly ovarian cancer that the female reproductive system is an "open" system where talc can migrate to the ovaries, and that "we wouldn't exist" if that was not the case.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Morgan Stanley Beats Chip Co. Investor's Stock Scheme Suit

By Gina Kim

A New York federal judge Thursday dismissed a stock manipulation suit against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, finding its temporary policy requiring customers to buy shares in Israeli chipmaker Eltek Ltd. over the phone, which allegedly enabled improper trading, to be "neither manipulative nor deceptive."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Meta Starts NM Defense As Midtrial Win Bid Fails

By Cara Salvatore

A judge denied Meta a midtrial win Thursday morning over harm to underage social media users, prompting the social media giant to call an executive to begin building a defense case that platform changes requested by New Mexico's attorney general are unnecessary or even counterproductive.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NCR To Pay $48M To End Former Execs' Lifetime Benefits Suit

By Patrick Hoff

NCR Corp. will pay nearly $48 million to resolve a class action from former executives who alleged the software company broke its promise to send them annuity payments for life, the workers told a Georgia federal court.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

United Airlines' $27.5M ERISA Suit Deal Gets Initial OK

By Patrick Hoff

United Airlines on Thursday secured initial approval from an Illinois federal court for a $27.5 million settlement agreement that would resolve claims that it locked retired employees out of a generous COVID-19-era benefits package.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Google Workers' Attys Get $12.5M In Race Bias Deal Final OK

By Lauren Berg

A California federal judge gave her final approval Thursday to a $50 million settlement that Google reached to resolve claims that it paid thousands of Black workers less than their white colleagues, and awarded the workers' attorneys their fee request of $12.5 million.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Investment Co. Settles Carpenters' $250M Pension Loss Suit

By Grace Elletson

Callan LLC has reached a deal in a class action from a group of union carpenters who claimed the investment consulting firm and their pension funds' trustees lost them $250 million in assets by investing in Allianz index funds, according to a Washington federal court filing.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Recommends Cert. In United Airlines Unit OT Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Current and former employees of a United Airlines subsidiary providing cleaning services on planes can proceed as a class in their lawsuit alleging overtime pay violations tied to shift trades, a Colorado federal magistrate judge has recommended, finding the claims stem from a uniform pay policy.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NC Healthcare Workers Get Final Nod On $1.5M Wage Deal

By Hayley Fowler

A federal judge has given final approval to a $1.56 million settlement with the owners of several North Carolina hospitals and healthcare facilities accused of manipulating workers' time sheets to skirt overtime requirements.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Seton Hall Hit With Wage Suit Over Dorm Monitor Pay

By Carla Baranauckas

Seton Hall University illegally failed to pay resident assistants minimum wage and overtime compensation despite requiring them to perform extensive supervisory, security and administrative duties in campus dormitories, a former resident assistant claimed in a proposed class and collective action in New Jersey state court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Cushman & Wakefield Wants Discovery Stay For 401(k) Suit

By Isaac Monterose

Commercial real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield told a Washington federal court Thursday that a proposed 401(k) class action's discovery deadlines need to be paused because of the company's pending dismissal and venue transfer motions.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

HF Foods Investor Sues Over Written Consent Bylaw

By Jarek Rutz

A stockholder has sued HF Foods Group Inc. in the Delaware Chancery Court, claiming the food distributor's bylaws illegally restrict investors' right to act by written consent without advance notice.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Time For Trial, Judge Says, Nixing DQ Appeal In Generics MDL

By Bryan Koenig

A Pennsylvania federal judge has refused to let generic-drug makers seek Third Circuit intervention in their bid to disqualify the lead counsel for insurers Humana and Molina, concluding the fight would only further delay the long-running case ahead of its first trial in the price-fixing multidistrict litigation.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Homebuyers, Brokers Clash Over Opt-In Antitrust Settlements

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class of homebuyers is opposing efforts by HomeServices of America Inc. and Douglas Elliman Inc. in Florida federal court to settle separate but similar antitrust class actions accusing brokerages of conspiring to inflate broker commission fees.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Honda Buyers Say 440K Odysseys Have Faulty Side Airbags

By Gina Kim

Honda hid safety defects for years in its 2018-2022 Odyssey minivans where side airbag systems would suddenly deploy when traveling on flat roads, slowing down to a stop or going over a speed bump, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Volkswagen Hit With Class Claims Over EV Battery Fire Risk

By Carla Baranauckas

Volkswagen has been hit with a proposed class action in New Jersey federal court alleging that tens of thousands of its ID.4 electric vehicles contain defective high-voltage batteries that can spontaneously catch fire because of misaligned electrodes.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Cheerleading Co. Gets Final OK For Data Breach Settlement

By Ganesh Setty

A Texas federal court on Thursday gave final approval for a $1.1 million class action settlement to resolve claims that cheerleading apparel company Varsity Brands Inc. failed to prevent and address a data breach impacting nearly 66,000 people.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Smucker's Misleads About Splenda In Fudge, Consumer Says

By Mike Curley

A New York man sued The J.M. Smucker Co. in federal court on Thursday, alleging it misleads consumers by claiming its fudge topping is sweetened with Splenda, when in reality its primary sweeteners are less-healthy sugar alcohols and sugar substitutes.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Algorithms In Senate Spotlight After Social Media Suit Losses

By Emily Field

Lawyers and parents on Wednesday urged lawmakers to strengthen protections for children online, focusing on the addictiveness of social media algorithms after two recent trial losses for Big Tech.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tennis Group Says Grand Slams Are Retaliating For Lawsuit

By Matthew Perlman

Tennis players told a New York federal court their professional association is being denied access to the French Open and Wimbledon in retaliation for suing several tournament operators and the sports' governing bodies for allegedly acting like a cartel to control their wages and working conditions.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How Del. Courts Will Likely Evaluate AI Oversight Claims

While no Delaware court has thus far adjudicated a claim based on alleged board failures to oversee artificial intelligence risk, recent Court of Chancery decisions suggest that familiar Caremark principles will be applied in predictable but consequential ways, particularly when AI touches mission‑critical operations, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ABA Section Votes To Scrap Law School DEI Standards

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association's legal education section on Friday voted to eliminate its requirements that law schools show a commitment to diversity in their student body in order to remain accredited, a policy that has been under fire since a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in higher education.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Circ. Drops A Theme Song, Talks Guest Judges

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit's full lineup came together Friday to provide practitioners with insight about their experience sitting on other courts, in a conference where the chief judge dropped the court's first (and only) single.

5 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Alston & Bird, Banks Sued Again Over $328M Goliath Scam

By Jack Karp

Another proposed class of investors sued Alston & Bird LLP and a trio of financial institutions Friday over their alleged roles in a $328 million cryptocurrency scam orchestrated by Goliath Ventures Inc.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Circ. Urges Justices To Reject Newman Suspension Case

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit has urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear Judge Pauline Newman's appeal targeting a suspension imposed on her by the court's other judges, arguing that a lower court correctly held that her challenges to the order are not subject to judicial review.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Haynes Boone lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts that have sent disputes to arbitration have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate subsequent awards.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Colorado Passes Bill Banning Fee Sharing With Nonlawyers

By Emily Sawicki

The Colorado Legislature has approved a bill to bar attorneys and law firms operating in the state from sharing fees and revenue with non-attorney-owned firms, known as alternative business structure firms, making Colorado the latest state to tamp down the practice.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Girardi Trial Judge Josephine Staton To Take Senior Status

By Ryan Boysen

The California federal judge who sentenced disgraced trial attorney Tom Girardi to prison for wire fraud last year has announced that she'll be taking senior status in the fall, allowing President Donald Trump to appoint her successor.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

Balancing The Scales: Justices To Revisit Sentencing Rules

By Orlando Lorenzo

The U.S. Supreme Court will take a closer look at a circuit split over the deference that should be allotted to U.S. Sentencing Commission commentary, and a man convicted in the killing of an infant has been released after 27 years served over evidence that points to pneumonia as the likely cause of death.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Tied To Trump Pardon Headed For August Extortion Trial

By Stewart Bishop

A New York federal judge on Friday set an August trial date for a South Carolina attorney and lobbyist on extortion charges tied to his work as a purported go-between for people with serious legal troubles seeking clemency from President Donald Trump.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen singer Rita Ora be sued by her management company, the billionaire Gertner brothers file a part 8 claim and Stephenson Harwood lodge a debt claim against a member of the Bulgari jewelry dynasty. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

PayPal settled with the DOJ to end a probe into what the government agency said was a discriminatory investment program for Black- and minority-owned businesses. Meanwhile, Meta's global head of legal operations during a panel discussion predicted that the billable hour will be the exception — not the rule — in five years. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »