Boies Schiller Knocked By Judge In Meta Copyright Fight

By Adam Lidgett

A California federal judge has criticized attorneys from law firms including Boies Schiller Flexner LLP that are representing authors accusing Meta of unlawfully using copyrighted material to train its artificial intelligence models, while still allowing the authors to amend their case again.

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Southwest Can't Fly Past Workers' Retirement Plan Suit

By José Luis Martínez

Southwest Airlines Co. retirement plan beneficiaries pleaded sufficient facts to state claims for breach of fiduciary duty and for failure to monitor in alleging that the company and its executives failed to remove an underperforming fund that lagged its benchmark, a Texas federal judge ruled this week.

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Hyundai Loses 9th Circ. Bid To Arbitrate Palisade Liability Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

Hyundai Motor America Inc. can't push into arbitration a proposed class action over allegedly faulty tow wiring that can catch fire, the Ninth Circuit ruled in a split decision, rejecting as "absurd" the automaker's argument that the terms of the vehicles' subscription-based wireless service waived a driver's right to sue over defects in the rest of the SUV.

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J&J Spinoff Can't Avoid All Of 'Oil-Free' False Ad Suit In Ill.

By Mike Curley

An Illinois federal judge won't let a Johnson & Johnson spinoff fully escape claims that it misled consumers by marketing skincare products as "oil-free," finding the plaintiff can't pursue claims for products she didn't buy and dismissing her warranty claim but allowing the rest to proceed.

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Elon Musk Slams Twitter Stock Verdict Over Jury's $4.20 'Joke'

By Lauren Berg

Elon Musk did not get a fair trial over claims he defrauded Twitter investors before acquiring the social media platform, the tech billionaire's lawyer told a California federal judge Thursday, saying the jury rolled a marijuana "joke" into the verdict form to mock Musk and the trial process.

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Steakhouse Chain Hit With $21.2M Judgment In Tip, Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A Texas federal judge entered a roughly $21.2 million judgment against a steakhouse chain and its owner in a lawsuit brought by hundreds of workers alleging unpaid wages and misappropriated tips, according to a court filing.

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2nd Circ. Reopens Mortgage-Backed Securities ERISA Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Second Circuit on Thursday revived a federal benefits lawsuit against Wells Fargo and Ocwen accusing the companies of mishandling home loans tied to a union pension fund's investments, overturning a lower court ruling that handed the bank and loan servicing companies a pretrial win in the proposed class action.

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NC Court Denies Collective Bid In Wage Row, For Now

By Benjamin Morse

Employees alleging a property management company stiffed them on overtime wages cannot proceed as a collective for now, a North Carolina federal judge has ruled, finding that the current record is insufficient to determine whether they are similarly situated.

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Hand Sanitizer Co. Board, Execs Can't Slip ESOP Fight

By Patrick Hoff

Executives and former board members at a hand sanitizer company must face a lawsuit claiming they helped facilitate an employee stock ownership plan's $398 million purchase of overvalued company stock, with an Illinois federal judge ruling that workers adequately alleged the executives had neglected their responsibilities.

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Workers In Race Bias Suit Say JBS, Subsidiary Shared Control

By Ganesh Setty

Haitian nationals accusing meatpacking giant JBS USA Food Co. and a subsidiary of race-based discrimination and numerous labor violations have told a Colorado federal court their lawsuit should survive JBS' dismissal bid, arguing that they've sufficiently established an employer relationship with both.

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Choice Hotels, Franchisee Seek Dismissal Of Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Choice Hotels and a hotel operator have urged a federal judge in Washington state to toss a collective and class action alleging workers were denied breaks and sick leave, arguing the complaint failed to show the hospitality giant was actually the workers' employer and improperly included claims beyond the court's jurisdiction.

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Conn. Sushi Chef Seeks Sanctions Over Deposition Spectator

By Brian Steele

A sushi chef suing a Connecticut restaurant on claims of wage-and-hour violations wants the defendant sanctioned for allowing a nonparty, who is the defendant in a separate but similar lawsuit, to attend a Jan. 19 deposition, allegedly in an attempt to gain a litigation advantage.

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Fintech Firm Beats Investor Suit Over Noncompliance Risks

By Sydney Price

China-based online brokerage firm operator UP Fintech Holding Ltd. has escaped a proposed class action accusing it of misleading investors by concealing risks associated with its noncompliance with New Zealand and Chinese securities laws after a New York federal judge found the company's statements to be full and justified.

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Liquor Co. Beats Investor Suit Over Post-COVID Biz Downturn

By Emilie Ruscoe

Liquor company MGP Ingredients Inc. no longer faces investor claims it concealed ballooning inventory after demand for booze dropped following the COVID-19 pandemic, as a Kansas federal judge found the shareholders failed to show the company intentionally misled the markets.

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Elanco Beats Investor Suit Over Dog Drug's Reg Challenges

By Katryna Perera

A Maryland federal judge Thursday dismissed a proposed securities class action against Elanco Animal Health Inc. that claimed the animal pharmaceuticals company misled investors about the safety of a canine dermatitis treatment it was developing and its timeline for the medication's commercial launch.

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DOJ Takes Issue With Tyson Args In Turkey Price-Fixing Fight

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Department of Justice has urged an Illinois federal court not to take up Tyson Foods' application of a Fourth Circuit decision in the turkey processor's bid to defeat consolidated antitrust litigation against poultry producers, saying the out-of-circuit decision conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

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Stanley Mug-Maker Beats Most Lid Recall Claims, For Now

By Ben Adlin

A Seattle federal judge dumped the bulk of a proposed consumer class action accusing the company behind Stanley mugs of selling defective lids that can leak hot liquids, ruling plaintiffs in the case failed to establish that the business had advance knowledge of the alleged defects.

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3rd Circ. Sends Harriet Carter Wiretapping Case To Pa. Court

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Third Circuit on Thursday said the federal courts lacked jurisdiction to hear a case alleging that Harriet Carter Gifts and a third-party company violated consumers' privacy rights under Pennsylvania wiretapping law by collecting their website browsing data, ordering the lower court to remand the case to state court.

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NC Suit Says Real Estate Co. Cyberattack Notice Took Months

By Nate Beck

A real estate company faces a purported class action in North Carolina's Business Court accusing the firm of waiting months to notify its customers of a data breach in September and failing to disclose what kind of information was stolen.

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Acxiom Beats Consumers' Suit Over Data Sales, For Good

By Gina Kim

A Virginia federal judge tossed a complaint alleging data analytics company Acxiom gathers and sells individuals' personal information like their addresses, birth dates and other identifiers to its clients, ruling Wednesday the laws alleged to have been violated only protect a person's name, portrait, or picture, "not any of this other data."

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Co. Accused Of Sharing Mental Health Data With Google

By Zach Dupont

A California resident alleged in Colorado federal court that a Denver-based telehealth mental health provider is providing sensitive customer data to Google without their consent in violation of federal and state privacy laws, according to a proposed class action filed Thursday.

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Imaging Practice Data Breach Class Actions Hit NC Biz Court

By Abigail Harrison

A series of putative class actions resulting from a data breach at imaging practice Triad Radiology Associates PLLC hit North Carolina Business Court this week, with a couple of the cases naming hospitals that partnered with the practice.

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Ill. Judge Tosses 'Baseless' THC Potency Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

Illinois cannabis regulators are not so "incompetent on an elementary level" as to be duped into allowing Acreage Holdings Inc. and other companies to mislabel vape products in a way that lets them skirt state-imposed THC-potency limits, a federal court ruled, tossing as "baseless" a consumer-led proposed class action.

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Artist Says Tech Cos. Cut Attribution From Work Used For AI

By Zak Kostro

A Los Angeles 3D artist and visual effects creator accused four tech giants of failing to protect rights on millions of works by artists and designers that were used to train large-scale generative artificial intelligence systems, according to proposed class actions filed in California and Washington federal courts Thursday.

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Waste Management Sued Over 'Noxious Odors' In New Jersey

By George Woolston

Waste Management of New Jersey was hit with a proposed class action in Garden State federal court alleging the smell emanating from one of its landfills is damaging neighboring properties.

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Fans Push For $14M Deal For Soccer Match Fiasco

By Tom Lotshaw

Soccer fans impacted when people without tickets stormed a Copa America championship match at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens two years ago asked a Florida federal judge to sign off on a settlement agreement worth up to $14 million.

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BigLaw Races To Capture Expanding Fund Finance Market

By Kevin Penton

Debt financing work at the fund level has long been dominated on the lender side by attorneys from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, Haynes Boone and Mayer Brown LLP, but other firms are increasingly crafting formal practices and poaching fund finance stars from the more established players.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Lanier Law Firm, Kiesel Law LLP, Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP and Beasley Allen Law Firm lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California state jury in a bellwether trial found Meta and Google liable for harming the mental health of a woman who says she became addicted to their social media platforms as a child.

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NJ Federal Judge DQs Beasley Allen In J&J Talc MDL

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey federal judge has disqualified the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing hundreds of plaintiffs in sprawling multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, holding that the firm violated ethics rules by collaborating with former outside counsel for J&J, a ruling the law firm has vowed to appeal.

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Atty Sanctioned For AI Hallucinations In Workers' Comp Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey appellate court on Friday ordered an attorney to pay $1,000 in sanctions for failing to rectify AI-hallucinated case citations pointed out to him in an appeal concerning reimbursement sought by a workers' compensation carrier.

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Apple hit back at a tech company's wireless charging patent claim, a flurry of businesses bring COVID-19 pandemic insurance claims as a key deadline draws closer and Ipulse Partners LLP file a claim against a luxury yacht company it represented in a trademark dispute. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Polsinelli Hires Practice Head From McDermott In NY

By Andrea Keckley

Polsinelli PC said Thursday that it has hired a longtime McDermott Will & Schulte LLP attorney to co-lead its special situations and alternative investment practice, saying the move "further advanc[es] the firm's strategic focus on private credit, distressed investing, and complex restructuring matters."

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Apollo, BlackRock Deny Asking Kirkland To Abandon Optimum

By Tracey Read

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other major financial companies have denied Optimum Communications' claims accusing them of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as the telecommunications company's transaction counsel to get revenge for a collusion lawsuit filed in New York federal court.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A federal judge has stopped the Pentagon from dropping AI giant Anthropic from the government's supply chain, and Latham & Watkins ranked first in a survey of in-house legal leaders on which law firms are most helpful in developing business, followed by King & Spalding, Jones Day and Ropes & Gray.

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Firms Targeted By Trump Urge DC Circ. To Uphold EO Rulings

By Alison Knezevich

Four law firms targeted last year by President Donald Trump urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to affirm lower court rulings that struck down executive orders restricting their ability to practice law, saying the directives blatantly violate the Constitution.

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Brief

Amazon Swaps MoFo In, Perkins Coie Out In Cooker Suit

By Ben Adlin

Amazon.com LLP switched counsel Friday in a customer's product defect suit accusing the retail giant of selling a faulty pressure cooker that allegedly malfunctioned and caused her severe burns, substituting two Morrison Foerster LLP attorneys in place of an outgoing Perkins Coie LLP lawyer.

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Mich. Judge Signals No Stay If Attys Exit Retaliation Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge said Friday she is not inclined to pause a long-running sexual harassment suit again if counsel for an attorney who is suing her ex-mentor and former firm are allowed to withdraw, telling the parties, "We've been here. We've done this," as she heard arguments over a motion to exit the case.

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Judiciary Nixes Amicus Disclosure Reform Over Potential Chill

By Emily Sawicki

The federal judiciary has been asked not to move forward with a plan to add to amicus brief disclosure requirements designed to curb "dark money" groups from bankrolling amicus briefs, after rules committee chairs pulled the recommendation over concerns of a possible chilling effect.

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Ex-Williams & Connolly Clerk Accused Of Posting Client Info

By Hailey Konnath

A former Williams & Connolly LLP clerk has been posting confidential firm information — including client information and work email exchanges — and he's threatening to "keep leaking" the materials, which he called "a fun read," according to a suit filed in District of Columbia Superior Court.

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Mayer Brown's $21M Fee Bid In RI Truck Tolls Suit Rebuffed

By Linda Chiem

A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday rebuffed Mayer Brown LLP's bid for $21 million in attorney fees for representing the commercial trucking industry's lead trade group in long-running litigation over the state's truck tolling program, saying the American Trucking Associations ultimately was not the "prevailing party."

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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.

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FCC Told It Can't Make Foreign Call Centers Speak English

By Nadia Dreid

The National Creditors Bar Association is not pleased with the Federal Communications Commission's plans to pass new rules that would require companies to make sure their foreign call center operators speak "American Standard English," saying the agency has no power over foreign employees.

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