Kartoon Studios doesn't have to cover $10 million in legal fees for two investment firms that won a federal jury trial over short-swing profits, New York's trial court ruled, finding the indemnity provisions of the parties' agreements only cover the investors' purchase of Kartoon securities, not later share sales.
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TOP NEWS

Fund Firms Lose $10M Fee Bid After Short-Swing Trial Win

By Katryna Perera

Kartoon Studios doesn't have to cover $10 million in legal fees for two investment firms that won a federal jury trial over short-swing profits, New York's trial court ruled, finding the indemnity provisions of the parties' agreements only cover the investors' purchase of Kartoon securities, not later share sales.

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Dish, Disney Working On Deal In Sling TV Suit

By Matthew Perlman

Dish Network told a New York federal court that settlement discussions are in progress for Walt Disney Co.'s breach of contract suit that challenged the satellite provider's short-term Sling TV passes and spurred Dish to lodge antitrust counterclaims over Disney's carriage licensing deals.

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LIV Golf, Jon Rahm Reach Separation Agreement

By Rick Archer

LIV Golf is asking a New Jersey bankruptcy judge to ratify a deal with Jon Rahm to allow the golfer to cancel his contracts and exit the embattled league.

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Fla. Body Armor Dealer On The Hook For $7M, Ukraine Says

By Joyce Hanson

Ukraine's Defense Ministry petitioned a Florida federal court to enforce an approximately $7 million arbitral award it won against a body armor dealer on claims that some units in a shipment turned out to be defective and did not pass ballistic testing.

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PRODUCT LIABILITY

Toyota Must Face Minivan Defect Warranty Suit, Judge Says

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge has largely allowed Toyota minivan drivers to proceed with their proposed class action alleging Toyota didn't repair defective second-row seat rails for months, ruling they sufficiently pled the warranty's purpose failed since it didn't repair or replace the parts within a reasonable time frame. 

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Ex-Racing Director Says Deleted Texts Don't Merit Sanctions

By Hayley Fowler

The former competition director for NASCAR superteam Joe Gibbs Racing LLC said his "candor" should save him from sanctions after he admitted to deleting text messages with the owner of a rival team before his old employer sued him for trade secrets theft.

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CONSUMER PROTECTION

Banks, Credit Union Escape Pig Butchering Scam Suit

By Sydney Price

Several financial institutions have been released from a suit brought by a California couple accusing them of allowing a so-called pig butchering investing scam that cost the pair $600,000, with a federal judge ruling the couple does not show how the defendants are liable for the harm, and that some of the claims were brought too late.

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EMPLOYMENT & BENEFITS

Union Can't Arbitrate Quarrel Over Kraft Retiree Benefits

By Grace Elletson

A Delaware federal judge blocked a Teamsters union from arbitrating claims that the Kraft Heinz Company improperly withheld health benefits from retirees, ruling the parties' collective bargaining agreement makes clear that the dispute must be resolved through different means.

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SECURITIES & WHITE COLLAR

Huawei Founder Played It Cool In FBI Interview, Jury Hears

By Stewart Bishop

A former FBI agent on Thursday told a Brooklyn federal jury about an interview he conducted with Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei, saying the executive suggested that the Chinese telecommunications firm had no direct dealings with Iran and respected intellectual property rights.

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DEALS LITIGATION

Josh Cellars Cos. Say Court, Not Jury, Must Decide Defenses

By Aaron Keller

Entities that help manage and market Josh Cellars wines say a Connecticut state judge, not a jury, must decide fairness defenses in former company president Thomas Steffanci's bid for millions in royalties, urging the judge to decline Steffanci's request to revisit a September order as a November trial date looms.

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Earth Sues Ex-CEO Over Walmart Business, Arbitration

By Jarek Rutz

Earth Enterprises Inc. and two affiliated investment entities have sued former company chief Philippe Meynard in the Delaware Chancery Court, seeking to block him from expanding a Massachusetts arbitration while also accusing him of hiding the loss of Walmart business before a 2021 sale and later putting his own interests ahead of Earth Enterprises. 

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Texas Appeals Court Says Perot VC Suit Belongs In Biz Court

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court on Thursday found that a multimillion-dollar suit brought by a Dallas businessman against billionaire Ross Perot Jr. belongs in the Texas Business Court, saying the businessman's claims arose from the sale of a healthcare company.

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CANNABIS

California Judge Grants Discovery In Cannabis Debt Dispute

By Jonathan Capriel

An investor and a cannabis license holder will have to rework their lawsuit accusing a couple of scheming to steal majority ownership in a Los Angeles dispensary by creating $3.4 million in "phantom debt," a California state court judge ruled.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Clippers Salary Cap Probe Offers Investigation Tips For Cos.

The NBA's recent investigation into whether the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented salary cap rules offers an unusually detailed look at how a significant organizational probe was conducted and how its findings were presented, offering practical lessons for companies conducting their own investigations, say attorneys at Wiley.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Cyber Incident Halts Bankruptcy Court Noticing Nationwide

By Hilary Russ

The nationwide system for providing notice to creditors in bankruptcy cases has been disrupted by a cybersecurity incident, and it is not currently known when the outage will end.

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Analysis

Missouri AG Alumni Make Their Mark In Trump 2.0

By Courtney Bublé

Missouri is hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C., but the legal community of the Show-Me State has taken a significant hold in the second Trump administration.

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Norton Rose Beats $100M Suit Over Withdrawn Patent App

By Celeste Bott

Norton Rose Fulbright has defeated a former client's malpractice suit over a missed patent fee payment, after an Illinois state judge ruled that the deadline to sue began before the firm allegedly acknowledged its mistake and dismissed the company's $100 million lawsuit against the firm with prejudice.

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Murdaugh Tells 4th Circ. To Revive Jury Tampering Civil Suit

By Cara Salvatore

Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh asked the Fourth Circuit on Thursday to revive his suit accusing a court clerk of interfering in his murder trial, arguing he has standing because the alleged tampering "destroyed the value" of his $600,000 defense.

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Judge Who Called For Philly DA Probe Rejects Recusal Bid

By Matthew Santoni

A federal judge who called for an investigation of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office will not reconsider or recuse himself from the underlying habeas corpus case, calling DA Larry Krasner's bid to undo his rulings "frivolous" and "intemperate."

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Crowell Faces DQ Bid Over AI Tool At Heart Of Client's IP Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

DeviantArt urged a California federal judge Wednesday to disqualify Crowell & Moring LLP from representing Evox Productions in litigation alleging multiple AI companies used Evox's copyrighted car photos to train artificial-intelligence image generators, arguing the firm "unquestionably" represented DeviantArt and has "sued its own client on behalf of another client."

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Gov't Urges Justices To Reject Google, Intel Fight Over Fintiv

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Intel Corp. and Google LLC's challenge to a precedent allowing Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions to be denied based on related litigation.

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Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Slams Feds' Skewed Facts

By Lauren Berg

A woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told the Fourth Circuit that federal prosecutors have presented a "wildly inaccurate description" of a Maryland federal judge's sentencing decision, rejecting their argument that she got off too easy because of her gender identity.

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NYC Sanctuary Policies Survive Trump Admin. Lawsuit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge on Thursday tossed the Trump administration's lawsuit challenging New York City policies that the administration alleged unconstitutionally obstruct federal immigration enforcement, saying federal law the administration leaned on does not preempt the sanctuary provisions.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

AXS Law Group

Abato Rubenstein

ArentFox Schiff

Arnold & Porter

Ashurst Perkins

Bochetto & Lentz

Burns Charest

Cole Schotz

Crowell & Moring

DLA Piper

Dentons

Dilworth Paxson

Ellenoff Grossman

Freeman Mathis

Freshfields

Gibson Dunn

Gordon Rees

Griffin Humphries

Haynes Boone

Holland & Knight

Holwell Shuster

Jackson Tidus

Jenner & Block

King & Spalding

Lemberg Law

Lewis & Llewellyn

Mandelbaum Barrett

Norton Rose

O'Donoghue & O'Donoghue

O'Melveny & Myers

Parker Poe

Richard A. Harpootlian PA

Robinson & Cole

Robinson Bradshaw

Seiden Law Group PC

Sher Tremonte

Sidley Austin

Smith Katzenstein

Spertus Josephs

Steptoe LLP

Troutman

Tung & Associates APLC

Wachtell Lipton

Wiley Rein

Willkie Farr

Willson Jones

WilmerHale

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AT&T Inc.

American Arbitration Association

Apple Inc.

BAE Systems PLC

BC Partners

BlockFi Inc.

Boingo Wireless Inc.

Boscia LLC

Candela Corp.

Cisco Systems Inc.

DISH Network Corp.

Daktronics Inc.

ESPN Inc.

Federal Communications Bar Association

Fort Point Capital

Fujitsu Ltd.

Futurewei Technologies Inc.

General Reinsurance Corp.

Genius Brands International Inc.

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

Google LLC

HSBC Holdings PLC

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Intel Corp.

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Los Angeles Clippers

Meta Platforms Inc.

NASCAR Digital Media LLC

Nortel Networks Corporation

Sling TV LLC

T-Mobile US Inc.

The Associated Press

The DIRECTV Group Inc.

The Kraft Heinz Co.

The Walt Disney Co.

Toyota Motor Corp.

Walmart Inc.

Wix.com Inc.

YouTube Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

City of New York

Delaware Court of Chancery

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Los Angeles World Airports

Missouri Attorney General's Office

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

New York Supreme Court, New York County

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Texas Legislature

Texas Tenth Court of Appeals

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York

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

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

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 Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Supreme Court