FTC, AGs Say Amazon Pocketed $20B With Fraudulent Auctions

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan coalition of 22 states sued Amazon Monday, alleging it secretly overcharged advertising customers more than $20 billion by manipulating how it set prices for ads on its e-commerce website.

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NFL Legend Emmitt Smith, Partners Sued Over Solar Venture

By Jarek Rutz

A Native American economic development entity Monday sued former NFL star running back Emmitt Smith and several business partners in the Delaware Chancery Court, accusing them of diverting a $2.5 million loan meant for a Texas solar project and leaving the joint venture unable to repay the money.

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Juul Sublicense Ends Reynolds' Altria Vape Royalty Tab

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A sublicensing agreement between R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. and Juul Labs Inc. relieves Reynolds of its obligation to pay ongoing royalties to Philip Morris parent company Altria Client Services LLC after a federal jury found that Reynolds infringed Altria's vape pen design, a North Carolina federal judge has ruled.

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Colo. Fund Says Lender Hid $10M Loan Subordination Deal

By Isaac Monterose

The manager of a Colorado-based investment fund accused mortgage lender Cherry Creek in state court of executing an "invalid" hidden subordination agreement that allowed the lender to delay its interest payments on a $10 million promissory note.

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Feds' Crackdown Targets Commercial Trucking Fraud

By Linda Chiem

The Trump administration said Monday it is immediately shutting down 110 commercial driver's license schools for certifying truck drivers who can't read or speak English, and pledged to aggressively prosecute accused "fraudsters" who knowingly put untrained or unskilled truck drivers on American roads.

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Meyer Unkovic Discovery Bid Partly Granted

By James Boyle

A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge partly granted Meyer Unkovic & Scott LLP's bid for discovery in a malpractice suit over a $3.3 million default judgment that was later thrown out, ruling the firm can obtain documents about defenses raised in the underlying landlord-tenant case.

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Texas Court Sends Oxy Carbon Capture Claims To Arbitration

By Caroline Simson

A Texas appellate court has revived Occidental Petroleum's attempt to arbitrate a multimillion-dollar dispute stemming from a project to deploy a technology aimed at reducing greenhouse gases in Australia, saying a tribunal in British Columbia must decide for itself whether it has jurisdiction.

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Shareholders Say Generator Co. Overhyped Data Center Deal

By Isaac Monterose

A shareholder in Hyliion Holdings Corp. is accusing the linear generator manufacturer in Texas federal court of exaggerating the potential success of its business partnership with an AI infrastructure company that specializes in data centers.

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Paul Mitchell Urges 9th Circ. To Untangle False Ad Class

By Dorothy Atkins

Paul Mitchell urged the Ninth Circuit Monday to decertify a class of customers alleging the company deceptively concealed its animal testing in China while touting its U.S. haircare products as cruelty-free, arguing there's no evidence that all class members saw and relied on its cruelty-free labels before their purchases.

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Fed. Circ. Affirms Samsung Didn't Infringe Mobile Tech Patent

By Elliot Weld

The Federal Circuit on Monday upheld a lower court's decision to deny a new trial in a case accusing Samsung of infringing a mobile device technology patent, saying Samsung had shown "ample" evidence cutting against infringement.

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Ramey Wants Full Fed. Circ. To Reconsider $207K Sanctions

By Theresa Schliep

William Ramey of Ramey LLP has urged the full Federal Circuit to review his liability for more than $207,000 in sanctions in a client's patent infringement suit against Volkswagen, arguing that his notices of appeal were faulty but still adequately identified him as a party.

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Baird Sues Colo. Firm Over Alleged Adviser-Poaching Scheme

By Zach Dupont

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. claimed in Colorado state court that a competing financial services firm is using false and misleading statements about its independence to lure away Baird advisers and clients, according to the company's complaint.

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Judge Trims Claims In Insurance Software Trade Secret Case

By Elliot Weld

A federal judge in Chicago on Monday issued a mixed ruling in a case brought by a company that makes insurance agency management software against a rival that it claims created a fake insurance company to steal trade secrets, dismissing some claims but preserving others for trade secret misappropriation and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

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11th Circ. Upholds $800K Award In Venezuelan Takeover Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

The Eleventh Circuit on Monday upheld an $800,000 jury verdict that found two former Miami bank directors accused of working for the Venezuelan government were liable for the bank's financial difficulties.

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Viks Seek Split Trial To Save Deutsche Bank Suit Injunction

By Brian Steele

Billionaire Alexander Vik and his daughter on Monday asked a Connecticut state court judge to order multiple trials on claims they are pursuing against Deutsche Bank AG, which demand the bank hand over proceeds from a $65 million asset sale and permanently end a related lawsuit against them in Norway.

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Ex-Clifford Chance Attys Fight Bid To Toss Clawback Suit

By Ryan Boysen

The two partners facing a $6 million clawback demand by Clifford Chance LLP have again asked a federal judge to decide whether English or New York law should govern the arbitration, claiming the firm's partnership agreement is unclear.

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9th Circ. Won't Rehear Eye Drop Antitrust Suit Despite Dissent

By Bryan Koenig

A forceful dissent from a pair of Ninth Circuit judges wasn't enough to keep the full appellate court from letting stand a panel decision preserving wholesalers' district court win accusing the maker of Clear Eyes drops of illegal price discrimination favoring Costco.

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Perrigo Settles Antitrust Suits Over Baby Formula Market

By Rae Ann Varona

Perrigo settled a couple of lawsuits filed in New York federal court that accused the company of cutting an anti-competitive agreement with Gerber to maintain a monopoly in the store-brand infant formula market, according to a letter filed Monday in a Brooklyn court.

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Valve's 15K Antitrust Arbitrations Will Stay On Ice, Judge Says

By Ben Adlin

Arbitrations between gaming giant Valve Corp. and nearly 15,000 gamers will remain paused as the Ninth Circuit weighs whether the antitrust disputes are eligible for arbitration under the company's updated subscriber terms, according to a bench ruling Monday from a Seattle federal judge.

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Law Firm's Calif. Claims Stayed Over AI Comms Co.'s NY Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A California federal judge ruled that AI communications company Connex One cannot escape claims brought by a personal injury law firm alleging it faced harassment and threats of litigation after it declined to renew their contract, saying the case will be stayed until a New York lawsuit brought by Connex against the firm runs its course.

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Parler Backers Hijacked Social Media Co. From CEO, Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

Stakeholders of defunct microblogging app Parler, including hedge fund scion Rebekah Mercer and former deputy FBI director Dan Bongino, allegedly schemed to strip the social app's cofounder of his CEO role and his 40% stake, a Nevada jury heard in opening arguments in a $100 million contract trial Monday.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week saw disputes over a $200 million federal grant, a $1.7 billion software take-private deal, the ouster of Better.com founder Vishal Garg and a proposed $4 million settlement stemming from an electric vehicle company's SPAC merger.

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Using CFIUS' New Risk Matrix And Mitigation Guidance

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' national security matrix and related mitigation guidance provides a common vocabulary for allocating regulatory and mitigation risk in transaction documents, and may help focus any discussions with the agency, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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HSF Kramer Added To $1B King & Spalding Malpractice Suit

By Jack Karp

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP and several of its partners on Tuesday were added to a $1 billion legal malpractice suit against King & Spalding LLP alleging that the firms engaged in multiple schemes to enrich a lawyer's friend at the expense of investment firm White Oak Advisors.

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Fla. Bar Tosses Complaint Over DHS GC's 'Worst' Judge Posts

By Adrian Cruz

The Florida Bar has refused to investigate the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for potential ethics violations over his recent series of social media posts attacking sitting judges, citing a potential conflict with the authority of the federal government.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Rodriguez On The Uses Of AI

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

Today, Judge Xavier Rodriguez is known as an expert in electronic discovery and a proponent of artificial intelligence, but his interest was piqued before he joined the bench of the Western District of Texas in 2003, when he was still a lawyer and the methods for sifting through electronically stored information were still primitive.

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Judges Say Social Media, Political Rhetoric Endanger Them

By Adrian Cruz

Increased access to social media and personal data via the internet, a larger number of high-profile cases, and inflammatory comments made by politicians have led to a rise in violent threats against judges and concerns about their safety, according to a recently published report.

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5th Circ. Judge Hints Court Order With AI Errors Can't Stand

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit judge wanted to know why a panel should keep intact a court order blocking an anti-DEI Mississippi law that contained artificial intelligence hallucinations, asking whether the judges could confidently find that made-up citations did not ultimately sway the district court's decision.

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Ex-Warriors GC, DEI Exec Say Bias Complaints Led To Firings

By Lauren Berg

The Golden State Warriors' former associate general counsel and its former vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion allege they were unlawfully fired in retaliation for speaking up about enduring a workplace marked by gender and race-based discrimination.

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NY Firm, Clinics Reject FedEx's 'Staged' Crashes Claims

By Linda Chiem

A New York personal injury firm and various healthcare providers have told a Manhattan federal judge that FedEx has asserted implausible claims alleging they orchestrated an insurance fraud scheme to fabricate medical records and inflate accident claims, saying there is no such racketeering enterprise.

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Brief

Barnes & Thornburg Says Ex-NBA Star Owes $1M Legal Fees

By Jonathan Capriel

Former NBA player Luol Deng is being sued for more than $1 million by a Chicago-based law firm that claims he failed to pay legal fees connected to two real estate matters, according to a suit filed in Illinois state court.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Bryan Koenig

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery pressured state attorneys general challenging their merger to settle, the Federal Trade Commission successfully challenged a construction adhesives tie-up, state officials waded in against the NextEra-Dominion transaction, and Union Pacific Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. defended their combination under review by federal regulators.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of August

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Anthropic, Zillow and ConocoPhillips. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from August.

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