Analysis

Prediction Markets Have Opened Compliance 'Pandora's Box'

By Phillip Bantz

The burgeoning prediction market has exploded the definition of what qualifies as confidential corporate information that employees could misuse for personal gain, leaving companies scrambling to update internal policies and guidelines, compliance experts say.

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Amici Chide Trump Admin For Calling Anthropic A Security Risk

By Tom Lotshaw

In separate amicus briefs to the D.C. Circuit, the ACLU, tech industry groups, former government officials and moral theologians variously panned the Trump administration's designation of Anthropic PBC as a supply chain risk to national security as unjustified, unlawful and counterproductive.

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Jets Legend Fumbles Suit Over '30-For-30' Portrayal

By Alex Lawson

A federal judge has dismissed Mark Gastineau's lawsuit over his portrayal in an ESPN "30 for 30" documentary, ruling that the New York Jets legend gave the companies broad authority to use his name, image and likeness in the film.

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Book Distributor Baker & Taylor Hits Ch. 11 To Wind Down

By Clara Geoghegan

Baker & Taylor, a 198-year-old book distributor, sought bankruptcy protection in New Jersey with at least $100 million in liabilities after the COVID-19 pandemic, litigation and a loan default forced it to shut down operations last year.

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FPI, Apartment Owners Reach $7M Deal In Wash. AG's Tenant Suit

By Rachel Riley

California-based property manager FPI and owners of five low-income apartment complexes have agreed to pay $7 million to end the Washington attorney general's lawsuit accusing them of exploiting senior tenants by overstating property qualities and withholding information about future rent rises, according to an agreed order finalized Monday.

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$200M Exxon Contract Trade Secrets Row Ended

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas state court judge issued a final judgment ordering that a contractor take nothing from its over $200 million claim that a rival allegedly used proprietary information to secure a lucrative maintenance work contract for Exxon, doing away with the lawsuit Tuesday.

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Geico Keeps RICO, Fraud Claims In NY No-Fault Billing Suit

By Gianna Ferrarin

Two New York companies must face the majority of claims in Geico's suit alleging they exploited the state's no-fault insurance laws by fraudulently billing Geico more than $2.7 million for unnecessary durable medical equipment, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

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Insurers Say Documents Tied To Fan Explosion Are Shielded

By Spencer Brewer

Multiple insurers told a Texas federal court that a carbon black manufacturer had no right to access certain information relating to communications following an explosion of two high-speed fans at its facility, saying it fell under attorney-client privilege.

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NY Accuses Solar Co., Lenders Of $275M Homeowner Fraud

By Jon Hill

New York's attorney general sued a solar panel company and two lending partners in New York state court Tuesday, accusing them of a $275 million scheme involving costly solar and home improvement projects falsely pitched to homeowners as free or subsidized.

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Private School Founder Forged Letter Of Credit, Suit Says

By Julie Manganis

The now-suspended founder and director of a group of private primary schools in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, used a bogus letter of credit to execute a $12.5 million lease, which the landlord discovered after the school abandoned its expansion plan amid public opposition, a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court alleges.

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Bard And AngioDynamics Resolve 11-Year Patent Dispute

By Ryan Davis

A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday closed the book on a vascular port patent dispute between C.R. Bard and AngioDynamics that had been pending for over 11 years, citing a settlement after the Federal Circuit invalidated Bard patents that a jury said AngioDynamics infringed.

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10th Circ. Considers Ask For New Trial In $5M Toll Lanes Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday considered a contractor's request for the court to order a new trial after a Denver federal jury awarded construction design firm Aecom $5.25 million for a contract breach in a Colorado toll lanes project, questioning the contractor's litigation strategy.

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SEIU Pension Fund Wins $842K Suit Against NJ Nursing Home

By Emily Brill

A Service Employees International Union pension fund has won its lawsuit accusing a New Jersey nursing home of skipping out on nearly $350,000 in contributions over 13 years, with a D.C. federal judge awarding the fund the missed contributions plus damages after finding it accurately calculated the nursing home's debt.

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BlackRock, State Street Want GOP States' ESG Suit Pared

By Bryan Koenig

BlackRock and State Street have asked a Texas federal judge to significantly winnow antitrust claims from Republican state attorneys general accusing the asset managers of driving up coal prices, arguing that claims based on electricity buyers are too far removed from coal.

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Chancery Tosses Weapons Co. Suit, Says Claims Belong In NC

By Jarek Rutz

A Delaware Chancery Court judge on Tuesday dismissed a weapons analytics company's suit seeking to force one of its founders to litigate a stock valuation dispute in Delaware, ruling that the claims belong in a parallel North Carolina action and stem from a different contract than the company asserted.

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Google Wants Cutoff Date For Ad Tech Rivals' Claims

By Bryan Koenig

Google moved to tee up a dismissal bid aimed at cutting key targeted policies from New York federal court antitrust claims from rival advertising placement technology providers, arguing that its "sophisticated" competitors cannot get around a four-year statute of limitations pegged to the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit.

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Avoid The Unexpected When Drafting License Agreements

The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Commave v. Zevrain raises several practice points for attorneys drafting commercial contracts, underscoring the importance of considering anti-assignment provisions, specific exclusions and potential carveouts when drafting license agreements or other commercial contracts, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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Time Limit Case Highlights How Justices Apply Federal Rules

In Coney Island Auto Parts Unlimited v. Burton, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the minority in a circuit split on when a litigant can seek relief from an allegedly void judgment — but the decision's most important lessons may be about the high court's interpretive approach to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at McDermott.

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Chief Justice Says Personal Attacks On Judges 'Got To Stop'

By Katie Buehler

Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday condemned the personal attacks on federal judges that have become increasingly common during President Donald Trump's second term in office — and that are often launched by the president himself — and defended the daily work of the judiciary. 

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Deals In Jackson Walker-Judge Affair A 'Dilemma,' Judge Says

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas federal judge ordered three of Jackson Walker LLP's former bankruptcy clients Tuesday to explain by next month what would happen to money from potential vacaturs or sanctions against the law firm if the estates close after their contested deals get approved.

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NJ Judge Boots Prosecutor, Orders US Atty Trio's Testimony

By Jack Karp

A New Jersey federal judge on Monday questioned whether Alina Habba is still running the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office during a heated hearing where the jurist tossed a supervisory prosecutor from his courtroom and ordered testimony from the trio of attorneys who assumed Habba's responsibilities.

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Reed Smith Launches In Boston With 12 Attys From 7 Firms

By Tracey Read

Reed Smith LLP has launched its first office in Boston with 12 lawyers from White & Case, Goodwin Procter, McDermott Will & Schulte, Morrison Foerster, Kirkland & Ellis, Weil Gotshal & Manges and K&L Gates, the firm announced Tuesday.

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'No Disrespect' But Law Prof Mom Not SBF's Atty, Judge Says

By Lauren Berg

A federal judge in Manhattan cautioned retired Stanford Law School professor Barbara Fried, the mother of convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, that she cannot make filings on behalf of her son in his bid for a new trial, saying she has not filed an appearance with the court.

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Indiana Firm Drops Quintairos Prieto 'Mass Exodus' Suit

By Adrian Cruz

Less than a month after suing Quintairos Prieto Wood & Boyer PA for allegedly causing a "mass exodus" of attorneys, Indiana-based Kopka Pinkus Dolin PC has chosen to dismiss the matter, according to a recent court filing.

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Comer Subpoenas AG Bondi Over Epstein Investigation

By Courtney Bublé

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, issued a subpoena on Tuesday for Attorney General Pam Bondi over the committee's investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Senate OKs Conservative Think Tank GC As Louisiana Judge

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 51-45 on Tuesday to confirm Anna St. John, president and general counsel of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, as a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

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IP Atty Appeals Order Requiring OK To File WDTX Patent Suits

By Lauren Berg

Intellectual property attorney William Ramey is asking the Federal Circuit to overturn a Texas district judge's sanctions order requiring him to seek the court's permission before filing patent suits in the future, saying the judge relied on the wrong evidence in finding the attorney failed to conduct presuit investigations.

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Lawmakers Want More Oversight For Antitrust Settlements

By Matthew Perlman

Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation Tuesday that would give courts more power to review settlements reached in government antitrust cases, after the U.S. Department of Justice recently cut a pair of controversial deals, including with Live Nation last week.

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NJ Justices Create Attorney Readmission Board

By Jake Maher

New Jersey's highest court announced Tuesday it formally established a new body charged with overseeing readmissions of disbarred lawyers through changes to the state's standards for attorney conduct.

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Pot Co. Escapes Potency Suit, Judge Warns Plaintiff Firm

By Jonathan Capriel

MariMed and other cannabis companies beat claims they intentionally mislabeled their products to sidestep Illinois THC potency limits, with a federal judge highlighting the string of consumer-led suit losses and warning counsel to "heed the strong and universal concerns about the plausibility of their legal theories."

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