Valve Order Allows 15K Antitrust Arbitrations To Be Closed

By Ben Adlin

A federal judge in Seattle refused Wednesday to issue a preliminary injunction to curb the closure of nearly 15,000 gamers' antitrust arbitrations against entertainment giant Valve Corp., finding that plaintiff Jeffrey Smith failed to show that closing the arbitrations would cause irreparable harm.

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T-Mobile Users' Rate Hike Class Claims Sent To Arbitration

By Rachel Riley

Consumers in a proposed class action against T-Mobile over alleged wireless plan rate hikes must arbitrate their claims individually, a Washington federal judge said Tuesday, agreeing with the company the customers consented to an arbitration pact by continuing to use and pay for service after receiving notice of updated terms.

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Analysis

College Sports Overhaul Still Uncertain Despite Senate Lift

By Alex Lawson

A yearslong effort to comprehensively regulate college sports surged ahead this week with the U.S. Senate's easy approval of bipartisan legislation, but lingering concerns about the bill's NCAA antitrust shield and other fraught policy fights are clouding its future.

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11th Circ. Skeptical Of PACE Lenders' CFPB Rule Challenge

By Jon Hill

An Eleventh Circuit panel on Wednesday appeared poised to reject an industry challenge to Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules for providers of property-assessed clean-energy loans, repeatedly questioning claims that the agency overstepped its authority.

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Delta Concealed Noncompetes, Wash. Class Action Claims

By Ben Adlin

Delta Air Lines Inc. broke Washington state law by failing to disclose the terms of its noncompetition restrictions to job applicants before they accepted employment, a worker has claimed in a proposed class action filed in King County Superior Court.

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Baker Donelson Gets 2nd Chance To Toss Malpractice Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida state appeals court reversed an order denying law firm Baker Donelson's bid to escape a construction company's malpractice lawsuit alleging it relied on bad legal advice, saying Wednesday the lower court must first determine if any misconduct occurred in the Sunshine State. 

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Rapper Rick Ross Sued For Being A No-Show At NC Concerts

By Hayley Fowler

A concert production company has accused rapper Rick Ross of bailing at the last minute on two concerts in North Carolina during his anniversary tour, allegedly causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses in the form of ticket refunds and cancellation fees.

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Joby Air Taxi Trade Secrets Suit Against Archer Trimmed

By Linda Chiem

A California federal judge has cleared Joby Aviation to advance a slimmed-down lawsuit alleging rival electric air-taxi developer Archer Aviation misappropriated its trade secrets, but again rejected Archer's counterclaims alleging Joby unfairly jockeyed for government contracts and concealed its pervasive China ties.

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Military Drone Makers' Trade Secrets Suit Survives Dismissal

By Ivan Moreno

A Utah federal judge has allowed two military drone companies to proceed with most of their lawsuit accusing a former executive and his new company of misappropriating trade secrets to compete in the military drone market.

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FTC Asks Texas Court To Keep Trans Health Suit Intact

By Spencer Brewer

The Federal Trade Commission asked a Texas federal court to keep intact its lawsuit against World Professional Association for Transgender Health, saying Tuesday that it adequately pled that the organization published medically dubious, self-serving trans guidelines that push "dangerous and experimental treatments."

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Victoria's Secret Violated Deal For Instagram Ad, Model Says

By Gina Kim

Victoria's Secret unlawfully used a professional model's entire face in a recent Instagram perfume advertisement, despite explicit restrictions in the parties' contract to use less than 30%, and refused to pay additional compensation for doing so, according to a right-of-publicity lawsuit filed in California federal court.

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Ex-BDO Partner Says Board Retaliated With Equity Cut

By Jarek Rutz

A former BDO USA partner urged the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday to revive claims that the accounting firm improperly stripped him of equity after he announced plans to retire, arguing that even broad contractual discretion cannot be used in bad faith or retaliation.

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NC City Public Housing Chief Loses Race Bias Suit

By George Woolston

A North Carolina federal judge tossed a race discrimination and breach of contract suit lawsuit filed by the former chief executive officer of a city's public housing authority, holding that she failed to allege that her rights were violated by a municipal policy.

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Parler Ex-CEO Makes Final Trial Pitch For $100M Damages

By Cara Salvatore

The former CEO of social media site Parler made his final argument Wednesday that he was wrongly stripped of a stake worth up to $100 million, with his lawyer telling a Nevada jury a valuation finding the entire company worth $10.81 was "bunk."

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Goldman, JPMorgan Beat CDS Rigging Suit For Now

By Katryna Perera

A New Mexico federal court has tossed older claims from a proposed class action accusing JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and other large banks of conspiring to rig credit default swap auctions, after a New York court ruled on a claims release issue involving a settlement in a related decade-old antitrust case.

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Ex-HSBC Exec Tells Jury Huawei CFO Vouched For Iran Biz

By Stewart Bishop

A former HSBC executive on Wednesday testified in the racketeering trial of Huawei and three subsidiaries that he thought the Chinese telecommunications firm's business dealings in Iran were aboveboard, following assurances during a 2013 meeting from Huawei's chief financial officer.

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PR Rebar Cos. Can't Duck Price-Fixing Claims

By Bryan Koenig

A Puerto Rico federal judge refused Wednesday to let steel rebar companies and one of their executives duck price-fixing claims from construction companies and consumers, citing instant messages discussing the alleged scheme and rejecting arguments that the island hasn't expressly allowed antitrust allegations from indirect buyers.

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9th Circ. Judges Doubt X's Claims Against Anti-Hate Group

By Dorothy Atkins

Ninth Circuit judges appeared skeptical Wednesday of X Corp.'s bid to revive claims against two nonprofits for scraping tweets to study online hate speech, with one judge questioning X's contract damages claim and another doubting that the nonprofits could be held liable for publishing true information.

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Email Feud Tied To Brothers' Cannabis Venture Heads To Trial

By Susan Smiley

A contentious legal battle between a pair of siblings who once co-owned cannabis businesses is heading to trial, a Michigan federal judge said Wednesday, ruling that there are genuine questions about one brother's downloading of the other's emails that require a jury trial to resolve.

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Mallinckrodt Must Face Painkiller Contract Breach Claims

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge maintained a drugmaker's contract violation claims against a pharmaceutical ingredient company for allegedly failing to provide the materials needed to make two kinds of painkillers, but held that the drugmaker's claims of market monopolization fell short.

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Pharma Co. Says Mass. Plant Hid FDA Sterility Concerns

By Julie Manganis

A North Carolina pharmaceutical company says in a complaint filed Wednesday in Massachusetts state court that the company it hired to package a drug for clinical trials involving young children intentionally downplayed a U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection that flagged multiple contamination issues.

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AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

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UCLA Law Is Latest DOJ Target Over Race Bias In Admissions

By Dorothy Atkins

The U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division accused the UCLA School of Law of discriminating against white and Asian students in its admissions process in a letter sent to the school's counsel Thursday, following multiple other similar letters that the DOJ sent to other higher-education institutions.

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DOJ Outlines New Corporate Fraud Enforcement Priorities

By Phillip Bantz

Federal prosecutors "must place great weight" on a new list of factors when considering potential charges in corporate fraud cases, including whether the matters involve government programs, threats to national security or immigration offenses, according to a memo released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Trump Announces Judicial Noms For 5th Circ., NC

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he's nominating Todd Butler, a managing partner at Phelps Dunbar LLP, to serve as a judge on the Fifth Circuit. 

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Blackburn Holds Up White House's Tenn. Judge Pick

By Courtney Bublé

The White House is standing by its nominee for a federal judgeship in the Eastern District of Tennessee amid a holdup from Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a White House official confirmed to Law360 on Thursday.

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Richards Layton Atty Confirmed To Join Del. Chancery Bench

By Rose Krebs

Delaware's Senate on Thursday confirmed a Richards Layton & Finger PA director to a 12-year term as a vice chancellor on the Chancery Court.

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FBT Gibbons Beats DQ Bid In Suit Over Cigna Payments

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state court judge has rejected a plastic surgery practice's bid to disqualify FBT Gibbons LLP from representing Cigna and a group of employer-sponsored health plans in its suit over the insurer's alleged underpayments, finding the bid appears more of an effort to gain an advantage rather than one to protect the interests of any client.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of September

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at MSG Sports, Nestle and the Associated Press. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from September.

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Judge Reinstates Rogoff As Seattle US Atty After Trump Firing

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge issued an order from the bench on Thursday reinstating Roger Rogoff as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, finding that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he fired him in July.

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Trump Says Copyright Chief Can't Stay In Office Amid Appeal

By Adam Lidgett

The Trump administration is urging the D.C. Circuit to let it remove U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision protecting Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook for now does not entitle Perlmutter to remain in office while her firing challenge proceeds.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

State enforcers settled their case challenging Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, while the U.S. Department of Justice probes Fox's planned $22 billion deal for Roku and regulators review massive deals in the energy and railroad sectors.

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