Microsoft Exec Backed OpenAI Deal Amid Concerns, Jury Told

By Dorothy Atkins

Microsoft's chief technology officer testified in a California federal jury trial Wednesday over Elon Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion, recalling that he proposed Microsoft invest significant resources into OpenAI's for-profit arm to stay competitive despite his initial concerns over whether OpenAI's nonprofit donors had agreed to the for-profit partnership.

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Derailed BIC Razor Blade Deal Leads To $291M Award

By Joyce Hanson

An investment company registered in Mauritius has asked a California federal court to enforce approximately $291 million in arbitral awards it won against the son of the founder of Super-Max Group, an international group of companies that manufactures razor blades.

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Atkore's $136M Deals In PVC Pipe Antitrust Row Get Initial OK

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge Wednesday granted preliminary approval to two settlements totaling over $136 million that Atkore Inc. has agreed to pay to resolve allegations it conspired with other polyvinyl chloride pipe producers to fix prices.

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Samsung Secures Indemnity Win In IP Case At Fed. Circ.

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed a California federal judge's ruling that a contract under which Finelite buys LED chips from Samsung does not require Samsung to indemnify Finelite in a patent suit by Seoul Semiconductor.

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10th Circ. Doubts Bid To Undo Colo. Land Swap

By Zach Dupont

A Tenth Circuit panel appeared unsure that an appraisal of a land exchange between the federal government and a private landowner must be publicly disclosed under federal law, despite claims to the contrary from an attorney representing Colorado Wild Public Lands at oral argument Wednesday.

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Vineyard Wind Contractor Asks Judge To Pull Work Order

By Carolyn Muyskens

A GE Vernova subsidiary urged a judge in Boston to lift his order forcing it to continue as principal contractor for a major offshore wind project Wednesday, saying recent events undermine the narrative that the $4 billion venture's success hangs on the contractor staying.

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Fintech Inks $8M Mass. Settlement Over 'Lease-To-Own' Biz

By Emilie Ruscoe

A Texas-based financial technology company told a state court Wednesday it has agreed to a $7.8 million resolution of the Massachusetts attorney general's claims that it misled consumers about its "lease-to-own" contracts for consumer merchandise, causing customers to pay "far more than the retail price for their merchandise."

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Split 6th Circ. Affirms $1 Damages In Touch Screen Tech Case

By Elliot Weld

A split panel of the Sixth Circuit has upheld a $1 damages award that a Michigan federal judge gave to electronics manufacturer Oldnar Corp., with two judges saying they agreed that Oldnar had not proved higher damages with reasonable certainty.

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Swiss Army Knife Co. Has Knives Out For Amazon Suppliers

By Ben Adlin

Victorinox Swiss Army Inc. filed suit Tuesday in an effort to identify the authorized sellers of its iconic knives and other products who are allegedly diverting goods to unauthorized resellers, including merchants on Amazon.com.

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Big Fish Games Buyer Evading Royalty Duties, Studio Claims

By Rachel Riley

The new owner of Seattle-based desktop game publisher Big Fish Games has been accused of attempting to illegally rewrite deals with a studio that helped develop many of its titles to avoid paying royalties and revoke mobile distribution rights, according to a fresh lawsuit in Washington state court.

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Rebel Wilson Can't Defeat Calif. Defamation Suit On Appeal

By Gina Kim

California appellate justices upheld an order denying Rebel Wilson's bid to ax a defamation suit alleging she spread lies about producers of the movie "The Deb," and whom she accused of embezzlement and sexually harassing the lead actress, ruling Wednesday there's evidence to support Wilson knew her statements were likely untrue. 

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Business Exec Says NBA Cut Him Out Of Airline Partnership

By Tom Lotshaw

A California businessman claims the NBA should have to cough up millions of dollars in damages for cutting him out of a lucrative sponsorship deal it struck with Emirates airline.

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Former Fairstead Partner Wins Chancery Fight Over Equity

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday handed a win to former Fairstead partner William Blodgett in a fight over whether two affiliates of Fairstead, a real estate firm, could use their LLC agreements to punish him for conduct that an arbitrator found breached his employment agreement.

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Judge Says X Can't Make Tim Cook Custodian In ChatGPT Suit

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge shot down a request by X Corp. to make Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook a custodian in a sprawling antitrust lawsuit X launched last year, but said Wednesday that it could make Apple's head of software a custodian.

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Texas Biz Court Weighs If It Can Hear La. Antitrust Claims

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas Business Court judge fielded dueling arguments Wednesday on whether the court should be able to hear claims brought under Louisiana antitrust and unfair trade practices laws, a move Exxon Mobil Corp. and its subsidiaries said is a no-go.

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Brief

Colo. Jury Awards $1.3M To I-70 Project Subcontractor

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado state jury declined to award $32.5 million to the lead contractor of the reconstruction project of a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 70 in Denver, finding instead that the contractor breached a subcontract and owes its subcontractor $1.3 million in damages.

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Conn. Doctor Asked To Pay $880K In IVF Fraud Dispute

By Hope Patti

Two people who accused a reproductive endocrinologist of using his own sperm to impregnate their mothers have proposed that the doctor settle their suit against him for a total of $880,000, according to separate offers filed in Connecticut state court.

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Salt-N-Pepa Suit May Shake Up Music Copyright Issue

James v. UMG Recordings is a copyright termination rights case that provides an opportunity for the Second Circuit to make concrete choices about grant language, authorship, work-for-hire status and survival of derivative works, says attorney Abdul Abdullahi.

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Series

The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

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Analysis

Insider Trading Case Shows BigLaw Associate Vetting Gaps

By Chris Villani

A BigLaw attorney who was able to move through three major firms while allegedly orchestrating a massive insider trading scheme may have been aided by relatively loose hiring practices for associates that firms may consider strengthening moving forward, recruiting experts told Law360.

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DOJ Asserts Broad Power In BigLaw Executive Order Appeal

By Jared Foretek

A Trump administration attorney told the D.C. Circuit on Thursday that the courts have no authority to review the president's decision to revoke someone's security clearance for any reason, including race, religion, or even refusal to pay a $1 million bribe.

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Trump's 8th Circ. Pick Clears Senate Panel Vote

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's nominee for the Eighth Circuit, who represented the president in the cases brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, advanced to the full Senate on Thursday.

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Thomas Urges Defense Of Constitution At Judicial Conference

By Carolina Bolado

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas urged attendees at the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference on Thursday to "stand up" for the U.S. Constitution and to see the positives in the country, despite its flaws, on its 250th birthday.

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Fenwick Hit With FTX Suit In DC Over $525M Losses

By Emily Lever

A group of former FTX customers has sued Fenwick & West LLP in federal court in Washington over its work representing FTX from 2018 to 2022, seeking to recover more than $525 million for losses stemming from the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse.

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NYC Bar Endorses Random Audits For Law Firm Accounts

By Emily Sawicki

The New York City Bar Association's Professional Discipline Committee on Thursday threw its support behind a statewide bill to institute a random audit program for law firm financial accounts.

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Ogletree Fights Atty's Discovery Bid For DQ Push In Bias Suit

By Lynn LaRowe

A Georgia federal court should deny a bid for discovery aimed at disqualifying Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC from defending a security company against discrimination claims because the request stems from the plaintiff's lawyer's "personal grievances," the company said Thursday.

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Lover's Ex-Wife Fights Sinema's Request For Therapy Notes

By Abigail Harrison

A bid by former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to unearth notes and communications from a therapist working with her lover's ex-wife should be summarily denied, as the ex-wife, Heather Ammel, told a North Carolina federal court Thursday that the request is a clear overreach.

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8th Circ. Backs Dismissal Of Horse Breeder's Malpractice Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

The Eighth Circuit said a federal judge was right to dismiss a malpractice suit a Minnesota horse breeder brought against Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP and one of its former attorneys for mishandling malpractice cases against three other firms.

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