Paramount Judge Urges Parties To Be 'More Reasonable'

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge overseeing the challenge to Paramount Skydance's $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition brought by the Writers Guild of America and state attorneys general urged the parties Wednesday to be "much more reasonable" with discovery disputes, warning that if they aren't, "you will find yourself asked to engage a special master."

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DOJ Touts 'Targeted' Probes In Sales Software Merger OK

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday it had closed an in-depth review into a sales tracking software merger, mollified by the likelihood of artificial intelligence-enabled competition, in an announcement touting the use of "targeted" scrutiny to end the probe quickly.

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Pro-Business Foundation Backs J&J's Stelara Antitrust Win

By Matthew Santoni

Insurer CareFirst's bid to revive an antitrust lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over its acquisition of patents affecting competitors would throw cold water over drug company mergers, burden government regulators and strip the issue of intent out of antitrust enforcement, according to an amicus brief filed by the Washington Legal Foundation.

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Pa. Judge Rejects $360M Offset In Generics Antitrust Case

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania federal judge overseeing antitrust multidistrict litigation against generic-drug makers over alleged price-fixing has rejected a request by the pharmaceutical company defendants to set off any potential award to insurance company plaintiff Humana Inc. by $360 million given its success in separate litigation.

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Paramount Viewers Stuck With Bringing Amended Suit

By Bryan Koenig

A California federal judge refused Tuesday to reconsider dismissing a consumer complaint challenging Paramount's completed merger with Skydance and its planned purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, holding that the filing of an amended complaint mooted the motion.

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Apple Makes App Store Policy Changes In Europe

By Matthew Perlman

Apple has made several changes to its policies for app distribution in Europe, after enforcers found restrictions and fees were blocking competition from App Store alternatives and outside payments methods.

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8th Circ. Backs $1B Broker Commissions Settlement

By Isaac Monterose

The Eighth Circuit decided Wednesday to affirm a more than $1 billion class action settlement that's supposed to resolve antitrust claims against the National Association of Realtors and multiple real estate brokerages, which were accused of running an anticompetitive scheme that involved the brokerages following NAR rules that artificially inflated buyer-broker commissions.

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Canadian Enforcers Move To Block Nortera's Green Giant Deal

By Matthew Perlman

Canada's antitrust enforcer said Wednesday it will seek to block Nortera Foods' planned acquisition of the Green Giant and Le Sieur brands in the country from B&G Foods over concerns that the deal could lead to higher prices.

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FTC Asks Court To Keep Trans Health Suit In Texas

By Spencer Brewer

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a Texas federal court to keep its suit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health in the Lone Star State, saying that the organization incorporated there in 1980.

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6 Key Takeaways From CFIUS Annual Report

Attorneys at Simpson Thacher review highlights from the annual report of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., released to Congress this month, including the launch of the American First Investment Policy and the Known Investor Pilot Program, and the agency's continued focus on enforcement despite its resource constraints.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Surviving A Long Trial

Most of law school trial advocacy is geared toward the sprint of trying a short case, but beyond managing a cross-examination or closing argument, effectively handling the marathon of a lengthy trial requires the ability to maintain composure, organization and credibility with the jury, says Mihir Elchuri at Hirschler.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Seeks Release During Appeal

By Rachel Rippetoe

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein on Tuesday asked to be released from federal custody while he appeals his 12 tax and mortgage fraud convictions and a six-year prison sentence, saying he is not a flight risk and it would be a "grave injustice" for him to begin a sentence he believes will eventually get axed.

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Davis Wright Vets Scolded: Don't Tell Foes 'How To Run Firm'

By Jeff Overley

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP veterans have failed to dodge six-figure sanctions in a prominent discovery donnybrook, and a California magistrate judge added invective to the financial injury, lambasting "troubling" omissions in case citations and heavy-handed "nitpicking" akin to commandeering an adversary's law firm.

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Atty, Son Charged In Probe Of Alleged Penn State Drug Ring

By Rose Krebs

An equity partner based in Meyer Darragh Buckler Bebenek & Eck PLLC's Pittsburgh office has been charged with tampering with evidence and obstructing an investigation in connection with an alleged cocaine ring at Penn State University that allegedly involved his son, according to news reports.

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Texas Judge Flags 'Alarming' Number Of Bogus Citations

By Emily Sawicki

A federal judge presiding over an Austin, Texas, immigration case is warning of possible future sanctions after an attorney included an "alarming" number of "hallucinated" case citations in support of a habeas corpus petition.  

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Jackson Walker Says US Trustee Can't Claw Back Legal Fees

By Clara Geoghegan

Jackson Walker said this week that the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog is beyond the bounds of its authority in a yearslong effort to force the firm to return millions of dollars in legal fees over an undisclosed relationship between a former partner and a Texas bankruptcy judge.

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Over 120 Ex-Judges Demand Probe Of DHS GC's 'Worst' Posts

By Adrian Cruz

A pair of nonprofits along with a bipartisan group of 128 former state and federal judges have asked the Florida Bar to investigate the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a recent series of social media posts attacking sitting judges.

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Polsinelli Can't Rep Doctor In 'Bad Faith' IP Suits, Cos. Say

By Lauren Berg

Two medical device companies suing Polsinelli PC and its longtime client, a patent-holding doctor, for allegedly pursuing "bad faith" infringement claims asked federal courts in Tennessee and Mississippi to disqualify the firm from defending the doctor in the lawsuits, citing their "diverging interests and liabilities."

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Ex-US Attys Protest Trump's Swift Firing Of Rogoff In Seattle

By Rachel Riley

Thirty former U.S. attorneys backed Roger Rogoff's bid for reinstatement as Seattle's top federal prosecutor after President Donald Trump fired him on the heels of his court-ordered appointment, arguing Tuesday that Trump is trying to "sidestep the Senate's advice-and-consent role and sideline the judiciary" by letting unappointed individuals play such roles.

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DOJ Urges Court Not To Dismiss Suit Against DC Bar

By Alison Knezevich

The U.S. Department of Justice is urging a federal judge not to toss its lawsuit against Washington, D.C., attorney disciplinary authorities, saying the court "needs to halt defendants' flagrantly unconstitutional overreach into the president's executive power."

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Firms Cut From $101M Anthropic Atty Fees Appeal To 9th Circ.

By Lauren Berg

Two law firms involved in securing artificial intelligence company Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with a class of authors and publishers are appealing to the Ninth Circuit an order excluding them from attorney fees awarded to court-appointed class counsel.

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USPTO Says Patent Atty's Suit Shouldn't Stop Discipline Case

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said an Ohio federal court shouldn't pause professional discipline proceedings against an attorney while he sues the agency, saying he's likely to fail with his suit challenging the fact that a judge from another agency is overseeing his discipline case.

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Sinema Says Brief Signal Chat Can't Anchor NC Affair Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A single exchange on the encrypted messaging app Signal became the focal point of former Arizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's testimony on Wednesday as she sought to convince a North Carolina federal judge that she cannot be hauled into court in the Tar Heel state over an affair — which she declined to characterize as a "passionate" romance — she had with her married security guard.

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