Google Ad Tech Judge 'Concerned' By DOJ's Breakup Timing

By Bryan Koenig

A Virginia federal judge expressed concern during oral arguments Friday that breaking up Google's advertising placement technology business could take too long to help the market in the face of the company's anticipated appeal of the monopolization ruling won by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Florida Sues ISS, Glass Lewis Over ESG Advice

By Jessica Corso

The state of Florida is suing Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC, alleging that the proxy advisory firms are abusing their dominant place in the market by promoting ideological and environmental causes "at the expense of traditional metrics of financial growth."

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Google Calls Rumble's Judge Recusal Bid 'Cynical Maneuver'

By Rae Ann Varona

Google argued Friday that a California federal judge need not recuse himself from YouTube rival Rumble's antitrust suit despite his friendship with Google's top in-house litigation chief, saying Rumble's push for the recusal was a "cynical maneuver" for its Ninth Circuit appeal of a summary judgment loss.

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PBMs Say Gov't Benefits From Drug Rebates FTC Condemns

By Matthew Perlman

Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx have been given permission to seek documents they say will show the government benefits from the same type of prescription drug rebating activity that's being targeted by the Federal Trade Commission's insulin pricing case.

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Ex-Temple Player Bet On, Against Team, NCAA Says

By Tom Lotshaw

The NCAA has declared former Temple University men's basketball player Hysier Miller permanently ineligible for sports bets involving the team, while two former team assistants were given one-year show cause orders for betting activities, in a trio of infraction decisions released Friday.

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Apple, Amazon Face Renewed £500M Collusion Class Action

By William Janes

Apple and Amazon are set to face a refreshed £500 million ($654 million) price-fixing class action case in the U.K., with a new class representative reviving a case accusing the two technology giants of illegally colluding.

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Apple Buyers Defend Smartphone, Watch Monopoly Case

By Matthew Perlman

Groups of buyers accusing Apple of monopolizing smartphone and smartwatch markets told a New Jersey federal court the multidistrict litigation concerns the same allegations that recently survived dismissal in a government action.

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11th Circ. Can't Hear $3M Worker-Poaching Dispute

By Carolina Bolado

The incomplete resolution of an abandoned civil conspiracy claim sank twin appeals Friday in a worker-poaching suit that saw a Florida federal jury award more than $3 million in damages to a New York insurance brokerage after finding a competitor interfered with its business.

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'No Evidence' New Info Backs J&J Unit's Libel Suit, Court Told

By George Woolston

A doctor being sued by Johnson & Johnson's bankrupt talc subsidiary pushed back on the unit's bid to revive its trade libel claim over a scientific article she wrote linking asbestos in talc to mesothelioma, arguing it failed to cite any evidence that undermines the court's finding that the article was a nonactionable statement of scientific opinion.

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Electric Air Taxi Co. Joby Says Rival Stole Trade Secrets

By Linda Chiem

Joby Aviation has accused rival electric air-taxi company Archer Aviation Inc. of recruiting one of Joby's senior executives who pilfered Joby's trade secrets, which Archer then used to gain leverage in negotiations with a development partner on a lucrative deal, according to a new California state court complaint.

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FCC Looks To Alter Local Affiliates' Ties To Major Networks

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission wants the public to weigh in on "barriers" that could stand in the way of local TV broadcasters as it examines their legal and contract ties to national networks.

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Opinion

Despite Deputy AG Remarks, DOJ Can't Sideline DC Bar

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent suggestion that the D.C. Bar would be prevented from reviewing misconduct complaints about U.S. Department of Justice attorneys runs contrary to federal statutes, local rules and decades of case law, and sends the troubling message that federal prosecutors are subject to different rules, say attorneys at HWG.

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Bonus Spotlight

5 BigLaw Firms Match Prevailing Year-End, Special Bonuses

By Anna Sanders

BigLaw continues to dole out extra cash for attorneys just in time for the holidays, with five more firms matching the year-end and special bonuses previously announced by their peers.

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Feds' Claim Against Judge Weighing Trans Troops Ban Tossed

By Lauren Berg

The D.C. Circuit's chief judge tossed the U.S. Department of Justice's misconduct complaint against the federal judge overseeing litigation challenging the Trump administration's ban on transgender troops serving in the military, saying judicial misconduct proceedings are not the appropriate avenue to address concerns about a judge's impartiality.

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Comey, James Defeat Charges Over Halligan's Appointment

By Ryan Boysen

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the headline-grabbing indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, finding the controversial prosecutor handling both cases was not properly appointed.

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Calif. Personal Injury Law Firm Sued Over Ransomware Attack

By Gina Kim

A former Adamson Ahdoot LLP client lodged a proposed class action in California state court on Friday over a Nov. 3 ransomware attack, alleging the law firm failed to protect his personal information despite touting on its website that it follows industry standards to do so.

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Feature

Prep, Panic & Poise: Inside An Associate's First Oral Argument

By Jeff Overley

Fraser M. Holmes followed a long professional path to a Texas court's lectern. He'd been a baseball blogger, travel writer and social studies teacher before appellate law beckoned. After years of toil, a milestone moment — his first oral argument — finally arrived, but as justices took the bench, his heart sank: "Oh, my God. I think I've just forgotten my entire argument."

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Google Calls Rumble's Recusal Bid Irrelevant To Its Appeal

By Andrea Keckley

Google is urging the Ninth Circuit to disregard concerns Rumble has raised about the trial judge's relationship with the tech giant's litigation vice president, saying Friday that the information is irrelevant to the YouTube rival's appeal of the court's ruling that its antitrust lawsuit was filed too late.

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Oversight Chair Seeks USPTO Briefing On Litigation Funding

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is seeking a briefing by the end of the month from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on third-party litigation funding and reforms the agency is working on.

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8th Circ. Won't Force Judge's Recusal In Pork Price-Fixing Case

By Matthew Perlman

The Eighth Circuit has denied a mandamus petition from Agri Stats Inc. and major pork producers who are seeking a Minnesota federal judge's recusal in price-fixing litigation based on a law clerk's previous work on a related case.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week delivered a packed mix of fraud allegations, merger fallout, corporate-governance reforms and jurisdictional fights, while a new academic report ignited debate over attorney fee awards in Delaware's influential corporate forum.

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