DOJ Awards $1M In First For Antitrust Whistleblower Program

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division awarded a whistleblower $1 million for providing information that led to charges and a $3.28 million criminal fine against used-vehicle auction site EBlock, marking the first-ever award under a new antitrust whistleblower program, the DOJ announced Thursday.

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Landmark Divestiture Order Scrutinized By 4th Circ. Again

By Matthew Perlman

A Fourth Circuit panel questioned whether door manufacturer Steves and Sons Inc. needs to prove its case all over again to save a landmark order requiring its rival Jeld-Wen to unload a Pennsylvania factory during Thursday's oral argument on a bid to vacate the ruling.

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Sandoz, Teva Beat Malicious Prosecution Claims, For Now

By Bryan Koenig

Sandoz and Teva have won a reprieve from a former pharmaceutical marketing executive claiming the drugmakers and their officers offered him up to federal prosecutors with fabricated assertions of price-fixing, with a New York federal judge concluding the suit "does not come close" to the standard for malicious prosecution.

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Calif. Jury Convicts Ex-Google Engineer Of Stealing AI Secrets

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal jury on Thursday found former Google software engineer Linwei Ding guilty of seven counts of trade secret theft and seven counts of economic espionage in a criminal trial over allegations that he stole the tech giant's artificial intelligence trade secrets to help himself and China.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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Conn. Cinches Consumer Safeguards In $34.5B Cox-Charter Deal

By Brian Steele

Connecticut officials have secured "major consumer protections" as Charter Communications Inc. seeks to acquire Cox Communications in a $34.5 billion deal, as well as a commitment to keep a corporate office in Stamford, according to the state attorney general's office.

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Dems Have Questions Over FTC's Unsealed Pepsi Complaint

By Matthew Perlman

Democratic lawmakers have accused PepsiCo Inc. of providing misleading responses to a previous inquiry about the Federal Trade Commission's abandoned price discrimination case, while also raising concerns that the agency dropped the case for political reasons.

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Seafood Co. Exec Avoids Prison Time In Price-Fixing Scheme

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida federal judge on Thursday spared the vice president of a Miami-based seafood wholesale company a prison sentence for his role in scheming with competitors to fix the prices paid to fishermen for stone crab claws and spiny lobster.

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DC Circ. Urged To Revive PJM Watchdog's Access Fight

By Keith Goldberg

The electricity market watchdog for PJM Interconnection on Thursday urged the D.C. Circuit to reconsider its dismissal of its lawsuit over the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denying it access to certain committee meetings held by the regional grid operator.

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2 Foreign Cos. Escape Pa. Polyurethane Price-Fixing MDL

By Lauren Berg

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday unsealed his opinion from earlier this month dismissing two parent companies in Germany and China from multidistrict antitrust litigation that accuses several companies of conspiring to manipulate the prices of two chemicals used to make polyurethane, saying the court doesn't have jurisdiction.

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Amazon Consumers Lose Bid For Earlier Antitrust Trial Date

By Ben Adlin

The trial in a massive consumer antitrust class action against Amazon.com Inc. will remain scheduled for June 2027 following a Seattle federal judge's refusal of shoppers' request to move up the trial to November.

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Apple Dodges Users' Deposition In Google Antitrust Case

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge has quashed a Christmas Eve deposition subpoena that sought information from Apple Inc. concerning dealings with Google LLC, saying users who accused Google of suppressing rival search engines through anticompetitive deals had no valid reason for the subpoena.

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DOL Proposes Pharmacy Benefit Manager Fee Disclosure Rule

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits subagency Thursday proposed a rule to require new fee disclosures from pharmacy benefit managers, which act as intermediaries between drugmakers, pharmacies and insurers, to help managers of employee health plans ensure PBM services are reasonably priced.

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First Woman To Serve As Oregon AG Joins Freshfields

By Jack Rodgers

Freshfields LLP has hired Ellen Rosenblum, the first woman to serve as Oregon's attorney general in state history, who has joined the firm as a senior counsel, the firm has announced.

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Debevoise Appoints Commercial Litigation Group Co-Leaders

By Kevin Penton

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP promoted two litigators to be co-chairs of its commercial litigation practice, the firm has announced.

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Navigating Trade Secret Exceptions In Noncompete Bans

Recent and ongoing developments in the noncompete landscape, including a potential decision from the Tenth Circuit in Edwards Lifesciences v. Thompson, could offer tools for employers to bring noncompete agreements within trade secret exceptions amid an era of heightened employee mobility, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

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False Ad Suit Shows Need For Clear, Conspicuous Disclosure

The Eleventh Circuit's recent false advertising decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Corpay reiterated the FTC's guidance imploring advertisers to ensure that any disclosures are clear and conspicuous to consumers, providing companies with numerous lessons about truthful advertising and highlighting some common disclosure pitfalls to avoid, says Michael Justus at Carlton Fields.

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Series

Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

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Feature

From TikTok To The Courtroom, The Rise Of Lawfluencers

By Chris Villani

A growing group of legal influencers with huge followings say social media use is helping them expand their practices along with their brands and offering marketing lessons that even BigLaw can learn from.

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Ex-Worker Says Goldstein Offered Crypto, Gifts As IRS Probed

By Jared Foretek

A former employee at Thomas Goldstein's law firm who resigned after the Internal Revenue Service began investigating the firm said that the SCOTUSblog founder suddenly began offering her bitcoin, payment from case settlements and potential student loan relief after federal agents visited the office.

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Clemency Favors White Collar Offenders, New Study Shows

By Phillip Bantz

White collar criminal defendants are more likely than other types of offenders to receive presidential pardons, especially under the Trump administration, a new analysis of clemency actions shows, raising concerns about a system one expert called "broken."

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Attacks Haven't Killed Judiciary's AI Rule, May Strengthen It

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary advisers Thursday confronted the most extensive opposition yet in their campaign to ensure the reliability of evidence utilizing artificial intelligence, but the criticism appeared constructive, possibly upping the odds of a digital age addition to U.S. court rules.

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Crowell & Moring Loses DC Appeal In $30M COVID Rent Dispute

By Isaac Monterose

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled against Crowell & Moring LLP's appeal for its $30 million rent dispute with a D.C. office landlord that refused to grant a coronavirus-related rent abatement.

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Bondi Elevates Pa. US Atty Amid Appointments Scrutiny

By Matthew Santoni

The first assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania is being retained and elevated to full U.S. attorney, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced Thursday, though the appointment will have to remain temporary or he could face the same questions about his appointment as other top prosecutors in President Donald Trump's administration.

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