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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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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Becton Hernia Mesh Antitrust Case Survives Dismissal

By Matthew Perlman

A Pennsylvania federal court has refused to toss an antitrust case from Tela Bio Inc. accusing Becton Dickinson & Co. of abusing its dominant position in the hernia mesh market to block competing products.

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Zillow Sues Compass, MLS Over Private Listing 'Backup Plan'

By Nate Beck

Zillow has accused property brokerage Compass and a Chicago-area multiple listing service provider of hatching a "backup plan" to protect a private home sales network, even after the online real estate marketplace company established a rule last year banning home listings from its platform that have appeared elsewhere for more than a day.

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Newsmax Defends Antitrust Case Against Fox

By Matthew Perlman

Newsmax is defending its case, now back in Florida federal court, accusing Fox of pressuring cable and streaming providers into not carrying the rival right-leaning broadcaster, saying that Fox has a motive to block competition in the lucrative market for conservative news.

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Apple Targets Hagens Berman 'Gamesmanship' In ICloud Suit

By Bryan Koenig

Apple has lashed out at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP for trying to withdraw a named plaintiff from an iCloud antitrust case in California federal court without discovery into any directions she received to preserve now-deleted emails, raising concerns that the withdrawal is meant to "paper over lost evidence."

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NCAA Says Injunction Mooted WVU Players' Eligibility Suit

By Elaine Briseño

The NCAA has asked a West Virginia federal judge to toss the antitrust suit of four football players, arguing that the athletes lack standing because a preliminary injunction that allowed them to play during the 2025-26 season remedied their alleged injuries.

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Brief

Engineers Drop General Dynamics From No-Poach Suit

By Bryan Koenig

General Dynamics can walk away from a proposed class action accusing major shipbuilders of using no-poach agreements to suppress wages for engineers and architects, after the parties stipulated Tuesday to dropping the company from the Virginia federal court suit from which other defendants have settled.

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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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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

Couple Settles Annuity Fraud Suit With Ameritas, Ex-Agent

By Abigail Harrison

A retired military officer and his wife have agreed to end a lawsuit against Ameritas and a former insurance agent alleging a fraudulent investment scheme based on the sale of unsuitable equity-indexed annuities, according to a notice filed Wednesday in North Carolina federal court.

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Merricks Owes £75K For Halted Bid To Rep Rail Fare Class

By Eddie Beaver

Walter Merricks must pay £75,000 ($101,000) to cover the costs of his involvement in a proposed £400 million collective class action against rail operator Govia Thameslink, a London court ruled after he backed away from serving as the claim's class representative.

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Rural Wireless Group Criticizes EchoStar Spectrum Deals

By Ganesh Setty

A trade group representing rural wireless providers said it opposes the Federal Communications Commission's recent approval of EchoStar's sales of spectrum to AT&T and SpaceX totaling roughly $40 billion, saying rural providers and consumers will likely suffer.

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Crowell & Moring Opens Minneapolis Office With 8 Lawyers

By Tracey Read

Crowell & Moring LLP announced Wednesday that it is deepening its commitment to Minnesota by opening a new office in Minneapolis with a team of eight attorneys and said it's expecting more growth in the near future.

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How 'Bundling' Enforcement Is Parsing Efficiency, Access

Recent antitrust enforcement actions have taken a selective view of companies' bundling of products or services — challenging it when it shuts out rivals, but tolerating it when it creates efficient scale — making the real test now less about lower prices than about whether competition is being blocked, says attorney Alan Kusinitz.

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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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