DOJ Partially Backs Apple In Epic High Court Contempt Case

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief that the Ninth Circuit wrongly faulted Apple for charging a 27% commission on transactions linked out from apps, but it backed other parts of the California federal court's contempt order won by Epic Games.

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Calif. Appeals Court Revives Antitrust Suit Against Claritev

By Rae Ann Varona

A California state appeals court held in a published opinion that health insurer reimbursements for services are prices that, if fixed or tampered with, are subject to antitrust scrutiny, reviving a lawsuit that accused MultiPlan Corp. of violating antitrust law through pricing tools used by health insurance providers.

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KCSR Appeals STB's BNSF Terminal Trackage Rights Ruling

By Jared Foretek

Canadian Pacific Kansas City subsidiary Kansas City Southern Railway is asking the D.C. Circuit to overturn a Surface Transportation Board ruling that set the price BNSF Railway will pay to use a nine-mile conduit for petroleum and chemical shipping in Louisiana, in an appeal filed this week.

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OpenAI Looks To End SpaceXAI's Apple Deal Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

OpenAI is urging a Texas federal court to end an antitrust case from Elon Musk's SpaceXAI over a deal integrating ChatGPT into Apple devices, saying the pact is not exclusive and does not block competition from rival chatbots.

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DOJ Eyes Per Se Rule In Fragrance Antitrust Suit

By Craig Clough

The U.S. Department of Justice told a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday that it plans to weigh in on fragrance-makers' bid to dismiss purchasers' price-fixing claims, saying the motion raises "significant questions" about a Third Circuit antitrust ruling that the court revised after the department challenged its wording.

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Curium Resets FTC Clock On $8B Lantheus Take-Private Deal

By Bryan Koenig

Private equity-backed radiopharmaceutical company Curium reset the clock for the Federal Trade Commission's 30-day review of its plan to acquire fellow radiopharmaceutical company Lantheus Holdings Inc. in an $8 billion take-private deal.

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FTC Backs Proposed Education Dept. Accreditation Reforms

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Trade Commission has endorsed the U.S. Department of Education's proposal to expand higher education accreditation options and promote competition among accreditation agencies.

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Buyers Defend DRAM Price-Fixing Case Against Chipmakers

By Matthew Perlman

Buyers are defending a proposed class action in California federal court that accuses Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix of conspiring to restrict supplies of dynamic random access memory, arguing the companies increased prices by nearly 700% over three years.

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Attorneys Say Unpaid Sanction No Basis To End Antitrust Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

Attorneys representing a shuttered soccer league say an unpaid $24,000 sanction that a Puerto Rico federal judge imposed on them for error-riddled court filings is no reason to dismiss the league's antitrust suit against FIFA and two affiliates.

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Blue Shield Still Facing Therapy 'Ghost Network' Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge ruled Wednesday that Blue Shield of California must face the majority of claims brought in subscribers' proposed class action alleging the insurer maintained a "ghost network" of mental-health providers that didn't exist or accept new patients, saying the suit adequately claims contract terms were not met.

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Hedge Fund OK To Sue Metal Exchange's Owner Over Crisis

By Tom Fish

Funds run by Elliott Investment Management LP can start a legal claim against the London Metal Exchange's Hong Kong owner over the trading venue's handling of the 2022 nickel crisis, the Competition Appeal Tribunal has ruled.

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NY Judge Dismisses States' DOGE Treasury Data Access Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge Wednesday tossed several states' lawsuit that challenged Department of Government Efficiency staff access to U.S. Department of the Treasury data, saying DOGE's dissolution rendered the states' access claims moot and that they failed to allege that any federal funding due to them was ultimately canceled.

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Judge Tosses Conn. Cannabis Licensure Suit Over Standing

By Sam Reisman

A Connecticut federal judge Tuesday tossed a suit alleging that the state's program to award social equity marijuana licenses is discriminatory, saying the would-be cannabis grower who brought the action did not show that he had standing to challenge the policy.

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Zillow Starts Renewed Bid To Exit Home Loan Kickbacks Suit

By Isaac Monterose

Zillow Group Inc. and its subsidiaries have filed a new dismissal bid in Washington federal court against a consolidated third amended class action complaint that accuses Zillow of running an illegal kickbacks scheme that provides affiliated brokers with business leads if they push homebuyers to use the company's allegedly overpriced Zillow Home Loans program.

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Medicare Brokers Say Feds Won't Identify Alleged False Claims

By Julie Manganis

A group of insurance companies and brokers accused in a False Claims Act case of colluding to steer Medicare recipients to certain Medicare Advantage plans said Tuesday that the federal government has refused to provide specifics of the allegations.

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Tracking Trends In State-Level Regulatory Enforcement

State-level enforcement now increasingly involves antitrust, artificial intelligence and data privacy issues, and the key for organizations to reducing risk is having the ability to respond across governance, public affairs, discovery and remediation in multiple states simultaneously, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

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And Now A Word From The Panel: Accessing Key MDL Data

As the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation convenes for its September hearing session, it is useful to examine the treasure trove of historical and statistical information about MDLs past and present that the panel makes available to the public on its own website, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

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Opinion

Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

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Tarter Krinsky Data Breach May Have Affected Health Info

By Andrea Keckley

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP said in a letter this month that a data breach last year may have compromised protected health information the firm possessed due to its representation of an unnamed healthcare provider.

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'I'm Tired Of This': Judge Scolds Atty In Romantasy Suit

By Theresa Schliep

A New York federal judge has reprimanded counsel for a writer in a failed copyright infringement lawsuit over the "Crave" book series, insisting the plaintiff answer all questions in a deposition over attorney fees and writing that she was "tired of this" and "indeed being jerked around."

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Goldstein Not Leaving Prison Any Time Soon, 4th Circ. Rules

By Jeff Overley

The Fourth Circuit balked late Wednesday at freeing Tom Goldstein from prison as he fights felony convictions, and it rejected fast-track review of the renowned appellate advocate's trial, indicating he'll likely spend substantial time behind bars even if his appeal succeeds.

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Analysis

Newman's Roadblocks Guide Judicial Conduct Reform Bill

By Dani Kass

The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act has worked well in allowing the judicial branch to govern itself for nearly 50 years, but the ongoing suspension of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has exposed gaps that could be addressed with newly introduced legislation, attorneys say.

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Senate Confirms Abbott Aide To Texas Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 50-47, along party lines, on Wednesday to confirm Angela Colmenero, deputy chief of staff to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, to serve on the Southern District of Texas.

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Fed. Panel At Standstill Over ABA Law School Accreditor Role

By Emma Cueto

A key U.S. Department of Education committee deadlocked Wednesday over whether the American Bar Association council responsible for approving law schools should continue as a federally recognized accreditor, tabling the issue until Thursday after different proposals failed to win majority support.

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