DOJ Deal With Live Nation Throws Antitrust Trial Into Disarray

By Pete Brush

U.S. Department of Justice lawyers told a Manhattan federal judge Monday that the government is settling its claims that Live Nation engaged in unlawful monopolization by tying ticket sales to the use of its venues, throwing an ongoing trial involving dozens of states into an uncertain posture.

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DOJ Official Calls Live Nation Deal Win-Win As AGs Press On

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department's midtrial settlement with Live Nation on Monday created an instant rift with more than two dozen state attorneys general who vowed to press forward instead of accepting a deal that requires online ticketing technology to be open-sourced and forces the company to divest control over at least 13 amphitheaters.

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9th Circ. Doubts Trial Judge Properly Nixed $4.7B NFL Verdict

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit panel appeared open Monday to reversing at least portions of a lower court's ruling that scrapped a $4.7 billion class action antitrust jury verdict against the National Football League, with one judge saying the "fundamental problem" is the trial court took the verdict away from the jury.

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9th Circ. Won't Rethink Revival Of Price-Fixing Claim

By Matthew Perlman

The Ninth Circuit has refused a rehearing bid from Japanese manufacturer NHK Spring for a ruling that revived a number of Seagate Technologies' antitrust claims against it in a case concerning hard drive component prices.

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Analysis

Sony's £5B Market Abuse Trial Will Test Limit Of CPO Regime

By Lucia Osborne-Crowley

A £5 billion ($6.7 billion) collective action against Sony opens on Tuesday in a trial that lawyers say will provide a crucial indication of how the Competition Appeal Tribunal will analyze claims of market abuse against Big Tech companies.

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Senate Bill Eyes Letting Colleges Pool Sports Media Rights

By Courtney Bublé

A bipartisan bill in the works would allow colleges to pool their media rights in hopes of boosting their revenue, which could then trickle down to women's and Olympic sports programs.

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FTC Won't Quash NewsGuard Subpoena

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission has denied a request from news rating organization NewsGuard Technologies Inc. to quash a subpoena issued as part of an investigation into an alleged advertising boycott of conservative publishers, as the group fights the document demand in court.

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Valve Gamers Seek Fees After Co. Dropped Them From Suit

By Ben Adlin

Gamers who were sued by Valve Corp. in an effort to stop hundreds of arbitration proceedings have urged a Washington federal judge to make the company cover their legal fees, arguing that as each defendant was dismissed from the lawsuit following a final arbitration award, they became a prevailing party entitled to recoup their costs.

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Judge Won't Toss Nokia Patent Claims Against Warner Bros.

By Elliot Weld

A Delaware federal judge has refused to dismiss Nokia's claims that Warner Bros. infringed a set of video coding patents, saying he couldn't conclude that the patents lack an inventive concept that would meet the U.S. Supreme Court's Alice test.

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Bitcoin Classes Should Be Modified, Judge Says In Opinion

By Katryna Perera

A New York federal judge narrowed the class definitions in a suit accusing Tether and Bitfinex of rigging the cryptocurrency market and costing investors hundreds of billions of dollars, after finding that there is no "clear-cut" injury for some investors. 

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Table Mountain Tribe Opposes Dismissal In Casino Land Case

By Joyce Hanson

The Table Mountain Rancheria has asked a California federal judge to deny another tribe's motion to dismiss its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior over a 40-acre land transfer for a casino project, saying the DOI will protect any interest the tribe might have.

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Archer Says Air Taxi Rival Joby Hid China Ties, Imports

By Ivan Moreno

Archer Aviation fired back at electric air-taxi competitor Joby Aviation's trade secret lawsuit Monday, launching counterclaims that accuse Joby of unfair competition and false advertising by allegedly concealing China-based sourcing and misclassifying imports to evade tariffs.

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How The New Tariff Landscape May Unfold

To replace tariffs formerly imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the administration will rely on a patchwork of statutes, potentially leading to procedural challenges and a complex tariff landscape with varying levels, durations and applicability, says Joseph Grossman-Trawick at King & Spalding.

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Kavanaugh, Jackson Debate High Court Emergency Orders

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh pushed back Monday against critiques that the high court is ruling in favor of President Donald Trump in emergency appeals more often than it did for prior presidents, saying people who believe those allegations have "short" memories. 

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Ex-DLA Piper Atty Alleging Rape Can't Remain Anonymous

By Lauren Berg

A former Boston-based DLA Piper associate cannot use a pseudonym to pursue a lawsuit alleging she was raped by one of the firm's former partners, a Massachusetts judge ruled, noting that she already publicly revealed her identity in a related suit against the accused attorney.

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Employment Law Cases Have Rebounded Except For FLSA

By Max Kutner

Employment law cases overall have bounced back from pandemic-era lows, especially discrimination and disability accommodation suits, though a slump has continued for Fair Labor Standards Act claims, according to a report by legal analytics provider Lex Machina.

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NJ US Atty Trio Booted In 2nd Leadership Ouster

By George Woolston

A federal judge on Monday disqualified the three assistant attorneys overseeing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, finding the "byzantine" leadership structure is unconstitutional.

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Brief

SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein To Be Sentenced In June

By Emily Sawicki

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein, currently under home confinement in Washington, D.C., after a Maryland jury convicted him on tax evasion and mortgage fraud charges, will face sentencing in June.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket last week featured disputes spanning alleged forged board approvals at a telecom startup, evidence-destruction claims tied to WWE's blockbuster merger with UFC and investor scrutiny of a multibillion-dollar deal between Intel and the U.S. government.

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McGuireWoods Beats Sun Pharma's DQ Bid In NJ Suit

By George Woolston

A New Jersey federal court has denied Sun Pharmaceutical's bid to disqualify McGuireWoods LLP from representing pharmaceutical company Biofrontera in litigation over the alleged breach of a settlement agreement, ruling the firm's continued representation won't harm Sun Pharmaceutical and will avoid significant harm to Biofrontera.

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Lewis Brisbois Renews Bid To Force Paralegal To Arbitrate

By Adrian Cruz

Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP asked a Florida state judge on Friday to have a former paralegal arbitrate her defamation claims that its actions tarnished her reputation and cost her a job at another firm.

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K&L Gates IP Atty Tapped For Wash. Supreme Court Seat

By Rachel Riley

A K&L Gates intellectual property litigator will become the Washington State Supreme Court's first justice of Middle Eastern descent, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said Monday, announcing his pick to replace veteran retiring Justice Barbara Madsen.

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