'Think Carefully': Judge Wary Of Notice Tactic In Google Deal

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge indicated on Thursday that he will grant preliminary approval to Google's $8.25 million settlement to resolve putative class allegations that Google surreptitiously tracked children online for advertising, while urging counsel to "think carefully" about using behavioral tracking in future settlements to post advertisements notifying class members.

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Meta Doesn't Understand Its Own Algorithms, Ex-VP Testifies

By Craig Clough

A former vice president at Meta Platforms Inc. told a California jury Thursday in a landmark bellwether trial over claims the company's Instagram and Google LLC's YouTube harm children's mental health that he quit because he was deeply concerned about safety, and that even Meta's own experts don't understand how its algorithms work.

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Texas Suit Says Sanofi Paid Kickbacks For Prescriptions

By Spencer Brewer

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Sanofi-Aventis US LLC in state court Thursday, accusing the pharmaceutical company of paying kickbacks to providers so they would prescribe Sanofi's drugs.

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Lyft Must Share Driver Records In Uber Sexual Assault Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

Lyft Inc. must hand over sexual misconduct records it has on four men who allegedly assaulted and raped passengers while driving for Uber, a California federal judge has ruled, saying such documents could show that Uber, the defendant in multidistrict litigation, knew of the drivers' past conduct.

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Ohio Justices Shield Lenders From COVID-Era Class Claims

By Katryna Perera

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a state resident can collect damages from Quicken Loans for the company's failure to report within 90 days that his mortgage had been paid off, but reversed a trial court's certification of a class of individuals who experienced the same issue, finding an amended state law prohibits the action.

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Google Says IPhone Users Campaign To 'Harass' Senior Execs

By Nadia Dreid

Google is going head-to-head with iPhone users who want to depose its executives at the tail end of discovery in a lawsuit accusing the tech behemoth of cutting a deal with Apple to become the default search engine on Apple devices, accusing the proposed class of harassment.

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Wash. Justices Say Amazon Must Face Chemical Suicide Suits

By Rachel Riley

The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday revived negligence lawsuits against Amazon brought by the families of four people who killed themselves by ingesting high-potency sodium nitrite purchased on the e-commerce platform, finding the company had a duty to avoid exposing online shoppers to foreseeable harm from items sold on its website.

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Eutelsat Seeks Fast-Track C-Band Relocation Payments

By Nadia Dreid

As the Federal Communications Commission makes plans to auction off part of the upper C-band, Eutelsat thinks the agency should use its auction of the lower part of the band as a guide, particularly when it comes to paying satellite operators to clear out quickly.

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Electronics Cos. Fight 'Heavy-Handed' Next-Gen TV Mandate

By Christopher Cole

As the Federal Communications Commission looks to coax the broadcast industry into adopting next-generation TV on a wider scale, a key electronics industry group has re-upped concerns that officials might move too fast.

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Delta, Aeromexico Urge 11th Circ. To Void DOT Split Order

By Linda Chiem

Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico urged the Eleventh Circuit to void a U.S. Department of Transportation order directing them to dismantle their joint venture, saying the agency had offered contrived reasoning and scant evidence for purported anticompetitive effects.

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Texas Panel Unsure Midwife Can Escape Abortion Order

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court pushed back on a midwife's assertion that a court order blocking her from providing abortions flouted the state's rules of civil procedure, saying Thursday she wasn't facing the lawsuit "for doing appendectomies."

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ITC Says Indian Springs Harm US Industry, Duties Coming

By Jack McLoone

Garage door springs imported from India to the U.S. will be hit with antidumping and countervailing duty orders after the U.S. International Trade Commission said Thursday they are causing material harm to U.S. domestic industry.

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Warren Seeks Treasury, Fed Pledge Of No Bitcoin Bailout

By Rick Archer

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is asking the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to provide a written pledge not to bail out cryptocurrency markets in the face of sliding bitcoin prices, saying such a move would disproportionately benefit billionaires.

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FCC Floats Nearly $200K Fine On Dahua For Late Filing

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission will seek an almost $200,000 fine against Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co. for allegedly failing to file paperwork detailing its subsidiaries and affiliates going back three years under a U.S. national security program.

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5th Circ. Pauses Order Scrapping FTC Merger Filing Overhaul

By Rae Ann Varona

The Fifth Circuit on Thursday granted the Federal Trade Commission's emergency motion to pause a Texas federal judge's ruling that threw out the agency's overhaul of premerger reporting requirements.

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Pepsi And Frito-Lay Avoid Class Chip-Pricing Claims, For Now

By Lauren Berg

A California federal judge struck class claims from a lawsuit accusing PepsiCo and Frito-Lay of illegally charging Walmart, Target, and other chain stores less for chips than smaller retailers, stating that the plaintiffs cannot show that the proposed class has suffered the same injury, but will allow them to rework the complaint.

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Brief

Commerce Orders Duties On Paper Folders From Cambodia

By Jack McLoone

Paper file folders imported into the U.S. from Cambodia will be subject to a countervailing duty order following affirmative determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce that these imports are benefiting from harmful subsidies and damaging U.S. domestic industry, Commerce said Thursday.

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Apple Knowingly Hosts Child Porn On ICloud, W.Va. AG Says

By Rae Ann Varona

Apple knowingly allows child sexual abuse material to be stored and distributed on its iCloud platform, West Virginia's attorney general alleged Thursday in what he called a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, saying the tech giant's "privacy" brand provides cover for a defective product that violates state consumer protection law. 

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Texas AG Launches Latest Suit Over Temu Data, China Ties

By Hailey Konnath

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday accused online bargain app Temu of secretly stealing customer data and exposing it to the Chinese Communist Party, calling it "spyware disguised as a shopping app" in a suit filed in federal court.

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Live Nation Says Judge Should Have Cut More Of DOJ's Case

By Matthew Perlman

Live Nation urged a New York federal court on Thursday to further pare down the government's antitrust case against the company, saying a ruling earlier in the week should have nixed additional allegations involving the promotion services it provides to major concert venues.

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Live Nation Fights Uphill To Nix FTC Suit Over Ticket Scalping

By Gina Kim

Live Nation urged a California federal judge Thursday to reconsider her tentative decision refusing to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission's allegations it turned a blind eye to scalpers, arguing that the complaint doesn't identify specific tickets that scalpers were able to obtain by evading security measures that limit purchases.

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CIT Orders Reconsideration Of Fujifilm Co.'s Industry Status

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. International Trade Commission must redo its determination that a U.S. subsidiary of Fujifilm qualifies as a domestic producer for purposes of finding domestic industry has been harmed by imports from Japan and China, the U.S. Court of International Trade said.

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Shkreli Again Tries To Add Wu-Tang Members To Album Fight

By Sydney Price

"Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli filed a third-party complaint against two members of hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, seeking once again to bring them into litigation brought by a cryptocurrency community that claims Shkreli improperly retained copies of a Wu-Tang album the community had bought the rights to.

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Target Ends Chicken Price-Fixing Claims Against Tyson

By Lauren Berg

Target Corp. and Tyson Foods Inc. told an Illinois federal judge Thursday that they have reached an agreement to resolve the retailer's claims accusing the food company of conspiring with other poultry producers to fix broiler chicken prices.

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Scientist Must Give Splenda Maker Emails With In-House Attys

By Hayley Fowler

A scientist battling a lawsuit by the maker of Splenda over her research linking the artificial sweetener to cancer-causing chemicals must turn over emails with her employer's in-house counsel, a North Carolina magistrate judge ruled, finding they are not protected by privilege.

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Judge Denies Mylan And Aurobindo's Bid To Escape Trial

By Jonathan Capriel

A Connecticut federal judge has once again rejected generic-drug makers' bid to escape a multistate lawsuit accusing them of engaging in an overarching antitrust conspiracy, saying the evidence supports the need for a jury trial on whether the companies colluded to fix prices and divvy up markets for dozens of generic drugs.

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'Sealed Container' Defense Sinks Exploding Battery Suit

By Mike Curley

A North Carolina appeals panel won't revive a man's suit against a retailer and distributor alleging he was sold a defective lithium-ion battery that exploded in his pocket, saying all his claims are blocked by the sealed container defense.

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Ga. Appeals Court Weighs Kratom Seller's Liability

By Sam Reisman

A Georgia appellate court on Thursday gave little indication on whether it would reverse a trial court's grant of summary judgment to a kratom distributor whose customer died after consuming one of its products.

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Nev. Wants Latest Kalshi Betting Case Waged In State Court

By Alex Lawson

Nevada's efforts to shutter Kalshi's sports event contracts are mired in an early procedural snag as the prediction market angles to litigate in federal court, while the Silver State pushes to keep the dispute within its own judicial system.

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Tips For Consumer Finance GCs Navigating AI In Pro Se Suits

There are several avenues for consumer finance in-house counsel to make artificial intelligence use disclosure requirements a standardized tool when facing pro se litigants, including preservation demands and discovery requests to ease friction and root out inaccurate legal representations, says Lee Barrett at Planet Home Lending.

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FCC Satellite Co. Action Starts New Chapter For Team Telecom

The Federal Communications Commission's recent settlement with satellite company Marlink marks a modest but meaningful step forward in how the U.S. regulates foreign involvement in its telecommunications sector, proving "Team Telecom" conditions are not limited to companies with substantial foreign ownership, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

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Should Prediction Markets Allow Trading On Nonpublic Info?

Recent trading activity, such as the Polymarket wager on the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, has raised questions about whether some participants may be engaging in trading that is based on material nonpublic information, and highlights ongoing uncertainty about how existing derivatives and anti-fraud rules apply to event-based contracts, say economic consultants at the Brattle Group.

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How The Fashion 'Dupe' Economy Is Redefining IP Strategies

Fashion brands' recent experiments with unconventional trademark strategies highlight the growing impact that "dupe" versions of luxury items are having on the fashion market, as well as growing pressure points in trademark and trade dress law, say attorneys at Marshall Gerstein.

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Opinion

SNAP Rule Confusion Risks A Compliance Crisis

Recent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food restriction waivers pose a compliance crisis for legal practitioners advising food retailers, amid higher costs and lack of a coherent national standard, says Tyson-Lord Gray at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

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Series

Trivia Competition Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing trivia taught me to quickly absorb information and recognize when I've learned what I'm expected to know, training me in the crucial skills needed to be a good attorney, and reminding me to be gracious in defeat, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

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Barnes & Thornburg Adds 35 Ballard Spahr Attys, 3 Offices

By Tracey Read

Barnes & Thornburg LLP announced Thursday that it has added all 35 public finance lawyers from Ballard Spahr LLP to its government services and finance department in multiple locations around the country, including three new markets in Baltimore, Denver and Phoenix.

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DOJ Atty Fined $500 A Day Over Withheld ICE Detainee ID

By Hailey Konnath

A Minnesota federal judge on Wednesday ordered a U.S. Department of Justice lawyer to pay $500 a day until an immigrant recently released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention gets his identification documents returned, according to the case docket.

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8th Circ. Pick Joins List Of Personal Attys Elevated By Trump

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's latest appellate pick has served as the president's personal attorney and bills himself as "an attorney and strategist who fights for conservative values" on his LinkedIn profile.

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Analysis

Attys React To Test Of Free Speech At Winter Olympics

By David Steele

The Winter Olympics in Milan have delivered the expected drama of national and individual success and defeat, but for sports law experts, one Ukrainian athlete's expulsion stood as a test of the rules governing political protest and personal expression.

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No Verdict Thursday In Goldstein Case

By Jared Foretek

The jury in SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's tax evasion trial broke for the weekend on Thursday without reaching a verdict.

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Disqualification Bids Mount For Trio Leading NJ US Atty Office

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey criminal defendant who previously challenged the legality of former interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba's appointment has now moved to disqualify the three assistant U.S. attorneys overseeing the office, aligning himself with a growing bloc of defendants saying the leadership structure violates federal appointment laws.

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Del. Chancery Court Saw Record Number Of Filings In 2025

By Rose Krebs

Delaware's nationally important Chancery Court saw a record number of case filings in 2025 and has relied on the state's Superior Court to help ease its judges' caseload, the First State's chief justice told legislators on Thursday.

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Doc Fight Delays Trial In $22M McCarter & English Loan Suit

By Brian Steele

The delayed disclosure of thousands of documents has created "a lot of prejudice" against McCarter & English as it fights a $22.5 million professional malpractice lawsuit, and the impending trial must be pushed back again, a Connecticut state judge said Thursday.

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Ill. Justices Face Judge's Suit Over Removal For MAGA Op-Ed

By Emily Sawicki

A retired Illinois state judge who had published a MAGA-leaning opinion column, then was temporarily reinstated to the bench amid a judge shortage, has sued the justices of the state Supreme Court, alleging they deprived him of due process in ordering his removal.

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