OpenAI CEO Altman Fueled 'Toxic Culture Of Lying,' Jury Told

By Dorothy Atkins

California federal jurors weighing Elon Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion on Thursday watched prerecorded testimony from a former OpenAI board member who voted to oust CEO Sam Altman in 2023 over concerns his pattern of lies and deception fostered a "toxic culture of lying."  

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'If It Quacks': Judge Hints Kalshi's Biz Is Sports Gambling

By Abigail Harrison

Fourth Circuit judges appeared dubious Thursday as counsel for Kalshi explained why its "sports event contracts" can only be regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission rather than state gambling laws, with one judge remarking, "If it quacks, you know, it's a duck. Right? It's gambling isn't it?"

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J&J Feared FDA's 'Disturbing Proposal' To Test Talc, Jury Told

By Craig Clough

A former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner testifying Thursday in a Los Angeles bellwether trial over claims Johnson & Johnson's talc products caused three women's deadly ovarian cancer described an internal document showing J&J feared the FDA's "disturbing proposal" to test the talc instead of relying on industry self-testing.

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Agri Stats Reaches Meat Price-Fixing Deal With States, DOJ

By Hailey Konnath

Agri Stats has agreed to stop putting together certain sales reports for broiler chicken processors to resolve the U.S. Department of Justice's allegations that those reports enabled price-fixing by meat processors, according to an announcement made Thursday.

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Zillow, Redfin Can't Escape FTC's Antitrust Suit Over Ad Pact

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge denied Zillow and Redfin's bid Wednesday to toss the Federal Trade Commission's suit accusing the companies of colluding through a $100 million payment to stop competing on multifamily rental listings, ruling that the "fact-intensive nature" of the commission's complaint justifies it surviving past the pleading stage.

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Judge Wants States To Outline Live Nation Antitrust Remedies

By Matthew Perlman

A New York federal judge asked state enforcers on Thursday to outline the remedies they intend to seek from Live Nation, along with the discovery they expect to need, before deciding a schedule for the next steps in the antitrust case against the major live entertainment company.

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La. Says Mailed Abortion Pills Harm State Budget, Sovereignty

By Dan McKay

The state of Louisiana on Thursday defended its standing to challenge telehealth access to the abortion medication mifepristone, telling the U.S. Supreme Court that it has suffered financial and other injuries as mail-order pills flood the state.

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Warren Asks Meta About Reported Stablecoin Payment Plans

By Sarah Jarvis

The top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee has called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to provide more information about the company's reported plans to introduce stablecoin-based payment features for its users, accusing it of a "deeply troubling" lack of transparency about the project.

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Dems Press Big 3 Bureaus On BNPL Credit Reporting Gaps

By Sarah Jarvis

Democratic U.S. senators are calling on the "Big Three" credit bureaus to explain how they're adapting their consumer credit scoring and reporting to account for buy-now-pay-later products, citing concerns about inconsistent tracking of a fast-growing source of everyday purchase financing.

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Crypto Bill Could Get Senate Banking Markup Next Week

By Aislinn Keely

A bill to regulate crypto markets known as the Clarity Act could be marked up by the Senate Banking Committee as soon as next week, but lawmakers are still finalizing key provisions that could make or break the voting process, policymakers told attendees of the crypto conference Consensus.

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Wyden Probes Wall Street Firms For Tariff Refund Stakes' Info

By Dylan Moroses

The top Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee sent letters to major Wall Street firms Thursday about their activity in buying the rights to importers' tariff refund interests at a discount following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in February striking down President Donald Trump's emergency tariff regime. 

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Brief

Chinese Exporter Faces 200% Duty Rate After Leaving Review

By Jack McLoone

A Chinese wood molding exporter is facing a preliminary 200% countervailing duty rate on its imports after removing itself from an administrative review, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Thursday.

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Proposed Meta Age Reforms Echo Europe Efforts, Judge Told

By Cara Salvatore

An online safety expert testified Thursday that Meta would not be unduly burdened by age-verification reforms New Mexico's attorney general is seeking in a $3.7 billion bench trial over harm to teen users of its social media platforms, given that European regulators in recent weeks announced nearly identical demands.

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DOJ Antitrust Head Tells Merging Firms: No Games

By Bryan Koenig

Combating "gamesmanship" remains top of mind for the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division as it reviews mergers, according to a New York speech Thursday from acting head Omeed A. Assefi warning parties against "altering" merger notification material or trying to "play games with documents and data."

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Live Nation Says Judge Should Decide Shooting Liability

By Ben Adlin

Live Nation asked a Washington state judge to bifurcate a lawsuit accusing the entertainment giant of failing to prevent a fatal shooting at the 2023 Beyond Wonderland music festival, arguing that it's up to the court to decide whether the company is liable and up to a jury to determine damages.

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Meta Seeks To Toss LA Jury's Social Media Addiction Verdict

By Bonnie Eslinger

Meta and its Instagram platform asked a Los Angeles judge to override a landmark jury verdict awarding millions of dollars in damages to a woman claiming she became addicted to the social media site as a child, saying in the alternative they deserve a new trial.

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11th Circ. Won't Revive Volkswagen Driver's Oil Leak Suit

By Gina Kim

The Eleventh Circuit declined to revive a Volkswagen driver's proposed class action claiming her SUV suffered from a defect that caused it to leak oil, ruling Thursday she hasn't plausibly alleged the issue rendered the vehicle unsafe, considering she drove it more than 57,000 miles two years before the issue emerged.

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6th Circ. Tosses Ohio's Out-Of-State Wine Limits

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Sixth Circuit has struck down as unconstitutional Ohio's restrictions on out-of-state retailers' ability to sell wine directly to consumers in the Buckeye State.

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Meta Says Section 230 Bars Wash. Driver's Viral Video Claims

By Rachel Riley

Meta moved Wednesday to exit a Washington state woman's lawsuit claiming she was maligned online after a secret dashcam video of her texting while driving went viral, contending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act safeguards the social media giant from liability for posts on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.

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IBM Can't Dodge All PFAS Claims In NY Contamination Suit

By Mike Curley

A New York federal judge won't let IBM Corp. entirely out of a suit from the village of Endicott alleging that the computer giant's old headquarters contaminated groundwater with forever chemicals and other pollution, only tossing claims related to one of the three wells at issue.

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Bayer Loses Bid To Undo Class In 'One A Day' Label Suit

By Emily Field

A New York federal judge on Wednesday declined to decertify a class action alleging that Bayer's "One A Day" gummy vitamins deceive consumers about serving sizes, allowing the case to continue since there's evidence that a significant number of consumers could be confused.

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Bayer Sued Over Healthy Sperm Claim On 'One A Day' Pill

By Gina Kim

Bayer AG has been hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court alleging that claims on its Men's One A Day Pre-Conception Health Multivitamin supplements misleadingly convey that they could improve chances of conception and support sperm health.

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Jackson Hewitt Tax Loans Flout Military Credit Law, Suit Says

By Ben Adlin

A U.S. Navy service member has accused tax preparer Jackson Hewitt Inc. of overcharging military clients for short-term loans tied to tax refunds, claiming in a proposed class action the company's effective interest rates for "refund anticipation loans" exceed what is allowed under the federal Military Lending Act.

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Liberty Left Client Info Vulnerable To Hackers, Suit Alleges

By Emilie Ruscoe

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. faces a proposed consumer class action alleging it failed to effectively safeguard private information for current and former clients after hackers claimed they stole information and sought a ransom payment.

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Harvard Pilgrim Sued Over 'Ghost' Mental Health Network

By Julie Manganis

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and its parent company have lured subscribers with a "ghost network" of mental health providers who are frequently out of network, don't accept the insurance or are not taking new patients, according to a proposed class action filed in Massachusetts state court.

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Bowlers Sue Lucky Strike Over 'Starbucks Of Bowling' Tactics

By Elaine Briseño

Lucky Strike has been engaging in a yearslong anticompetitive scheme to acquire rival bowling alleys across the United States so it can drive up costs and increase its own profits, while diminishing the experience of bowlers, a group of customers has alleged.

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Series

Speed Jigsaw Puzzling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My passion for speed puzzling — I can complete a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle in under 50 minutes — has sharpened my legal skills in more ways than one, with both disciplines requiring patience, precision and the ability to keep the bigger picture in mind while working through the details, says Tazia Statucki at Proskauer.

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Opinion

The SEC Should Institute A New Enforcement Scorecard

Amid controversy over the recent release of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's annual enforcement statistics, the SEC should use a new scorecard that measures how well the Division of Enforcement detects and stops intentional fraud in order to refocus on its core mission of investor protection, says Peter Chan at Baker McKenzie.

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FinCEN Rule Could Reshape AML Priorities Across Finance

Financial institutions should prepare for a proposed Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rule that would heighten scrutiny of anti-money laundering requirements and encourage responsible use of technology, potentially reorienting compliance, governance decisions and enforcement exposure for organizations across the financial sector, not just banks, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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Surveying The CFTC Campaign To Control Prediction Markets

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is simultaneously asserting exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets and signaling aggressive enforcement within them, a combination that will reshape the regulatory landscape for event contract platforms — pending the outcome of several court cases throughout the country and a likely circuit split, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

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Arguments Show Justices Vacillating On Geofence Warrants

Questions and statements by the justices during recent oral arguments in Chatrie v. U.S., probing the Fourth Amendment limits of geofence warrants, revealed a Supreme Court that is skeptical of the government’s most sweeping claims, uncomfortable with the petitioner’s broadest theories and searching for a narrow off-ramp, say attorneys at Rogers Joseph.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Morrisons sued by a former logistics partner, EDF and Cripps LLP face a claim brought by a family estate near Hinkley Point C and a former BBC broadcaster file a defamation claim against a Welsh news site over articles linking her to Russian state media and conspiracy theories. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Morgan Lewis Hires 2 More Hunton Litigators

By Andrea Keckley

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced on Friday that it has hired two more attorneys from Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP to build up its litigation bench.

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Legal Industry Bounces Back, Gaining 2,400 Jobs In April

By Tracey Read

The legal sector is once again on a positive trajectory, gaining 2,400 jobs last month, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Paul Weiss Says Atty Cuts Were Part Of Performance Reviews

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP told Law360 on Friday that the firm has parted ways with some attorneys following an annual review process.

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Top Atty In DOJ Appeal Over Law Firm Exec Orders To Depart

By Jake Maher

The lead federal prosecutor on the Trump administration's appeal to reinstate executive orders targeting four law firms is stepping down from his government role at the end of May, he publicly announced this week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The National Immigrant Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a split Seventh Circuit panel rejected the Trump administration's argument that immigrants unlawfully in the United States have no due process rights.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits section said agency investigations will focus on benefit plan managers' loyalty conflicts, including pursuit of socially conscious goals. Meanwhile, Dell became the latest company to consider Texas as its new legal home. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Prosecutor Faces Probe Into Withheld Immigration Case Info

By Bonnie Eslinger

The lead assistant federal prosecutor for Rhode Island's civil division is under investigation for allegedly withholding information in an immigration case, according to an order from the Ocean State's top federal judge.

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DLA Piper Accused Of 'Frivolous' Suit To Please Chipotle GC

By Gina Kim

DLA Piper aggressively litigated a "frivolous" computer fraud lawsuit against a nonprofit volunteer in order to appease the then-general counsel of Chipotle, a client, who referred the case to the firm, according to a malicious-prosecution complaint filed Thursday in California state court. 

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

By Adam LoBelia

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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