IBM, J&J Get Incurable Data Breach Suit Tossed For Good

By Bonnie Eslinger

A New York federal judge dismissed a proposed class action alleging IBM and Johnson & Johnson's healthcare arm failed to safeguard sensitive health information of thousands of patients before a 2023 data breach, saying he provided plaintiffs a chance to fix their complaint, and they didn't cure its "deficiencies."

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Meta's Slow Content Reviews Not Biggest Concern, Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

Meta's longtime content policy czar testified Thursday in New Mexico's data privacy trial that leaving up some violating posts for days while they underwent extra review was "less of a concern" than the mistake of pulling down an acceptable post by a high-profile account.

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Analysis

For Single-Party FTC, Easier Suits May Come With A Cost

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission has ditched its historical multimember, multiparty ethos for a one-party regime in which fewer dissents might make it easier for Chairman Andrew Ferguson to pursue his agenda, but it also forecloses the potential "moderating influence" that comes with winning broad buy-in from commissioners of two parties.

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NY Urges 2nd Circ. To Stop DOT Push To End Congestion Pricing

By Linda Chiem

New York transportation agencies have urged the Second Circuit to shut down the Trump administration's continued efforts to eliminate congestion pricing, saying the federal government doesn't have free rein to renege on cooperative agreements without justification.

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Ex-FCC Leaders Call ABC Probe Attack On Free Speech

By Christopher Cole

A bipartisan group of former top officials at the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday urged a D.C. federal court to put a halt to the agency's ongoing probe of ABC's Disney-owned stations, calling it an attack on free speech.

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Judge Finds NM PFAS Label Likely Violates First Amendment

By Elaine Briseño

A New Mexico federal judge temporarily blocked the state from requiring manufacturers to place a PFAS label on any product intentionally made with forever chemicals, finding the groups opposed to the mandate likely have First Amendment grounds to challenge it.

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Trader Joe's Faces Lawsuits Over Sugar Labeling

By Celeste Bott

Two proposed class actions filed in Illinois federal court Wednesday accuse Trader Joe's of misleading consumers by labeling its Sweet & Sour Gummy Worms and dark chocolate chips as containing zero sugar and no added sugar, respectively, when both products contain an ingredient classified as a sugar under federal labeling rules.

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Analysis

Sue To Stop AI Armageddon? Not So Fast, Attys Say

By Y. Peter Kang

As executives at leading artificial intelligence companies increasingly assert that their own technology could one day pose an existential threat to humanity, a natural question follows: If the risk is real, can anyone sue to stop it before disaster strikes?

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Colo. $2B Graduated Tax Proposal Faces Signature Challenge

By Sanjay Talwani

A proposal to cut Colorado income tax rates for most earners, raise rates for high earners and raise $2 billion annually failed to gather the signatures needed to reach the state's November ballot, a lawsuit against state election officials charges.

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AT&T Seeks To End Biz Landline Service In 34 States, DC

By Nadia Dreid

AT&T is continuing its quest to end legacy copper line service across the United States, this time asking the Federal Communications Commission for permission to end traditional phone service for businesses in 34 states and Washington, D.C.

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Republicans Move Trump's CFPB Pick Ahead To Full Senate

By Jon Hill

President Donald Trump's latest pick to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved closer to confirmation Thursday as Republican lawmakers voted to advance his nomination to the U.S. Senate floor.

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DOJ Touts 'Substantial' Ad Tech Fix, Leaves Room For Appeal

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice walked a fine line between hailing a Virginia federal judge's newly unsealed decision ordering Google to open up its advertising placement technology dominance, and leaving open the possibility of appealing the judge's accompanying rejection of its request for a breakup.

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SEC Issues Innovation Exemption For Tokenized Stock Trading

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday unveiled its long-awaited innovation exemption, permitting certain crypto projects and liquidity providers to support tokenized stock trading for a five-year period without registering as exchanges or dealers.

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DOJ Official Says Political Appointees Play Antitrust Role

By Matthew Perlman

Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. on Thursday defended the role political appointees play in enforcing antitrust laws, saying it would be "blatantly unconstitutional" if U.S. Department of Justice leadership merely deferred to unelected officials.

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Brief

Cruz, Markey Urge Senate To Pass Bill On AM Radio In Cars

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., have called on the Senate to advance the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act following its passage in the House of Representatives.

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Auto Lender OKs $709.5M Multistate Deal Over Subprime Loans

By Brian Steele

The subprime auto lender Credit Acceptance Corp. has agreed to provide $709.5 million in cash and debt relief as part of a 40-state settlement to resolve allegations that it originated loans to borrowers who could not afford them, attorneys general announced Thursday.

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StraightPath-Linked Stockbroker Gets 4.5 Years For Fraud

By Pete Brush

A New York federal judge has sentenced a former Long Island stockbroker to 4.5 years in prison, after he admitted to duping investors as he and others hawked nearly $200 million of pre-initial public offering shares, including for fraud-ridden vendor StraightPath.

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Amway To Pay $225M To End Deceptive Marketing Claims

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Trade Commission and the State of Washington have reached a $225 million settlement with health and beauty company Amway and two of its affiliates to resolve allegations that they engaged in unfair and deceptive multilevel marketing tactics in which independent business owners and their recruits purchased products for "reasons other than genuine demand for them in a near-futile effort to make money while faking their customer sales."

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T-Mobile Can't Challenge Ruling That It Broke Wash. Data Law

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A Washington state judge said he will not reconsider his finding that T-Mobile committed more than 722,000 violations of a state data breach notification law.

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EU Antitrust Chief Says AI Competition Mitigates Risk

By Matthew Perlman

Europe's top antitrust enforcer raised concerns Thursday about the need to regulate artificial intelligence companies, while a top U.S. official said enforcers need to hear more about potential collaborations on AI safety before deciding if they're problematic.

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Amazon Sued For Use Of 'Drunk Shakespeare' In 'Off Campus'

By Gina Kim

Producers of the live comedy theatrical productions "Drunk Shakespeare" sued Amazon in Florida federal court Thursday, alleging that an episode of Amazon's streaming college romantic drama "Off Campus" infringed their trademark by copying aspects of the productions and using the "Drunk Shakespeare" name.  

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Oil Giants, Estate Agree To End Heat Wave Death Claims

By Ben Adlin

The daughter of a Washington woman who died in a 2021 heat wave has agreed to drop claims against oil giants Chevron, Shell, BP and Phillips 66, according to motions filed Tuesday and Wednesday in King County Superior Court.

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Rail Giants Point To Shipper Support For $85B Merger

By David Aaro

Droves of companies that rely on freight in their daily business have recently thrown their support behind Union Pacific Corp.'s planned $85 billion merger with Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern Corp. in filings with a federal board being asked to approve the tie-up.

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Immigration Attorney Wants SEC Sanctioned In EB-5 Case

By Tom Lotshaw

An immigration attorney and her firm asked a New York federal judge to sanction the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to reasonably investigate an allegedly bogus unregistered securities claim it brought against them in an EB-5 immigrant investor case.

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Ill. Woman Says Apple AirTags Enabled Stalking Abuse

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois woman sued Apple in Illinois federal court Wednesday, alleging the tech giant negligently released AirTags without adequate safeguards despite knowing stalkers could misuse them and saying she has been secretly tracked with an AirTag, physically attacked and forced to relocate multiple times.

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LinkedIn Secures Ban On Sweeping Data Scraping Operations

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge finalized an agreement that permanently bars a pair of software companies accused of running "industrial-scale" data scraping mills that extracted information from millions of LinkedIn profiles from accessing the professional networking platform and requires them to destroy any data they've obtained. 

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Texas Judge Suggests Moving Toilet Parts False Ad Suit To Trial

By Mike Curley

A Texas federal magistrate judge has recommended denying a motion by toilet parts maker Danco Inc. to throw out a rival's false advertising suit, saying there are questions of fact about whether Danco misled consumers on the water-saving qualities of its products.

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Judge Nixes Workers' Bid To Halt IRS Withholding Rules

By Zak Kostro

A Texas federal judge dismissed two workers' claims that the Internal Revenue Service's income tax withholding regulations resulted in employers overdeducting taxes from their employees' paychecks, finding that federal law bars the workers' bid to prevent tax collection.

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Samsung Range Caused Wash. House Fire, Insurer Says

By Hope Patti

An insurer said it is entitled to recoup costs paid in connection with a Washington policyholder's house fire because the blaze was caused by a defective electric range manufactured by Samsung, according to a suit removed to federal court.

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Groups Seek 4.4 GHz Revamp, But Clash On Exclusive Use

By Christopher Cole

Top wireless carriers and shared-spectrum advocates issued reports this week saying the government needs to set the 4 gigahertz band on a path toward industry use, but are at odds on whether to set aside the airwaves for full-power exclusive licenses.

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Family Tells 11th Circ. Tesla Can't Undo $243M Crash Verdict

By Mike Curley

The estate of a woman killed in a crash and her boyfriend are urging the Eleventh Circuit not to throw out a $243 million verdict against Tesla Inc., saying the jury heard enough evidence to conclude that the Tesla driver who hit them was misled about the safety of the vehicle's "Autopilot" feature and that defects in the vehicle led to the crash.

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Broker TradeZero Fined Over Data Breach Tied To Chatbot

By Julie Manganis

An unvetted chatbot and lax security policies allowed hackers to access personal and financial information of nearly 15,000 customers of online brokerage TradeZero America, the Massachusetts Securities Division said Thursday in announcing a $750,000 fine against the company.

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Corpay Reaches $100M Deal In FTC Case Over Hidden Fees

By Craig Clough

Corpay Inc. and its CEO agreed Thursday to pay $100 million to resolve Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company deceived small businesses about savings and fees associated with its fuel cards.

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Racetrack Operators Fight Claims Of 'Rigged' Betting Pools

By Ganesh Setty

Racetrack operators urged a New York federal court to dismiss a proposed class action accusing them of racketeering by systematically advantaging bettors using computer-assisted wagering, while the bettors shot back that their injuries are not so attenuated that they lack standing.

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Hyundai Cameras That Watch Drivers A Hazard, Suit Claims

By Jonathan Capriel

Hyundai safety features meant to encourage focused driving by monitoring faces and head position often make inaccurate readings, causing distractions such as issuing "loud" alerts, deactivating cruise control and bringing the vehicle to a full stop, drivers have claimed in a new California federal lawsuit.

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Meta Deal Highlights Advisory Jury Issues, Litigation Risk

The $17 billion settlement of youth safety claims brought against Meta offers lessons for all consumer-facing companies because the court made the rare move of empaneling an advisory jury and the case was built on what the company learned from its own studies, says Mark Morgan at McCarter & English.

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How FTC's $20B Amazon Suit May Shake Up Ad Enforcement

Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye discusses the significance of the Federal Trade Commission's recent suit against Amazon for allegedly overcharging advertising customers more than $20 billion, the company's potential defenses, and the context of rapidly evolving digital advertising technology.

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How GCs Can Assess The Risks Of Emerging AI Laws

Amid a swirl of momentous legislative activity aimed at regulating artificial intelligence, general counsel must return to first principles when determining whether new laws will apply and whether the company’s use could cause regulators to subject it to additional regulation, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

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Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

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Analysis

Attys 'Itching' To Join Congressional Probes Of Trump Admin

By Phillip Bantz

Efforts to recruit high-powered lawyers to Capitol Hill to potentially lead congressional committee probes into the various dealings of President Donald Trump's administration are gaining momentum as Democrats push to retake control of Congress in the quickly approaching midterm elections.

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Ex-DOJ Chief Lambastes 'Abuses Of Power' In Goldstein Case

By Jeff Overley

The U.S. Department of Justice constantly made false statements in its criminal case against famed appellate advocate Tom Goldstein, and his convictions must be erased because "prosecutorial misconduct pervaded every stage of the proceedings," a former DOJ prosecutor told the Fourth Circuit.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Latham, Sullivan

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, a group backed by Michael Dell's family office and Sequence Holdings acquires a majority interest in The Baldwin Group, May Mobility merges with a blank check company, and Infineon Technologies sells its memory chip business to Winbond Electronics.

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Ex-Wis. Judge Keeps License Amid ICE Conviction Appeal

By Ryan Boysen

The ex-Wisconsin judge convicted of obstructing an ICE arrest will remain an attorney in good standing while she appeals, after the Supreme Court of Wisconsin declined to suspend her law license.

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Richards Layton Litigator Selected For Chancery Seat In Del.

By Rose Krebs

A Richards Layton & Finger PA attorney has been nominated by Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer to serve on the bench of the nationally important Chancery Court, a venue that adjudicates some of the biggest corporate law cases.

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Judge Questions Whether 'Lawfare' Fund Fight Is Really Moot

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge seemed unlikely to toss a challenge to the Trump administration's nixed "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and tax audit immunity for the Trump family Friday, saying she worries the fund could be revived in a different form down the road.

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Chief US District Judge In SC To Take Senior Status Oct. 1

By Courtney Bublé

Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy Cain of the District of South Carolina has informed the president that he will be taking semiretired status on Oct. 1, according to an update posted Friday by the federal judiciary.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Starbucks settled a high-profile discrimination suit with Florida over its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, agreeing not to use race- or sex-based goals in hiring and promoting. And the SEC floated changing how publicly traded companies seek shareholder input, including promising to end one pathway for shareholders to place their proposals on corporate ballots. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Reed Smith Defends Docs Production In Ex-Atty's Bias Suit

By Jake Maher

Reed Smith LLP urged a New Jersey court on Thursday to reject an "impulsive" motion from a former attorney suing it for gender discrimination seeking to strike its answer and affirmative defenses.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Schemery Zicolello leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Third Circuit panel ruled that police cannot conduct warrantless strip searches outside of jails or prisons absent consent or an emergency.

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

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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