An ex-Google engineer accused of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets to help China used a fake email account to impersonate a Google vice president that he'd listed as a business reference, and also had voice modification software on his computer, an FBI agent told jurors Thursday.
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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Google Worker In IP Theft Trial Impersonated Exec, Jury Hears

By Bonnie Eslinger

An ex-Google engineer accused of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets to help China used a fake email account to impersonate a Google vice president that he'd listed as a business reference, and also had voice modification software on his computer, an FBI agent told jurors Thursday.

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Wash. Anti-Spam Law Not Federally Preempted, Judge Rules

By Ben Adlin

A Seattle federal judge has shot down Nike Inc.'s effort to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the sportswear giant of sending false or misleading marketing emails to shoppers in Washington, ruling that the state's Commercial Electronic Mail Act is not preempted by federal law.

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Ex-WebAI Engineers Say Demos Were 'Faked' In Major Deals

By Abigail Harrison

WebAI Inc. turned a blind eye to a company leader who not only targeted two successful technology engineers but imperiled high-stakes deals with Qantas Airways and the U.S. Department of Defense by allowing a "fake demo" and inaccurate presentations, former company engineers have told a North Carolina state court.

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Retired NY Judge Avoids $273K Fee Bid In Fla. Condo Suit

By Lynn LaRowe

A retired New York federal judge's pending appeal of the dismissal of his defamation action against condominium board members means that for now he can avoid their demand for nearly $273,000 in fees and costs, a Florida federal judge has ruled.

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LITIGATION

Container Co. Must Face Trimmed Suit Over 2023 Data Breach

By Allison Grande

A Georgia federal judge on Thursday found that current and former employees suing a major plastic container manufacturer over a 2023 data breach had adequately alleged a concrete injury traceable to the incident but had failed to sufficiently plead three of their four claims, leaving the dispute to proceed with a single negligence claim intact.

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Musk Child's Mom Says Grok Created Nonconsensual Images

By Hailey Konnath

Influencer Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children, has sued Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI, claiming she was depicted in sexually explicit imagery generated by Grok without her consent and that xAI has "chosen to willfully turn a blind eye and even celebrate" similar sexual exploitation.

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Xreal Accuses Smart Glasses Rival Of Patent Infringement

By Craig Clough

Chinese-owned smart glasses maker Xreal on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Texas federal court against rival Viture Inc., accusing it of being a latecomer to the market and choosing a "shortcut" of patent infringement with its competing products. 

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Insights From 2025's Flood Of Data Breach Litigation

Several coherent patterns emerged from 2025's data breach litigation activity, suggesting that judges have grown skilled at distinguishing between companies that were genuinely victimized by sophisticated criminal actors despite reasonable precautions, and those whose security practices invited exploitation, says Frederick Livingston at McDonald Baas.

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Series

Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

The regulatory and litigation developments for California financial institutions in the fourth quarter of 2025 were incremental but consequential, with the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation relying on public enforcement actions to articulate expectations, and lawmakers and privacy regulators playing a role as well, says Stephen Britt at Stinson.

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4 Ways GCs Can Manage Growing Service Of Process Volume

As automation and arbitration increase the volume of legal filings, in-house counsel must build scalable service of process systems that strengthen corporate governance and manage risk in real time, says Paul Mathews at Corporation Service Co.

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Series

Fly-Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Much like skilled attorneys, the best anglers prize preparation, presentation and patience while respecting their adversaries — both human and trout, says Rob Braverman at Braverman Greenspun.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

As Goldstein Trial Begins, Gov't Points To 'Lavish' Lifestyle

By Jared Foretek

An accountant for billionaire investor Alec Gores said that Thomas Goldstein had suggested he open a foreign account for Gores' poker-related transactions or even classify him as a professional player for tax purposes, although Gores was just getting started in the high-stakes poker world.

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Simpson Thacher Offers Stipend To Lure Summer Associates

By Tracey Read

In an effort for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to attract top students who want to pursue public interest work, the firm said it will pay a stipend of $42,500 for the 2026-2027 cycle for those who opt to spend their 1L summer in a qualifying public service, government, academic, in-house legal or nonprofit role.

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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.

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Judiciary AI Rule Draws Fire As Judges Get Deepfakes Survey

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary policymakers heard extensive concerns Thursday regarding high-profile plans to formally screen evidence generated with artificial intelligence, and they set the stage for more feedback by preparing an AI survey for every federal trial judge.

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ICE Detention Facilities Nearly Doubled Last Year, Report Says

By Tom Lotshaw

An American Immigration Council report said the Trump administration detained record numbers of noncitizens last year, most without criminal records, and held them in a rapidly expanding network of facilities that could soon rival the federal criminal prison system.

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Fla. High Court Opens Door To Non-ABA Accrediting Entities

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday changed the bar exam admission requirements to allow graduates of law schools accredited by entities other than the American Bar Association to sit for the Florida bar exam.

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5th Circ. Revives Allstate's Fraud Suit Over Car Crash Billing

By Gina Kim

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived Allstate's racketeering suit alleging doctors and personal injury lawyers unleashed a barrage of unnecessary treatments for car accident patients and caused Allstate to pay $4.7 million in claims, finding the insurer sufficiently pled details about the conspiracy and specifics surrounding each allegedly fake medical billing.

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Sens. Advance Indiana Judge Nominee Grilled Over Sermons

By Courtney Bublé

A federal judicial nominee for Indiana who came under scrutiny by a Republican senator for his past sermons as an ordained elder was voted out of committee Thursday alongside five other judicial nominees.

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Trump US Atty Pick In NM Bumped To First Assistant

By Emily Sawicki

A New Mexico federal judge has ruled the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for New Mexico is not validly serving in the role but declined to disqualify the prosecutor from a slate of cases pending in the district, instead determining the lawyer may continue to work in the federal prosecutor's office as first assistant.

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Wash. Judges To Pick US Atty As Floyd's Term Set To Expire

By Gina Kim

The chief judge for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday announced the court's intent to select a U.S. attorney to serve on a temporary basis if President Donald Trump's pick, Charles Neil Floyd, who has been serving on an interim basis, isn't confirmed by the Senate by next month. 

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Baker & Hostetler

Braverman Greenspun

Campbell Rogers & Stacy

Cipriani & Werner

CohenMalad

Covington & Burling

Davis Polk

Duane Morris

Edwards Beightol

Emery Celli

Fillmore Law Firm

Fowler White Burnett

Goodwin Procter

Hausfeld LLP

Holwell Shuster

Kaplan Zeena

Kaufman Dolowich

Kirkland & Ellis

Knox Ricksen

Kroger Gardis

Latham & Watkins

Margulis Gelfand

Munger Tolles

Rogers Morris & Ziegler

Schwartz White

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Siri & Glimstad

Sorrels Law

Stinson LLP

Stoel Rives

Stranch Jennings

Thompson Coe

Wilson Robertson & VanDeventer

Zinober Diana

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AVX Corp.

Air New Zealand Ltd.

American Arbitration Association

American Bar Association

American Immigration Council Inc.

BASF SE

CVS Health Corp.

California Public Defenders Association

Civil Rights Corps

Click Bond Inc.

Coinbase Global Inc.

Columbus Regional Healthcare System Inc.

Corporation Service Co.

Courthouse News Service Inc.

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Fortra LLC

Google LLC

Kyocera Corporation

Lawyers for Civil Justice

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LinkedIn Corp.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

McAfee Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Mosaic

Nike Inc.

Old Navy LLC

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Qantas Airways

RELX PLC

The Florida Bar

The Home Depot Inc.

Thomson Reuters Corp.

TransUnion LLC

Ulta Beauty Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Attorney General's Office

California Privacy Protection Agency

California Supreme Court

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Department of Financial Protection & Innovation

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Judicial Center

Federal Trade Commission

Florida Supreme Court

Internal Revenue Service

Judicial Conference of the United States

National Institute of Standards and Technology

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Navy

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Nevada

United States District Court for the District of Wyoming

United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Washington Attorney General's Office