Calif. AG Hits Lyft With $1.8M Fine For Opt-Out 'Barrier'

By Allison Grande

Lyft has agreed to pay $1.8 million and overhaul its mechanism for consumers to stop the sale of their data through its mobile app in order to resolve the California attorney general's claims that the company's existing opt-out process was too "cumbersome" and created a "barrier" to consumers exercising their privacy rights. 

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Snap Inks 11th-Hour Deals Ending Social Media Harm Trial

By Craig Clough

Snap Inc. revealed Monday that it has reached settlements with two plaintiffs over claims its platform harms the mental health of children, cutting short the second such Los Angeles bellwether trial in the midst of jury selection.

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Meta Users Win Class Cert. In Pixel Healthcare Data Suit

By Lauren Berg

A California federal judge certified four classes of Facebook users who allege Meta Platforms collected their personal health information through data tracking tools on healthcare providers' websites, rejecting the social media company's attempts to attack the predominance of common issues.

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DOJ Loses Bid To Revive Voter Roll Checks Ahead Of Election

By Lauren Berg

A Washington, D.C., federal judge Monday refused to pause her order striking down the U.S. Department of Justice's new policy of collecting states' unredacted voter information to cross-check voter rolls against immigration databases while it appeals her decision.

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Meta Can't Shake Android Users' Browsing-Profile Claims

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge on Monday once again refused to throw out consolidated litigation claiming Meta matched users' browsing activities to their Facebook accounts for targeted advertising purposes, ruling that the plaintiffs have adequately alleged it violated the Android security protocol known as sandboxing.

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FCC Clears More Drones, Inverters, Robots From Covered List

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Communications Commission has cleared several foreign-produced products for sale in the U.S., exempting certain uncrewed aircraft systems, advanced robotic devices and power inverters from the Covered List, which restricts foreign-made devices for national security reasons.

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Several Canadian Firms Hit With Data Breaches

By Matt Perez

Canadian law firms McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Bennett Jones LLP and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP disclosed data breaches this past week as the government alerted the legal and financial sectors of an ongoing cyberattack campaign.

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FCC Grants 1st Router Security Waiver Aimed At Onshoring

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission's staff has granted a partial waiver from its rules restricting the sale of foreign routers in the U.S., saying it's the first exemption for routers based on onshoring jobs as one of the public interest benefits.

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Contractor Says SBA Suspension Relied On Deceptive Video

By Elaine Briseño

A tribally owned contractor urged a D.C. federal court to temporarily halt its suspension by the Small Business Administration from government contracting, arguing misconduct allegations against it stem from a "salacious" video published by a far-right influencer wearing a wig.

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NJ Parents' Suit Challenging Storing Baby DNA Gets Tossed

By Dorothy Atkins

A New Jersey federal judge tossed a proposed class action Friday challenging the Garden State's practice of keeping newborn babies' residual blood spots without parental consent, finding the parents haven't alleged viable Fourth or Fourteenth Amendment claims, in part because the state agreed to destroy the blood spots at issue.

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More Amicus Briefs Flood NYT, OpenAI Copyright Case

By Theresa Schliep

Actors, writers groups, advocacy organizations, law professors and current and former political leaders weighed in on the OpenAI copyright multidistrict litigation in New York federal court, with some arguing that fair use does not protect the artificial intelligence developer, while others contended that training models on copyrighted works was all above board.

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Kirkland ITC Patent Litigator Leaves For Wolf Greenfield In DC

By Dani Kass

Wolf Greenfield & Sacks PC has expanded its litigation team in Washington, D.C., with a U.S. International Trade Commission-focused intellectual property specialist from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, the firm announced Monday.

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Lessons For Cannabis Dispensaries From Web Tracking Suits

The trajectory of health-tracking litigation in Florida and elsewhere suggests that patient privacy claims will not disappear quickly, so dispensaries should audit their sites, tighten consent and align their disclosures with their actual practices, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

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How Banks Can Better Prepare For Wire Fraud Risks

Recent schemes serve as a reminder that banks can better limit liability for fraudulent wire transfers by documenting commercially reasonable security procedures, following them consistently, and addressing beneficiary name and account number discrepancies, says Shelli Clarkston at Spencer Fane.

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A Defense Attorney Playbook For Challenging Flock Evidence

As law enforcement continues to bring charges based on evidence from Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers, defense counsel should consider four key categories for discovery requests and motions to compel such evidence, says Tamar Lerer at the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender.

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BigLaw Attys Step Up To Help Voters In Midterm Elections

By Jack Karp and Lynn LaRowe

Attorneys from several BigLaw firms are volunteering across the country to make sure voters don't run into problems casting their ballots or having those ballots counted in Tuesday's midterm elections.

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Brief

Winston Taylor, DLA Piper Match Milbank Pay Scale

By Tracey Read

Two more BigLaw firms have opted to match the new associate salary scale set by Milbank LLP in June.

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Analysis

Judiciary Stuck In AI Rulemaking Rut As Attys, Judges Protest

By Jeff Overley

Judiciary efforts to enact rules for the artificial intelligence age are mired in concerns about burdens on litigators, the tensions between burgeoning technology and snail-paced policymaking, and how to even define AI. And despite vivid examples of AI's risks, officials are inching toward mothballing the prominent project.

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Judge Orders Chicago US Atty To Testify In Misconduct Probe

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge has ordered Chicago's top federal prosecutor and three assistant U.S. attorneys to testify under oath about potentially false statements made to her in a now-dismissed criminal conspiracy case against anti-ICE protesters, saying Monday that the government's shifting explanations about communications with DOJ leadership suggest prosecutors misled the court about outside involvement in the prosecution.

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NY State Bar Says Attys Can't Bill Time Saved By AI

By Andrea Keckley

The New York State Bar Association has told lawyers not to bill clients for the time they saved by using artificial intelligence, or for the time it took to learn a new AI tool.

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Interview

SEC's Top Cop On Building A 'Nimble' Enforcement Division

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has lost hundreds of enforcement employees and seen significant restructuring of its regional offices over the past two years, but the Division of Enforcement's director said that hasn't stopped him from building a "nimble" program that is focused on more than just the number of cases filed.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week allowed a stockholder claim over R1 RCM Inc.'s $8.9 billion buyout to proceed, while investors in Meta Platforms Inc. sued to block a stock restructuring they say would let CEO Mark Zuckerberg sell billions of dollars in shares without giving up control of the company.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission caused a pair of playground equipment makers to abandon their planned merger, Canadian enforcers upended a deal for the Green Giant brand in the country and state attorneys general reached settlements for several regional deals.

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