Analysis

Data Privacy & AI Issues To Watch For The Rest Of 2026

By Allison Grande

Federal and state lawmakers are expected in the coming months to keep pressing efforts for companies to do more to keep children safe online and rein in potentially harmful uses of emerging artificial intelligence systems, while the California legislature ponders a measure that's aimed at easing the explosion of wiretap litigation under a decades-old state law.

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Analysis

DOL E-Delivery Push Pleases Mgmt. And Worker Attys Alike

By Kellie Mejdrich

Recently proposed U.S. Department of Labor regulations that would encourage e-delivery of employee health plan documents are winning plaudits from both sides of the benefits bar for potentially streamlining the process and augmenting online transparency. Here are three things to know about the DOL's proposal.

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WhatsApp Privacy Fight Tossed, But Meta Loses Sanctions Bid

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has dismissed with leave to amend a putative class action alleging Meta Platforms Inc. employees access WhatsApp users' encrypted messages despite Meta's privacy promises, finding the WhatsApp users need to beef up their whistleblower allegations, while also denying Meta's request for sanctions.

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No Hack Involved In Alleged $53M Crypto Heist, Judge Hears

By Pete Brush

A Maryland man accused of hacking Uranium Finance to steal $53 million in cryptocurrency told a Manhattan federal judge Friday that the charges are faulty because he did nothing malicious with the exchange's code.

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Meta Says AGs' Suit Can't Proceed As 9th Circ. Reviews CDA

By Mike Curley

Meta Platforms Inc. is asking the Ninth Circuit to order a stay on its upcoming trial on allegations from 29 states that Facebook and Instagram are intentionally addictive to the detriment of youths' mental health, saying the case can't go forward while the circuit court reviews whether Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act blocks the claims.

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Discord To Adopt UK Age Standards In Texas After AG's Suit

By Spencer Brewer

Discord Inc. and the Texas attorney general agreed to a court order that will see the messaging platform adopt the same age-assurance and default safety protections it provides in the United Kingdom.

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Senators Urge FTC To Deny X's Petition To Drop Settlement

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Three Senate Democrats are asking the Federal Trade Commission to reject Elon Musk's bid to vacate a 2022 consent decree resolving allegations that X, formerly Twitter, misled users when asking for their contact information.

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FCC Adopts New Rules To Close 'Covered List' Loophole

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Communications Commission closed a loophole that allowed the sale of products containing "smart" components despite their manufacturers' inclusion on the agency's list of national security threats.

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5th Circ. Partly Upholds Block On Texas Content Filtering Law

By Hailey Konnath

A Fifth Circuit panel on Friday affirmed in part a lower court's injunction blocking Texas' new law forcing companies to filter content for underage users, though it said other portions of the law, including an age-verification requirement, were permissible.

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Microsoft Seeks To Pause Or Exit Teams BIPA 'Voiceprint' Suit

By Rachel Riley

Microsoft urged a Washington federal judge Thursday to pause a proposed class action alleging its Teams software illegally intercepts meeting participants' "voiceprints" and force several of the Illinois residents to arbitrate their claims individually, or else dispose of the revised complaint entirely on the grounds that the plaintiffs still haven't detailed their interactions with the challenged feature.

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Brief

Wellstar To Pay $4.25M To End Patient Data-Sharing Suit

By Patrick Hoff

Wellstar Health System Inc. will pay $4.25 million to resolve a proposed class action alleging it used tracking and collection tools to share confidential health information with Meta Platforms and Google without patients' consent, according to a federal court filing.

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4 Cert. Denials Keep Personal Jurisdiction Issues Percolating

After the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Ford Motor v. Montana and Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway expanded limits on personal jurisdiction, the justices' denials this term of four certiorari petitions suggest they are content to let jurisdiction questions brew in lower courts before weighing in, say attorneys at Hunton.

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Goldstein Gets 6-Year Sentence, Bond Revoked

By Jared Foretek

Thomas Goldstein, the famed U.S. Supreme Court attorney and founder of SCOTUSblog whose turn into the world of ultra-high-stakes poker ultimately landed him federal tax and mortgage fraud convictions, was sentenced to six years in prison; he was taken into custody and out of court in handcuffs Friday.

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Disciplinary File Opened On Atty Repping Trump In IRS Fight

By James Boyle

A disciplinary file was opened recently on one of the attorneys representing President Donald Trump who helped him reach a deal with the Internal Revenue Service to settle a lawsuit that a Florida federal judge said was meant to "manipulate the judicial process."

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Patriot National CEO Wasn't Simpson Thacher Client, Jury Told

By Madison Arnold

Another Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP attorney took the stand Friday in a Florida malpractice trial brought by the founder of Patriot National Inc. to push back on the idea the founder was actually a client of the firm in the time leading up to his insurance services company declaring bankruptcy.

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Roundup

Balancing The Scales: Geofence Clarity, Post-Hunter Scrutiny

By Orlando Lorenzo

The U.S. Supreme Court deemed geofence warrants as searches under the Fourth Amendment, and the justices’ ruling in Hunter spurs a conversation of what the bar should be for criminal appeal waivers. Here, Law360 highlights access to justice stories arising from litigation, verdicts and judgments you may have missed.

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Feature

The White Collar Boutique 'Renaissance' Is Here

By Phillip Bantz

Unprecedented political pressure on BigLaw, dwindling opportunities at elite firms, powerful legal tech tools and broad slowdowns in white collar enforcement are fueling a remarkable boom in boutique law firm growth, experts say.

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Ex-Immigration Judge Says Firing Is Part Of Biased Anti-DEI Push

By Bonnie Eslinger

A former immigration judge has sued the U.S. Department of Justice in California federal court claiming she was pushed off the bench because she is Black and female, and previously advocated for immigrant clients as an attorney — and saying dozens of similarly situated judges were also fired or denied permanent positions.

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Ala. State Bar Sets Guidance For Atty AI Use, Billing

By Emily Sawicki

The Alabama State Bar has released a formal opinion to guide attorneys on the ethical use of artificial intelligence, cautioning lawyers to be transparent with their clients about their use of AI to avoid unethically inflated billing while encouraging attorneys to utilize the evolving technology.

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'False Innuendo': Sanctioned Davis Wright Atty Rips Fee Bid

By Jeff Overley

A Davis Wright Tremaine LLP partner sanctioned for subpoena tactics is fiercely contesting a plaintiffs firm's six-figure fee bid, telling a California federal court that the request misleadingly cites alleged misconduct in separate litigation, reflecting a "naked attempt to prejudice the court's view of counsel."

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Over 100 Legal Aid Staffers Strike In Harlem And The Bronx

By Andrea Keckley

Over 100 legal aid attorneys, social workers and advocates in Harlem and the Bronx went on strike Friday, with the possibility of more to come in the New York City area.

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Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen financial advice firm Smith Square Partners sue ailing social housing company Home REIT, Pogust Goodhead hit with a contract claim by one of its investors, and Entain faced with its latest claim in expanding litigation linked to alleged bribery at its former Turkish business. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

General counsel are gearing up again to help their companies adapt to the impact of a new round of U.S. tariffs. And the chief legal officer of Alphabet and Google lashed out at the European Commission over search engine changes it is demanding, after the EU imposed a $1 billion fine on Google for violating competition laws.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and McGuireWoods LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Fourth Circuit reversed class certification in an investor lawsuit against Boeing over the company's alleged concealment of safety issues with its 737 Max fleet.

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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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