State Privacy & AI Watch: 3 Legislative Developments To Know

By Allison Grande

As Congress pushes to limit regulation of artificial intelligence systems and struggles to put guardrails on companies' handling of personal data, states continue to step up, with a key jurisdiction making moves to update its landmark AI protections and the state data privacy law patchwork expanding for the first time in nearly two years. 

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Tech Critics See Hope In Social Media Verdicts

By Emily Field

The courts are emerging as the forum to hold social media giants accountable for their algorithms now that two multimillion-dollar jury verdicts determined the platforms are harming the mental health of young people, after years of being unchecked by Congress.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Google Ad Privacy Deal OK'd, But $128M Fee Bid Cut To $22M

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge on Thursday approved Google's nonmonetary deal resolving allegations it sells consumers' personal data in fast-paced digital ad auctions without their consent, but slashed class counsel's $128 million fee request to $21.8 million due to their "speculative" settlement-value estimates, "limited success" and numerous billing "errors and inefficiencies."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Epstein Survivors Say DOJ, Google Revealed Their Identities

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Department of Justice published the identifying information of more than 100 survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, information that Google has continued to republish despite survivors' pleas to "take it down," according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Meta Reads WhatsApp Users' Messages, Class Action Claims

By Bonnie Eslinger

Meta Platforms Inc. read and stored the messages of WhatsApp users' in violation of the law and of promises that the communications would only be viewable by the sender and recipient of the messages, according to a putative class action filed in California federal court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Up Next At High Court: Birthright Citizenship, Arbitration

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will close out its March oral arguments session by hearing a nationwide class's blockbuster challenge to President Donald Trump's limited view of birthright citizenship, as well as a dispute over federal courts' authority to confirm or vacate arbitration awards in cases they've formerly overseen.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GAO Says OMB Should Give More AI Privacy Guidance

By Ganesh Setty

The Office of Management and Budget should do more to address privacy risks associated with government adoption of artificial intelligence, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a new report, after OMB instructed agencies to take a "pro-innovation approach."

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Seems Doubtful Of Fulton County's Ballot Retrieval Bid

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal judge appeared skeptical Friday of Fulton County's efforts to recover hundreds of boxes of 2020 election ballots that were seized by the FBI in a January raid on a county warehouse, signaling he wasn't sure whether the government had shown "callous disregard" for the Constitution.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

FCC Bars Another Chinese Test Lab Over Security Risk

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday pulled the accreditation of another Chinese communications device testing lab due to concerns about Chinese state government control.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

States Suspect ICE Obtained Medicaid Data Despite Order

By Julie Manganis

A coalition of states told a federal judge that the Trump administration appears to have ignored an order limiting the types of Medicaid data that can be shared with immigration officials, potentially handing over reams of "off limits" data on citizens and green card holders.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NC Biz Court Bulletin: Judge Exits, Duke Ducks Climate Suit

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina Business Court saw an unexpected shakeup with one judge's retirement, rendered a pivotal decision in a first-of-its-kind climate change case against Duke Energy and oversaw a trial between the feuding owners of a commercial bed skirt company.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

1st AI Acquisition Regulation Raises Contractor Concerns

The General Services Administration’s recently published contract clause addressing artificial intelligence systems is problematic in a number of ways, underscoring the complex legal and practical issues that will need to be addressed as AI becomes more widely deployed in federal contracting, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Watching Hallmark Movies Makes Me A Better Lawyer

I realize you may be judging me for watching, and actually enjoying, Hallmark Channel movies, but the escapism and storylines actually demonstrate qualities and actions that lead to an efficient, productive and positive legal practice, says Karen Ross at Tucker Ellis.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Firms Targeted By Trump Urge DC Circ. To Uphold EO Rulings

By Alison Knezevich

Four law firms targeted last year by President Donald Trump urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to affirm lower court rulings that struck down executive orders restricting their ability to practice law, saying the directives blatantly violate the Constitution.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Williams & Connolly Clerk Accused Of Posting Client Info

By Hailey Konnath

A former Williams & Connolly LLP clerk has been posting confidential firm information — including client information and work email exchanges — and he's threatening to "keep leaking" the materials, which he called "a fun read," according to a suit filed in District of Columbia Superior Court.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BigLaw Races To Capture Expanding Fund Finance Market

By Kevin Penton

Debt financing work at the fund level has long been dominated on the lender side by attorneys from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, Haynes Boone and Mayer Brown LLP, but other firms are increasingly crafting formal practices and poaching fund finance stars from the more established players.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Federal Judge DQs Beasley Allen In J&J Talc MDL

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey federal judge has disqualified the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing hundreds of plaintiffs in sprawling multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, holding that the firm violated ethics rules by collaborating with former outside counsel for J&J, a ruling the law firm has vowed to appeal.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apollo, BlackRock Deny Asking Kirkland To Abandon Optimum

By Tracey Read

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other major financial companies have denied Optimum Communications' claims accusing them of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as the telecommunications company's transaction counsel to get revenge for a collusion lawsuit filed in New York federal court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Sanctioned For AI Hallucinations In Workers' Comp Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey appellate court on Friday ordered an attorney to pay $1,000 in sanctions for failing to rectify AI-hallucinated case citations pointed out to him in an appeal concerning reimbursement sought by a workers' compensation carrier.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Amazon Swaps MoFo In, Perkins Coie Out In Cooker Suit

By Ben Adlin

Amazon.com LLP switched counsel Friday in a customer's product defect suit accusing the retail giant of selling a faulty pressure cooker that allegedly malfunctioned and caused her severe burns, substituting two Morrison Foerster LLP attorneys in place of an outgoing Perkins Coie LLP lawyer.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Nixes Amicus Disclosure Reform Over Potential Chill

By Emily Sawicki

The federal judiciary has been asked not to move forward with a plan to add to amicus brief disclosure requirements designed to curb "dark money" groups from bankrolling amicus briefs, after rules committee chairs pulled the recommendation over concerns of a possible chilling effect.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Apple hit back at a tech company's wireless charging patent claim, a flurry of businesses bring COVID-19 pandemic insurance claims as a key deadline draws closer and Ipulse Partners LLP file a claim against a luxury yacht company it represented in a trademark dispute. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A federal judge has stopped the Pentagon from dropping AI giant Anthropic from the government's supply chain, and Latham & Watkins ranked first in a survey of in-house legal leaders on which law firms are most helpful in developing business, followed by King & Spalding, Jones Day and Ropes & Gray.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Lanier Law Firm, Kiesel Law LLP, Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP and Beasley Allen Law Firm lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California state jury in a bellwether trial found Meta and Google liable for harming the mental health of a woman who says she became addicted to their social media platforms as a child.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mich. Judge Signals No Stay If Attys Exit Retaliation Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge said Friday she is not inclined to pause a long-running sexual harassment suit again if counsel for an attorney who is suing her ex-mentor and former firm are allowed to withdraw, telling the parties, "We've been here. We've done this," as she heard arguments over a motion to exit the case.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mayer Brown's $21M Fee Bid In RI Truck Tolls Suit Rebuffed

By Linda Chiem

A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday rebuffed Mayer Brown LLP's bid for $21 million in attorney fees for representing the commercial trucking industry's lead trade group in long-running litigation over the state's truck tolling program, saying the American Trucking Associations ultimately was not the "prevailing party."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »