BakerHostetler partner Sean Killeen helped retailer Janie & Jack avoid more than 2,400 individual arbitration demands over its alleged website tracking activity and aided another law firm in beating a proposed class action over a criminal cyberattack, earning him a place among the cybersecurity and privacy attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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Cybersecurity & Privacy
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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Rising Star: BakerHostetler's Sean Killeen

By Allison Grande

BakerHostetler partner Sean Killeen helped retailer Janie & Jack avoid more than 2,400 individual arbitration demands over its alleged website tracking activity and aided another law firm in beating a proposed class action over a criminal cyberattack, earning him a place among the cybersecurity and privacy attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

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Zuckerberg Can't Be Trusted On Kids' Safety Online, Jury Told

By Dorothy Atkins

A Meta whistleblower testified Wednesday in a California federal jury trial over states' claims Meta hid social media's harms that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg ignored calls for Meta to prioritize kids' safety while publicly touting Meta's safety practices, saying "I feel that you just cannot trust Mark Zuckerberg with kids."

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FTC Warns Secret Personalized Prices Likely To Draw Scrutiny

By Allison Grande

Retailers and other businesses that use consumers' personal data to set individualized prices are likely to face regulatory backlash if these practices aren't clearly disclosed, the Federal Trade Commission cautioned in a proposed policy statement issued Wednesday that vowed the agency would "aggressively" enforce such misconduct.

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Mich. Judge Is Torn Over Data Tracking Suit

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan judge tasked with deciding whether to dismiss a proposed class action against state healthcare facilities alleging improper use of data tracking tools on Wednesday told attorneys that he could not remember a case in which supporting decisions were divided so evenly.

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Social Media Use Has Addiction Hallmarks, Meta Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

A psychologist told a Tennessee jury considering claims against Meta on Wednesday that it's well accepted in his field that social media use can cause behavior that looks like addiction, and social media is a challenging presence in the lives of 15% to 20% of his patients.

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ENFORCEMENT

TaxAct Settles Conn. Claims Of Info Sharing Via Site Trackers

By Gina Kim

The Connecticut attorney general announced Wednesday that TaxAct will pay $275,000 to resolve allegations it shared sensitive taxpayer information with Meta and Google via tracking technologies, and will also implement new policies and procedures to track and manage such technologies on its platform. 

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LITIGATION

Spirit Flight Attendants Object To Google Data Sale

By Rick Archer

The union representing Spirit Aviation's flight attendants has asked a New York bankruptcy judge to reject the bankrupt airline's request to sell its internal data to Google for artificial intelligence training unless the privacy of its members is protected.

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Amazon Wants Full 9th Circ. To Rethink Block On Perplexity AI

By Hailey Konnath

Amazon is pressing the full Ninth Circuit to consider a lower court's injunction preventing Perplexity's "uniquely reckless" artificial intelligence tool from purchasing items for users on Amazon, arguing that a panel erred in lifting the block earlier this month.

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XAI Sued Over Grok's Alleged Creation Of CSAM Deepfakes

By Craig Clough

Elon Musk's xAI failed to implement industry-standard safeguards on its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok and knowingly allowed it to be used to create deepfakes of real children depicted in child sexual abuse material, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

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Nonprofits Urge Court To Block HHS From Sharing Aid Data

By Stewart Bishop

Counsel for a group of nonprofits on Wednesday asked a Brooklyn federal judge to block the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from sharing personal information, including immigration status, of recipients of financial assistance with the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies, saying the proposed disclosure has "no statutory authority whatsoever."

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PEOPLE

Bradley Arant Adds SCP Health In-House Vet In Atlanta

By Emily Johnson

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has added the senior vice president and associate general counsel of healthcare company SCP Health to its Atlanta office, strengthening the firm's healthcare practice.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Rethinking Corporate Travel Rules After Device Search Cases

A recent New York federal court decision approving a warrantless seizure and search of company laptops and a pending Georgia federal court criminal case over a phone's data deletion underscore how little protection corporate personnel have at the border, necessitating a review of corporate travel programs, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

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6 Key Takeaways From CFIUS Annual Report

Attorneys at Simpson Thacher review highlights from the annual report of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., released to Congress this month, including the launch of the American First Investment Policy and the Known Investor Pilot Program, and the agency's continued focus on enforcement despite its resource constraints.

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Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

After 2026's second quarter, there is more authority rejecting class certification on total loss valuation theories from courts at the federal circuit, federal district and state appellate level — along with a resolution of a novel issue of depreciation on a wildfire claim, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Surviving A Long Trial

Most of law school trial advocacy is geared toward the sprint of trying a short case, but beyond managing a cross-examination or closing argument, effectively handling the marathon of a lengthy trial requires the ability to maintain composure, organization and credibility with the jury, says Mihir Elchuri at Hirschler.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Seeks Release During Appeal

By Rachel Rippetoe

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein on Tuesday asked to be released from federal custody while he appeals his 12 tax and mortgage fraud convictions and a six-year prison sentence, saying he is not a flight risk and it would be a "grave injustice" for him to begin a sentence he believes will eventually get axed.

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Davis Wright Vets Scolded: Don't Tell Foes 'How To Run Firm'

By Jeff Overley

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP veterans have failed to dodge six-figure sanctions in a prominent discovery donnybrook, and a California magistrate judge added invective to the financial injury, lambasting "troubling" omissions in case citations and heavy-handed "nitpicking" akin to commandeering an adversary's law firm.

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Atty, Son Charged In Probe Of Alleged Penn State Drug Ring

By Rose Krebs

An equity partner based in Meyer Darragh Buckler Bebenek & Eck PLLC's Pittsburgh office has been charged with tampering with evidence and obstructing an investigation in connection with an alleged cocaine ring at Penn State University that allegedly involved his son, according to news reports.

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Texas Judge Flags 'Alarming' Number Of Bogus Citations

By Emily Sawicki

A federal judge presiding over an Austin, Texas, immigration case is warning of possible future sanctions after an attorney included an "alarming" number of "hallucinated" case citations in support of a habeas corpus petition.  

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Jackson Walker Says US Trustee Can't Claw Back Legal Fees

By Clara Geoghegan

Jackson Walker said this week that the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog is beyond the bounds of its authority in a yearslong effort to force the firm to return millions of dollars in legal fees over an undisclosed relationship between a former partner and a Texas bankruptcy judge.

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Over 120 Ex-Judges Demand Probe Of DHS GC's 'Worst' Posts

By Adrian Cruz

A pair of nonprofits along with a bipartisan group of 128 former state and federal judges have asked the Florida Bar to investigate the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a recent series of social media posts attacking sitting judges.

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Polsinelli Can't Rep Doctor In 'Bad Faith' IP Suits, Cos. Say

By Lauren Berg

Two medical device companies suing Polsinelli PC and its longtime client, a patent-holding doctor, for allegedly pursuing "bad faith" infringement claims asked federal courts in Tennessee and Mississippi to disqualify the firm from defending the doctor in the lawsuits, citing their "diverging interests and liabilities."

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Ex-US Attys Protest Trump's Swift Firing Of Rogoff In Seattle

By Rachel Riley

Thirty former U.S. attorneys backed Roger Rogoff's bid for reinstatement as Seattle's top federal prosecutor after President Donald Trump fired him on the heels of his court-ordered appointment, arguing Tuesday that Trump is trying to "sidestep the Senate's advice-and-consent role and sideline the judiciary" by letting unappointed individuals play such roles.

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DOJ Urges Court Not To Dismiss Suit Against DC Bar

By Alison Knezevich

The U.S. Department of Justice is urging a federal judge not to toss its lawsuit against Washington, D.C., attorney disciplinary authorities, saying the court "needs to halt defendants' flagrantly unconstitutional overreach into the president's executive power."

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Firms Cut From $101M Anthropic Atty Fees Appeal To 9th Circ.

By Lauren Berg

Two law firms involved in securing artificial intelligence company Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with a class of authors and publishers are appealing to the Ninth Circuit an order excluding them from attorney fees awarded to court-appointed class counsel.

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USPTO Says Patent Atty's Suit Shouldn't Stop Discipline Case

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said an Ohio federal court shouldn't pause professional discipline proceedings against an attorney while he sues the agency, saying he's likely to fail with his suit challenging the fact that a judge from another agency is overseeing his discipline case.

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Sinema Says Brief Signal Chat Can't Anchor NC Affair Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A single exchange on the encrypted messaging app Signal became the focal point of former Arizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's testimony on Wednesday as she sought to convince a North Carolina federal judge that she cannot be hauled into court in the Tar Heel state over an affair — which she declined to characterize as a "passionate" romance — she had with her married security guard.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arnold & Porter

Ashurst Perkins

Baker & Hostetler

Beasley Allen

Bradley Arant

Brennan Manna

Clark Hill

Cooley LLP

Coulson PC

Covington & Burling

Cowan DeBaets

Davis Polk

Davis Wright Tremaine

Edelson PC

Egerton McAfee

Fink Bressack

Gibson Dunn

HKM Employment Attorneys

Herrera Law Group

Hill Farrer

Hirschler

Hogan Lovells

Hueston Hennigan

Hughes Hubbard

Kellogg Hansen

King & Spalding

Law Office of Liz Freeman

Lex Lumina

Lieff Cabraser

McCabe & Ali

McDonald Hopkins

Meritz Reddy

Meyer Darragh

Morrison & Foerster

Munger Tolles

Nixon Peabody

Norton Rose

Oppenheim & Zebrak

Parkins & Rubio

Paul Byrd Law Firm

Phelps Dunbar

Polsinelli PC

Poyner Spruill

Quinn Emanuel

Rosing Pott

Rusty Hardin

Salahi PC

Scott & Corley

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Smith Krivoshey

Susman Godfrey

Van Camp Meacham

Wagstaff & Cartmell

Wilkinson Stekloff

Williams Mullen

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations

American Psychiatric Association

Anthropic PBC

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

Democracy Forward Foundation

Drummond

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Farmers Insurance Group Inc.

Google LLC

H&R Block Inc.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Instagram Inc.

JetBlue Airways Corp.

LinkedIn Corp.

McLaren Health Care Corp.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Mozilla Corp.

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Quince

SCP Health

The District of Columbia Bar

The Florida Bar

The University of Alabama System

Universal Insurance Holdings Inc.

Walmart Inc.

Yahoo Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Administration for Children and Families

California Department of Justice

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport

Executive Office of the President

Federal Trade Commission

Florida Supreme Court

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Internal Revenue Service

Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia

Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office

State of Tennessee

Tennessee Attorney General's Office

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

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

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas

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

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Treasury

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

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

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 Massachusetts

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 Eastern District of Michigan

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

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

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 Illinois

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 Mississippi

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

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

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

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio