Google Got App Data Profits After Pledging Privacy, Jury Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

A computer scientist testifying in a multibillion-dollar privacy lawsuit alleging Google LLC illegally collected data from 98 million cellphone users who had opted out of tracking told a California federal jury Thursday that the tech giant stores information about their app use in a "shadow account" and uses it to sell ads.

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Pa. Court Revives Fired County Worker's Whistleblower Claim

By Beverly Banks

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday sent back a dispute to a lower court over a fired county employee's whistleblower allegation tied to her reporting that a union representative secretly taped meetings, determining the union official acted as a county employee when she made the recordings.

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Kanner & Pintaluga Seeks Sanctions Over Accident Data Suit

By Hope Patti

Kanner & Pintaluga PA asked a Texas federal court to sanction a Houston couple and their counsel in a proposed class action accusing the firm and since-dismissed Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. of conspiring to share auto crash victims' private information, saying the claims are based on unverified and inadmissible hearsay.

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Gov't Shrugs Off Sentencing Errors, IRS Leaker Tells DC Circ.

By Anna Scott Farrell

The IRS contractor appealing his five-year prison sentence for leaking thousands of wealthy people's tax returns to the media accused the U.S. of glossing over sentencing errors that unfairly burdened him with "the harshest sentence possible," he told the D.C. Circuit.

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CFPB Calls For Input On Open-Banking Fees, Access Issues

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking a first step toward reopening its Biden-era open-banking rule, issuing a fresh call for comment on key sticking points that have divided banks and fintech firms and become a focus of industry litigation.

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FTC Warns Tech Cos. To Honor Data Vows In Foreign Dealings

By Allison Grande

The head of the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday cautioned Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon and other major tech companies to refrain from weakening data security protections or censoring content in response to pressure from foreign governments, reminding them that reneging on promises they make to U.S. consumers could land them in hot water with the agency.

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Conn. Resident Lost $1.2M In AI Crypto Scam, Feds Say

By Brian Steele

Federal authorities want to condemn two cryptocurrency wallets tied to a scam that ripped off a Connecticut resident for $1.2 million, according to a forfeiture complaint that says the victim was roped into a fraudulent "school" that supposedly used highly accurate artificial intelligence to make trading recommendations.

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Thousands Of Buyers Accuse Temu Of Avoiding Arbitration

By Joyce Hanson

Thousands of consumers suing online marketplace Temu on claims of false advertising and deceptive trade have urged a New York federal court to send their cases directly to arbitration, saying the company has used aggressive stalling tactics to avoid legitimate arbitral proceedings.

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Roblox Hit With New Accusations Of Child Safety Shortfalls

By Carla Baranauckas

The Roblox Corp. prioritized growth and profits over child safety, opening the door to sexual exploitation, a North Carolina mother claimed in the latest complaint the tech giant faces over alleged safety shortfalls. 

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OnlyFans Flags Bogus Citations In RICO Fraud Suit

By Emily Sawicki

Attorneys for a proposed class of OnlyFans subscribers alleging racketeering by the company notified a California federal judge Thursday that they would be seeking permission to fix earlier filings found to have errors created by artificial intelligence, days after the web platform's parent company notified the court of the citation errors.

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Epic Says Google Can't Dodge App Store Trade Libel Claims

By Abigail Harrison

Video game and software developer Epic Games Inc. has told a California federal court that Google LLC can't eschew remaining state law claims in a trade libel suit because the alleged harms are new, not resurrected from claims in a separate case.

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Divest Order Shows How Security Fears Extend CFIUS Scope

A recent White House order forcing a Chinese company to divest its 2020 acquisition of a U.S. audiovisual supplier demonstrates the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ growing power to sink foreign transactions over national security concerns — and the enormous risks to U.S. companies from such reviews, say attorneys at Bass Berry.

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Series

Quilting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Turning intricate patterns of fabric and thread into quilts has taught me that craftsmanship, creative problem-solving and dedication to incremental progress are essential to creating something lasting that will help another person — just like in law, says Veronica McMillan at Kramon & Graham.

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Judge Finds Habba Unlawfully Serving As NJ's US Atty

By Matthew Santoni

Alina Habba, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney and his pick to remain the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, was unlawfully given an extension of her temporary post after her "interim" appointment expired, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Thursday.

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SEC Taps Military Judge To Head Enforcement Efforts

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday announced the appointment of a senior judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces to lead its enforcement division.

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NY Appeals Court Throws Out Trump's $500M Fraud Penalty

By Phillip Bantz

A divided New York state appeals court panel on Thursday tossed a nearly $500 million civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump and his sons, companies and their executives, ruling that the fine was "excessive," but kept in place a judge's finding of liability.

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9th Circ. Dissenters Rip Judge's 'Weaponization Of Sanctions'

By Jeff Overley

A half-dozen Ninth Circuit judges Thursday denounced six-figure sanctions against attorneys for prominent politicians challenging Arizona election procedures, accusing a lower court of "twisting and contorting" allegations in order to punish lawyers "based on the nature of the complaint and the clients that they represented."

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Odell Beckham Wants Attys Sanctioned In Diddy Assault Suit

By Adrian Cruz

NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. is looking to sanction attorneys representing a woman accusing him in California federal court of participating in a Bay Area gang rape alongside rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs, claiming the allegations are frivolous and the attorneys willfully ignored available evidence in making them.

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Trump To Get Texas Vacancy With Judge Taking Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge David Godbey of the Northern District of Texas, who was at the center of a debate on judge shopping last year, will take senior status on Sept. 17, according to an update posted on the federal judiciary's website on Thursday.

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Analysis

Employer Plans In Limbo As Courts Grapple With Trans Care

By Kellie Mejdrich

Despite appellate courts' apparent willingness to allow states to ban gender-affirming care for minors, employers are still waiting for clarity on whether federal anti-discrimination laws require health plans to cover transgender healthcare access, experts say.

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California Bar Board Of Trustees Gets 1st Nonattorney Chair

By Rose Krebs

The California Supreme Court announced Thursday that for the first time ever, a nonattorney will lead the State Bar of California's Board of Trustees starting Sept. 21.

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Ex-Prosecutor Sworn In As Ga. US Atty In Southern District

By Emily Johnson

A longtime Georgia attorney, who served as chair of Georgia's State Board of Pardons and Paroles and previously served as a district attorney, was sworn in this week as interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

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Ethics Case Reasserted Against Fla. Judge Over Deepfake

By Matt Perez

A Florida judicial ethics panel has reasserted allegations that a state judge in Broward County violated the state's Code of Judicial Conduct during her 2024 election campaign, ahead of a final hearing set for Dec. 16 by the hearing panel chair of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission.

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