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. 

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Pillsbury Asks To Toss Suit Over Nonclient Data Breach

By Matt Perez

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP sought dismissal of a consolidated data breach action in New York federal court Friday due to the plaintiffs' alleged lack of relationship with the firm and inability to identify any cognizable damages.

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Burford Considers Arbitration After 2nd Circ. Tosses $16B Win

By Nadia Dreid

Burford Capital Ltd. says it is contemplating taking its $16 billion fight with Argentina into international arbitration after the Second Circuit wiped out a judgment the litigation funding firm had won against the nation in New York federal court, sending its stock prices tumbling.

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'Is It Kafka?' Judge Presses Pentagon On Press Restrictions

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge requested additional briefing Monday from the Trump administration before deciding whether to toss the U.S. Department of Defense's revised rules restricting journalists' access to the Pentagon but said some new allegations from reporters read like the revisions came from a Franz Kafka novel.

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Ex-Laffey Bucci Atty Accused Of Stealing Over $1.3M

By James Boyle

Laffey Bucci D'Andrea Reich & Ryan has accused a former name partner in a Pennsylvania state court suit of misdirecting more than $1.3 million in referral and case fees through a secret agreement with another firm and misusing the plaintiffs firm's resources for personal expenses, including an affair with a client.

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Analysis

Exchanges Are First Line In CFTC Prediction Market Policing

By Aislinn Keely

As the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission insists it will be the primary cop for the growing expanse of prediction markets, experts said the agency is signaling that its first line of defense will be the internal enforcement programs of registrants like Kalshi.

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FCA Qui Tams Are Unconstitutional, Eli Lilly Tells Justices

By Mark Payne

The False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, drugmaker Eli Lilly has told the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to overturn a Seventh Circuit decision upholding a $183 million trial win for a whistleblower who claimed the drug company hid how much it charged for Medicaid-covered drugs. 

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Justices Wary Of 'Odd' Arbitration Jurisdiction Theory

By Caroline Simson

A lawyer urging the U.S. Supreme Court to find that federal courts that have sent a dispute to arbitration do not automatically have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate a subsequent award faced heavy skepticism Monday from the justices, who called his argument during oral arguments "odd" and "peculiar."

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket this past week featured disputes involving globally recognized companies, high-dollar contract fights, revived claims from the state's high court and the resolution of a closely watched de-SPAC case.

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Blumenthal Questions SEC Over Crypto Cases, Ryan Exit

By Katryna Perera

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is demanding answers from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins about the sudden resignation of the regulator's enforcement director and whether her departure was related to cryptocurrency cases, including one touching on the Trump family's ventures.

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