Geico Call Class Sunk After Plaintiff Tosses Phone In River

By Allison Grande

A Maryland federal judge has refused to certify a class of thousands of insurance claimants who received allegedly unauthorized prerecorded medical appointment reminders from a scheduling vendor retained by Geico, finding that factors such as the plaintiff's decision to throw his cellphone into the Mississippi River made him an inadequate class representative.

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OpenAI Knew AI Was Rogue Before Hugging Face, Suit Says

By Dorothy Atkins

A public interest law nonprofit sued OpenAI in California state court Tuesday, seeking to hold the ChatGPT maker liable for a July cyberattack on Hugging Face, arguing OpenAI "straightforwardly violated California law" by failing to rein in hundreds of rogue AI agents that OpenAI knew were running amok without proper safeguards.

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7th Circ. Skeptical Of Reviving License Plate Surveillance Suit

By Lauraann Wood

A Seventh Circuit panel seemed skeptical Tuesday that it should revive two Cook County residents' lawsuit claiming the Illinois State Police subject residents to unconstitutional searches through automatic license plate reading cameras whose data is saved for months.

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States' Temporary Aid Data-Sharing Injunction Bid Falls Short

By Lauren Berg

A D.C. federal judge declined to block a Trump administration policy allowing disclosures of temporary financial assistance recipients' sensitive personal information to federal authorities, saying that while it "seems plausible" this will chill participation in the program, Democratic-led states challenging the policy haven't provided "concrete evidence" of such harm.

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Fired Teacher Says AI Tainted Review And Arbitration

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts kindergarten teacher is suing to redo arbitration over her firing, saying the arbitrator who affirmed the school's decision used artificial intelligence to vet her claims that the principal relied on AI to prepare her final, negative performance evaluation.

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Google Beats Suit Over 'Pig Butchering' App Scams, For Now

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge tossed with leave to amend Monday a proposed class action alleging Google falsely advertised its Google Play Store as safe despite allowing swarms of "pig butchering" crypto-scam apps, finding that the claims are barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

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Analysis

DC Circ. Anthropic Ruling Could Chill Contractor Speech

By Madeline Lyskawa

The D.C. Circuit's decision backing the U.S. Department of Defense's removal of Anthropic from its supply chain was based on a broad reading of the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act, which could lead contractors to be more careful about publicizing disputes with the department.

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DOJ Puts FCA Target On Health Data Security Lapses

By Gianna Ferrarin

Government contractors that fail to protect personal health information are on the radar of U.S. Department of Justice officials looking to leverage the False Claims Act, attorneys told attendees at a health law conference in Washington, D.C.

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Social Media Cos., Teens Spar Over Evidence Ahead Of Trials

By Rae Ann Varona

Social media companies and teens who allege the companies harmed their mental health sparred in California state court Tuesday over what evidence jurors will hear in an upcoming round of bellwether trials, including whether jurors should hear purported instances of domestic violence in the teens' home lives.

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Ex-U. Of Mich. Coach Says Student's Hacking Suit Falls Short

By Taylor Bowie

Former University of Michigan assistant football coach Matthew Weiss says a civil suit alleging he used his position in the athletic program to access personal photos and videos of thousands of young athletes is time-barred and hinges on expanding cybersecurity laws past precedent.

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Reed Smith Adds AI, Data And Cyber Partner In Chicago

By James Boyle

Reed Smith LLP announced Tuesday that an attorney specializing in cybersecurity and data privacy matters has moved her practice to the firm's Chicago office after more than two years with Neal Gerber & Eisenberg LLP.

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The Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders: A Look At The Top Firms

Today's most prestigious firms attract top talent and marquee clients while posting record profits. Here's a look at the top 10 firms in this year's Law360 Pulse Prestige Leaders, a ranking of the firms that stand out for their prominence, power and distinction.

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DOJ Accuses Judges Of Ethics Violations With Press Remarks

By Jack Karp

Several Minnesota federal judges ran afoul of their ethical obligations when they commented on President Donald Trump's immigration policies in a recent news article, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a judicial misconduct complaint filed Wednesday.

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Federal Bar Discussion Looks At Courts' Role In Regulating AI

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Federal Bar Association discussion Wednesday in California about AI and how it will be regulated in the United States prompted the Northern District's new chief judge to ask whether Congress' "inability to pass laws" will leave it to the courts "to figure out how we're going to do this."

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DOJ Atty Picked For Judgeship Probed On Fulton County Raid

By Courtney Bublé

A top U.S. Department of Justice official tapped for a federal judgeship faced questions from Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday about the department's investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, over Trump's allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.

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Texas AG Says ABA Stifling Law School Competition

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Attorney General announced an investigation into the American Bar Association relating to alleged anticompetitive conduct in the association's accreditation of law schools, claiming Wednesday that the ABA "weaponized its accreditation authority" to push "unconstitutional racial and gender preference requirements."

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Sen. Blackburn Sues Smith For Seizing Phone Records

By James Boyle

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn alleges in a federal complaint filed Wednesday that Jack Smith illegally subpoenaed her phone records as part of an investigation into alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

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3rd Circ. Calls Westlaw AI Fight 'Ordinary Copyright Case'

By Ivan Moreno

The Third Circuit said the first appellate fight over artificial intelligence training and fair use ultimately came down to an "ordinary copyright case," affirming that Ross Intelligence infringed Thomson Reuters' Westlaw headnotes when it used them to train a competing legal research platform.

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Blank Rome Seeks Time To Exit LIV Golf's Fla. Office

By Ben Zigterman

Blank Rome LLP on Wednesday filed a limited objection to LIV Golf's motion to reject its sublease at an office building in West Palm Beach, Florida, saying it didn't receive any advance notice and would like until the end of October to transition to a new office.

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Roundup

Defamation Litigation Roundup: Candace Owens, Firm DQ

By Theresa Schliep

In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 highlights a new suit over right-wing media personality Candace Owens and her conspiracy theories about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as well as Quinn Emanuel's disqualification from a suit against a former client.

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Tort Report: Uber Owes $40M In Abandoned Rider Death Case

By Y. Peter Kang

A $40 million arbitration award in a case over an Uber incident and looming litigation against the federal government over a highly publicized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Roundup

Hub Hires: Mintz, Foley Hoag, Barclay Damon

By Chris Villani

Boston saw several significant moves across its legal landscape as the summer wound down, with Foley Hoag adding an experienced debt finance attorney from Goodwin Procter, a boutique white collar firm snagging a longtime federal prosecutor, and Mintz getting new leadership for the first time in nearly two decades.

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