Analysis

Novel Calif. Data Deletion Tool Off To Hot Start, Director Says

By Allison Grande

Despite a relatively quiet rollout, more than 170,000 California residents have signed up for a first-of-its-kind system that allows them to ask all registered data brokers to delete their personal information in a single request, positioning the tool as a strong model for other states similarly looking to boost consumer protections, the executive director of the state's privacy regulator told Law360.  

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Senate Dems Say IRS-ICE Privacy Warnings Proved Correct

By Kat Lucero

The Internal Revenue Service's recent admission that a faulty system improperly shared taxpayer records with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vindicates long-standing warnings about privacy and data protection risks, Senate Democrats said.

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Analysis

ICE's Surveillance Tech Raises 4th Amendment Concerns

By Britain Eakin

The Trump administration's use of surveillance technology in immigration enforcement is raising Fourth Amendment concerns among civil liberties experts, but challenging its use in court could be tricky, experts told Law360.

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Ethics Groups Seek Pause On Trump's $10B Tax Leak Suit

By Anna Scott Farrell

Ethics groups asked a Florida federal court to pause President Donald Trump's $10 billion suit against the Internal Revenue Service and block any money settlement until he finishes his term, saying his pursuit of damages for his leaked tax returns raises constitutional and ethical concerns.

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Stanford Prof Tells Jury Studies Confirm Social Media Addiction

By Craig Clough

A Stanford University professor of psychiatry and addiction returned to the witness stand Friday in a California bellwether trial over claims that social media companies harm young people's mental health, saying studies have concluded that addiction to platforms such as YouTube and Instagram is real and can hurt mental health.

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State AGs Back Senate's Version Of Kids Online Safety Act

By Joyce Hanson

Forty state attorneys general have joined in urging Congress to support the U.S. Senate's version of the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, a measure that would require online platforms to default to their most protective settings for children.

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FCC Pulls Equipment Lab Status From 4 Chinese Cos.

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it will no longer certify equipment labs run by four Chinese technology companies and opened formal action against a fifth to eventually revoke its accredited status.

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Otterbourg Leaders Forum-Shopped $20M Suit, Court Told

By Aaron Keller

Former Otterbourg PC partner James M. Cretella has asked a Connecticut federal judge to toss a $20 million lawsuit by two firm leaders over purportedly improper file access, arguing that chair Richard L. Stehl and president Richard G. Haddad forum-shopped their case to Connecticut because New York doesn't recognize the injury they allege.

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Judge Unsure OnlyFans Model Can Pin X With Revenge Porn

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge seemed hesitant to buy an argument by an anonymous OnlyFans model that circulation of his images on X constitutes a violation of revenge porn laws, saying Friday the model's claims seem "difficult to reconcile" with the actual text of the law.

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Atty Fee Fight Brewing After Google's Chatbot Injury Settlement

By Y. Peter Kang

An Orlando, Florida, law firm has urged a federal court to grant it contingency fees from a pending settlement in a suit accusing Google LLC and a chatbot company of causing the suicide of a teen, saying the firm was left in the dark about the deal.

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EU Approves Universal Music's $775M Deal For Downtown

By Matthew Perlman

European enforcers have greenlighted Universal Music Group's $775 million purchase of Downtown Music Holdings, after the companies agreed to unload a royalty accounting platform that has access to sensitive information from rival music labels.

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Strategies For Effective Class Action Email Notice Campaigns

Recent cases provide useful guidance on navigating the complexities of sending email notices to potential class action claimants, including drafting notices clearly and effectively, surmounting compliance and timing challenges, and tracking deliverability, says Stephanie Fiereck at Epiq.

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Notable Q4 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

Last quarter featured a novel class action theory about car rental reimbursement coverage, another win for insurers in total loss valuations, a potentially broad-reaching Idaho Supreme Court ruling about illusory underinsured motorist coverage, and homeowners blaming rising premiums on the fossil fuel industry, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

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Series

Judges On AI: Practical Use Cases In Chambers

U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard in the Southern District of California discusses how she uses generative artificial intelligence tools in chambers to make work more efficient and effective — from editing jury instructions for clarity to summarizing key documents.

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Talc MDL Law Firm Accuses Litigation Funders Of Case Piracy

By Ryan Boysen

A leading plaintiffs law firm in the multibillion-dollar litigation over Johnson & Johnson's tainted talcum powder has alleged in Mississippi federal court three investment firms loaned it "tens of millions" of dollars under false pretenses in a "loan-to-own" scheme.

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Bogus Citations Show 'Lack Of Respect' For Legal Profession

By Lynn LaRowe

In recommending $10,000 in sanctions for a lawyer who submitted multiple briefs with nonexistent or misrepresented citations, a federal judge in Indiana lamented that the blunders show a "lack of respect for the profession."

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Analysis

How Attorneys Are Handling A Patent Review 'Sea Change'

By Ryan Davis

Major changes to the America Invents Act patent review system over the past year have put limits on challenges, requiring patent challengers and owners to rethink their strategies. Here's how attorneys on both sides are calibrating their arguments to have the best chance of success in the new landscape.

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6th Circ. Says Ch. 13 Motion Came 84 Minutes Too Late

By Vince Sullivan

A 2-1 split panel of the Sixth Circuit affirmed two lower court rulings from Michigan federal judges denying a Chapter 13 debtor's motion to dismiss his bankruptcy case because the request came 84 minutes after a bankruptcy court converted the case to a Chapter 7.

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RFK Jr. Taps Ex-Jones Day Atty For FDA Senior Counselor

By Hailey Konnath

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has named a former Jones Day partner as one of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's senior counselors, according to an announcement.

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Louisiana Atty Takes Responsibility For AI Usage Snafu

By Christine DeRosa

After facing the threat of sanctions alongside three of his co-counsel, a Louisiana attorney told a federal judge that he was solely responsible for an error-riddled brief written with the assistance of artificial intelligence. 

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Brief

Indiana AG Declines To Intervene In Posner Wage Suit

By Emily Sawicki

Indiana's attorney general has declined to intervene in a pro se plaintiff's suit seeking to revive $170,000 in wage claims against retired Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, finding the case did not pose a "substantial" constitutional challenge to a state statute mandating that delayed contracts must be written and signed to be enforced.

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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen a former U.S. defense contractor convicted of tax evasion face legal action, French football club Olympique Lyonnais sued following a $97 million ruling against its owner John Textor, consulting giant Kroll targeted by a South African airline, and H&M hit with a claim alleging it copied protected sunglasses designs. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Taking heat from Republican senators over not notifying members of Congress about subpoenas for their phone records, Verizon's general counsel has pledged that in the future, the company will fight gag orders requiring it to keep silent. And taking heat from shareholders and colleagues over her ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Goldman Sachs' chief legal officer has agreed to leave the firm in June.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

WilmerHale and Gillam & Smith LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Texas federal jury cleared Apple of infringement claims over patents covering 4G wireless technology, in a case that previously led to jury verdicts of $506 million and $300 million.

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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.

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