FTC Tosses Ban On AI-Fueled Tool For Stifling Innovation

By Allison Grande

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday threw out a 2024 order that imposed a ban on an artificial intelligence-powered writing assistance service that allegedly enabled its subscribers to generate false and deceptive online reviews, concluding that the prior directive was inconsistent with the Trump administration's current policy against undermining innovation in the emerging AI field. 

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Fla. Judge Blocks Release Of Trump Classified Docs Report

By Carolina Bolado

The federal judge who oversaw the criminal case against President Donald Trump over his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago blocked the release Monday of the final report from former special counsel Jack Smith.

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Hochul Signs AG James' Bill To Expand Consumer Law

By Sarah Jarvis

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed into law New York Attorney General Letitia James' legislation to expand the state's ban on deceptive business practices to also protect against unfair and abusive practices, in the first updates to the state's primary consumer protection law in 45 years.

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Robocall Class Seeks $35.7M After Failed Deal Talks

By Lauraann Wood

Consumers looking to hold a resort company liable after its vendor placed more than 70,000 unwanted marketing calls to National Do Not Call registrants have asked an Illinois federal judge to enter a $35.7 million judgment reflecting their recent summary judgment win after their court-ordered settlement negotiations were unsuccessful.

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OPM Must Face DOGE Data Access Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A New York federal judge has denied the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's bid to end a lawsuit claiming it unlawfully gave employment records to President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, saying its assertion that the alleged privacy law violation "effects" have been "eradicated" is unsupported by the record.

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Life Insurer, Customers' $335K Deal OK'd In Data Breach Suit

By Hope Patti

A Connecticut federal court gave final approval to a deal requiring a life insurance and financial planning company to pay $335,000 to end claims over a 2023 data breach that potentially compromised its customers' personal information.

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Trump Admin Adds Drones To Nat'l Security Threat List

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Federal Communications Commission on Monday deemed new foreign-made drones an unacceptable risk to the national security and safety of the country.

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Brief

Feds Snatch $8.5M In Crypto Connected To Investment Scam

By Hayley Fowler

Federal prosecutors have seized $8.5 million in the cryptocurrency Tether that investigators say belongs to victims who were allegedly lured into investing in bogus cryptocurrency trading schemes, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said.

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Nev. Dental Group Strikes $3.3M Deal In Data Breach Suit

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Nevada-based dental practice agreed on Friday to pay $3.3 million to resolve proposed class claims over a data breach that potentially affected over 1.2 million people, the plaintiffs said in a request to a federal court for preliminary approval of the deal.

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Brothers In Cannabis Venture Seek Early Win In Email Dustup

By Emilie Ruscoe

An attorney and his brother embroiled in a "messy" dispute over a soured cannabis venture are both seeking an early win on the attorney's claims that his privacy was violated when his work emails were handed to his brother.

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Fulton County Must Face State's 2020 Election Subpoenas

By Chart Riggall

The election board of Fulton County, Georgia, was ordered to hand over documents from the 2020 presidential election to its state counterpart by a state judge who said that while the subpoenas might seem "stale and ill-timed," they remained enforceable.

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Ex-UMich Coach Can't Shake ID Theft Charges

By Alex Lawson

A former University of Michigan assistant football coach will face aggravated identity theft charges after a federal judge ruled Monday that the use of stolen passwords is "central" to the broader allegations of accessing thousands of students' intimate photographs.

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Yale Appears Poised To Escape Ex-Student's Defamation Case

By Aaron Keller

Yale University and a sexual assault accuser on Monday appeared poised to escape an expelled student's defamation lawsuit, with a federal judge saying the criminally acquitted ex-student failed to disclose other misconduct allegations and led online followers to reveal the accuser's identity despite orders banning him from directly naming her.

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Bonus Spotlight

Haynes Boone, Seward & Kissel Announce Year-End Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

Haynes Boone is handing its associates year-end and special bonuses in line with those offered by a significant portion of BigLaw this year, largely adhering to a bonus scale first put forward by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP in November, a firm spokesperson confirmed Monday.

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Analysis

4 Legal Ethics Matters That Rocked 2025

By Emily Sawicki

This year, judges across the country grappled with attorneys' use and misuse of generative artificial intelligence, and prominent federal prosecutor battles dominated headlines in some of the top legal ethics matters of 2025.

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DOJ Challenges ABA's Standing In Law Firm Intimidation Suit

By Ryan Boysen

The Trump administration is not waging an intimidation campaign against U.S. law firms, the government said Friday, calling an American Bar Association lawsuit challenging its alleged "law firm intimidation policy" as total speculation that must be dismissed due to lack of standing.

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JPMorgan Rips Javice Attys' 'Absurd' Bills For Candy, Booze

By Dorothy Atkins

JPMorgan has unveiled new details in its ongoing legal fee fight with Charlie Javice, accusing the convicted financial aid startup founder's Quinn Emanuel defense counsel and other firms of billing for "absurd" and "outrageous" expenses, including specialty cocktails, cellulite butter, a Cookie Monster toy and $530 on gummy bears.

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Ex-CIA Director's Lawyers Accuse DOJ Of Judge Shopping

By Carolina Bolado

Former CIA Director John Brennan's attorneys asked the chief judge for the Southern District of Florida on Monday to block prosecutors from trying to steer any potential charges against him for investigating Russia's 2016 election interference to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's courtroom.

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Analysis

2025 Was A Policy Year Like No Other For Immigration Attys

By Britain Eakin

This year brought nonstop immigration policy whiplash as the Trump administration ramped up enforcement, triggering panic among employers about I-9 compliance in a landscape of constantly shifting adjudication and work authorization policies. Here, Law360 looks at how policy shifted attorney practice in 2025.

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Calif. Atty Slams 'Protectionist' ABS Fee-Sharing Ban

By Emily Sawicki

A California attorney has pushed back on opposition from California's attorney general and the state's bar association amid his efforts to block enforcement of a ban on fee sharing with out-of-state law firms owned by nonattorneys, arguing the new state law is a "protectionist act, in defiance of the constitution."

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LawFirms.com Beats LegalForce's TM Suit After Bench Trial

By Ivan Moreno

A California judge has concluded that a company that operates LawFirms.com did not infringe a law firm's trademarks for LegalForce, saying that during a four-day bench trial in October the court found "no one was actually confused or misled."

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Schumer Pushes Senate To Sue Over Epstein File Release

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a resolution on Monday that would direct the Senate to take legal action to force the Trump administration to fully comply with the law to release the files of the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Analysis

As US Executions Decline, Florida Surges

By Brandon Lowrey

During Florida's 1994 gubernatorial race, Republican candidate Jeb Bush accused Democratic incumbent Lawton Chiles of being too soft on crime; Chiles' immediate predecessor, Bush pointed out, had signed almost 10 times as many death warrants as Chiles had.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's justices threw the Court of Chancery in reverse big time last week, rescinding a decision by the state's chancellor that last year effectively canceled tech tycoon Elon Musk's multi-year, then-$56 billion stock-based compensation package. It was a decision that lit up the court's relatively low-key, pre-holiday wind-up. It also highlighted the endless, 3D tug of war over Delaware-chartered companies and the interests of boards, officers, controllers, stockholders and the corporate bar.

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