SpaceXAI's Grok Sued For Breaking Ill. Law With Face Scans

By Allison Grande

The Grok chatbot operated by Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company is illegally collecting and storing the biometric data of users who upload photos of their faces to generate edited images, according to a proposed class action filed in Illinois federal court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wash. Justices Say Privacy Act Doesn't Bar Hospital Pixel Use

By Rachel Riley

The Washington State Supreme Court said Thursday the state's privacy act does not prohibit Seattle Children's Hospital from using web analytics tool Meta Pixel on its public-facing website, rejecting a group of parents' allegations that their browsing and search activity was illegally intercepted and sent to the Facebook parent company.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ICE Policy Halting Biometrics Collection On Hold

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A D.C. federal judge has put a hold on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's policy of refusing to collect biometric information needed to process immigration applications for detained immigrants.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Webull Sued By Investor Over Chinese Gov't Links

By Jessica Corso

Trading platform Webull Corp. on Thursday was hit with an investor lawsuit accusing it of underselling its ties to China, shortly after a U.S. House committee released a report detailing how those ties could put customer data at risk.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Dem Slams 'Dark Money' Plan For Political Robocalls

By Nadia Dreid

The FCC spends a lot of time trying to do something about the billions of illegal robocalls Americans are pelted with every month, but the agency is currently considering a proposal to relax the current rules on political robocalls ahead of the November midterms — to the chagrin of the commission's lone Democrat.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lawmakers Push For Protections In $10M Spirit Data Sale

By Kelcey Caulder

More than 120 mostly Democratic lawmakers raised concerns Thursday about the proposed $10 million sale of Spirit Airlines' internal data to Google for artificial intelligence training, saying the sale would involve an "extraordinary volume" of internal records containing individuals' sensitive information.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

By Christopher Cole

Lobbying efforts at the Federal Communications Commission spiked in September as companies and interest groups looked to sway FCC policies on issues such as modernizing the phone networks, Lifeline reform, environmental rules, satellite spectrum and more.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FTC's Meador Urges EU To Adopt Case-By-Case Enforcement

By Bryan Koenig

Federal Trade Commission member Mark Meador on Thursday argued digital market rules in the U.K. and the European Union undermine international cooperation with U.S. antitrust and consumer protection enforcers, in the latest Trump administration admonishment of the policies.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. Panel Trims Punitive Damages Claim By Ex-Marvel CEO

By Carolina Bolado

The former CEO of Marvel Entertainment can request punitive damages against his neighbor in a feud over the surreptitious collection of DNA evidence but not against the neighbor's attorney or a Chubb affiliate accused of helping him, a Florida appeals court has ruled.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sheppard Mullin Hit With Class Action Over Data Breach

By Jake Maher

A former Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP paralegal launched a proposed class action against the firm in California federal court on Wednesday over a cyberattack it had in August, in which she says at least 1,000 people's names and Social Security numbers were stolen.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sen. Scott Can Trim Booz Allen Tax Info Leak Suit, Judge Says

By Zak Kostro

Sen. Rick Scott can narrow his suit over an IRS contractor's leak of his tax returns to proceed only on a negligence claim against Booz Allen Hamilton in Florida federal court, a judge ruled, saying the trim avoids overlapping litigation after claims against the leaker were transferred.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Utility Giant Southern Co. Sued Over Recent Data Breach

By Kelcey Caulder

The Southern Co. has been hit with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court, accusing the utility holding company of failing to adequately protect hundreds of thousands of customers' personal information during a recent cyberattack.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ameriprise Says Data Breach Suit Leans On Speculative Harm

By Sydney Price

Ameriprise Financial Inc. on Thursday asked a Minnesota federal court to dismiss a proposed class action from consumers accusing it of failing to safeguard their data from cybercriminals in a March breach, arguing the suit's plaintiffs do not allege that their data was involved in the incident.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

USA Today Adds To Pile Of Newspaper Suits Against OpenAI

By Elliot Weld

USA Today Co. Inc. and several of its subsidiary newspapers accused OpenAI on Thursday in New York federal court of using their copyrighted news content to train ChatGPT, adding to a heap of lawsuits filed by large and small newspapers claiming the company made free use of content it should have paid for.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Deals Rumor Mill

SpaceX, DeepSeek And Anthropic Top Week's Deal Rumors

By Al Barbarino

SpaceX is seeking financing to purchase $40 billion of Nvidia microchips, Chinese AI company DeepSeek is close to securing a $12 billion funding round, and Anthropic could launch its initial public offering before Thanksgiving. In other reports, Barbie maker Mattel is facing increased pressure to sell after a rough run on the stock market. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Mentalism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Convincing strangers I can read their minds may seem like an unusual second career for a legal practitioner, but both disciplines share several important requirements, including trust and preparation, says Warren Biro at Manatt.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

IDScan Data Breach Puts Spotlight On Vendor Oversight

A recently reported breach that exposed millions of identification documents held by IDScan.net highlights the liability risks for businesses that contract with third-party identity processors, and emphasizes the importance of auditing vendors' data retention practices, say attorneys at Tucker Ellis.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Squire Patton, Holland & Knight Report Data Breaches

By Jake Maher

Squire Patton Boggs LLP and Holland & Knight LLP were hit with cyberattacks exposing sensitive information, according to disclosures filed this week.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Up Next At High Court: Criminal Sentences & Video Privacy

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will close out its October sitting by hearing oral arguments in two cases that ask what level of deference federal district courts should give to commentary interpreting the federal sentencing guidelines, and what purchases are protected under a video consumer privacy statute.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Aims To 'Attack Fraud From All Angles' Via New Division

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice's new fraud division has issued fresh guidance on its prosecution methodology, with the division's head directing prosecutors to seize assets before indictments and pursue upward variances in sentencing guidelines in some cases as part of a stated push to use the division's "full arsenal of criminal statutes" in combating fraud.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ill. Judge Lays Out Doc Demands For DOJ Misconduct Probe

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois federal judge asked the government Friday to turn over six months of communications and certain other records as she investigates in-court inaccuracies Chicago prosecutors offered while prosecuting six anti-immigration protesters, rejecting its request to seal a filing in the process.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty With False AI Citation Filings Ordered To Pay $39K

By Bonnie Eslinger

A New York federal judge who imposed case-terminating sanctions on an attorney who submitted filings with false citations generated by artificial intelligence ordered him on Friday to pay nearly $39,000 to lawyers who uncovered the problematic AI use, noting he had given them the "runaround" when they tried to collect directly.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Grassley Attacks Dems' Claims Of Rule-Breaking Over Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, clapped back at Democrats for their accusations that Republicans broke Senate rules during a hearing last week at which former special counsel Jack Smith appeared.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Jurists' Atty Tips: 'Emulate Lincoln,' 'Don't Be Boring'

By Bonnie Eslinger

Three current and former Northern California federal judges and one Morrison Foerster LLP partner during a Federal Bar Association panel discussion Thursday gave attorneys tips on "courtroom persuasion," including knowing the judges, keeping things interesting and, like the nation's 16th president, getting quickly to the winning point.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Legal Services NYC Gets $2.5M To Build Novel Resource Hub

By Tracey Read

Legal Services NYC announced Friday that it has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the New York State Interest on Lawyer Account Fund to create a first-of-its-kind statewide knowledge-sharing platform to help legal advocates spend more time seeking justice for low-income clients.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

The new federal fraud division is threatening faster action and broader targets under a new enforcement policy announced recently. And the SEC warned shareholder advocacy groups that join forces could face legal scrutiny in the future. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.​

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Alston & Bird LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Sixth Circuit overturned a pivotal decision in multidistrict opioid litigation that had dramatically expanded claims against the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen PrivatBank sue its former oligarch owner, building materials provider Kingspan face a €100 million ($112 million) claim over Grenfell Tower cladding and energy giants VaroPreem and Viaro Energy become embroiled in an intellectual property row.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »