A California federal judge presiding over social media addiction multidistrict litigation Wednesday criticized Meta's bid to push newly filed arbitration demands into court, saying she doesn't have jurisdiction over those claims and noting "big companies" are always insisting on arbitration, but "when they don't like the fact that they're arbitrating, they complain about it."
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

'The Shoe Is On The Other Foot': Judge Needles Meta In MDL

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge presiding over social media addiction multidistrict litigation Wednesday criticized Meta's bid to push newly filed arbitration demands into court, saying she doesn't have jurisdiction over those claims and noting "big companies" are always insisting on arbitration, but "when they don't like the fact that they're arbitrating, they complain about it."

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7th Circ. May Seek Ill. Justices' Input In Hyundai BIPA Row

By Celeste Bott

A Seventh Circuit panel on Wednesday appeared skeptical about whether Hyundai Motor America had any control over biometric data captured by cameras installed in certain Hyundai vehicles and how a proposed class of drivers was injured under Illinois' biometric privacy law, but one judge suggested the case presents a question the state's top court may need to answer.

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Pornhub Parent Escapes User Tracking Suit, For Now

By Lauren Berg

A California federal judge tossed for lack of jurisdiction a lawsuit accusing an adult entertainment company of tracking Pornhub users' data and sharing it with advertisers, finding that the company is incorporated in Delaware, headquartered in Texas, and the plaintiffs haven't tied their claims to company activity in California.

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Disney To Pay $2.75M In Record Deal Under Calif. Privacy Law

By Allison Grande

California's attorney general announced Wednesday that his office has secured its largest deal yet under the state's data privacy law, with entertainment giant Disney agreeing to pay $2.75 million and overhaul its opt-out mechanisms to resolve claims that it failed to allow consumers to completely stop the sale and sharing of their personal data. 

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SNAP Recipients Appeal In 2nd Circ. Over Card Scam Suit

By Joyce Hanson

The Legal Aid Society and Freshfields US LLP have filed a Second Circuit appeal on behalf of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients whose food benefits were stolen in widespread "skimming" scams, arguing that a lower court wrongly denied the victims replacement of their stolen benefits.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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ENFORCEMENT

Texas AG Adds Snapchat To Child Harm Suit Blitz

By José Luis Martínez

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Snapchat's parent company Wednesday, saying a state investigation revealed that mature content on the app is easily available to children and that its addictive features are harming their health.

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MrBeast, Ex-IT Worker Near Deal In Trade Secret Theft Dispute

By Gina Kim

YouTube star MrBeast's media company has told a North Carolina federal judge it has reached a settlement in principle to resolve its lawsuit accusing a former IT contractor of downloading thousands of confidential company documents ahead of his firing and leaving behind hidden cameras throughout the company's offices.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

AI Scientific Discovery Order Implications For Life Sciences

President Donald Trump's November executive order establishing a government effort to use artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery has the potential to leverage significant federal resources and data to support research, drug and device approvals, and AI model training in the life sciences sector, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Legal Services Hiring Started New Year Off With A Bang

By Tracey Read

The legal sector is off to a good start in 2026, with 5,500 more people employed in lawyer, paralegal and other law-related professional roles last month than in December, according to seasonally adjusted data released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Feature

'Unflappable' Mass. Judge Emerges As Trump Foil

By Chris Villani

The newest member of the Massachusetts federal bench has made a name for himself as a thorn in the side of the Trump administration, a perception that stands in stark contrast to what friends and former colleagues describe as an unassuming and open-minded judge.

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'It Takes Time To Write': Jackson On High Court's Tariff Ruling

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has provided an unusual update on the court's decision over President Donald Trump's authority to impose emergency tariffs, saying in a TV interview that the justices are still working on what is one of their most anticipated rulings this term. 

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Analysis

Not 'Your Dad's DOJ': Recapping Year One Under Bondi

By Phillip Bantz and Carolina Bolado

Even before her contentious congressional testimony on Wednesday, few U.S. attorneys general had been embroiled in so many controversies so early into their tenures as Pam Bondi, who critics and supporters alike say embodies a new era at the Justice Department.

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Bondi Touches On Judges, Fraud, Subpoenas At Fiery Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Attorney General Pam Bondi opened her congressional testimony on Wednesday taking aim at "liberal activist judges," but the rest of the hearing was devoid of any discussion or questions on the Trump administration's combative relationship with a large portion of the federal bench.

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Goldstein Says He Lost Millions On Poker In 2016

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein told the Maryland federal jury in his tax fraud trial Wednesday that he lost nearly $3 million playing poker in 2016, directly contradicting charges that he underreported his gambling winnings, and pinned the blame for tax filing errors on his own miscalculations and shoddy work from his accountants.

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SC High Court Probes Clerk's Misconduct In Murdaugh Appeal

By Parker Quinlan

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday closely inspected Alex Murdaugh's appeal claiming the jury in his high-profile double-murder trial was biased because of comments made by a clerk of court, voicing questions and statements favorable to the disgraced lawyer's arguments.

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Md. Federal Judge Owns Up To Creating 'Abusive' Workplace

By Jack Karp

A Maryland federal judge has acknowledged creating an "abusive workplace" where clerks were chastised for minor errors, discouraged from asking questions and harshly criticized, according to a Fourth Circuit disciplinary order.

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Remote LSAT Testing To Largely End Amid Cheating Concerns

By Emily Johnson

Law school hopefuls will mostly need to sit for the Law School Admission Test — better known as the LSAT — in person starting in August rather than test remotely, a change designed to strengthen security after the exam provider ended remote testing in China over cheating concerns.

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Ford Slams Lemon Law Attys' Bid To Escape Billing Fraud Suit

By Lauren Berg

Ford Motor Co. urged a California federal judge to keep alive its lawsuit accusing three Knight Law Group LLP-affiliated attorneys of orchestrating a massive fraudulent legal billing scheme, scoffing at the attorneys' argument that they are immunized from liability related to lemon law litigation they have pursued.

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Calif. Atty Wins $25K Fee Sanction Over AI Errors

By Emily Sawicki

A California federal court has ordered $25,000 in fee sanctions for a litigator representing a mobile app platform in a copyright and contract suit as reimbursement for work he said went into responding to an error-ridden motion and further resulting motion practice.

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Miami World Cup Counsel Share Look At Prep Work, Impact

By Nathan Hale

Counsel representing the FIFA World Cup's Miami Host Committee gave Law360 an inside look at their multifaceted work preparing for the upcoming event, which organizers say could have the economic impact of multiple Super Bowls.

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Trio Leading NJ District Office Face New Disqualification Bid

By Elizabeth Daley

A criminal defendant who successfully challenged the appointment of Donald Trump's former personal attorney Alina Habba as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor joined other defendants in seeking to disqualify the trio now helming the office.

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Beasley Allen Wants Talc DQ Paused Pending High Court Appeal

By Jonathan Capriel

Hundreds of women who claim their ovarian cancer was caused by Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder risk appearing in an upcoming trial without their preferred counsel from the Beasley Allen Law Firm, unless a New Jersey state court stays an order disqualifying the firm, it said.

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Morgan & Morgan, Former Aide Settle Disability, Age Bias Suit

By Lynn LaRowe

Personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan PA and a former firm legal assistant have settled a Florida federal lawsuit that alleged age and disability discrimination, according to a filing in the court.

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NYC Bar Pushes Gov. To Free Legal Aid Funds In Budget

By Andrea Keckley

The New York City Bar Association urged Gov. Kathy Hochul in a statement Wednesday to ensure the 2027 executive budget gives the New York State Interest on Lawyer Account Fund access to its revenue for civil legal services, noting the current proposed budget did not grant full spending authority.

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Promo that reads 2025 Practice Groups of the Year

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Beasley Allen

Bilzin Sumberg

Boies Schiller

Buzbee Law Firm

Computerlaw Group

Cooper & Kirk

Covington & Burling

Davis Polk

Edelman Combs

Faegre Drinker

Foley & Lardner

FordHarrison

Freshfields

Friedman Kaplan

Gibbs Mura

Greenberg Traurig

Griffin Humphries

Hogan Lovells

Kasowitz LLP

Kelley Drye

King & Spalding

Knight Law Group

Krovatin Nau

Labaton Keller

Lauro & Singer

Leach & Walker

Levin Sedran

Lieff Cabraser

Lowell & Associates

Milbank LLP

Milberg Coleman

Mintz Levin

Morgan & Morgan PA

Motley Rice

Munger Tolles

Nixon Peabody

O'Melveny & Myers

Paul Hastings

Pillsbury Winthrop

Richard A. Harpootlian PA

Robbins LLP

Robinson Bradshaw

Rudolf Smith

SedlikGroup

Sills Cummis

Siri & Glimstad

Todd & Weld

Williams & Connolly

Wirtz Law APC

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Apple Inc.

ByteDance Ltd.

Discord Inc.

DoorDash Inc.

Empire Justice Center

Federal Bar Association

Federation Internationale de Football Association

Ford Motor Co.

Google LLC

Hyundai Motor Co.

Instagram Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

Law School Admission Council Inc.

Learning Resources Inc.

Major League Baseball Inc.

Major Lindsey & Africa LLC

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

New York City Bar Association

Reddit Inc.

Roblox Corp.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Sephora SA

Sling TV LLC

Snap Inc.

State Bar of California

The Legal Aid Society

TikTok Inc.

Vineyard Wind LLC

White Castle Management Co.

YouTube Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

California Department of Justice

California Privacy Protection Agency

Committee for Public Counsel Services

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Nutrition Service

Illinois Supreme Court

Internal Revenue Service

New Jersey Supreme Court

New York Attorney General's Office

New York State Assembly

South Carolina Attorney General's Office

Texas Attorney General's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court