Takeaways From Meta's $25B Data Privacy Trial Loss

By Cara Salvatore

As Meta Platforms Inc. digests Wednesday's $25 billion trial bill for repeatedly misrepresenting its privacy practices to New Mexicans, observers say there are lessons to take away — beyond the fact that it's believed to be the largest commercial verdict in nominal dollars in U.S. history.

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'Deb' Producers Accuse Rebel Wilson Of Evidence Destruction

By Craig Clough

A California judge indicated Thursday that he is unlikely to grant the producers of the film "The Deb" terminating sanctions in their defamation suit against its director Rebel Wilson over allegations she repeatedly lied under oath and destroyed evidence, though he appeared open to considering lesser relief.

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States Ask DC Circ. To Ban Google From Paying To Be Default

By Nadia Dreid

If the D.C. Circuit doesn't ban Google from paying to be the default search engine on people's cellphones after it was found to have illegally maintained a monopoly, state enforcers say the tech titan will remain "free to buy tomorrow's defaults with the fruits of yesterday's anticompetitive conduct."

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2 Firms To Lead Roblox Age-Verification Investor Action

By Mike Curley

A California federal judge has appointed Johnson Van Kwawegen LLP and Grant & Eisenhofer PA as co-lead counsel of a consolidated proposed class action filed by investors who allege they lost $48 million to a stock drop driven by Roblox Corp.'s age verification system.

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Fontainebleau Wins Access To Some Of Rabbi's AI Chats

By Andrea Keckley

A Florida magistrate judge ruled Wednesday that Miami Beach hotel Fontainebleau may obtain some of rabbi and media personality Shmuley Boteach's AI chats about the five-star hotel and its personnel, saying they could help determine punitive damages in the defamation suit against him by showing whether he intended to harm the company.

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Brief

FCC Exempts Specific Routers, Robots From Covered List

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Communications Commission has granted conditional approval for specific routers and advanced robotic devices that will exempt them from the Covered List, which restricts foreign-made devices for national security reasons.

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Brief

FCC Bans 2 Foreign Devices Containing Surveillance Chips

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday blocked two devices from the U.S. market that the agency says are embedded with surveillance chips made by a Huawei subsidiary.

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Ex-Brooklyn Nets Exec Says Parental Leave Got Him Fired

By MJ Koo

A former Brooklyn Nets cybersecurity executive has sued the team and his former boss in New York federal court, saying he was fired 16 days after returning from parental leave following the birth of his son.

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6th Circ. Says Gang Member Can't Nix Group Chat Warrant

By Parker Quinlan

The Sixth Circuit has ruled that a man convicted for his role in a gang kidnapping did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in an Instagram group chat log seized from another street gang member, so he could not challenge search warrants for other members' social media accounts.

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EMortgage Seeks Exit From Proposed Text Ads Class Action

By Isaac Monterose

Mortgage lender eMortgage Funding LLC has urged a Washington federal court to dismiss a proposed class action that accuses the company of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and state law by sending unwanted advertising texts and calls to consumers.

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Brief

Southwest Pilots Oppose Spirit's $10M Ch. 11 Data Sale

By Vince Sullivan

A union representing pilots at Southwest Airlines objected late Wednesday to the proposed $10 million sale of employee data by bankrupt airline Spirit Aviation, saying the deal would adversely affect flight crews by sharing training and employment information.

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AG Watch: Minnesota Takes Action To Secure Child Safety

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has built one of the most aggressive and structurally coherent child protection enforcement programs in the country, targeting consumer-facing sectors that his office has concluded prey on minors, such as tobacco and nicotine, social media platforms, and artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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Series

Being In The Peace Corps Made Me A Better Lawyer

When I served in the Peace Corps, the people of the West African village where I was stationed helped me acclimate to my new surroundings and enabled me to develop problem-solving, teamwork and empathy skills that have bolstered my legal practice far beyond the ability to offer technical advice, says Brian Bewley at McGuireWoods.

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New Weil-Willkie Domains Add To Merger Speculation

By Marialuisa Taddia

Two domain names that combine the names of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP have been registered, fueling speculation about a potential merger between the two prominent Wall Street law firms.

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Bonus Spotlight

Hueston Hennigan Bumps Clerkship Bonus To $205K

By Lynn LaRowe

Trial boutique Hueston Hennigan is offering a $205,000 bonus to lawyers who have completed one or more federal clerkships, the firm confirmed Thursday.

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'Grave Errors': 5th Circ. Boots Judge After AI 'Botch Job'

By Jeff Overley

A Mississippi federal judge's careless use of artificial intelligence tools led to "sloppy edicts" riddled with "falsehoods and fabrications," the Fifth Circuit held in a Thursday night opinion removing the judge from litigation over an anti-DEI law in the Magnolia State because of his "extraordinarily grave errors."

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Texas Judge Probe Shows Lack Of Mental Impairment Process

By Jack Karp

Fifth Circuit officials have done a reasonable job of handling a rare situation involving a Texas federal judge who appears to be undergoing a mental health crisis, but the episode highlights that a more standardized way of dealing with federal judges experiencing mental impairment needs to be established, experts and scholars say.

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Jackson Walker Hits Back At Fee Clawback Sanction Move

By Vince Sullivan

Law firm Jackson Walker said Wednesday that it should not be sanctioned for failing to bring to a Texas federal judge's attention additional cases involving an undisclosed romantic relationship between a bankruptcy judge and one of its attorneys because the U.S. Trustee already investigated those cases and didn't take action.

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GOP Reps. Seek Probe Of Fla. Judge's Sanctions Order

By Courtney Bublé

Top Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee asked the Judicial Conference Thursday to investigate a Florida federal judge for potential misconduct with an order she issued in the case involving the leak of President Donald Trump's tax returns.

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JPMorgan, Ex-Frank Execs Clash Over $2.1M In Legal Fees

By Jarek Rutz

JPMorgan Chase & Co. faced renewed demands in the Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday to pay about $2.1 million in withheld legal fees for convicted Frank founder Charlie Javice and former executive Olivier Amar, as their lawyers accused the bank of using repeated billing objections to delay funding for their criminal defenses.

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Roundup MDL Atty Fund 'Cries Out' For Review, 9th Circ. Told

By Dorothy Atkins

Plaintiffs' firms urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse a ruling Thursday requiring them to contribute 8% of their recovery fees to a common benefit fund in multidistrict litigation over Monsanto's Roundup weed killer, arguing the judge ignored a special master's recommendation and the issue "cries out for some appellate supervision."

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