Google Can't Ditch Most Chrome Privacy Claims

By Lauren Berg

A California federal judge Tuesday largely denied Google's bid to dismiss several claims in long-running litigation that accuses the tech giant of surreptitiously collecting Chrome users' personal data, after the plaintiffs elected to move forward with individual claims following their failed class certification bid.

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House Panel Spars Over Who Benefits From Draft Privacy Bill

By Allison Grande

The backers of a Republican-led proposal to establish a long-elusive federal data privacy standard lauded the effort during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing Wednesday for being a commonsense extension of the nearly two dozen state laws already in place, while its opponents argued that the measure would establish a weak framework that favored companies over consumers.

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Feature

'Read The Cases': Conn. Judge Offers AI Advice To Attys

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge told a gathering of attorneys Tuesday that his law clerks are not allowed to use generative artificial intelligence for any purpose involving legal research, his interns are barred from using it at all, and lawyers must be careful when relying on the material that the tools produce.

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TransUnion To Face Class Claims Over Sham Debt Collector

By Joyce Hanson

Consumers in a Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit against TransUnion have won a North Carolina federal judge's certification allowing their case, which alleges the lead plaintiff was the victim of a debt collection scheme, to proceed as a class action.

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BigLaw Insider Trading Defendants Have Big-Name Legal Help

By Chris Villani

An insider trading case involving nonpublic information prosecutors say was stolen from some of the largest law firms in the U.S. has ensnared more than two dozen defendants, many of whom have turned to lawyers with notable clients including Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and Luigi Mangione.

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UK Requiring Google To Let Publishers Opt Out Of AI

By Matthew Perlman

Google is giving publishers tools to prevent their content from being used to power the artificial intelligence features shown in search results, after Britain's competition enforcer imposed new requirements Wednesday.

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FCC Eyes Broadband Permit Reform, Cybersecurity Efforts

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission is putting permit reform front and center again this month, with a proposal to shed rules that it views as unnecessarily burdensome for broadband deployment.

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Broadband Group Wants Same FCC Router Waiver As AT&T

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission should grant NCTA — The Internet & Television Association members a waiver allowing them to make changes to foreign-made routers since getting replacements has become difficult due to supply chain shortages and the agency has banned routers made outside the country.

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FTC Looks For Input On X Petition To Set Aside Privacy Order

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Trade Commission is asking for the public's input on a petition from X Corp., formerly known as Twitter, to set aside or modify its 2022 $150 million settlement stemming from charges it misled users about how their data was used.

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Texas Capital Bank Hit With Suit After Data Breach

By Spencer Brewer

A victim of a data breach hit Texas Capital Bank with potential class claims in federal court Wednesday, accusing the financial institution of failing to safeguard sensitive customer information and allowing bad actors to steal data.

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Bojangles Workers Didn't Plead Data Hack Harm, Court Told

By Abigail Harrison

Counsel for national fried chicken fast food chain Bojangles told a North Carolina Business Court Wednesday that a putative data breach class action against it can't survive, as a group of employees didn't allege how the cyber-theft caused them harm.

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Revisiting TransUnion's Underused Standing Rule, 5 Years On

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' recent use of the U.S. Supreme Court’s now five-year-old TransUnion v. Ramirez rule specifying that the "mere risk of future harm" isn't concrete enough to support a damages claim presents an opportunity to revisit this underutilized standing rule, say attorneys at Horvitz & Levy.

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Brain Computer Interfaces Boot Up Multipronged Legal Issues

As neurotechnology companies begin to conduct human clinical trials for brain computer interfaces, attorneys should prepare for legal ramifications across a broad range of practice areas, including intellectual property, privacy and product liability, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

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5 Things Associates Must Ask About Their Firm's Merger Plan

The associates who navigate law firm mergers best ask the right questions early, such as inquiring about partners' plans, to assess how the merger could affect their workflow and career path, says Jackie Bokser-LeFebvre at Major Lindsey.

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Hueston Hennigan Follows Milbank's Lead In Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

The race to match Milbank LLP's attorney pay hikes is officially on, with trial firm Hueston Hennigan the latest to announce it will increase associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually.

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Analysis

The Plaintiffs Atty Now 5-0 At Supreme Court With No Dissents

By Jeff Overley

It's true that Jennifer Bennett is undefeated at the U.S. Supreme Court, but it's also an understatement. Bennett's five wins, including two recent ones, were all unanimous decisions. They showed that the plaintiffs bar can still persuade a conservative supermajority. And they turned the tide after a spree of decisions keeping workers and consumers out of court.

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Goldstein Cites Addiction To Avoid Time, DOJ Seeks 8 Years

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors recommended a 97-month prison sentence for convicted SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein, telling a Maryland federal court he has bilked the government out of more than $9.5 million in unpaid taxes. Goldstein, meanwhile, asked for a suspended sentence and supervised release, citing a "severe and longstanding gambling addiction."

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Rocade Capital Buys LFG To Create Combined $2B Lit Funder

By Ryan Boysen

Rocade Capital LLC has acquired fellow litigation funder Law Finance Group LLC, creating a combined platform that has deployed more than $2.3 billion and specializes in $10 million to $50 million deals, including post-judgment financing, portfolio deals and lending to plaintiff's firms.

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Court Reporter Shortage A 'Crisis,' Calif. Supreme Court Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

Two legal nonprofits urged the California Supreme Court to issue an order entitling low-income civil litigants to electronic recording if a live court reporter is not available, saying at a hearing Wednesday that a court reporter shortage in the Golden State has created a "crisis."

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9th Circ. Suspends 2 Attys For 6 Months Over AI Hallucinations

By Rae Ann Varona

The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday temporarily suspended two California immigration attorneys from practicing before the appellate court for filing briefs in a deportation relief case containing artificial intelligence-generated hallucinations, finding no excuse for their "extraordinary confession" of not vetting citations used by unlicensed brief writers.

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Tenn. Firm Sanctioned For AI Misuse In Baker Donelson Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A Tennessee federal judge has sanctioned a Memphis, Tennessee, law firm over its misuse of artificial intelligence amid a malpractice suit against Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, ordering the regional firm to reimburse costs associated with the matter and report the misconduct to the state's disciplinary counsel.

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Atty Can't Shake $120M Verdict In RICO, Defamation Dispute

By Carolina Bolado

An Alabama federal judge refused to disturb a $120 million verdict against a former Conrad & Scherer LLP managing partner, ruling there was enough evidence at trial for a jury to find the attorney liable on Drummond Co.'s racketeering and defamation claims.

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Graham Pushes Federal Tort Path After DOJ Drops $1.8B Fund

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Department of Justice seemed, at least briefly, to support a Republican senator's alternative solution to the "anti-weaponization" $1.8 billion fund that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday the department is abandoning.

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DOJ Sets New Healthcare Fraud Convictions Record

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that its Health Care Fraud Unit secured six jury trial convictions across the country in less than three weeks, with the cases involving more than $1.1 billion in fraud losses.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Dardarian Ho's Linda Dardarian

By Lynn LaRowe

Despite being on the other side of a disability rights case that will cost his municipality at least $150 million, Kevin McLaughlin, city attorney for Oakland, California, believes that if more lawyers were like Linda Dardarian, there would be far less lamenting about civility in the legal profession.

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