Artist's Atty Owes Disney $475K Sanctions In 'Moana' IP Case

By Lauren Berg

An attorney representing an animator who unsuccessfully alleged that The Walt Disney Co.'s "Moana" lifted his Polynesian adventure story must pay more than $475,000 in sanctions, a California federal judge ruled, saying he "acted recklessly" by pursuing trade secret misappropriation claims premised on a forged document.

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Mistrial In Weinstein Case As NY Jury Splits 9-3 To Acquit

By Frank G. Runyeon

A Manhattan judge declared a mistrial Friday on a rape charge against Harvey Weinstein following a deadlock where most jurors voted to acquit the once-powerful Hollywood producer, ending a three-week trial that leaned heavily on the credibility of a single accuser and put questions of consent at the center of the case.

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Disney Investor Sues Leaders Over Streaming Targets

By Jarek Rutz

A Disney stockholder has sued current and former company executives in the Delaware Chancery Court, accusing them of misleading investors by chasing unrealistic Disney+ subscriber targets through heavy content spending, international expansion and promotions that allegedly masked the streaming service's true financial condition.

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Maxim Denied Bid To Stop Playboy Contest Amid IP Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge shot down Maxim's bid to stop Playboy from allegedly ripping off the mechanics behind Maxim's "Cover Girl Competition," saying Maxim's delay in voicing misappropriation concerns and efforts to partner with Playboy amid the magazine's "Great Playmate Search" undermined Maxim's claims of irreparable harm.

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Grok Chatbot Shares Private Info With Tech Cos., Suit Says

By Gina Kim

Users of Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok have had their most personal queries and conversations shared with Meta, Google and TikTok for advertising purposes without the users' permission, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

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7th Circ. Eyes Sanctions In 'Are We Dating The Same Guy' Suit

By Lauren Berg

The Seventh Circuit Friday refused to revive a Chicago-area man's suit over allegedly false reports of his "obnoxious behavior" on an "Are We Dating the Same Guy?" Facebook page, while questioning why he shouldn't be sanctioned for "frivolously appealing" the tossed claims and submitting a brief containing "fictitious" citations.

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Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen singer Rita Ora be sued by her management company, the billionaire Gertner brothers file a part 8 claim and Stephenson Harwood lodge a debt claim against a member of the Bulgari jewelry dynasty. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Cassels, Ropes & Gray

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, Equinox Gold Corp. and Orla Mining Ltd. announce a merger to create a major gold producer, OpenAI plans to form a company to boost adoption of its software across enterprises and private equity firm Apollo acquires trade show operators Emerald Holding and Questex.

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GoPro Freed From $8.2M Verdict As Judge Axes Camera IP

By Adam Lidgett

A California federal judge has freed camera giant GoPro from owing $8.2 million for infringing a claim in a video technology patent owned by Contour IP Holding LLC, finding that the claim was invalid.

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Fed. Circ. Drops A Theme Song, Talks Guest Judges

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit's full lineup came together Friday to provide practitioners with insight about their experience sitting on other courts, in a conference where the chief judge dropped the court's first (and only) single.

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Calif. High Court Releases EdTech Co. From Data Breach Suit

By Allison Grande

California's top court struck down a proposed class action accusing education technology provider Illuminate of failing to safeguard students' personal and health information, which was exposed in a data breach, finding the plaintiff hadn't sufficiently alleged key elements for his claims under the state's medical confidentiality or data security laws.

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Meta Fights Uphill To Nix BIPA Voiceprint Privacy Claims

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge said Friday she's inclined to deny Meta Platforms Inc.'s summary judgment bid on an Illinois resident's claims Meta violated the Prairie State's Biometric Information Privacy Act by obtaining her voice recordings from Facebook and Messenger platforms, saying there's enough evidence to establish a material factual dispute.

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X.AI Urges 9th Circ. To Block Calif. AI Data Disclosure Law

By Ivan Moreno

Elon Musk's company, X.AI LLC, has asked the Ninth Circuit to overturn a California court's refusal to block a state law that requires artificial intelligence developers to publicly disclose details about their training data, saying the judge's decision was "flawed from top to bottom."

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Amazon Fights Revival Of Class Claim In Alexa Recording Suit

By Ben Adlin

Amazon on Friday urged a Washington federal judge to deny Alexa users' bid to reinstate a class consumer protection claim based on allegations the devices secretly recorded their personal conversations, arguing that the court correctly recognized the e-commerce giant "clearly" and "repeatedly" disclosed its data practices.

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Meta Safety Monitor Would Create Roadblock, Judge Told

By Cara Salvatore

Putting Meta under the supervision of a court-ordered monitor would only cause a slowdown in the development of new child safety features, a compliance executive testified Friday in the New Mexico attorney general's bench trial seeking changes to company practices.

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Bankers Group Backs Stricter Robocalls Regs

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The American Bankers Association is backing a Federal Communications Commission effort to ensure that companies routing outgoing robocalls know that the communications are legitimate.

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FTC's Case Alleging Zillow, Redfin Pact Set For August Trial

By Nate Beck

A Virginia federal judge has set an August trial date after shutting down a bid by Zillow and Redfin to escape a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit accusing the companies of sealing a deal to stop competing on multifamily rental listings with a $100 million payment.

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Former Google Employee Alleges Racial Bias Behind Firing

By Celeste Bott

A former Google employee sued the tech giant in Illinois state court, claiming he suffered pervasive racial discrimination from his direct supervisor that ultimately culminated in his termination, purportedly for poor productivity, even when he was at a pace to meet or exceed his revenue targets.

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Fla. Agency Boss Hit With Sanctions In Suit Over Kirk Meme

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge penalized a state wildlife agency supervisor with attorney fees and ordered parts of her sworn statement removed, saying she misled the court to deny a preliminary injunction in a former worker's lawsuit alleging wrongful termination for posting a meme satirizing slain right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.

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Citron Founder Phoned Fed. Agent During FBI Raid, Jury Told

By Craig Clough

An inspector with the U.S. Postal Service told a California federal jury considering securities fraud charges against Citron Research founder Andrew Left on Friday that even as she participated in the FBI's raid of his home, Left called her and spoke at length about the allegations against him for over an hour. 

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Caitlyn Jenner Faces Fresh Suit Over Meme Coin Collapse

By Emilie Ruscoe

Media personality and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner faces potential class action fraud claims in California state court over the collapse of her meme coins after a similar action was tossed from federal court last month because a judge said the plaintiff couldn't sustain his securities fraud claims.

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MLB's Rays, Local Officials Reach $2.3B Ballpark Framework

By Nate Beck

Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays, along with city and county officials, announced Friday that they've reached the basics of a $2.3 billion deal using public and private money to pay for a new ballpark for the team.

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Interview

8 Questions For Rural Broadband Advocate Mike Romano

By Christopher Cole

Several developments in rural connectivity, from a cascade of federal grants to legislative efforts to shore up the Universal Service Fund, means a crowded plate for the NTCA's new boss, Mike Romano. Here, Law360 catches up with Romano to hear more about his plans as he settles into his role.

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DC Circ. Has Doubts About Standard General's FCC Bias Suit

By Nadia Dreid

The D.C. Circuit did not seem convinced Friday morning that the Federal Communications Commission was part of a racist conspiracy to kill Standard General hedge fund manager Soo Kim's $8.6 billion merger with broadcaster Tegna due to his race.

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Trump May Lack Ability To Sue His Own IRS, Attys Say

By Asha Glover

A Florida federal court should carefully examine the relationship between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service when considering whether it has jurisdiction over his $10 billion suit against the agency over the leak of his tax information, a group of attorneys said.

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Alex Jones Can 'Freely Compete' With Infowars, Court Told

By Aaron Keller

The operator of Infowars says bankrupt broadcaster Alex Jones has a legal right to "freely compete" with his former outlet, telling a Texas appeals court the website shut down because a court-appointed receiver failed to pay a third-party streaming service, not because Jones absconded with its property.

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Judge Says Jones Can't Appeal Infowars Bankruptcy Order

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas federal judge on Friday dismissed Alex Jones' appeal over whether Infowars operator Free Speech Systems LLC's assets are part of his Chapter 7 estate, a move that continues to allow the families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to pursue assets through state-court collection efforts that would help satisfy judgments exceeding $1 billion.

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Big E Operator Says Insurers Can't Reject MMA Death Claim

By Julie Manganis

The operator of one of the largest state fairs in the U.S., known as The Big E, alleged in a lawsuit removed to federal court Friday that its insurers are wrongly relying on a list of policy exclusions to deny coverage for a wrongful death suit brought by the family of a mixed martial arts fighter, who died following an event at the Massachusetts fairgrounds in 2022.

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Exploring The Legal Gray Area Around AI Voices In Music

The growing prevalence of AI music on online platforms highlights unique legal questions and ambiguities surrounding the usage of artificial intelligence to create accurate voice clones of existing singers, says Michael Maicher at Volpe Koenig.

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3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

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ABA Section Votes To Scrap Law School DEI Standards

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association's legal education section on Friday voted to eliminate its requirements that law schools show a commitment to diversity in their student body in order to remain accredited, a policy that has been under fire since a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in higher education.

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Alston & Bird, Banks Sued Again Over $328M Goliath Scam

By Jack Karp

Another proposed class of investors sued Alston & Bird LLP and a trio of financial institutions Friday over their alleged roles in a $328 million cryptocurrency scam orchestrated by Goliath Ventures Inc.

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Fed. Circ. Urges Justices To Reject Newman Suspension Case

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit has urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear Judge Pauline Newman's appeal targeting a suspension imposed on her by the court's other judges, arguing that a lower court correctly held that her challenges to the order are not subject to judicial review.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Haynes Boone lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts that have sent disputes to arbitration have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate subsequent awards.

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Brief

Colorado Passes Bill Banning Fee Sharing With Nonlawyers

By Emily Sawicki

The Colorado Legislature has approved a bill to bar attorneys and law firms operating in the state from sharing fees and revenue with non-attorney-owned firms, known as alternative business structure firms, making Colorado the latest state to tamp down the practice.

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Girardi Trial Judge Josephine Staton To Take Senior Status

By Ryan Boysen

The California federal judge who sentenced disgraced trial attorney Tom Girardi to prison for wire fraud last year has announced that she'll be taking senior status in the fall, allowing President Donald Trump to appoint her successor.

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Roundup

Balancing The Scales: Justices To Revisit Sentencing Rules

By Orlando Lorenzo

The U.S. Supreme Court will take a closer look at a circuit split over the deference that should be allotted to U.S. Sentencing Commission commentary, and a man convicted in the killing of an infant has been released after 27 years served over evidence that points to pneumonia as the likely cause of death.

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Atty Tied To Trump Pardon Headed For August Extortion Trial

By Stewart Bishop

A New York federal judge on Friday set an August trial date for a South Carolina attorney and lobbyist on extortion charges tied to his work as a purported go-between for people with serious legal troubles seeking clemency from President Donald Trump.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

PayPal settled with the DOJ to end a probe into what the government agency said was a discriminatory investment program for Black- and minority-owned businesses. Meanwhile, Meta's global head of legal operations during a panel discussion predicted that the billable hour will be the exception — not the rule — in five years. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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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.

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