Paramount Judge Urges Parties To Be 'More Reasonable'

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge overseeing the challenge to Paramount Skydance's $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition brought by the Writers Guild of America and state attorneys general urged the parties Wednesday to be "much more reasonable" with discovery disputes, warning that if they aren't, "you will find yourself asked to engage a special master."

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9th Circ. Asked To Revive YouTube 'Choking Challenge' Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

Parents of children harmed by online "choking challenge" videos have urged the Ninth Circuit to revive their suit against Google's YouTube and TikTok, arguing their claims are not barred by a federal law which grants immunity to third-party internet content providers.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Seeks Release During Appeal

By Rachel Rippetoe

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein on Tuesday asked to be released from federal custody while he appeals his 12 tax and mortgage fraud convictions and a six-year prison sentence, saying he is not a flight risk and it would be a "grave injustice" for him to begin a sentence he believes will eventually get axed.

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Social Media Use Has Addiction Hallmarks, Meta Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

A psychologist told a Tennessee jury considering claims against Meta on Wednesday that it's well accepted in his field that social media use can cause behavior that looks like addiction, and social media is a challenging presence in the lives of 15% to 20% of his patients.

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Netflix Hit With Band's TM Suit Over 'KPop Demon Hunters'

By Rae Ann Varona

Christian heavy metal band Demon Hunter is accusing Netflix in California federal court of infringing its marks for the streaming platform's hit animated musical "KPop Demon Hunters," saying the movie's brand has already caused confusion among consumers and is pushing the long-running band's identity into obscurity.

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Azerbaijan Says CNN's Iran, Israel Report Defamed The Nation

By Jarek Rutz

The Republic of Azerbaijan has sued CNN in Delaware federal court, accusing the news network of defamation for reporting that Azerbaijan allowed Israeli forces to use its territory for military and intelligence operations against Iran during the ongoing war. Azerbaijan says the report was false, damaged the country's reputation and put its citizens at risk of retaliation.

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Firms Cut From $101M Anthropic Atty Fees Appeal To 9th Circ.

By Lauren Berg

Two law firms involved in securing artificial intelligence company Anthropic's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with a class of authors and publishers are appealing to the Ninth Circuit an order excluding them from attorney fees awarded to court-appointed class counsel.

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3rd Circ. Won't Revive Philly Atty's Conspiracy Suit

By James Boyle

A suspended Pennsylvania attorney's attempt to expose an alleged conspiracy against him by Philadelphia public officials and private corporations has been stymied, with the Third Circuit upholding the dismissal of his complaint against dozens of defendants.

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Zuckerberg Can't Be Trusted On Kids' Safety Online, Jury Told

By Dorothy Atkins

A Meta whistleblower testified Wednesday in a California federal jury trial over states' claims Meta hid social media's harms that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg ignored calls for Meta to prioritize kids' safety while publicly touting Meta's safety practices, saying "I feel that you just cannot trust Mark Zuckerberg with kids."

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Fla. AG Sues Online Casinos, Claims They Flout Gaming Laws

By David Minsky

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued operators of online casinos Wednesday in state court, alleging in two lawsuits that the companies and their payment processors openly violate state gambling laws and deceptively market their operations as legal in the state.

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Paramount Viewers Stuck With Bringing Amended Suit

By Bryan Koenig

A California federal judge refused Tuesday to reconsider dismissing a consumer complaint challenging Paramount's completed merger with Skydance and its planned purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, holding that the filing of an amended complaint mooted the motion.

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Chipotle Beats Investor Suit Over Viral Burrito Size Backlash

By Katryna Perera

Chipotle Mexican Grill has permanently beaten an investor suit tied to social media-fueled complaints about its portion sizes, with a California federal judge finding that the suit failed to plausibly plead its securities fraud theories.

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Brief

Video Tech Co. Founder Gets 6 Years For Stock Fraud

By Lauraann Wood

The founder of a Silicon Valley video streaming service was sentenced to six years in federal prison Wednesday for orchestrating a pump-and-dump stock fraud scheme that stole money from at least 100 investors.

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Digital Equity Suit On Ice As Gov't Preps Program Relaunch

By Nadia Dreid

The D.C. federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's shutdown of the Digital Equity Act's Competitive Grant Program has put the case on hold until the government relaunches the program without provisions that consider the applicants' race, as it has agreed to do.

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Broadband Co. Asks FCC To Fix 'Ineffective' State Pole Regs

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Broadband provider GoNetSpeed has asked the Federal Communications Commission to open a rulemaking proceeding to tackle "ineffective" state regulation of utility pole attachments for broadband equipment.

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'Bob's Burgers' Actor Sues Lucid Over 'Lemon' SUV

By Julie Manganis

Comedian and "Bob's Burgers" star Eugene Mirman has sued California-based electric automaker Lucid in Massachusetts state court for leasing him a "lemon" last year.

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Caesars Looks To Dodge Tribe's Suit Over NY Mobile Betting

By Crystal Owens

Caesars Sportsbook is asking a district court to dismiss the Cayuga Nation's claims that its entity is illegally offering mobile sports betting on tribal lands, saying the New York Indigenous nation is looking to create a remedy that Congress chose not to provide.

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Spirit Flight Attendants Object To Google Data Sale

By Rick Archer

The union representing Spirit Aviation's flight attendants has asked a New York bankruptcy judge to reject the bankrupt airline's request to sell its internal data to Google for artificial intelligence training unless the privacy of its members is protected.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Surviving A Long Trial

Most of law school trial advocacy is geared toward the sprint of trying a short case, but beyond managing a cross-examination or closing argument, effectively handling the marathon of a lengthy trial requires the ability to maintain composure, organization and credibility with the jury, says Mihir Elchuri at Hirschler.

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Davis Wright Vets Scolded: Don't Tell Foes 'How To Run Firm'

By Jeff Overley

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP veterans have failed to dodge six-figure sanctions in a prominent discovery donnybrook, and a California magistrate judge added invective to the financial injury, lambasting "troubling" omissions in case citations and heavy-handed "nitpicking" akin to commandeering an adversary's law firm.

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Atty, Son Charged In Probe Of Alleged Penn State Drug Ring

By Rose Krebs

An equity partner based in Meyer Darragh Buckler Bebenek & Eck PLLC's Pittsburgh office has been charged with tampering with evidence and obstructing an investigation in connection with an alleged cocaine ring at Penn State University that allegedly involved his son, according to news reports.

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Texas Judge Flags 'Alarming' Number Of Bogus Citations

By Emily Sawicki

A federal judge presiding over an Austin, Texas, immigration case is warning of possible future sanctions after an attorney included an "alarming" number of "hallucinated" case citations in support of a habeas corpus petition.  

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Jackson Walker Says US Trustee Can't Claw Back Legal Fees

By Clara Geoghegan

Jackson Walker said this week that the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog is beyond the bounds of its authority in a yearslong effort to force the firm to return millions of dollars in legal fees over an undisclosed relationship between a former partner and a Texas bankruptcy judge.

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Over 120 Ex-Judges Demand Probe Of DHS GC's 'Worst' Posts

By Adrian Cruz

A pair of nonprofits along with a bipartisan group of 128 former state and federal judges have asked the Florida Bar to investigate the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a recent series of social media posts attacking sitting judges.

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Polsinelli Can't Rep Doctor In 'Bad Faith' IP Suits, Cos. Say

By Lauren Berg

Two medical device companies suing Polsinelli PC and its longtime client, a patent-holding doctor, for allegedly pursuing "bad faith" infringement claims asked federal courts in Tennessee and Mississippi to disqualify the firm from defending the doctor in the lawsuits, citing their "diverging interests and liabilities."

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Ex-US Attys Protest Trump's Swift Firing Of Rogoff In Seattle

By Rachel Riley

Thirty former U.S. attorneys backed Roger Rogoff's bid for reinstatement as Seattle's top federal prosecutor after President Donald Trump fired him on the heels of his court-ordered appointment, arguing Tuesday that Trump is trying to "sidestep the Senate's advice-and-consent role and sideline the judiciary" by letting unappointed individuals play such roles.

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DOJ Urges Court Not To Dismiss Suit Against DC Bar

By Alison Knezevich

The U.S. Department of Justice is urging a federal judge not to toss its lawsuit against Washington, D.C., attorney disciplinary authorities, saying the court "needs to halt defendants' flagrantly unconstitutional overreach into the president's executive power."

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USPTO Says Patent Atty's Suit Shouldn't Stop Discipline Case

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said an Ohio federal court shouldn't pause professional discipline proceedings against an attorney while he sues the agency, saying he's likely to fail with his suit challenging the fact that a judge from another agency is overseeing his discipline case.

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Sinema Says Brief Signal Chat Can't Anchor NC Affair Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A single exchange on the encrypted messaging app Signal became the focal point of former Arizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's testimony on Wednesday as she sought to convince a North Carolina federal judge that she cannot be hauled into court in the Tar Heel state over an affair — which she declined to characterize as a "passionate" romance — she had with her married security guard.

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