Blake Lively And Justin Baldoni Settle Dispute Ahead Of Trial

By Lauren Berg

Blake Lively has settled her claims accusing Justin Baldoni's production company of orchestrating a smear campaign after she accused her "It Ends With Us" co-star of sexually harassing her, the actors announced in a joint statement Monday, just two weeks before the case was set to go to trial in New York federal court.

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Ye Ripped Off Artists' Track And 'Ghosted' Them, LA Jury Told

By Rae Ann Varona

The artist once known as Kanye West sampled an instrumental recording he didn't own as part of a listening party for his album "Donda," then "ghosted" the songwriters without compensating them, attorneys for Artist Revenue Advocates told a Los Angeles jury at the start of a copyright infringement suit Monday.

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Sony Pictures Biased Against Older Women, Fired Exec Says

By Gina Kim

A Sony Pictures Television programming executive with decades of experience overseeing productions and adaptations of popular shows like "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "The Nanny" claims she was fired months before her 60th birthday after voicing concerns over the studio's alleged pattern of pushing out women in leadership roles who are older than 60.

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'What Will Take Me To $1B?': Trial Probes OpenAI Exec's Diary

By Dorothy Atkins

OpenAI President Greg Brockman's private journal took center stage Monday in a California federal jury trial over Elon Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion, revealing that just days after telling Musk that OpenAI would remain a nonprofit, Brockman privately asked himself, "What will take me to $1B?"

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WWE Fans Want ESPN Kept Out Of Streaming Service Suit

By Aaron Keller

Streaming video service subscribers accusing World Wrestling Entertainment LLC of luring them into switching providers have asked a Connecticut federal judge to reject attempts by ESPN LLC and its subsidiary BAMTech LLC to enter the fight, arguing the court should respect their choice of who not to sue.

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Calif. District OKs Civil Court Audio Feeds Including Musk Trial

By Dorothy Atkins

The Northern District of California modified local court rules late Friday to allow judges to stream audio for civil jury trials in the district, accompanying its announcement with a separate notice that the high-profile Elon Musk v. Sam Altman trial over OpenAI's for-profit conversion is available to access via audio stream.

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Meta Owes $3.7B For 'Public Nuisance,' NM AG Tells Judge

By Cara Salvatore

New Mexico's attorney general urged a state court Monday to order Meta to pay $3.7 billion to address the "public nuisance" caused by its apps, after a jury previously found the social media giant misrepresented harms to underage users.

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EBay Is Reviewing Unsolicited $55.5B GameStop Offer

By Al Barbarino

Online marketplace eBay said Monday it is reviewing a $55.5 billion unsolicited cash-and-stock offer from GameStop Corp., a deal that would combine the companies' major retail and e-commerce platforms.

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Rooftop Bar Owner Can't Beat Chicago Cubs' Ticket Claims

By Celeste Bott

The owner of a rooftop venue can't win judgment on the pleadings on certain claims in the Chicago Cubs' lawsuit alleging the owner violated the team's intellectual property rights by selling unlicensed viewing tickets for games, an Illinois federal judge has ruled, rejecting the owner's argument that the team doesn't possess a property right to its live games.

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FTC Deal Bars Kochava From Selling Sensitive Location Data

By Allison Grande

Mobile app analytics provider Kochava Inc. has agreed to halt the disclosure of sensitive location data without consumers' affirmative express consent to resolve the Federal Trade Commission's longstanding claims that the data broker sold geolocation data from mobile devices that could be used to track people to reproductive health clinics, places of worship and other sensitive places.

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NJ Justices Won't Consolidate Judicial Privacy Law Cases

By George Woolston

The Supreme Court of New Jersey rejected a bid from a data privacy firm to consolidate more than 100 cases alleging violations of the state's judicial privacy statute into multicounty litigation, according to a notice to the bar.

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Nexstar Tells Justices DirecTV Fee Case Creates Circuit Split

By Nadia Dreid

Nexstar is not pleased with the Second Circuit's decision to revive DirecTV's antitrust suit accusing the broadcasting giant of trying to fix the price of retransmission fees, and it's hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will step in and overturn the ruling.

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Apple Asks High Court To Pause Epic Games App Store Order

By Hailey Konnath

Apple on Monday asked the Supreme Court to stay an injunction barring Apple from charging developers high commissions on in-app purchases until a district court judge decides what exactly Apple can charge, arguing there are important questions that need to be resolved before the lower court proceedings continue.

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OkCaller Tells 11th Circ. Its Google Suit Wasn't 'Incoherent'

By Nadia Dreid

OkCaller.com is asking the Eleventh Circuit to revive its lawsuit accusing Google of monopolizing the market for search engine services, arguing that the lower court was wrong to adopt Google's "straw man" and treat the reverse phone number lookup website's argument as "incoherent."

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FTC Swears Off Media Matters' Boycott Probe, Forever

By Bryan Koenig

Media Matters for America announced a "legally binding settlement" Monday resolving its retaliation claims against the Federal Trade Commission, securing a promise by the agency "to forgo ever reissuing or issuing a substantially similar" administrative subpoena to the left-leaning watchdog in the search for censorship of conservatives.

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Attys Defend $85M Fee Bid Blasted By Judge In Google Deal

By Bonnie Eslinger

Consumers who pursued an antitrust class action against Google urged the California federal judge who criticized their 98,000 hours billed as "grotesquely bloated" to approve their $85 million fee request, emphasizing Friday that they filed suit a year before state attorneys general joined the case and maintained a leading role in the litigation.

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Musk Settles SEC Case Over Late Report Of Twitter Ownership

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission agreed Monday to drop a lawsuit accusing Elon Musk of failing to timely disclose his buy up of Twitter shares ahead of a decision to take the company private, agreeing to a settlement through which a trust held by Musk will pay $1.5 million.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a wide-ranging docket of deal disputes, advancement fights, stockholder suits and contract claims, with several matters turning on timing, forum limits and the remedies available when transactions or governance agreements break down.

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FCC Says Crackdown Killed 3M Listings For Risky Devices

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission says its effort to stop e-commerce platforms from selling devices that pose "dangerous" security risks has stamped out more than three million retail listings in six months.

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Pilots' Union Seeks FCC Focus On Safety In Drone Boost

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission must ensure that its drive to spur the drone industry's growth does not jeopardize air travel safety, the country's largest airline pilots' union has told the agency.

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FCC Told Sports Rights Fix May Lie In Fewer Rules, Not More

By Elaine Briseño

The Free State Foundation has urged the Federal Communications Commission to remove the antitrust exemption for sports leagues when negotiating with content providers, arguing it could allow broadcasters to compete more equitably with streaming apps.

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Fla. Cites Petty Defense Of Social Media Law, Groups Say

By David Minsky

Tech groups urged a Florida federal court to deny an attempt to end a lawsuit challenging a state law that punishes social media websites for banning accounts of political candidates' based on viewpoint, calling officials' defense of the legislation "borderline frivolous."

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Brief

FCC Grants Limited Extensions For 'Rip And Replace' Work

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission is handing out a few extensions for companies that are struggling to meet their deadlines for the agency's "rip and replace" program, which funds the replacement of Chinese technology, but it said it won't shift any more deadlines.

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Orrick Partner Jumps To Pillsbury IP Team In LA

By Elliot Weld

A longtime Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP partner has joined the Los Angeles office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, bringing years of experience in intellectual property litigation and expertise in the Copyright Act and Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

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Davis Polk Lands Skadden's LA Leader To Launch New Office

By Rose Krebs

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is opening an office in Los Angeles and is bringing on the former leader of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's office in the city.

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DOJ's Stance On Antitrust And Patent Law Reflects Balance

Recent statements of interest in patent litigation and a speech from a key U.S. Department of Justice official communicate the view that strong patent rights and competition policy are complementary, and offer important guidance for intellectual property practitioners and businesses navigating patent enforcement, standard‑setting and licensing, say attorneys at Wiley.

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2 AI Snafus Show Why Attys Can't Outsource Judgment

The recent incident involving Sullivan & Cromwell where citations in a filed motion were fabricated by artificial intelligence, as well as a punitive ruling from the Sixth Circuit in U.S. v. Farris, demonstrate that the obligation to supervise AI has belonged and always will belong to lawyers, says John Powell at the Kentucky School Boards Association.

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Bondi Spurs Ethics Doubts By Using DOJ Official As Counsel

By Courtney Bublé

Harmeet Dhillon, an official with the U.S. Department of Justice, is representing former Attorney General Pam Bondi in proceedings before the House oversight committee, which Democrats on the panel say raises ethical quandaries.

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Military Atty Can Prosecute Minn. Civilian Despite Regulations

By Jack Karp

A Minnesota federal judge won't stop a military attorney from being appointed to prosecute a civilian accused of assaulting federal immigration officers, despite finding that the appointment violates binding U.S. Department of Defense regulations.

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DOJ Apology For Hidden Warrant Not Satisfying For Judge

By Tom Lotshaw

A Rhode Island federal judge, whom the U.S. Department of Homeland Security criticized for releasing a noncitizen with an alleged overseas warrant for homicide, was dissatisfied with an assistant U.S. attorney's apology for not disclosing the warrant to the court beforehand.

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Wash. Bar Task Force Spotlights Atty Mental Health Issues

By Rachel Riley

A Washington State Bar Association wellness survey of roughly 900 members found that nearly 10% said they experienced suicidal thoughts or self-harm in the past year, and about 20% expressed concerns about their alcohol consumption, a task force reported to bar leadership on Saturday.

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Lewis Brisbois Gets Ex-Paralegal's Claims Sent To Arbitration

By Adrian Cruz

A Florida state judge determined that a former Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP paralegal has to arbitrate her claims accusing the firm of defamation and costing her a job at another firm.

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Sinema Pans 'Gross Distortion' By Ex-Guard's Wife In Tryst Suit

By Abigail Harrison

Former Arizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Friday doubled down on her contention that a North Carolina federal court lacks jurisdiction over a lawsuit alleging she destroyed a marriage by sending lascivious texts to her ex-security guard.

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Analysis

DOJ's In-House Detention Legal Aid Plan Is MIA

By Courtney Bublé

A year ago, U.S. Department of Justice officials said the government would be taking over a program historically run by nonprofits to provide legal orientations and referrals for pro bono representation for adults in immigration detention facilities. But those involved in the program say the Trump administration hasn't taken any steps to run the program.

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2nd Circ. Raises Concern Over Challenge To NY US Atty's DQ

By Stewart Bishop

A Second Circuit panel on Monday voiced concern over the U.S. Department of Justice's argument that a now-former acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York was serving lawfully when he subpoenaed the New York Attorney General's office over a pair of cases disfavored by President Donald Trump.

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Maduro Gets June Court Date After US Relents On Atty Fees

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge on Monday directed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to return to court in June, after he and his wife, Cilia Flores, reached an apparent agreement with the Trump administration to access Venezuela government funds for their legal fees.

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Mass. Justices Uneasy Over Judge's Handling Of ICE Incident

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' top court on Monday appeared concerned that a state district court judge in 2018 offered to detain a defendant sought by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, as the justices considered a public reprimand.

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Atty Seeks Docs To Back Ogletree DQ Bid In Bias Suit

By Adrian Cruz

A Georgia attorney on Monday asked a federal judge to allow discovery related to her bid to have Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC disqualified from defending ADT LLC against discrimination claims while concurrently defending Microsoft Corp. in the attorney's own pregnancy bias suit.

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Longtime South Fla. Federal Judge James King Dies At 98

By Carolina Bolado

U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King, a Nixon appointee who spent more than half a century on the federal bench and helped shape the Southern District of Florida, died Saturday at the age of 98.

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