3rd Circ. Preview: AI Copyright Spat, NJ Gun Law Battle

By Carla Baranauckas

A copyright fight over the future of AI‑powered legal research heads to the Third Circuit, where a legal publisher will argue this month that a legal technology company's use of its headnotes does not constitute fair use of copyrighted material. The court will also take up a challenge to New Jersey's firearm nuisance law in a case that asks when a trade group can bring a federal suit over a state statute.

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Judge Wary Of Firms' Bids To Toss Jay-Z Conspiracy Suits

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas state judge on Monday seemed hesitant to dismiss "gamesmanship" claims against Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and a Mississippi law firm brought by Houston personal injury firm The Buzbee Law Firm and two of its former clients, suggesting their dismissal requests may be more akin to special exceptions.

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NY Post Beats 'King Of Vape' Attempt At 'Creative Pleading'

By Sam Reisman

A Florida federal judge has permanently tossed a defamation action a store owner operating as "The King of Vape" brought against the New York Post, saying the e-cigarette retailer "tried to get clever" by tweaking his case to skirt a standard required of libel suits brought by public figures.

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Citron Founder Convicted Of Manipulating Stock Prices

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal jury Monday returned a verdict finding Citron Research founder Andrew Left guilty of using his public platform, including tweets, to manipulate the stock prices of a slew of companies, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

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ESPN Wins Arbitration Of Disney+ User's Meta Privacy Claims

By Aaron Keller

A Disney+ user must arbitrate his claim that ESPN Inc. gave his viewing data to Facebook's parent company Meta without his permission, a Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled, saying federal arbitration law preempts a Pennsylvania Superior Court decision that applied higher standards to private dispute resolution contracts.

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M.I.A. Says Kid Cudi Fired Her To Boost Tour Ticket Sales

By Lauren Berg

British-Sri Lankan artist M.I.A. claims in a new lawsuit that American rapper Kid Cudi used controversial statements she made on stage as an excuse to kick her off his tour in an effort to increase ticket sales, costing her a $2.8 million contract with Live Nation.

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People Inc. Offers To Buy Rest Of MGM At $18B Valuation

By Al Barbarino

People Inc. said Monday that it has submitted a nonbinding proposal to acquire the remaining shares of MGM Resorts International it does not already own, saying the market "materially undervalues the power and durability of MGM's assets."

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US Trade Officials Open IP Probe Into Vietnam

By Adam Lidgett

U.S. trade officials have launched an investigation into Vietnam over what they said were concerns about how the country is allegedly not effectively protecting the rights of intellectual property owners.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled disputes involving merger litigation, startup financing battles, cryptocurrency contracts, investor oversight claims and corporate governance challenges, while also issuing notable rulings in cases tied to World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., cybersecurity company KnowBe4 Inc. and biotechnology firm Ayala Pharmaceuticals Inc.

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Judge Limits Google's Access To Search Rival's Data

By Bryan Koenig

A D.C. federal judge imposed limits on the data Google can access from would-be rivals seeking its search data and syndicated search results, agreeing with the U.S. Department of Justice that the company can't access every piece of information submitted to a technical committee overseeing its monopolization remedies.

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23andMe Says California Data Breach Suit Evades Ch. 11 Plan

By Allison Grande

The bankruptcy plan administrator for the genetic testing company formerly known as 23andMe is urging a Missouri bankruptcy court to shut down a lawsuit recently lodged by California's attorney general that seeks to recoup potentially millions of dollars in statutory penalties for the company's alleged security and disclosure failings stemming from a 2023 data breach. 

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Charter Communications Faces 5 Suits Over Alleged Hack

By Aaron Keller

Charter Communications, which provides telecommunications services in 41 states, has been hit with five Connecticut federal court lawsuits alleging that hackers stole more than 40 million private records through a cyberattack that infiltrated an employee's computer access account.

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States Back FTC's DC Circ. Appeal In Meta Monopoly Case

By Matthew Perlman

More than two dozen state attorneys general have thrown their support behind the Federal Trade Commission's bid to revive its lawsuit accusing Meta of monopolizing social networking through its purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram.

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Microsoft Sued Over Alleging Price-Fixing Pact With Valve

By Rachel Riley

Microsoft has been hit with a proposed class action in Washington federal court by two gamers who claim the tech giant broke federal antitrust law by striking a price-matching deal with video game developer Valve Corp. for PC games sold in their respective digital storefronts.

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SEC Defends Deal Over Musk's Late Twitter Buy-Up Disclosure

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday defended its settlement with Elon Musk over his initial purchase of Twitter stock in 2022, saying the deal was not the result of collusion, after the D.C. federal judge overseeing the case questioned whether Musk was getting special treatment.

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Broadband Co. Still Asking FCC For Waivers On 800 MHz Band

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A broadband services company is pressing the Federal Communications Commission to waive the agency's buildout deadlines so that utilities and other providers can offer expanded terrestrial and nonterrestrial wireless services.

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Portland Pushes Back On FCC's Lifeline Rule Changes

By Christopher Cole

The city of Portland, Oregon, bristled against the Federal Communications Commission's plan to tighten rules to check eligibility for the Lifeline phone subsidy given that it's likely to curtail enrollment in a program that helps with broadband affordability.

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SES Wants Feds To Scrap Rule Restricting 12.75 GHz Uses

By Christopher Cole

Satellite company SES has asked the Federal Communications Commission to toss a restriction on high-speed uplinks in a prime swath of airwaves that the company argues has unnecessarily hindered the growth of domestic fixed satellite service.

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Conn. Alters Pot Tax, Gives Cities Aid To Cut Property Taxes

By Jaqueline McCool

Connecticut will change its cannabis tax structure, provide funding to local governments for property tax reductions and make other tax changes under a 2027 budget bill signed by the governor.

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How Gambling Cos. Can Defend 'Addictive Design' Suits

Following the recent wave of addictive design litigation against video game companies and social media platforms, it appears that the gambling industry may soon face similar claims — but operators may have stronger legal defenses available to them, say attorneys at White & Case.

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Calif. Ruling Lowers Bar For Health Data Breach Claims

The California Supreme Court's ruling in J.M. v. Illuminate Education offers protection for non-healthcare companies that maintain health-related data but also adopts a new and more plaintiff-favorable standard for breach of confidentiality that companies maintaining any health-related data should address, say attorneys at Cooley.

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30-Year Foreign Service Leader Joins Squire Patton In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Squire Patton Boggs LLP has hired the State Department's former acting assistant secretary for Near East Affairs, who was also the first U.S. special envoy for Yemen and throughout his more-than-30-year career with the agency held posts in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq and other countries.

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Brief

Holland & Knight Taps Real Estate Partner To Lead Portland

By Tracey Read

Holland & Knight LLP has elevated a real estate and business attorney who helped launch the firm's Seattle location to executive partner of its Portland, Oregon, office.

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Milbank Raises Associate Pay Scale, Topping Out At $455K

By Kevin Penton

Milbank LLP is increasing associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually, with new salary floors of $235,000 and pay reaching as high as $455,000 for more experienced attorneys, according to the firm.

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Dentons Brings On K&L Gates Litigation Duo In Miami

By Madison Arnold

Dentons US LLP has expanded its commercial litigation capabilities in Miami with a duo from K&L Gates LLP.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Arias Sanguinetti's Mike Arias

By Joyce Hanson

When she was team captain with a track and field scholarship at the University of Southern California in the 1990s, Nicole Haynes was in good health and rarely had to see a doctor. So when she got a bad stomachache and her friends encouraged her to visit the USC health center, Haynes said she didn't have the right words to explain why her experience with Dr. George Tyndall had felt so invasive and wrong.

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Bipartisan Bill Would Modernize Court Records Systems

By Matt Perez

U.S. Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Tuesday jointly introduced the Open Courts Act, which they said would modernize the court records systems PACER and CM/ECF.

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BigLaw Could Tap PE Money For Advantage In Talent Wars

By Ryan Boysen

BigLaw firms may soon partner with private equity to gain an edge in the talent wars, potentially reshaping the U.S. legal industry despite fears that the shift could corrode firms' cultures.

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Senate Confirms Montana, Kansas Judges

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate confirmed judges Tuesday for Montana and Kansas, one of whom was the first judicial nominee of the second Trump administration to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association.

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Dem AGs Slam Climate Science Removal From Judicial Guide

By Jack Karp

The federal judiciary's decision to strike a chapter on climate change from its guide to scientific evidence is misguided, partisan and "will impede the judiciary's ability to pursue truth," according to a Tuesday letter from nearly two dozen Democratic state attorneys general.

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Exclusive

Cooley Launches Global Hearings Practice As Scrutiny Rises

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Cooley LLP has established a global hearings and inquiries practice to help companies prepare comprehensive strategies as they face increased regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions, the firm exclusively told Law360 on Tuesday.

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DOJ Won't Move Forward With $1.8B Fund, Blanche Confirms

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday, "we're not moving forward" with the controversial $1.8 billion settlement fund.

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NC Dem. Lawmakers Introduce Gov't Transparency Bills

By Emily Sawicki

Democratic lawmakers in North Carolina on Tuesday introduced a trio of bills focused on governmental transparency, including a proposal to reform an "increasingly partisan and secretive" judicial standards commission and another to reinforce separation of powers, blocking the state's general assembly from infringing on the governor's authority.

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Analysis

Attys Worried Where ICE Will Draw Line In Asylum Crackdown

By Britain Eakin

Immigration attorneys are bracing for heightened scrutiny after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would crack down on attorneys filing fraudulent asylum claims, expressing fears that the agency could blur the line between fraud and legitimate advocacy.

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