Trump's Comments Fuel Challenge To White House Press Ban

By Jared Foretek

An attorney for the three major news organizations temporarily barred from the White House said President Donald Trump's own words doomed his administration's claim that the ban was based on national security concerns, telling a D.C. federal judge Thursday that the president simply wanted "good press."

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Judge Plans To Drop TMZ Parent From Terrell Owens' TM Suit

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois state judge said Thursday that he intends to dismiss the Fox subsidiary behind TMZ from a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by ex-NFL star Terrell Owens, which accused the outlet of exploiting his famed catchphrase "Getcha Popcorn Ready" as a tagline in its football-related coverage to evoke anticipation, increase advertising revenues and generate web traffic.

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Buzbee Faces $970K Fee Bid In Dismissed Conspiracy Cases

By Lynn LaRowe

A Mississippi lawyer is asking a Texas state court to award her more than $970,000 in fees after defeating claims that she and her law firm conspired with rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to retaliate against prominent Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee and two of his former clients.

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USA Today Adds To Pile Of Newspaper Suits Against OpenAI

By Elliot Weld

USA Today Co. Inc. and several of its subsidiary newspapers accused OpenAI on Thursday in New York federal court of using their copyrighted news content to train ChatGPT, adding to a heap of lawsuits filed by large and small newspapers claiming the company made free use of content it should have paid for.

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Analysis

The Rise Of White Collar Sports Cheating Scandals

By Alex Lawson

Throughout the history of professional sports, teams have tried to get an edge. When those efforts have veered into impropriety, it's usually stemmed from violations between the lines: sign-stealing, equipment tampering or spying. But that dynamic is shifting.

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Analysis

No Sign Of A Final Whistle For NCAA Eligibility Suits

By Chris Villani

New NCAA rules and a looming U.S. Senate bill could lead to a decrease in court fights over athletes' eligibility, but the huge dollars at stake and athletes' desire to extend their careers mean that litigation is not going to disappear anytime soon.

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Fired Bassist Drops Conn. Contract Suit Against Metal Band

By Aaron Keller

The co-founder and longtime bass player for Grammy-nominated metal band Hatebreed has withdrawn a Connecticut state court lawsuit against the musical ensemble's singer and a related corporate entity, dropping all allegations his 2024 ouster was a breach of contract that caused him emotional distress.

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Disney, ESPN Sued Over Streaming Patents By Korean Group

By Adam Lidgett

A South Korean government research institution and three universities have sued Disney, Hulu and ESPN in Delaware federal court claiming part of their ways of providing videos infringes a series of streaming patents.

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Senators Say Ticket Brokers Can't Pry Into Their Emails

By Nadia Dreid

Two U.S. senators have told a Maryland federal court that a ticket broker cannot force them and their staff to comb through their communications "in the hope of uncovering stray remarks" to support the company's interpretation of the law the FTC is suing it for violating.

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Fla. Panel Trims Punitive Damages Claim By Ex-Marvel CEO

By Carolina Bolado

The former CEO of Marvel Entertainment can request punitive damages against his neighbor in a feud over the surreptitious collection of DNA evidence but not against the neighbor's attorney or a Chubb affiliate accused of helping him, a Florida appeals court has ruled.

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SpaceXAI's Grok Sued For Breaking Ill. Law With Face Scans

By Allison Grande

The Grok chatbot operated by Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company is illegally collecting and storing the biometric data of users who upload photos of their faces to generate edited images, according to a proposed class action filed in Illinois federal court.

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Televangelist Tells Mich. Jury Network Owner Was 'Obnoxious'

By Susan Smiley

A Black televangelist suing his former network testified to a Michigan federal jury on Thursday that he was drawn in and wooed by white religious network owner Kevin Adell, only to be blindsided by his boss' racially charged jokes and erratic behavior.

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ESPN Graphics Producer Says He Was Denied Overtime Pay

By Benjamin Morse

ESPN misclassified a graphics producer as exempt from overtime for years despite his routine job duties, then failed to provide back pay after reclassifying his position in June, according to a Connecticut state court lawsuit.

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Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

By Christopher Cole

Lobbying efforts at the Federal Communications Commission spiked in September as companies and interest groups looked to sway FCC policies on issues such as modernizing the phone networks, Lifeline reform, environmental rules, satellite spectrum and more.

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High Court Puts 4th Circ. Political Ad Rate Ruling On Ice

By Christopher Cole

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a Fourth Circuit ruling that directed the Federal Communications Commission to review an agency staff decision requiring broadcasters charge the lowest political ad rates for committees tied to candidates.

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Sen. Scott Can Trim Booz Allen Tax Info Leak Suit, Judge Says

By Zak Kostro

Sen. Rick Scott can narrow his suit over an IRS contractor's leak of his tax returns to proceed only on a negligence claim against Booz Allen Hamilton in Florida federal court, a judge ruled, saying the trim avoids overlapping litigation after claims against the leaker were transferred.

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'Chicken Soup' Parent Owes $25M Judgment, Investor Says

By Aaron Keller

The entity that manages self-help book publisher Chicken Soup for the Soul Holdings LLC should be ordered to pay $25 million after a sale of most of an affiliate's assets never materialized, according to an investor seeking to recover some of its alleged $50 million in losses.

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Zillow-Redfin Settlement Spotlights Nontraditional-Deal Risk

The Federal Trade Commission's recent settlement with Zillow and Redfin serves as a reminder that authorities are increasingly interested in challenging nontraditional transaction structures that effectively eliminate a market participant, which includes some exclusivity arrangements, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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Series

Mentalism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Convincing strangers I can read their minds may seem like an unusual second career for a legal practitioner, but both disciplines share several important requirements, including trust and preparation, says Warren Biro at Manatt.

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Sheppard Mullin Hit With Class Action Over Data Breach

By Jake Maher

A former Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP paralegal launched a proposed class action against the firm in California federal court on Wednesday over a cyberattack it had in August, in which she says at least 1,000 people's names and Social Security numbers were stolen.

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IP Rights Group Urges Against Litigation Funding Disclosure

By Elliot Weld

An inventor rights advocacy group has told a federal courts rules committee that requiring the disclosure of who is funding civil litigation would put independent inventors at a disadvantage when trying to enforce patents against a larger company.

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Analysis

New Fraud Division Flexes Might In Latest Enforcement Policy

By Phillip Bantz

The National Fraud Enforcement Division's new corporate enforcement policy emphasizes the quick pursuit of certain types of fraud through data analysis and staff resources, expands the target list beyond traditional healthcare providers and highlights the division's growing dominance within the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

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Cornell Defendant Seeks To Nix James As Special Prosecutor

By Andrea Keckley

One of the seven men accused of drugging and raping a fellow Cornell University student at a fraternity home has asked a New York state court to void Gov. Kathy Hochul's appointment of New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case.

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Gov't Attys Could Face Sanctions Over AI Use Omissions

By Madeline Lyskawa

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has ordered four government attorneys to explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned for making factual misrepresentations about the U.S. Army's use of artificial intelligence to evaluate contract proposals.

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Split Congress Could Spur Competing Probes, Cleary Finds

By Courtney Bublé

If the new year brings an era of divided Congress, then "dueling investigations" into the same topics should be expected, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP said in a report it released Thursday.

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Fla. Judge Says Oct. 7 Attack Was 'Inflection Point' For U.S.

By David Minsky

U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman addressed a small group of attorneys in a Florida law office to speak on his book about the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, saying public debate over facts surrounding the event and underlying feud has reached an "inflection point" in America.

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Dems Says GOP Broke Senate Rules In Jack Smith Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have accused Republicans of violating committee rules during a hearing last week with former special counsel Jack Smith.

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