Media Ban Judge Declines Ruling On TRO, For Now

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge Wednesday declined to rule immediately on a temporary restraining order restoring White House access for major news organizations barred by the Trump administration since last week, instead saying he would consider the sides' arguments and issue a ruling shortly.

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Weinstein Sentenced To 15 Years After NY Trials

By Frank G. Runyeon

A New York state judge on Wednesday sentenced Harvey Weinstein to 15 years for sexually assaulting "Project Runway" production assistant Miriam Haley, following a series of trials against the already-imprisoned former Hollywood producer.

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Goldstein Not Leaving Prison Any Time Soon, 4th Circ. Rules

By Jeff Overley

The Fourth Circuit balked late Wednesday at freeing Tom Goldstein from prison as he fights felony convictions, and it rejected fast-track review of the renowned appellate advocate's trial, indicating he'll likely spend substantial time behind bars even if his appeal succeeds.

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5th Circ. Asks Texas Students If Drag Is Same As 'Striptease'

By Spencer Brewer

The full Fifth Circuit pressed student LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations to explain how drag shows on Texas college campuses met the standards for First Amendment protection, asking Wednesday if the organizations were arguing the schools should allow "striptease" performances.

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'I'm Tired Of This': Judge Scolds Atty In Romantasy Suit

By Theresa Schliep

A New York federal judge has reprimanded counsel for a writer in a failed copyright infringement lawsuit over the "Crave" book series, insisting the plaintiff answer all questions in a deposition over attorney fees and writing that she was "tired of this" and "indeed being jerked around."

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Sam Smith Can't Shimmy Out Of 'Dancing' Copyright Suit

By Adam Lidgett

A California federal judge will not throw out a lawsuit accusing pop singers Sam Smith and Normani of copying another song in their 2019 hit "Dancing With a Stranger," saying there were factual issues over the alleged similarity of the songs.

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NY Times Board Failed To Probe Anti-Israel Bias, Fla. Says

By Craig Clough

The New York Times Co.'s directors failed to address anti-Israel bias in the paper's coverage despite concerns about a freelancer who praised Adolf Hitler and repeated complaints from a newsroom whistleblower, a Florida state agency and a conservative think tank told a New York state court Wednesday.

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3 Firms Steer Royal Caribbean, Sandals' $3B Resort Deal

By Al Barbarino

Royal Caribbean Group said Wednesday it has agreed to invest about $3 billion for a 50% stake in a joint venture with Sandals Resorts, expanding the cruise operator's business into the all-inclusive resort market.

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Huawei Used Joint Venture Talks For IP Heist, Jury Hears

By Stewart Bishop

Jurors in the corporate criminal trial of Huawei saw evidence Wednesday suggesting proprietary information for Quintel Tech. Ltd.'s technology for improving cell phone reception was used in a patent application by a Huawei engineer amid joint venture talks, as prosecutors continued to assert the Chinese telecommunications giant made trade secret theft one of its central business strategies.

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NM Offers Infernal Literature Lesson In Meta Trial Closing

By Cara Salvatore

New Mexico wrapped its data privacy trial against Meta on Wednesday by likening the social media company's alleged habitual lying about data protection to the worst of sins in Dante's "Inferno," asking the jury, "Does lying matter?"

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Roblox, Discord Seek To Compel Arbitration In Abuse MDL

By Craig Clough

Roblox and Discord urged a California federal judge Tuesday to send bellwether claims brought by children in a sexual exploitation multidistrict litigation to arbitration, arguing that a federal law protecting sexual assault plaintiffs from forced arbitration does not apply to allegations that online platforms enabled abuse by third-party users.

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DOJ Partially Backs Apple In Epic High Court Contempt Case

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief that the Ninth Circuit wrongly faulted Apple for charging a 27% commission on transactions linked out from apps, but it backed other parts of the California federal court's contempt order won by Epic Games.

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Google MDL Coverage Suit Belongs In Calif., Del. Judge Rules

By Dorothy Atkins

A Delaware state judge has stayed a lawsuit by American International Group subsidiaries seeking a declaration that they're not liable for covering Google's defense costs tied to social-media addiction multidistrict litigation, finding the parties must litigate in California where Google filed its own coverage suit weeks before the insurers.

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OpenAI Looks To End SpaceXAI's Apple Deal Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

OpenAI is urging a Texas federal court to end an antitrust case from Elon Musk's SpaceXAI over a deal integrating ChatGPT into Apple devices, saying the pact is not exclusive and does not block competition from rival chatbots.

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Verizon Asks FCC To Dismiss Data Speed Complaint

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Verizon has asked the Federal Communications Commission to dismiss a customer's complaint that it violated the commission's rules by reducing the speed on his Verizon plan once his 200-gigabyte data limit was reached.

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Opinion

Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

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Tracking Trends In State-Level Regulatory Enforcement

State-level enforcement now increasingly involves antitrust, artificial intelligence and data privacy issues, and the key for organizations to reducing risk is having the ability to respond across governance, public affairs, discovery and remediation in multiple states simultaneously, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

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Tarter Krinsky Data Breach May Have Affected Health Info

By Andrea Keckley

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP said in a letter this month that a data breach last year may have compromised protected health information the firm possessed due to its representation of an unnamed healthcare provider.

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Analysis

Newman's Roadblocks Guide Judicial Conduct Reform Bill

By Dani Kass

The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act has worked well in allowing the judicial branch to govern itself for nearly 50 years, but the ongoing suspension of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has exposed gaps that could be addressed with newly introduced legislation, attorneys say.

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Senate Confirms Abbott Aide To Texas Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 50-47, along party lines, on Wednesday to confirm Angela Colmenero, deputy chief of staff to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, to serve on the Southern District of Texas.

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Fed. Panel At Standstill Over ABA Law School Accreditor Role

By Emma Cueto

A key U.S. Department of Education committee deadlocked Wednesday over whether the American Bar Association council responsible for approving law schools should continue as a federally recognized accreditor, tabling the issue until Thursday after different proposals failed to win majority support.

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