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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Ill. Passes Bill To Restrict Outside Investment In Legal Sector

By Emma Cueto

The Illinois state Legislature has passed a bill that aims to stop attorneys from fee sharing with non-lawyer-owned firms in other states and from accepting outside investment via a managed service organization structure.

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Bonus Spotlight

Hueston Hennigan To Pay Summer Bonuses Up To $35K

By Tracey Read

Trial firm Hueston Hennigan is the second boutique to announce it will dole out midyear bonuses to associates.

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As Judicial AI Use Gains Steam, Training Lags

By Emily Sawicki

Court systems around the country are emerging bullish on the use of generative artificial intelligence by judicial officers, but implementation, training, resources and overall regulations remain scattershot, giving rise to concerns that a learning gap could lead to missteps.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of May

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Chevron, Barclays and Topgolf. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from the last full month of spring.

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Plaintiffs' Counsel In Tylenol MDL Agree To $50K Donation

By Gianna Ferrarin

A plaintiffs' attorney and law firm sanctioned in multidistrict litigation alleging prenatal exposure to acetaminophen can cause autism agreed to donate $50,000 to maternal health organization March of Dimes in lieu of paying attorney fees, according to a letter filed Monday in New York federal court. 

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DOJ Will Obey Order Freezing $1.8B 'Slush Fund'

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday it will abide by a federal judge's decision to temporarily pause the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund, adding that it disagreed with the ruling.

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Kia, Hyundai Workers' Attys Get $3.45M Fee Award In Visa Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A Georgia federal court on Monday awarded $3.45 million in attorney fees and costs to lawyers for workers who reached an $11.5 million settlement over claims that a Hyundai supplier, a Kia plant and staffing agencies recruited skilled Mexican engineers for production work and underpaid them.

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Roundup

Hub Hires: Foley Hoag, Holland & Knight, Paul Hastings

By Julie Manganis

The rapidly expanding gaming and sports betting industry brought more legal industry players to the table in Massachusetts in May, with two firms beefing up their bench in that area, while other local attorneys made midcareer leaps into new roles.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Labaton Keller's Michael Canty

By Allison Grande

When Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP partner and general counsel Michael Canty decided to pursue a legal career, he had no doubt about what type of lawyer he wanted to be. 

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