Artist's Atty Owes Disney $475K Sanctions In 'Moana' IP Case

By Lauren Berg

An attorney representing an animator who unsuccessfully alleged that The Walt Disney Co.'s "Moana" lifted his Polynesian adventure story must pay more than $475,000 in sanctions, a California federal judge ruled, saying he "acted recklessly" by pursuing trade secret misappropriation claims premised on a forged document.

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Mistrial In Weinstein Case As NY Jury Splits 9-3 To Acquit

By Frank G. Runyeon

A Manhattan judge declared a mistrial Friday on a rape charge against Harvey Weinstein following a deadlock where most jurors voted to acquit the once-powerful Hollywood producer, ending a three-week trial that leaned heavily on the credibility of a single accuser and put questions of consent at the center of the case.

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Disney Investor Sues Leaders Over Streaming Targets

By Jarek Rutz

A Disney stockholder has sued current and former company executives in the Delaware Chancery Court, accusing them of misleading investors by chasing unrealistic Disney+ subscriber targets through heavy content spending, international expansion and promotions that allegedly masked the streaming service's true financial condition.

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Maxim Denied Bid To Stop Playboy Contest Amid IP Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge shot down Maxim's bid to stop Playboy from allegedly ripping off the mechanics behind Maxim's "Cover Girl Competition," saying Maxim's delay in voicing misappropriation concerns and efforts to partner with Playboy amid the magazine's "Great Playmate Search" undermined Maxim's claims of irreparable harm.

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Grok Chatbot Shares Private Info With Tech Cos., Suit Says

By Gina Kim

Users of Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok have had their most personal queries and conversations shared with Meta, Google and TikTok for advertising purposes without the users' permission, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

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7th Circ. Eyes Sanctions In 'Are We Dating The Same Guy' Suit

By Lauren Berg

The Seventh Circuit Friday refused to revive a Chicago-area man's suit over allegedly false reports of his "obnoxious behavior" on an "Are We Dating the Same Guy?" Facebook page, while questioning why he shouldn't be sanctioned for "frivolously appealing" the tossed claims and submitting a brief containing "fictitious" citations.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen singer Rita Ora be sued by her management company, the billionaire Gertner brothers file a part 8 claim and Stephenson Harwood lodge a debt claim against a member of the Bulgari jewelry dynasty. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Cassels, Ropes & Gray

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, Equinox Gold Corp. and Orla Mining Ltd. announce a merger to create a major gold producer, OpenAI plans to form a company to boost adoption of its software across enterprises and private equity firm Apollo acquires trade show operators Emerald Holding and Questex.

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GoPro Freed From $8.2M Verdict As Judge Axes Camera IP

By Adam Lidgett

A California federal judge has freed camera giant GoPro from owing $8.2 million for infringing a claim in a video technology patent owned by Contour IP Holding LLC, finding that the claim was invalid.

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Fed. Circ. Drops A Theme Song, Talks Guest Judges

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit's full lineup came together Friday to provide practitioners with insight about their experience sitting on other courts, in a conference where the chief judge dropped the court's first (and only) single.

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Calif. High Court Releases EdTech Co. From Data Breach Suit

By Allison Grande

California's top court struck down a proposed class action accusing education technology provider Illuminate of failing to safeguard students' personal and health information, which was exposed in a data breach, finding the plaintiff hadn't sufficiently alleged key elements for his claims under the state's medical confidentiality or data security laws.

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Meta Fights Uphill To Nix BIPA Voiceprint Privacy Claims

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge said Friday she's inclined to deny Meta Platforms Inc.'s summary judgment bid on an Illinois resident's claims Meta violated the Prairie State's Biometric Information Privacy Act by obtaining her voice recordings from Facebook and Messenger platforms, saying there's enough evidence to establish a material factual dispute.

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X.AI Urges 9th Circ. To Block Calif. AI Data Disclosure Law

By Ivan Moreno

Elon Musk's company, X.AI LLC, has asked the Ninth Circuit to overturn a California court's refusal to block a state law that requires artificial intelligence developers to publicly disclose details about their training data, saying the judge's decision was "flawed from top to bottom."

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Amazon Fights Revival Of Class Claim In Alexa Recording Suit

By Ben Adlin

Amazon on Friday urged a Washington federal judge to deny Alexa users' bid to reinstate a class consumer protection claim based on allegations the devices secretly recorded their personal conversations, arguing that the court correctly recognized the e-commerce giant "clearly" and "repeatedly" disclosed its data practices.

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Meta Safety Monitor Would Create Roadblock, Judge Told

By Cara Salvatore

Putting Meta under the supervision of a court-ordered monitor would only cause a slowdown in the development of new child safety features, a compliance executive testified Friday in the New Mexico attorney general's bench trial seeking changes to company practices.

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Bankers Group Backs Stricter Robocalls Regs

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The American Bankers Association is backing a Federal Communications Commission effort to ensure that companies routing outgoing robocalls know that the communications are legitimate.

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FTC's Case Alleging Zillow, Redfin Pact Set For August Trial

By Nate Beck

A Virginia federal judge has set an August trial date after shutting down a bid by Zillow and Redfin to escape a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit accusing the companies of sealing a deal to stop competing on multifamily rental listings with a $100 million payment.

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Former Google Employee Alleges Racial Bias Behind Firing

By Celeste Bott

A former Google employee sued the tech giant in Illinois state court, claiming he suffered pervasive racial discrimination from his direct supervisor that ultimately culminated in his termination, purportedly for poor productivity, even when he was at a pace to meet or exceed his revenue targets.

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Fla. Agency Boss Hit With Sanctions In Suit Over Kirk Meme

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge penalized a state wildlife agency supervisor with attorney fees and ordered parts of her sworn statement removed, saying she misled the court to deny a preliminary injunction in a former worker's lawsuit alleging wrongful termination for posting a meme satirizing slain right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.

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Citron Founder Phoned Fed. Agent During FBI Raid, Jury Told

By Craig Clough

An inspector with the U.S. Postal Service told a California federal jury considering securities fraud charges against Citron Research founder Andrew Left on Friday that even as she participated in the FBI's raid of his home, Left called her and spoke at length about the allegations against him for over an hour. 

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Caitlyn Jenner Faces Fresh Suit Over Meme Coin Collapse

By Emilie Ruscoe

Media personality and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner faces potential class action fraud claims in California state court over the collapse of her meme coins after a similar action was tossed from federal court last month because a judge said the plaintiff couldn't sustain his securities fraud claims.

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MLB's Rays, Local Officials Reach $2.3B Ballpark Framework

By Nate Beck

Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays, along with city and county officials, announced Friday that they've reached the basics of a $2.3 billion deal using public and private money to pay for a new ballpark for the team.

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Interview

8 Questions For Rural Broadband Advocate Mike Romano

By Christopher Cole

Several developments in rural connectivity, from a cascade of federal grants to legislative efforts to shore up the Universal Service Fund, means a crowded plate for the NTCA's new boss, Mike Romano. Here, Law360 catches up with Romano to hear more about his plans as he settles into his role.

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DC Circ. Has Doubts About Standard General's FCC Bias Suit

By Nadia Dreid

The D.C. Circuit did not seem convinced Friday morning that the Federal Communications Commission was part of a racist conspiracy to kill Standard General hedge fund manager Soo Kim's $8.6 billion merger with broadcaster Tegna due to his race.

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Trump May Lack Ability To Sue His Own IRS, Attys Say

By Asha Glover

A Florida federal court should carefully examine the relationship between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service when considering whether it has jurisdiction over his $10 billion suit against the agency over the leak of his tax information, a group of attorneys said.

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Alex Jones Can 'Freely Compete' With Infowars, Court Told

By Aaron Keller

The operator of Infowars says bankrupt broadcaster Alex Jones has a legal right to "freely compete" with his former outlet, telling a Texas appeals court the website shut down because a court-appointed receiver failed to pay a third-party streaming service, not because Jones absconded with its property.

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Judge Says Jones Can't Appeal Infowars Bankruptcy Order

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas federal judge on Friday dismissed Alex Jones' appeal over whether Infowars operator Free Speech Systems LLC's assets are part of his Chapter 7 estate, a move that continues to allow the families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to pursue assets through state-court collection efforts that would help satisfy judgments exceeding $1 billion.

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Big E Operator Says Insurers Can't Reject MMA Death Claim

By Julie Manganis

The operator of one of the largest state fairs in the U.S., known as The Big E, alleged in a lawsuit removed to federal court Friday that its insurers are wrongly relying on a list of policy exclusions to deny coverage for a wrongful death suit brought by the family of a mixed martial arts fighter, who died following an event at the Massachusetts fairgrounds in 2022.

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Exploring The Legal Gray Area Around AI Voices In Music

The growing prevalence of AI music on online platforms highlights unique legal questions and ambiguities surrounding the usage of artificial intelligence to create accurate voice clones of existing singers, says Michael Maicher at Volpe Koenig.

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3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

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Murdaugh Sues Ex-Court Clerk Who Swayed Murder Trial Jury

By Jack Karp

Disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh is suing the court clerk whose attempt to influence the jury in his murder trial led the South Carolina Supreme Court to overturn his murder conviction.

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Morgan & Morgan Atty Barred From Harvard Suit Over AI Error

By Chris Villani

A Massachusetts judge on Monday said a Morgan & Morgan PA attorney may not appear before him in a suit against Harvard University over the theft of body parts donated to its medical school, saying the lawyer did not learn his lesson after signing off on briefs in another case with fake case law generated by artificial intelligence.

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Trump Seeks Circuit Seats For 2 Judges He Appointed

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's recent picks for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits mark the first time in his second administration that he's seeking to elevate judges he appointed in his first term.

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Health Co. Wants Kirkland Off IP Case For 'Cardinal Sin'

By Elliot Weld

A healthcare company suing medical technology company Commure Inc. over alleged trade secret theft has said Kirkland & Ellis LLP should be disqualified from representing Commure because the healthcare company had tried to retain Kirkland prior to filing the suit and shared confidential information before anyone asked who the defendant was going to be.

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Wyoming Prosecutor Confirmed Despite Misconduct Rebuke

By Courtney Bublé

Just a few days ago, federal judges tossed nine criminal indictments after President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. attorney's office of Wyoming was accused of prosecutorial misconduct. On Monday evening, he was confirmed to permanently lead the office.

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Analysis

Half The Nation's Bar Apps Could Remove Rape Questions

By Cara Bayles

By next year, it's possible that about half of U.S. jurisdictions will have amended character and fitness questions to avoid dredging up aspiring lawyers' sexual trauma. But while advocates hail the reforms as progress, concerns linger about the patchwork this could create across the country.

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Ex-Willkie Atty Banned By SEC For Insider Trading

By Emily Sawicki

A former Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP mergers and acquisitions attorney who earlier this month admitted to taking part in a widespread BigLaw insider trading scheme will be barred from representing a client before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a minimum of four years, according to an order the agency issued Monday.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a broad mix of celebrity estate litigation, merger disputes, investor suits, record demands, sanctions fights and questions over corporate moves away from Delaware.

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