Oracle Corp. says one of its recently laid off sales employees has been trying to extort "an unreasonable and outsized fee" by threatening to sell the software firm's trade secrets to the "highest-bidder," asking a North Carolina federal court to prevent the former employee from exposing any sensitive business information.
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TOP NEWS

Oracle Says Laid-Off Worker Threatening To Sell Trade Secrets

By Lauren Berg

Oracle Corp. says one of its recently laid off sales employees has been trying to extort "an unreasonable and outsized fee" by threatening to sell the software firm's trade secrets to the "highest-bidder," asking a North Carolina federal court to prevent the former employee from exposing any sensitive business information.

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Uber Wants NC Jury To Hear Rider's Mental Health History

By Hayley Fowler

Uber wants to be able to bring up a passenger's mental health history during a sexual assault trial to discredit her damages theory, saying the jury should be able to evaluate her alleged emotional distress in the context of her preexisting conditions.

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Nexstar-Tegna Judge Shows No Sign Of Unpausing Deal Block

By Bryan Koenig

A California federal judge Friday ordered a seven-day extension of the temporary restraining order blocking broadcast giants Nexstar and Tegna from fulfilling their merger, seeing "no evidence" contradicting the initial reasons for the TRO that DirecTV and Democratic attorneys general want solidified into a preliminary injunction.

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Ed. Dept. Urges Judge Not To Broaden Admissions Data Block

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Trump administration is urging a Massachusetts federal judge not to expand his order blocking the U.S. Department of Education's collection of detailed college admissions data for several states' public institutions to cover additional schools, including private colleges.

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4th Circ. Scraps Injunction Blocking DOGE's SSA Data Access

By Abigail Harrison

The full Fourth Circuit on Friday vacated and remanded a preliminary injunction blocking the government's access to sensitive data held by the U.S. Social Security Administration, ruling that unions and retiree advocates failed to show they were likely to suffer serious harm without it.

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Uber Had 'Non-Delegable Duty,' Judge Finds In Assault MDL

By Rae Ann Varona

Uber is a "common carrier" and thus it owed a "non-delegable duty" to safely transport a woman who alleged that a driver on its platform sexually assaulted her, a California federal judge ruled Friday, rejecting the ride-hailing company's contention that it doesn't carry passengers but merely connects them to others who independently provide transportation.

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FOURTH CIRCUIT

4th Circ. Won't Revive Boy's Child Sex Image Confession Suit

By Mike Curley

The Fourth Circuit has declined to reinstate a suit from a minor student against the assistant principal at his school and a school resource officer alleging they violated his constitutional rights by investigating whether he had nude photos of another student, finding that the evidence doesn't show that his confession was coerced or that the search of his phone was unreasonable.

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Full 4th Circ. Rejects Sentencing Case, But Concerns Raised

By Parker Quinlan

A group of judges in the Fourth Circuit have called for rethinking circuit precedent about whether oral pronouncements made at in-person sentencing hearings should have more weight than written judgments, saying existing case law creates a "tangled web of inconsistencies."

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4th Circ. Backs $4.5M Award In US Embassy Renovation Fight

By Caroline Simson

The Fourth Circuit Friday enforced a nearly $4.5 million arbitral award issued to a Danish subcontractor enlisted on a renovation project for the U.S. Embassy building in Copenhagen, saying the award did not violate U.S. public policy by failing to apply U.S. contracting rules.

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ENFORCEMENT

Uber Must Give FTC, States Contact Info On 30M Subscribers

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal magistrate judge Friday ruled in favor of the Federal Trade Commission and states on multiple discovery disputes in their litigation alleging Uber dupes consumers into its paid subscription service, requiring Uber to hand over contact data on roughly 30 million Uber subscribers.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

DLA Piper Defeats Fired Associate's Claims Of Pregnancy Bias

By Pete Brush

A federal jury in Manhattan declined to award damages Monday to a former associate who says DLA Piper unlawfully fired her after she announced she was pregnant, absolving the BigLaw firm hours after tense closing arguments.

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Q&A

Former Pardon Atty Says Trump's Clemency Grants Hurt DOJ

By Phillip Bantz

Former U.S. Department of Justice pardon attorney Liz Oyer spoke recently with Law360 about how the pardon process has changed, the impact the shift might have on the DOJ and how the system could be reformed.

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DOJ Urges DC Circ. To Revive Trump EOs Targeting Firms

By Alison Knezevich

The D.C. Circuit should individually review each section of President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting four law firms, allowing certain portions to stand if others are blocked, the U.S. Department of Justice argued in a new filing urging the court to revive the measures.

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Analysis

The Justices Had Their Say On Immunity. Is A DC Jury Next?

By Chris Villani

The limits of presidential immunity are once again set to be tested after a D.C. federal judge ruled President Donald Trump must face civil claims over the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, clearing the way for trial and potentially another high-stakes appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Meta Pulls Some Attys' Social Media Addiction Ads

By Rachel Rippetoe

After losing a bellwether trial last month in one of a slew of cases from plaintiffs who claim to have been harmed by social media, Meta has begun removing ads from attorneys seeking clients with similar claims.

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Brief

EEOC To Produce Law Firm DEI Letter Records By May 15

By Kelcey Caulder

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told a federal court Monday that it would give two law professors documents related to 20 letters the agency sent to law firms over their purported diversity, equity and inclusion practices by May 15.

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Morgan & Morgan Sued Over Firing Amid Nevada Expansion

By Emily Sawicki

Personal injury titan Morgan & Morgan is facing allegations from a former firm attorney in California state court alleging the Golden State lawyer was pressured to file suits in neighboring Nevada despite having an inactive law license and no experience practicing there, and was then harassed and wrongfully fired over the filings.

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Atty Says Ogletree Can't Litigate Against Her In 2 Similar Cases

By Adrian Cruz

A Georgia attorney said Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC should be disqualified from serving as defense counsel in a discrimination suit she's working on while simultaneously litigating against her on behalf of her ex-employer in a similar matter.

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NJ Man Who Sought To DQ US Atty Leadership To Plead Guilty

By Gina Kim

A criminal defendant who joined a pending bid to disqualify assistant U.S. attorneys overseeing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and escalated a constitutional challenge to its leadership structure told a federal judge Saturday he plans to plead guilty in his drug case. 

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket this past week featured a mix of high-stakes settlements, fast-moving deal litigation, governance disputes and a notable post-trial ruling involving fraud-tainted loans.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

AVA Law Group

Binnall Law Group

Carlton Fields

Chaffin Luhana LLP

Clement & Murphy

Cooley LLP

DLA Piper

Day Pitney

Dhillon Law Group

Gibson Dunn

Girard Sharp

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Hull McGuire

Jenner & Block

K&L Gates

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

McGuireWoods

Morgan & Morgan PA

Morgan Lewis

Morrison & Foerster

Munger Tolles

Niemeyer Grebel

Nixon Peabody

O'Melveny & Myers

Ogletree Deakins

Peiffer Wolf

Pender & Coward

Perkins Coie

Robinson Bradshaw

Saul Ewing

Selendy Gay

Sherin & Lodgen

Simonsen Sussman

Sokolove Law

Sperling Kenny

Susman Godfrey

Wigdor LLP

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

ADT Inc.

American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations

American Federation of Teachers

American Tort Reform Association

Association of American Universities Inc.

BC Partners

Barnard College

Cerner Corp.

Chewy Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Ingerman

Instagram Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Michigan State University

Microsoft Corp.

Natural Resources Defense Council

Nexstar Media Group Inc.

Oracle Corp.

Perma-Fix Environmental Services Inc.

PetSmart Inc.

Tegna Inc.

The DIRECTV Group Inc.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Uber Technologies Inc.

YouTube Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Congressional Research Service

Delaware Court of Chancery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Trade Commission

Los Angeles Superior Court

National Center for Education Statistics

Social Security Administration

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of State

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia