Anthropic Blocks Pentagon's 'Orwellian' Security Risk Label

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge Thursday issued a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from labeling Anthropic as a supply chain risk to national security, calling the move a "classic illegal First Amendment retaliation" and "Orwellian."

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Live Nation Kicks Off Defense Case In Antitrust Trial

By Stewart Bishop

A coalition of state attorneys general on Thursday mostly concluded their antitrust case against Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary, following weeks of a trial that was nearly derailed after the U.S. Department of Justice dropped out, and Live Nation kicked off its defense case with a company executive who pushed back against claims of anticompetitive conduct.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bill To Give Admin More Control Over US Attys Advances

By Courtney Bublé

A Republican-led bill that would give the executive branch more authority over the installation of U.S. attorneys was advanced out of a House committee Thursday.

Bill attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Justices End Mandatory Life Sentences For Felony Murder

By Parker Quinlan

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ended the use of mandatory life-without-parole sentences for felony murder offenses Thursday, potentially upending the sentences of more than 1,000 incarcerated people in a case that has drawn national attention.

5 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ohio AG Advances Bid For Constitutional Data Center Ban

By Nate Beck

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Thursday advanced a petition for a constitutional amendment to prohibit the construction of data centers in the state, in one step toward seeing the question listed on the ballot.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Watchdog Suit Seeking NJ AG Ethics Training Docs Revived

By Rose Krebs

A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday revived a government watchdog's suit over the state attorney general's office's denial of its public records request for attorney ethics training materials, ruling the trial court should have conducted an in camera review of the requested documents before dismissing the complaint.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FBI Agent Doesn't Have To Testify In Ga. Ballot Fight

By Kelcey Caulder

The FBI special agent behind the bureau's seizure of 2020 election records from Fulton County, Georgia, will not have to testify in an upcoming evidentiary hearing in the county's suit seeking return of the materials, a federal judge said Thursday.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Won't Rehear Flagstar Escrow Interest Decision

By Jon Hill

The Ninth Circuit declined Thursday to revisit a panel decision that held federally chartered banks aren't exempt from a California law requiring interest to be paid on mortgage escrow accounts, leaving Flagstar Bank on the hook for a $9 million borrower class action judgment.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FTC Warns Mastercard, PayPal, Stripe, Visa About Debanking

By Jon Hill

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday warned major payment companies that denying services to consumers based on their politics or religion could lead to an enforcement action, the latest move in the Trump administration's broader crackdown on so-called debanking.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Crypto Developer Loses Bid To Block Potential DOJ Action

By Sarah Jarvis

A Texas federal court tossed a crypto software developer's suit against U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking protection over his forthcoming software from an enforcement action under federal money transmitting laws, finding the developer failed to show a substantial threat of prosecution.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Reinstates Critical Habitat Designations For Seals

By Elaine Briseño

The Ninth Circuit has reinstated critical habitat designations for two Arctic seal species, finding that federal wildlife officials were in line with the Endangered Species Act and were not required to consider foreign conservation efforts or habitats when establishing the regions.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Enviros To Sue Over Timber Project At Flathead Nat'l Forest

By Joyce Hanson

Two environmental nonprofits have notified the Trump administration they will bring a lawsuit against the government over the recently approved West Reservoir timber project at Flathead National Forest, alleging new road building could harm protected wildlife.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Voids Copyright Office's Publisher Demand

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Copyright Office's 2018 demand letter requiring an independent Richmond, Virginia-based publisher to surrender hundreds of its books to the Library of Congress was unconstitutional, but that the company couldn't seek an injunction against any future enforcement actions from the office.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Defends Waiver Power In Nexstar-Tegna Merger Fight

By Jared Foretek

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday defended its authority to waive the television station ownership cap and approve the transfers at the heart of Nexstar's $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, telling the D.C. Circuit that the cap, as an agency rule, can be dispensed with for good cause.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Attys In 'Cop City' Suit 'Better Learn' Filing Rules, Judge Says

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal judge castigated attorneys on both sides of a lawsuit by a documentarian who said he was prevented from filming at the controversial Atlanta "Cop City" project, striking their "inconsistent, incomplete and at times incoherent" filings and ordering them into his courtroom to explain themselves.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FKA Twigs Says LaBeouf Continues 'Abuse' With Illegal NDA

By Lauren Berg

English musician FKA twigs says actor Shia LaBeouf has tried to silence her with an illegal nondisclosure agreement that was included in the settlement the former couple entered to resolve her sexual battery claims, according to a new lawsuit filed in California state court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ore. Industrial Property Value Cut By Tax Court

By Sanjay Talwani

An industrial parcel in Oregon was overvalued, the state tax court ruled, agreeing with the owner's assertion of the property's highest and best use and the need for a sewer pump station.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. AG Threatens Suit Over NFL Diversity Hiring Rule

By Grace Elletson

Florida's attorney general has called out the NFL's Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview diverse candidates for open coaching and leadership roles, claiming it amounts to "blatant race and sex discrimination" that conflicts with state law.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. County Says State Union Law Silences Elected Officials

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado law that expands county employees' right to unionize unconstitutionally silences elected officials and is preempted by federal law, a Colorado county told a federal judge, saying a union's bid to toss the county's challenge to the law should be rejected.

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

States Will Fill DOJ, FTC's Antitrust Void, Ill. AG Atty Says

By Bryan Koenig

The top antitrust attorney at the Illinois attorney general's office predicted Thursday that state enforcers will continue to pick up the pace as the Federal Trade Commission and especially the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division "become less transparent and less active."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

X Corp.'s Lack Of Antitrust Injury Dooms Ad Boycott Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

A Texas federal judge Thursday dismissed X Corp.'s sprawling antitrust suit that accused several advertisers of unlawfully boycotting the Elon Musk-owned social media company by substantially cutting back on or stopping ad purchases, saying X didn't suffer any antitrust injury.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Says SeaWorld Co.'s Walker Ban Violates ADA

By David Minsky

The U.S. government sued the owner of SeaWorld and other theme parks for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act in Florida federal court, claiming in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday that the venues ban people who use mobility devices. 

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Justices Affirm Limit To Sex Abuse Immunity Exemption

By Matthew Santoni

A plaintiff who claimed he was sexually assaulted by employees at a Philadelphia jail can't sue the city because Pennsylvania law only grants a sexual-abuse exception to sovereign immunity if the victim was a minor at the time, the state's supreme court ruled Thursday.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

House Panels Advance Aviation Safety Bill After DCA Collision

By Linda Chiem

Two House committees advanced legislation Thursday that would mandate aircraft-tracking and collision-avoidance technology in some aircraft, and reinforce Federal Aviation Administration and military training and operational procedures, in response to last year's deadly midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet near Washington, D.C.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

4 Key Questions On Tariff Investigations

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. announced a bevy of new trade investigations this month to underpin a tariff regime intended to replace duties struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, but questions remain about the fate of deals struck with trading partners and whether importers will face higher tariffs. Here, Law360 examines four questions on the implications of those investigations.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Economists Applaud Colombia's Exit From Investor Treaties

By Joyce Hanson

American think tank the Center for Economic and Policy Research on Thursday congratulated President Gustavo Petro of Colombia for his decision to break ties with the investor-state dispute settlement system that lets corporations sue governments over lost future profits.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

France To Crack Down On Bypassing Of Small Parcel Tax

By Eleanor Butler

France will expand the power of its customs officials to allow them to better identify and penalize traders that are circumventing a new small parcel tax, the government announced.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EU Parliament Approves US Trade Deal With New Conditions

By Jack McLoone

The full European Parliament voted Thursday to approve a set of contingencies on the European Union's trade deal with the U.S. that would implement major tariff cuts, including the ability to suspend the agreement if President Donald Trump raises tariffs or introduces new ones.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Seems Split On Scope Of No-Bond Detention Policy

By Britain Eakin

An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared divided Thursday on whether the Trump administration can treat immigrants who didn't seek authorized entry at the border as perpetually seeking admission and subject them to mandatory detention without bond.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Groups Can't Undo Deal Paying El Salvador To Jail Deportees

By Gina Kim

A D.C. federal judge has tossed immigrant advocacy groups' bid to vacate the United States' deal with El Salvador to imprison deported noncitizens in exchange for money, finding that they lacked standing since vacatur wouldn't stop deportation as the power to remove is grounded under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Says It Wrongly Cited ICE Memo To Justify Court Arrests

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Justice has told a New York federal judge that it mistakenly cited a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo providing guidance for civil immigration arrests at non-immigration courts, while fighting a lawsuit challenging arrests at immigration courts.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Venezuelan Leader Says Ex-Fla. Rep Couldn't Get US Meetings

By Carolina Bolado

A Venezuelan political opposition leader told jurors Thursday that he connected with former Florida congressman David Rivera to try to secure meetings with high-level U.S. officials in the first Trump administration, but Rivera — who is on trial for allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent — failed to deliver.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Creek Justices Order New Update On Freedmen Citizenship

By Crystal Owens

The Muscogee (Creek) Supreme Court has ordered a second status report on how the tribe's citizenship board and principal chief are complying with a decision to give citizenship to descendants of those once enslaved by the Indigenous nation.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

U.S. Lawmakers Renew Tribal Child Abuse Prevention Bill

By Crystal Owens

A trio of U.S. lawmakers has reintroduced a bill that aims to strengthen available resources to Indigenous nations by filling gaps in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to provide for more equitable access to grant funding opportunities.

Bill attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Floats Caps For Offshore Telecom Call Center Work

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission Thursday floated new rules to encourage the onshoring of customer call centers in the telecom industry.

5 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dems Talk Nexstar-Tegna Merger At Telecom Act Hearing

By Nadia Dreid

Lawmakers touched on a lot of topics during the nearly three hours Thursday they spent dissecting the Telecommunications Act, which turns 30 this year, but the one that Democrats kept dragging the hearing back to was the FCC's recent approval of the $6.2 billion broadcast merger between Nexstar and Tegna.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Advances IP Networks, But Consumer Worries Persist

By Christopher Cole

Federal regulators pushed ahead Thursday on the national transition to all internet-based phone networks although concerns remain among public advocates that parts of the U.S. population that still rely on copper wires could eventually be left stranded.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Justices Deem Pot Group Unharmed By Abstinence Rule

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday held that a cannabis trade association lacks standing to argue that a local court's policy of regulating medical marijuana use for treatment court participants hurts dispensary businesses, upholding a ruling that the association didn't suffer any harm itself from the policy.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Legislative Update: Cannabis And Psychedelics Bill Roundup

By Sam Reisman

Lawmakers at the state and federal level stewarded legislation to rein in kratom and its derivatives, Idaho lawmakers took a stand against a proposal to legalize medical marijuana via ballot initiative, and New York legislators introduced a plan to audit the state's cannabis regulator on an annual basis. Here are the major moves in cannabis and psychedelics legislation from the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Bill Elevates Criminal Risk For 'Shadow' Crypto Firms

New York's proposed CRYPTO Act would expose unlicensed digital asset operators to criminal penalties ranging from state misdemeanor charges to felony convictions, potentially marking a significant shift in how New York — already among the most aggressive crypto regulators — oversees virtual currency businesses, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

Bill attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Opinion

AVOID Act Creates 3rd-Party Litigation Risks For Transpo Cos.

New York's Avoiding Vexatious Overuse of Impleading to Delay Act, which takes effect next month, will require new risk management strategies from transportation companies as it attempts to drastically change the scope of third-party litigation while failing to address practical realities of civil disputes, says Steven Saal at Lucosky Brookman.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Nippon Case Illustrates Challenges Of Proving Antitrust Injury

A recent California federal court decision dismissing challenges to Nippon Steel's purchase of U.S. Steel underscores the longtime antitrust precedent that while the limitations of injury are critical for defendants sued under U.S. antitrust laws, showing that the harm is real is the key, says Cameron Regnery at Freeman Mathis.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BigLaw Races To Capture Expanding Fund Finance Market

By Kevin Penton

Debt financing work at the fund level has long been dominated on the lender side by attorneys from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, Haynes Boone and Mayer Brown LLP, but other firms are increasingly crafting formal practices and poaching fund finance stars from the more established players.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Lanier Law Firm, Kiesel Law LLP, Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP and Beasley Allen Law Firm lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California state jury in a bellwether trial found Meta and Google liable for harming the mental health of a woman who says she became addicted to their social media platforms as a child.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Federal Judge DQs Beasley Allen In J&J Talc MDL

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey federal judge has disqualified the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing hundreds of plaintiffs in sprawling multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, holding that the firm violated ethics rules by collaborating with former outside counsel for J&J, a ruling the law firm has vowed to appeal.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Sanctioned For AI Hallucinations In Workers' Comp Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey appellate court on Friday ordered an attorney to pay $1,000 in sanctions for failing to rectify AI-hallucinated case citations pointed out to him in an appeal concerning reimbursement sought by a workers' compensation carrier.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Apple hit back at a tech company's wireless charging patent claim, a flurry of businesses bring COVID-19 pandemic insurance claims as a key deadline draws closer and Ipulse Partners LLP file a claim against a luxury yacht company it represented in a trademark dispute. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Polsinelli Hires Practice Head From McDermott In NY

By Andrea Keckley

Polsinelli PC said Thursday that it has hired a longtime McDermott Will & Schulte LLP attorney to co-lead its special situations and alternative investment practice, saying the move "further advanc[es] the firm's strategic focus on private credit, distressed investing, and complex restructuring matters."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apollo, BlackRock Deny Asking Kirkland To Abandon Optimum

By Tracey Read

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other major financial companies have denied Optimum Communications' claims accusing them of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as the telecommunications company's transaction counsel to get revenge for a collusion lawsuit filed in New York federal court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A federal judge has stopped the Pentagon from dropping AI giant Anthropic from the government's supply chain, and Latham & Watkins ranked first in a survey of in-house legal leaders on which law firms are most helpful in developing business, followed by King & Spalding, Jones Day and Ropes & Gray.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Firms Targeted By Trump Urge DC Circ. To Uphold EO Rulings

By Alison Knezevich

Four law firms targeted last year by President Donald Trump urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to affirm lower court rulings that struck down executive orders restricting their ability to practice law, saying the directives blatantly violate the Constitution.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Amazon Swaps MoFo In, Perkins Coie Out In Cooker Suit

By Ben Adlin

Amazon.com LLP switched counsel Friday in a customer's product defect suit accusing the retail giant of selling a faulty pressure cooker that allegedly malfunctioned and caused her severe burns, substituting two Morrison Foerster LLP attorneys in place of an outgoing Perkins Coie LLP lawyer.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mich. Judge Signals No Stay If Attys Exit Retaliation Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge said Friday she is not inclined to pause a long-running sexual harassment suit again if counsel for an attorney who is suing her ex-mentor and former firm are allowed to withdraw, telling the parties, "We've been here. We've done this," as she heard arguments over a motion to exit the case.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Nixes Amicus Disclosure Reform Over Potential Chill

By Emily Sawicki

The federal judiciary has been asked not to move forward with a plan to add to amicus brief disclosure requirements designed to curb "dark money" groups from bankrolling amicus briefs, after rules committee chairs pulled the recommendation over concerns of a possible chilling effect.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Williams & Connolly Clerk Accused Of Posting Client Info

By Hailey Konnath

A former Williams & Connolly LLP clerk has been posting confidential firm information — including client information and work email exchanges — and he's threatening to "keep leaking" the materials, which he called "a fun read," according to a suit filed in District of Columbia Superior Court.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mayer Brown's $21M Fee Bid In RI Truck Tolls Suit Rebuffed

By Linda Chiem

A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday rebuffed Mayer Brown LLP's bid for $21 million in attorney fees for representing the commercial trucking industry's lead trade group in long-running litigation over the state's truck tolling program, saying the American Trucking Associations ultimately was not the "prevailing party."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Told It Can't Make Foreign Call Centers Speak English

By Nadia Dreid

The National Creditors Bar Association is not pleased with the Federal Communications Commission's plans to pass new rules that would require companies to make sure their foreign call center operators speak "American Standard English," saying the agency has no power over foreign employees.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »