Alibaba Cos. Ink $600M Nonprosecution Deal Over Drug Sales

By Sarah Jarvis

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and its U.S.-based payment processor AUS Merchant Services Inc. will avoid prosecution and pay $600 million to end the U.S. Department of Justice's allegations that they allowed merchants to sell and import illegal pharmaceuticals and controlled substances into the U.S., the DOJ announced Wednesday.

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Analysis

3 Federal Circuit Clashes To Watch In July

By Ryan Davis

A patent owner's effort to undo a Texas jury verdict clearing Samsung of infringing a wireless patent and an appeal of a ruling that Dartmouth College and a supplement maker owe $9 million for filing an "unreasonable" vitamin patent suit are among the cases the Federal Circuit will hear this month.

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7th Circ. Questions Contempt On Hytera Radio Redesign

By Lauraann Wood

A Seventh Circuit panel seemed unsure Wednesday that a district court correctly found Motorola Solutions Inc. entitled to a cut of Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd.'s sales of redesigned mobile radios under a 2022 royalty order entered after a jury found Hytera liable for trade secret theft.

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Yelp Gets To Lock In Part Of DOJ's Search Win Over Google

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge Wednesday partially granted Yelp Inc.'s request to lock in liability findings from the U.S. Department of Justice's landmark antitrust win over Google LLC for its own case against the company, thereby precluding Google from arguing it didn't monopolize the market for general search services.

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TikTok Nears Deal Ahead Of 2nd Social Media Addiction Trial

By Craig Clough

A plaintiff who alleges he became harmfully addicted to major social media platforms as a child and whose case is set to be the second bellwether trial later this month out of thousands of similar cases pending in Los Angeles court has reached a settlement in principle with TikTok, his counsel told Law360 on Wednesday.

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Microsoft Brass Face Investor Suit Over AI Business Hype

By Katryna Perera

A Microsoft Corp. shareholder has launched a derivative suit against the company's top brass, claiming they misled shareholders about the company's artificial intelligence business strategy and products, and caused it to violate copyright and intellectual property laws by "training its AI software on copyrighted works for which it did not possess lawful licenses."

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Calif. Man Says ChatGPT Fueled Bipolar Delusion, Self-Harm

By Lauren Berg

When a California man with bipolar disorder shared his intense delusions with ChatGPT, a lack of safeguards caused OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot to drive him deeper into those delusions and encourage him to attempt to take his own life, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Francisco.

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FTC Says Distorting AI Outputs To Follow State Laws Won't Fly

By Allison Grande

Companies that "alter or steer" the outputs of artificial intelligence models to comply with legislation in Colorado and other states that aim to regulate the use of the emerging technology risk deceiving consumers and facing federal enforcement, the Federal Trade Commission warned in a proposed policy statement released Wednesday.

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Analysis

USMCA Nonrenewal Brings New Caution For Business

By Dylan Moroses

The joint review process for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement formally kicked off Wednesday as the U.S. announced its intent not to renew the agreement without changes, leaving practitioners with questions about the outcomes of negotiations and expectations of continued business uncertainty.

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FCC Wants To Extend Covered List's Reach To Components

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission Wednesday announced new plans to expand the so-called covered list of telecommunications equipment — equipment deemed to be a national security risk — even further so that it bans not only a completed item but all the parts that make it up.

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AI Scams Drive Need For More Action To ID Callers, FCC Told

By Christopher Cole

With data showing robocall scams even more rampant than reported and artificial intelligence making fraud easier, the Federal Communications Commission needs to take action to better identify the sources of calls, a consumer advocacy group said.

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3 NJ Bills On Data Center Regulation Sent To Governor

By Isaac Monterose

The New Jersey Senate and the state's General Assembly recently passed three data center regulation bills that will be considered by Gov. Mikie Sherrill.

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Wash. AI Task Force Forgoes Data Center, Labor Safeguards

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state task force made a series of recommendations to lawmakers Wednesday for promoting responsible use of artificial intelligence while declining to endorse proposed guardrails on data center development and the use of generative AI by state agencies, according to a final report.

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Brief

FCC To Vote On Revamping Space, Earth Station Licensing

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday released the order it wants to vote on later this month to overhaul the licensing process for satellite and earth stations by creating an "assembly line" process that the agency says will slash red tape.

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Chen Says Herridge Must Name Source Even Under Her Test

By Jared Foretek

A woman claiming that an FBI agent smeared her by leaking confidential records to then-Fox News journalist Catherine Herridge told the U.S. Supreme Court not to halt Herridge's contempt finding and $800-per-day fine any longer, saying that even under Herridge's preferred test, she would still have to identify her source.

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Zillow Loses Bid To Exit IBM Sign-On Tech Patent Suit

By Adam Lidgett

A Washington federal judge has refused to let Zillow out of IBM's lawsuit accusing the online real estate marketplace company of infringing a user sign-on patent, rejecting Zillow's argument that the company's processes weren't covered by what the patent requires.

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Ukrainian Civilian Suit Against Semiconductor Cos. Dismissed

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge on Wednesday dismissed claims that semiconductor manufacturers negligently sold products the Russian government used to build missiles that killed Ukrainian civilians, but gave the Ukrainian civilians who brought the suit another shot at pleading their claims.

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TD Bank Can't Escape Customer's Meta Pixel Tracking Suit

By Sydney Price

TD Bank must face a proposed class action alleging it wrongfully shared customers' personal information with Meta Platforms Inc. for marketing purposes, with a New Jersey federal judge ruling the latest version of the suit plausibly alleges the bank's tracking tool caused actual harm to the plaintiff.

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Resale Ticket Buyers Must Arbitrate Live Nation Claims

By Matthew Perlman

A New York federal court has sent antitrust claims from concertgoers who purchased Ticketmaster tickets on the secondary market to arbitration, after finding an arbitration clause in Live Nation's terms of service is enforceable.

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Chancery Court Sends SpaceX-Linked Dispute To Arbitration

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Court of Chancery has refused to halt a New York arbitration between software company Trellis and investment firm ClearList, ruling instead that the parties had delegated threshold questions of arbitrability to an arbitrator through their services agreement and requiring the dispute to proceed outside Delaware.

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Pa. Court's Verizon Tower Approval Comes With New Test

By Matthew Santoni

A Pennsylvania appellate court Wednesday set new standards for wireless providers like Verizon to seek local zoning variances, upholding approval of a Lehigh County cell tower while throwing out old Federal Communications Commission guidance on interpreting the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

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4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In June

By Julie Manganis

An advisory firm's failure to register as a broker before diving into work on a $2.1 billion take-private deal last year has cost it, while emails and text messages took center stage in several other disputes pending in Massachusetts state court in June.

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Bojangles Can't Duck Workers' Data Breach Class Action

By Hayley Fowler

Bojangles cannot free itself from a proposed data breach class action alleging the fried chicken fast food chain left employees' personal information vulnerable to Russian hackers, a North Carolina Business Court judge ruled in largely denying the company's bid for an early exit.

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Farm Says $99M Deere Right-To-Repair Deal Is Unfair

By Mike Curley

One of the farms suing Deere & Co. in federal right to repair litigation is objecting to a $99 million settlement that received preliminary approval in May, saying the deal provides minimal relief compared to what the class could have gotten at trial, especially since more than half of it may go to class counsel.

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Bankrupt EV Co.'s Execs Reach $20M Investor Deal

By Sydney Price

Executives of bankrupt electric vehicle startup Canoo Inc. have reached a $20 million deal with the company's shareholders to end claims that they misled investors about its go-to-market strategy ahead of its merger with a special purpose acquisition company in 2021.

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LinkedIn Says Users Agreed To Browser Extension Scans

By Taylor Bowie

LinkedIn told a California federal judge that two proposed class actions alleging the website unlawfully accesses users' browser extensions are part of an "international retaliation campaign" over routine security methods that users agreed to.

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EV Battery Workers Say Ford Is Joint Employer

By MJ Koo

Battery plant workers have told a Michigan federal court that Ford Motor Co. is their joint employer and bears responsibility for unpaid wage claims at an electric vehicle battery plant, pushing back against the automaker's bid to escape the lawsuit.

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Fubo Faces Adeia Streaming Patent Suit In Del.

By Adam Lidgett

Adeia Media Holdings on Wednesday sued FuboTV in Delaware federal court alleging the sports streaming venture infringed four of its patents, months after the patent owner announced a deal to end infringement litigation against Fubo's controlling company Disney.

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Microsoft Data Center Upends Neighborhood Peace, Suit Says

By Hailey Konnath

A data center operated by Microsoft Corp. in southeastern Wisconsin emits "unreasonable and excessive noise," disrupting the lives of nearby residents, according to a proposed class action filed in federal court Wednesday.

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Match.com Omits That Best Matches Cost Extra, Suit Says

By Rae Ann Varona

Match.com advertises the ability to connect people with their "most compatible" matches to entice them into subscribing to its online dating platform, but fails to first disclose that the feature requires an additional payment, one user has alleged in a proposed class action filed in New York federal court.

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Walmart Hit With Ill. Biometric Privacy Suit For Recorded Calls

By Celeste Bott

Walmart has been hit in Illinois state court with a proposed class action claiming that customers' voiceprints were recorded and captured for fraud prevention purposes when they called the retail giant's customer service line, without the required consent and disclosures under Illinois' biometric privacy law.

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Brief

IT Firm Seeks To Enforce Noncompete Against Ex-Sales Chief

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts IT management company Coretelligent has asked a state judge to block its former chief revenue officer from starting a new, nearly identical job with a rival firm, saying the move violates a noncompete.

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Analysis

Megadeals Driving Record M&A Values In Uneven 2026 Market

By Al Barbarino

Massive strategic transactions and technology deals pushed global M&A values in the first half of 2026 above the half-year peaks seen in the 2021 dealmaking boom, but experts say the market remains uneven and second-half expectations hinge on the absence of further geopolitical shocks.  

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Latham-Led Bending Spoons Leads Trio Of IPOs Topping $2B

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Italian mobile app developer Bending Spoons hit the public markets after raising $1.7 billion in its initial public offering, marking the largest of three IPOs to begin trading on Wednesday, exceeding $2.1 billion in total deal volume.

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Judge To Approve $40M Sale Of Texas A&M Data Center

By Yun Park

A Texas bankruptcy judge said Wednesday that he would approve a sale of a data and research center affiliated with Texas A&M University, RELLIS Campus Data and Research Center LLC, to AI software company ThisWay Global Inc. for $40 million.

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Amazon To Pay $2.25M To Settle FCRA Violation Claims

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Amazon has been ordered to pay $2.25 million in civil penalties to settle allegations that it knowingly violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by refusing to provide customers with transaction records after their personal information was used by identity thieves to commit fraud.

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NJ Cops Can Accept Warrantless Location Info From Feds

By Nadia Dreid

A New Jersey appeals court has said it won't overturn the gun trafficking conviction of a man who was arrested in part due to cellphone location data that was acquired by federal law enforcement in Ohio, which didn't require a warrant to get the information.

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Anthropic Says Export Controls Are Lifted For Latest Models

By Ganesh Setty

Anthropic has announced that export controls ordered by the Trump administration regarding its new Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 models have been lifted, saying it would make the frontier models available starting Wednesday.

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Brief

Calif. Man Gets 21 Months For Sports Memorabilia Fraud

By Ganesh Setty

A California resident has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty in December to one count of wire fraud for knowingly selling counterfeit baseball memorabilia he claimed was from MLB Hall of Famer Willie Mays.

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The Case For Using Final-Offer Damages Forms In IP Suits

Recent Federal Circuit decisions, such as Ollnova v. Ecobee, that scrutinize verdict forms in patent infringement disputes potentially render the final-offer damages selection procedure more attractive, though it should not be seen as a replacement for patent damages doctrine, says Brandon Theiss at Addy Hart.

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GM Privacy Penalty Signals A Change In Calif. Enforcement

General Motors' $12.75 million settlement with the California attorney general over its sale of driving behavior and geolocation data to brokers shows that disclosures and user choice may no longer be enough to define permissible data use, says Sonja Arndt-Johnson at Buchalter.

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Agentic AI And Securities Law: Evolving Risk Disclosures

The U.S. disclosure regime is built on the premise that management can describe the material facts and risks facing its business, but, with the advent of agentic artificial intelligence, the question is whether the regime can accommodate decision-making systems whose behavior is not fully predictable, says Joseph A. Hall at Davis Polk.

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Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

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Legal Sector Jobs Spike With Work 'Churning Right Along'

By Aebra Coe

The legal sector added 5,100 jobs in June, the largest increase the industry has seen in more than two years, according to preliminary, seasonally adjusted data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the Asian Law Caucus and the Democracy Defenders Fund lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump's bid to limit birthright citizenship.

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Feds Seek Up To 21 Months For Ex-Judge On ICE Obstruction

By Elizabeth Daley

A former Wisconsin judge who was convicted of obstructing ICE officers' courthouse arrest of a man facing misdemeanor charges by pointing him to a side door should spend up to 21 months in prison, the government said in a sentencing memo, recommending she be made an example.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week 

By Sue Reisinger

Amid the changes coming for general counsel, the policies and enforcement priorities of federal regulators may fluctuate more rapidly after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week that could dramatically remake independent government agencies. And the EEOC rescinded affirmative action documents that have guided employers for decades.

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Georgia Atty Can't Revive Defamation Suit Over Ethics Case

By Emily Johnson

The Georgia Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a Georgia attorney's defamation suit against two people involved in an unsuccessful disciplinary action against her, saying her rambling appeal failed to prove that the trial court erred in dismissing her claims.

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When Does A Firm's 'Breakup' Fee-Split Contract Go Too Far?

By Rachel Rippetoe

It looked like a win for plaintiffs' firms when the Kentucky Supreme Court recently upheld a firm's 75% claim on fees from cases an attorney took with him when he launched his own practice, but the narrow ruling may leave room for lawyers to challenge similar agreements as penalties for leaving their firms.

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Judges To Tour Rust Belt To Build Trust In Courts

By James Boyle

Days after the Fourth of July celebration of America's 250th birthday, a group of current and retired judges will lead a four-day bus tour through three states to promote one of the bedrock principles of the country's independence: the rule of law.

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Analysis

Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Supreme Court's stark ideological divisions were on full display this term, particularly as it issued long-awaited rulings in the last few days of June. Here, Law360 dives into the numbers behind this court term.

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Mass Tort Titan Paul J. Napoli Dies

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Paul J. Napoli, an influential plaintiffs attorney who worked on some of the nation's highest-profile mass tort matters in recent decades, died on Tuesday at the age of 58.

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Skadden Adds Mass Torts Litigator As Partner In Chicago

By Christine DeRosa

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has grown its mass torts litigation offerings in Chicago with the addition of a Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP attorney, the firm said.

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'Embarrassed' Conn. Atty Details ChatGPT Briefing Errors

By Aaron Keller

With a sanctions hearing on the horizon, a Connecticut attorney has told the state's highest court he is "extremely embarrassed" by artificial intelligence errors in briefs filed in two recently decided cases, explaining he used ChatGPT to edit his research without knowing it could make "unprompted changes to the content."

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Del. Magistrate Orders JPMorgan To Advance Javice Fees

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court ruled Thursday that JPMorgan Chase & Co. must advance millions more in disputed legal fees to cover the appeal of the convicted founder of college financial aid startup Frank, concluding the bank failed to meet Delaware's demanding standard for withholding advancement by showing the billing requests reflected "clear abuse."

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Ex-DOJ Fraud Section Chief Joins Fried Frank

By Nadia Dreid

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP has added a veteran litigator from the U.S. Department of Justice who also brings more than a decade of experience representing financial institutions in white collar, enforcement and complex litigation spaces.

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Reed Smith Adds Ex-Norton Rose Partner, RE Atty In Munich

By Nate Beck

Reed Smith LLP has bolstered its private equity practice with the hire of a former Norton Rose Fulbright group leader in Munich.

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McCarter Atty Knew 'Magic Words' For $20M Deals, Court Told

By Brian Steele

If a onetime McCarter & English LLP partner had raised a single red flag about a Long Island town's legally flimsy agreement to repay $20 million worth of a businessman's loans, the ill-fated deals never would have gone forward, a Connecticut court heard Thursday.

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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.

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