Meta, Uber Verdicts Top Product Liability Trials

By Emily Field

This year has brought major courtroom setbacks for tech platforms and app companies. Juries issued headline-making verdicts against Meta and Google over claims their platforms harm young users, while Uber lost its first federal bellwether trial over driver assaults and now faces a second sexual assault case.

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Ex-ByteDance Exec Fights Perjury Sanction At 9th Circ.

By Bonnie Eslinger

A former ByteDance executive urged the Ninth Circuit Thursday to revive a suit he filed against the TikTok owner after he was fired, saying the case should've been heard in state court and a federal judge had no jurisdiction to order terminating sanctions after finding he perjured himself.

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SAP Owes $17M In Software Patent Case, Jury Finds

By Adam Lidgett

A jury in the Eastern District of Texas said Thursday afternoon that SAP America Inc. owes $17 million after finding that the company infringed a pair of software patents owned by Cyandia Inc., including one SAP had unsuccessfully challenged at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

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AI Music Generator Can't Duck DMCA Claim

By Elliot Weld

A Manhattan federal judge has denied a bid from artificial intelligence-powered music generator Udio to dismiss a claim for violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act brought by music companies that claim their music was used illegally to train the model.

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Nvidia Fights Uphill For Big Trim Of Authors' AI Copyright Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Thursday that he won't grant Nvidia Corp.'s request to permanently toss the bulk of a proposed class action by authors who say the artificial intelligence giant unlawfully copied their copyrighted material to develop its LLMs, but will pare some claims with leave to amend.

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From Hospital Bed, Ex-Uber Driver Denies Sexual Assault

By Hayley Fowler

A former Uber driver denied sexually assaulting a North Carolina woman in a video deposition taken from his hospital bed, telling jurors in a Charlotte courtroom on Thursday that he has no memory of the passenger who is suing the ride-share giant over the alleged incident.

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Equity Residential Cuts $56M Deal In RealPage MDL

By Katryna Perera

A Chicago-based real estate investment trust has reached a $56 million settlement in a sprawling, multidistrict antitrust class action that claims the REIT and multiple landlords used property management software company RealPage Inc.'s revenue management software for rent price-fixing.

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OpenAI, Musk OK With Bifurcated Trial And Advisory Jury

By Lauren Berg

Elon Musk, OpenAI and Microsoft agreed Thursday to a California federal judge's proposal to bifurcate the trial's liability phase from the remedies phase in a case challenging the artificial intelligence company's conversion to a for-profit entity, and that the jury for the liability phase should serve on an advisory basis.

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FCC To Seek Carriers' Views On Connection Rule Revamp

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission will soon ask key stakeholders, including local phone carriers, for their input on an agency plan to overhaul interconnection rules that govern how the nation's communications networks are linked, FCC Chair Brendan Carr said Thursday.

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FCC Urged To Keep 60 MHz In C-Band Airwaves For Satellites

By Christopher Cole

A public advocacy group has told the Federal Communications Commission it's a good idea to reserve at least 60 megahertz of spectrum in the upper C-band for satellite services as it ponders how big a chunk to auction for wireless.

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Ky. Conforms To Fed. Tax Changes, Nixes Tax Threshold

By Michael Nunes

The Kentucky General Assembly overrode the governor's veto of a bill that eliminates its sales tax nexus transaction threshold, levies sales tax on data brokering services and will conform the state's tax code with some provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.

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Citizens Group Says 27 States Are Eyeing AI Chatbot Laws

By Joyce Hanson

Twenty-seven U.S. states are looking at passing laws to make artificial intelligence companies face liability claims in civil suits if they fail to protect consumers who interact with chatbots, while another three states have already enacted protections, according to a citizens group's new legislative tracker.

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Google Says EU Search Data Sharing Plan Raises Concerns

By Matthew Perlman

Google has pushed back after European enforcers outlined how they expect the company to share its search data to comply with its obligations as a gatekeeper in the search engine market, saying the measures raise privacy and other concerns.

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Fed. Circ. Snubs Early Appeal In Camera Tech Patent Feud

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Thursday denied U.S. Navy contractor FullView Inc.'s request to appeal a California federal judge's invalidation of claims in its camera technology patent for not meeting eligibility requirements and the exclusion of a damages expert's testimony in litigation against HP unit Polycom.

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Hyundai Tech Owes Hyundai Motor $2.5M In TM Case

By Elliot Weld

A small U.S. computer company called Hyundai Technology has been told to pay $2.5 million by a California federal jury to Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. after being accused of "piggybacking" off of the auto giant's trademark and causing confusion for consumers.

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Lemonade To Pay $10.5M In Driver's License Data Breach Suit

By Gina Kim

Lemonade will pay $10.5 million to settle with a proposed class of over 190,000 individuals who said the tech-forward insurer's online quote platform negligently disclosed their drivers' license numbers to cybercriminals, according to a preliminary approval motion filed Wednesday in New York federal court. 

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Video Game, DVD Buyers Seek Final OK In $1.57M VPPA Deal

By Gina Kim

Video game and DVD seller DirectToU and wholesaler Alliance Entertainment will pay nearly $1.6 million to settle allegations from a class of more than 9,000 customers that their purchasing information was shared with Facebook through a tracking pixel embedded in the companies' platforms, according to a final approval motion filed in California federal court.

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Ramey Says Sanctions Violation Was 'Misunderstanding'

By Elliot Weld

William Ramey, an intellectual property attorney sanctioned in several federal jurisdictions, told a California federal judge Thursday that any violations of a previous sanctions order regarding his ability to practice law in the state were due to "good-faith misunderstanding of the scope of the court's order — not willful disregard."

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Higher Ed Group Seeks Fees After Beating DOE Research Cap

By Julie Manganis

An organization of public and private research universities has asked a Massachusetts federal judge to award attorney fees and costs in a successful challenge to a U.S. Department of Energy limit on reimbursements for indirect costs of grant-funded research, the third such request since last fall.

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ITC Told Wrongly Claimed Patent Fee Discounts Sink Chip Suit

By Ryan Davis

Semiconductor company Everspin Technologies Inc. has asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to end a memory chip patent suit against it by Avalanche Technology Inc., saying Avalanche's patents are unenforceable because the company wrongly claimed a "small entity" discount on patent fees for years.

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Yelp Seeks To Bind Google To DOJ's Search Monopoly Win

By Craig Clough

Yelp urged a California federal judge Wednesday to preclude Google from arguing in defense of antitrust claims that it is not a monopolist in the general search services market, saying the issue was already determined in the U.S. Department of Justice's landmark antitrust win over the search engine company.

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Lyft's Lax Safety Caused Fatal Carjacking, Texas Suit Claims

By Jonathan Capriel

Lyft Inc. must be held accountable for a carjacking which resulted in the death of one of its drivers, according to a lawsuit filed in Texas state court, claiming the ride-hailing company sent the driver to a high-risk location without proper safety features like rider identity verification.

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MoneyLion Hit With Wash. Class Action Over Referral Texts

By Ben Adlin

A program from fintech platform MoneyLion encouraging users to refer friends to the service has flooded Washington residents with unsolicited text messages in violation of the state's Commercial Electronic Mail Act, alleges a putative class action removed to Seattle federal court Wednesday.

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BCLP-Advised Esco Inks $2.35B Deal For Megger Group

By Al Barbarino

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP is advising Esco Technologies Inc. on an agreement to acquire the Megger Group Ltd. business of TBG AG, advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, for about $2.35 billion. 

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Kirkland-Led Madison Air Prices Largest IPO Of 2026 At $2.2B

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Air ventilation and filtration company Madison Air Solutions made its public trading debut Thursday after pricing a blockbuster $2.2 billion initial public offering, marking the largest IPO of 2026 so far.

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Gibson Dunn-Led Diginex Snags Resulticks In $1.5B Deal

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP-advised Diginex Ltd. on Thursday announced plans to acquire customer engagement solutions provider Resulticks Global Companies Pte. Ltd. in an all-share deal valued at $1.5 billion.

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Davis Polk, Ropes & Gray Lead Defense Tech Firm Arxis' $1.1B IPO

By Nate Beck

Bloomfield, Connecticut-based aerospace parts manufacturer Arxis said it raised $1.1 billion after pricing shares at the top of their range in a Thursday initial public offering advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP.

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Latham-Led Nuclear Power Supplier X-Energy Eyes $750M IPO

By Rae Ann Varona

X-Energy Inc., which develops advanced nuclear reactors and fuel technology, is looking to raise $750 million in an upcoming initial public offering guided by Latham & Watkins LLP, the company has announced.

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Sazerac Pitches $15B Brown-Forman Buy, Plus More Rumors

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Alcoholic drink giant Sazerac has offered to acquire Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman for $15 billion, United Airlines CEO pitched a mega-merger with rival American Airlines to President Donald Trump, and popular pizza chains Papa John's and Pizza Hut are considering new ownership.

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2 Sentenced In North Korean Remote IT Worker Scheme

By Julie Manganis

Two New Jersey men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a scheme to aid North Korea in getting around U.S. and United Nations sanctions by using stolen identities to place workers in information technology jobs.

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Lessons Orgs Facing Cyberattacks Can Learn From Iran War

Amid cyberattacks following the outbreak of the Iran war, the U.S. government is acutely concerned about significant threats to U.S.-based infrastructure, but organizations can take several steps to prepare for such threats by being proactive and responding promptly to incidents, say attorneys at Vedder.

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Series

Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

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Analysis

Bondi's Contempt Defenses Are Strong, But Not Without Risk

By Phillip Bantz

Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi currently has some potentially powerful defenses against Congress' relatively limited abilities to force her to comply with a subpoena to be deposed under oath about the Epstein files, but her exposure to being held in criminal contempt could shift with the political winds, experts said.

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Calif. Lawyer Sues Over State Bar Investigations

By Andrea Keckley

A California trial lawyer claimed in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that he has been unfairly investigated by the state bar since 2019, alleging the office "illegally prioritizes revenue-generation over protection of the public."

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Analysis

AGs' Win Over Live Nation Leaves DOJ Watching From The Side

By Bryan Koenig

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s across-the-board trial rout by 34 state attorneys general underscores the ascendancy of state antitrust enforcers looking to fill perceived enforcement gaps left by the U.S. Department of Justice during President Donald Trump's second term.

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NJ US Atty's Office Turmoil Doesn't Nix Conviction, Judge Rules

By Carla Baranauckas

A federal judge on Thursday rejected a New Jersey criminal defendant's attempt to dismiss his conviction and disqualify the state's top federal prosecutor, holding that the appointment of the current U.S. attorney complies with federal law and that any earlier defects in leadership do not warrant dismissal.

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Judiciary Panel Loves Paralegal's Idea To Modernize Briefs

By Jeff Overley

An Arizona paralegal's unsolicited idea for overhauling a procedural rule governing the format of briefs found a surprisingly enthusiastic audience Thursday at a federal judiciary meeting, where prominent officials and attorneys voiced strong interest and agreed to explore the concept in earnest.

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Judge Doubts Broad Shift In Immigration Hearing Access

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge appeared unconvinced Thursday by a human rights group's claim that the public is getting less access to immigration court hearings in Minnesota during the second Trump administration.

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Optimum Defends Antitrust Suit Against Apollo, BlackRock

By Alex Wittenberg

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other financial giants are colluding to block Optimum Communications Inc. from negotiating a debt refinancing to avert bankruptcy, acting as a "cartel" and locking Optimum out of credit markets, Optimum said in a brief opposing the investors' bid to dismiss its antitrust suit in New York.

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Sentencing Commission Votes To Enact Modest Reform Agenda

By Stewart Bishop

The U.S. Sentencing Commission on Thursday voted to enact multiple revisions to the federal sentencing guidelines, including the first inflationary adjustment in over a decade for calculating penalties for economic crimes, but declined to take action on a series of more transformational changes that were under consideration.

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