OpenAI CEO Altman Fueled 'Toxic Culture Of Lying,' Jury Told

By Dorothy Atkins

California federal jurors weighing Elon Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion on Thursday watched prerecorded testimony from a former OpenAI board member who voted to oust CEO Sam Altman in 2023 over concerns his pattern of lies and deception fostered a "toxic culture of lying."  

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Judiciary Panel Punts AI Rules, Mulls Judges' Survey Results

By Jeff Overley

Buckle up: Efforts to modernize evidentiary rules amid artificial intelligence fears are getting bumpy, as judiciary advisers Thursday agreed to dramatically delay action while digesting an AI survey of nearly 1,000 judges and organizing a symposium of litigators and tech pros.

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Womble Bond Atty's 'Draconian' Penalty Gives 4th Circ. Pause

By Hayley Fowler

A Fourth Circuit panel seemed to struggle Thursday with what one judge described as a "draconian" contempt order against a Womble Bond Dickinson partner, with the panel nudging counsel for both sides toward a simpler solution that wouldn't force the court's involvement.

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Chip Co. Must Face Suit Over Apple Biz Loss, Judge Says

By Sydney Price

Semiconductor manufacturer Skyworks must face a proposed shareholder class action accusing it of downplaying the financial impact of its diminished business relationship with Apple, with the court finding the investors plausibly show the company concealed relevant information before revealing last year it would pull back its revenue expectations.

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Pentagon Defends Anthropic Security Risk Label At DC Circ.

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Defense told the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acted well within his statutory discretion when he labeled Anthropic PBC a supply-chain risk to U.S. national security, rejecting Anthropic's claims of retaliation.

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Meta Seeks To Toss LA Jury's Social Media Addiction Verdict

By Bonnie Eslinger

Meta and its Instagram platform asked a Los Angeles judge to override a landmark jury verdict awarding millions of dollars in damages to a woman claiming she became addicted to the social media site as a child, saying in the alternative they deserve a new trial.

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Judge Wants States To Outline Live Nation Antitrust Remedies

By Matthew Perlman

A New York federal judge asked state enforcers on Thursday to outline the remedies they intend to seek from Live Nation, along with the discovery they expect to need, before deciding a schedule for the next steps in the antitrust case against the major live entertainment company.

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Warren Asks Meta About Reported Stablecoin Payment Plans

By Sarah Jarvis

The top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee has called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to provide more information about the company's reported plans to introduce stablecoin-based payment features for its users, accusing it of a "deeply troubling" lack of transparency about the project.

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9th Circ. Backs Lead Choice In Super Micro Investor Fraud Suit

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel has refused to undo a California federal court order rejecting Crain Walnut Shelling's bid to lead a securities class action against Super Micro Computers Inc., concluding Thursday the lower court properly determined other investors had shown the nut processor wasn't fit to spearhead the case.

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USPTO Tells Fed. Circ. Verizon Can't Appeal Ax Of IPR Win

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has told the Federal Circuit that Verizon can't appeal a ruling by the agency's former director that wiped out the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of a patent it challenged, saying the court has consistently upheld the board's ability to terminate such challenges.

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Monolithic Must Face Most Nvidia-Linked Investor Claims

By Katryna Perera

A Washington federal judge has largely denied Monolithic Power Systems Inc.'s bid to dismiss an investor suit accusing it of hiding critical defects in power modules used by its largest customer, Nvidia Corp., rejecting the company's argument that the suit's claims amount to "fraud-by-hindsight."

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Zillow, Redfin Can't Escape FTC's Antitrust Suit Over Ad Pact

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge denied Zillow and Redfin's bid Wednesday to toss the Federal Trade Commission's suit accusing the companies of colluding through a $100 million payment to stop competing on multifamily rental listings, ruling that the "fact-intensive nature" of the commission's complaint justifies it surviving past the pleading stage.

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ZoomInfo Must Face Apollo Antitrust, False Ad Claims

By Jarek Rutz

A Delaware federal judge has allowed Apollo.io to press ahead with most of its counterclaims against competitor ZoomInfo Technologies LLC, finding that Apollo plausibly alleged that its larger rival used monopoly power, patent litigation and negative customer messaging to suppress competition in the sales-intelligence data market.

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IBM Can't Dodge All PFAS Claims In NY Contamination Suit

By Mike Curley

A New York federal judge won't let IBM Corp. entirely out of a suit from the village of Endicott alleging that the computer giant's old headquarters contaminated groundwater with forever chemicals and other pollution, only tossing claims related to one of the three wells at issue.

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Proposed Meta Age Reforms Echo Europe Efforts, Judge Told

By Cara Salvatore

An online safety expert testified Thursday that Meta would not be unduly burdened by age-verification reforms New Mexico's attorney general is seeking in a $3.7 billion bench trial over harm to teen users of its social media platforms, given that European regulators in recent weeks announced nearly identical demands.

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Course Hero Operator Wants 'Whopping' $75M IP Verdict Cut

By Elliot Weld

The company behind academic file-sharing site Course Hero has asked a Connecticut federal judge for a new trial or to reduce the $75 million verdict it was hit with by a jury that found it had violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act more than 3,000 times by manipulating documents belonging to Post University.

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Netlist Backs DOJ Stance On Essential IP In Samsung Case

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Department of Justice is correct that having a patent included in a standard does not necessarily give the patentholder market power, Netlist said in defending itself against Samsung's lawsuit accusing it of exploiting a standard-setting process.

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Meta Says Section 230 Bars Wash. Driver's Viral Video Claims

By Rachel Riley

Meta moved Wednesday to exit a Washington state woman's lawsuit claiming she was maligned online after a secret dashcam video of her texting while driving went viral, contending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act safeguards the social media giant from liability for posts on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.

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NAACP Urges Miss. Judge To Turn Off XAI Gas Turbines

By Tom Lotshaw

The NAACP has asked a Mississippi federal judge to block X.AI Corp. from operating a battery of polluting gas turbines in the community of Southaven, asserting it has continued to add turbines to power a nearby data center rather than address permitting violations.

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Google, Verizon Hit With IP Suits Over Auto-Reply Features

By Gina Kim

Google and Verizon were hit with patent infringement suits in Texas federal court Wednesday over Google Pixel's Android Auto and Verizon's Driving Mode auto-reply features that send automated responses to incoming messages when hooked up to a vehicle's Bluetooth, which helps prevent distracted driving. 

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Bayer Sued Over Healthy Sperm Claim On 'One A Day' Pill

By Gina Kim

Bayer AG has been hit with a proposed class action in New York federal court alleging that claims on its Men's One A Day Pre-Conception Health Multivitamin supplements misleadingly convey that they could improve chances of conception and support sperm health.

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Liberty Left Client Info Vulnerable To Hackers, Suit Alleges

By Emilie Ruscoe

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. faces a proposed consumer class action alleging it failed to effectively safeguard private information for current and former clients after hackers claimed they stole information and sought a ransom payment.

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Catering Co. Misclassified Delivery Drivers, Suit Says

By Benjamin Morse

Delivery drivers for a catering platform were misclassified as independent contractors and denied minimum wages and overtime pay, according to a proposed class action in California state court.

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Kalshi Nets $1B Fundraise, Reaches $22B Valuation

By Isaac Monterose

Kalshi, guided by Cooley LLP, announced Thursday that it raised $1 billion for its Series F fundraising round as it reached a $22 billion valuation.

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Apis Partners Clinches $1.23B Tech-Focused Funds

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

British private equity firm Apis Partners Group Ltd., led by Clifford Chance LLP, on Thursday revealed that it closed its latest funds with a combined $1.23 billion of commitments, which will be used to invest in technology-enabled businesses in the financial infrastructure and services sectors.

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Davis Polk-Led Roche To Pay Up To $1.05B For PathAI

By Al Barbarino

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is advising Roche on a deal announced Thursday that would see the Swiss healthcare company purchase a Boston-based, AI-powered digital pathology company for up to $1.05 billion.

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2 Firms Guide Payward's $600M Crypto Payments Co. Deal

By Sydney Price

Jones Day and Latham & Watkins LLP are steering a deal under which Payward Inc., parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, will acquire financial technology company Reap Technologies Holdings Ltd. in an up to $600 million payable cash-and-stock deal, the parties announced Thursday.

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Cooley Leads Space Analytics Firm HawkEye 360's $416M IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Space-based radio signals company HawkEye 360 began trading publicly on Thursday after raising $416 million in its initial public offering led by Cooley LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

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Blue Owl's Stack Could See $30B Price Tag, And More Rumors

By Al Barbarino

Artificial intelligence was a common denominator across recent deal rumors, as Blue Owl Capital was said to be exploring a $30 billion sale of Stack Infrastructure's Asia operations, Anthropic cut a reported $200 billion deal with Google Cloud, and KKR raked in billions for the buildout of a new data center-focused AI company. 

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Agri Stats Reaches Meat Price-Fixing Deal With States, DOJ

By Hailey Konnath

Agri Stats has agreed to stop putting together certain sales reports for broiler chicken processors to resolve the U.S. Department of Justice's allegations that those reports enabled price-fixing by meat processors, according to an announcement made Thursday.

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FBI Assistant GC Joins FBI Alum At Fenwick

By Jack Rodgers

Fenwick & West LLP has hired the former assistant general counsel of the FBI, who will work as a counsel to support technology and life sciences companies and who is rejoining the former FBI director's chief of staff in the Washington, D.C., office.

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FCC Rule Changes Could Accelerate The Space Economy

A series of recently proposed Federal Communications Commission rulemakings that would expand opportunities for commercial space and satellite operations signal a regulatory shift toward greater flexibility, faster processing and more deliberate spectrum planning for space-adjacent and emergent space activities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Arguments Show Justices Vacillating On Geofence Warrants

Questions and statements by the justices during recent oral arguments in Chatrie v. U.S., probing the Fourth Amendment limits of geofence warrants, revealed a Supreme Court that is skeptical of the government’s most sweeping claims, uncomfortable with the petitioner’s broadest theories and searching for a narrow off-ramp, say attorneys at Rogers Joseph.

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Safeguarding RWI Coverage As Materiality Focus Persists

As first-quarter broker claims reports reveal that materiality disputes remain a key driver of representations and warranties insurance claims, the scarce case law in this area indicates that including a materiality scrape provision in an RWI policy may aid policyholders with recovery, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

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FinCEN Rule Could Reshape AML Priorities Across Finance

Financial institutions should prepare for a proposed Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rule that would heighten scrutiny of anti-money laundering requirements and encourage responsible use of technology, potentially reorienting compliance, governance decisions and enforcement exposure for organizations across the financial sector, not just banks, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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Series

Speed Jigsaw Puzzling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My passion for speed puzzling — I can complete a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle in under 50 minutes — has sharpened my legal skills in more ways than one, with both disciplines requiring patience, precision and the ability to keep the bigger picture in mind while working through the details, says Tazia Statucki at Proskauer.

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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Morrisons sued by a former logistics partner, EDF and Cripps LLP face a claim brought by a family estate near Hinkley Point C and a former BBC broadcaster file a defamation claim against a Welsh news site over articles linking her to Russian state media and conspiracy theories. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Morgan Lewis Hires 2 More Hunton Litigators

By Andrea Keckley

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced on Friday that it has hired two more attorneys from Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP to build up its litigation bench.

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Legal Industry Bounces Back, Gaining 2,400 Jobs In April

By Tracey Read

The legal sector is once again on a positive trajectory, gaining 2,400 jobs last month, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Paul Weiss Says Atty Cuts Were Part Of Performance Reviews

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP told Law360 on Friday that the firm has parted ways with some attorneys following an annual review process.

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Top Atty In DOJ Appeal Over Law Firm Exec Orders To Depart

By Jake Maher

The lead federal prosecutor on the Trump administration's appeal to reinstate executive orders targeting four law firms is stepping down from his government role at the end of May, he publicly announced this week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The National Immigrant Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a split Seventh Circuit panel rejected the Trump administration's argument that immigrants unlawfully in the United States have no due process rights.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits section said agency investigations will focus on benefit plan managers' loyalty conflicts, including pursuit of socially conscious goals. Meanwhile, Dell became the latest company to consider Texas as its new legal home. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Prosecutor Faces Probe Into Withheld Immigration Case Info

By Bonnie Eslinger

The lead assistant federal prosecutor for Rhode Island's civil division is under investigation for allegedly withholding information in an immigration case, according to an order from the Ocean State's top federal judge.

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DLA Piper Accused Of 'Frivolous' Suit To Please Chipotle GC

By Gina Kim

DLA Piper aggressively litigated a "frivolous" computer fraud lawsuit against a nonprofit volunteer in order to appease the then-general counsel of Chipotle, a client, who referred the case to the firm, according to a malicious-prosecution complaint filed Thursday in California state court. 

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

By Adam LoBelia

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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