As in-house legal departments adopt artificial intelligence tools, legal operations pros say that unauthorized use of AI by employees, known as “shadow AI,” raises security and governance concerns.
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THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

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In-House Legal Operations' Stubborn 'Shadow AI' Problem

By Anna Scott Farrell

As in-house legal departments adopt artificial intelligence tools, legal operations pros say that unauthorized use of AI by employees, known as “shadow AI,” raises security and governance concerns.

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Papaya Owes $719M, Atty Fees In Gaming False Ad Case

By Elliot Weld

A New York federal judge has granted Firy Inc.'s request to order Papaya Gaming Ltd. to disgorge $719 million and pay $10.1 million in attorney fees to Firy on top of a $420 million jury verdict in April for alleged misrepresentations about its mobile games being based on skill and not using bots.

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Judge Calls Off IP Trial, Threatens Sanctions Against Apple

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal judge has vacated an impending trial date for a patent infringement suit against Apple, saying he needed time to resolve outstanding jurisdictional issues, but ordered Apple to explain why it shouldn't be sanctioned for raising those issues so close to trial.

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Albright Preserves Verdict Clearing Roku On Streaming Patents

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal judge on Tuesday said he wouldn't grant a new trial or a favorable judgment to a company that asserted two patents against Roku after a jury cleared the streaming device maker in 2024.

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OpenAI Settles TM Dispute Over 'IO' Hardware Branding

By Ivan Moreno

OpenAI and startup IYO have reached a settlement in principle in their trademark dispute over the "IO" name for AI hardware, the parties told a California federal court.

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 XAI, SpaceX Say Power Plant Noise Suit Claims Are 'Flawed'

By Rae Ann Varona

XAI and SpaceX urged a Mississippi federal court to throw out several claims in a proposed class action filed over allegedly intrusive noises coming out of a power plant the companies operate in a suburban neighborhood, saying the claims rest on "flawed legal theories" and don't warrant discovery.

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Musk's XAI Wants Minn. Ban On Image 'Nudification' Blocked

By Hailey Konnath

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI asked a federal court to shut down Minnesota's ban on image "nudification" technology, claiming the new law is an "overbroad, content-based ban on free speech" that runs afoul of the First Amendment.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Ex-FCC Officials Call Agency's ABC Station Probe 'Retaliatory'

By Christopher Cole

Several former top officials at the Federal Communications Commission called on FCC Chair Brendan Carr on Tuesday to abandon an early review of eight Disney-owned ABC stations' licenses, calling the action a "grave violation" of federal law and free speech protections.

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FCC Says Starlink Routers Exempt From Nat'l Security Ban

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission has banned virtually all foreign-made routers from the United States, citing national security concerns, but it isn't worried about ones made by billionaire Elon Musk's satellite internet company Starlink.

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FCC Pulls Major Provider From Lifeline, Citing Violations

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission says it has banned one of the nation's biggest Lifeline providers from participating in the subsidy program after uncovering widespread violations of the program's rules, including a practice of transferring people back after they switched their service to another provider.

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LITIGATION

High Court Asked To Take Another Settled Expectations Case

By Adam Lidgett

E-learning company Kahoot Inc. is pushing the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its challenge to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's practice of using settled expectations as a reason to deny patent reviews, marking the second petition before the high court on the issue.

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Fed. Circ. Won't Rethink Expert Decision In Microsoft Case

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit has turned down Microsoft's request that it revisit a panel's decision that reopened the damages amount issue in a patent infringement case brought against the tech giant by Israeli company Exafer Ltd.

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Amazon To Pay $2M To End Suit Over Rest Breaks In Wash.

By Ben Adlin

Amazon will pay $2 million to resolve Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go store workers' accusations that the e-commerce giant failed to provide them with meal and rest breaks required under Washington state law, according to a settlement given final approval by a Pierce County judge.

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Zillow Judge Tosses Home Loan Claims, Leaves Door Open

By Nate Beck

A Washington federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Zillow of paying kickbacks to brokers that directed homebuyers to use the company's mortgage services, in a scheme that plaintiffs argued inflated the overall cost of home purchases and loans.

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Digital Ad Co. Beats Investor Suit Over Client Loss Claims

By Sydney Price

Digital advertising firm PubMatic has escaped a shareholder's suit accusing it of concealing the loss of a key customer for its digital marketing business, with a California federal court ruling that the suit's claims are too vague as-is.

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Split PTAB Upholds Fiber Optics Component Patent

By Ryan Davis

A divided panel of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has decided that Cambridge Industries USA Inc. failed to show that any challenged claims are invalid in an Applied Optoelectronics Inc. patent on technology used in fiber optic networks.

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LG Can't Arbitrate Stockholder Suit, Chancery Says

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court has refused to send fiduciary duty claims against LG, its U.S. subsidiary and several executives to arbitration, ruling that an investor's derivative lawsuit over the governance of advertising technology company Alphonso must remain in the Delaware court.

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Watchdog Org. Asks Court For Trump-IRS Deal Docs

By Zak Kostro

A watchdog organization asked a D.C. federal court to order the government to disclose communications relating to the settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service over leaks of his tax information.

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Fish & Richardson Slams IP DQ Bid As Possibly Manufactured

By Lynn LaRowe

LVMH urged a Texas federal court to reject a bid to boot Fish & Richardson PC from defending the luxury goods business against an infringement lawsuit over patents for nonfungible token display technology, saying the company behind the suit may have tried to "manufacture" a conflict to disqualify the firm.

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HR Giant Rippling Stole Startup's AI Trade Secrets, Suit Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

Human resources services provider Rippling stole confidential information about Runlayer's artificial intelligence platform technology to develop its own competing product, the startup claims in litigation filed Tuesday in New York federal court.

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DEALS

Analysis

Activists Shift Focus To M&A, AI In Quieter Proxy Season

By Al Barbarino

A surge in mergers and acquisitions-focused activist campaigns in the first half of 2026 came as companies adjusted to the universal proxy regime and activists increasingly turned to artificial intelligence to identify targets, according to a Diligent Market Intelligence report released on Tuesday.

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REAL ESTATE

4 Firms Guide Meta, BlackRock's $14B Data Center Project

By Isaac Monterose

Meta and BlackRock are teaming up to develop a $14 billion, 1-gigawatt data center campus in El Paso, Texas, with guidance from Latham, Eversheds Sutherland, Kirkland and Milbank, the companies announced Tuesday.

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ENFORCEMENT

Trader In BigLaw Deal-Tipping Scheme To Plead Guilty

By Chris Villani

A Florida resident is set to plead guilty to his alleged role in a sweeping scheme to trade on insider information about impending acquisitions that was stolen from major law firms, according to a court filing Tuesday.

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Brief

Humanoids, Other Robotics Added To FCC's Nat'l Security List

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday that humanoids and other advanced robotics newly produced in foreign countries will be included on the "covered list" of products restricted from U.S. importation and marketing.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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Simpson Thacher Hung Client Out To Dry, Jury Hears

By Madison Arnold

A legal ethics expert told a Florida jury Wednesday that he believes Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP's actions when representing Patriot National Inc. constitute legal malpractice leading up to the insurance services company declaring bankruptcy.

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Senate Postpones Key Vote For AG Nominee Blanche

By Courtney Bublé

The committee vote on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's bid to take the permanent role, slated for Thursday, was postponed after Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., were not fully on board.

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GOP Bill To Curb Judge Shopping May Have Limited Effect

By Courtney Bublé

A Senate Republican has introduced legislation that he says will fix the judge shopping issue, but court observers don't think it will make much of a difference.

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King & Spalding Told To End 'Shenanigans' In Bid To Exit Case

By Brian Steele

The individual defendants in a $300 million fraud lawsuit have accused King & Spalding LLP of appellate "shenanigans" while it seeks to exit the case due to an alleged ethics conflict, claiming the firm has falsely denied representing corporate clients despite an attorney's appearance suggesting otherwise.

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9th Circ. Vacates Orrick Win In Stock Transfer Deal Dispute

By Hailey Konnath

The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday reversed a lower court's finding that Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP can't be held liable in a battle over a stock transfer agreement gone awry, ruling that California law does allow a party to the transfer to pursue equitable indemnity in the case.

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DOJ Wants To Let Immigration Judges Fine For Contempt

By Britain Eakin

The Executive Office for Immigration Review proposed a rule Wednesday that would allow immigration judges to impose civil monetary penalties for contempt on attorneys, their noncitizen clients and witnesses, operationalizing a power that has lain dormant since 1996.

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Legal Aid Union Alleges Unlawful Incentives To Break Strike

By Andrea Keckley

The Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem union announced on the third workday of its strike Tuesday that it has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing its management of offering unlawful incentives to cross the picket line.

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Former Trump Lawyer Officially Takes The Helm At SDNY

By Hailey Konnath

James McDonald, a former Sullivan & Cromwell LLP partner who represented President Donald Trump in his appeal of his criminal conviction, was sworn in as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday after McDonald's predecessor Jay Clayton departed to serve as director of national intelligence.

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2nd Circ. Backs Ex-Shkreli Atty's 401(k) Restitution Deal

By Lauren Berg

A New York trial judge erred in rejecting a retirement-fund garnishment deal that would have protected Martin Shkreli's convicted former lawyer from tax penalties, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday.

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DOJ Wants New Judge In Fired Court-Appointed US Atty's Suit

By Jack Karp

A lawsuit from the Seattle U.S. attorney who was swiftly fired from his post by President Donald Trump shortly after being appointed to it by a federal court should be reassigned to a different judge, the administration has told a Washington federal court.

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Segal McCambridge Settles Fired Secretary's Age Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

Law firm Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney Ltd. has struck a deal to end a New York federal court suit from a former secretary who said her colleagues mistreated her because of her age, according to a Wednesday court filing.

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Comey Rips '86 47' Case, Says Warrants 'Misstated Facts'

By Lauren Berg

James Comey is taking another angle in his effort to dismiss an indictment stemming from a picture of seashells he posted on Instagram, telling a North Carolina federal judge that the government is pursuing the "vindictive" case because of President Donald Trump's "deep-seated animosity" toward the former FBI director.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AT&T Inc.

Alcon Vision LLC

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

Apple Inc.

Applied Optoelectronics Inc.

BlackRock Inc.

Blickstein Group

Brooklyn Defender Services

Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington

Citrix Systems Inc.

Corning Inc.

Deel Inc.

Delinea Inc.

Duke Energy Corp.

Enstar Group Ltd.

FTI Consulting Inc.

George Washington University

Gerald Holdings LLC

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

Global Infrastructure Partners

Google LLC

HDR Global Trading Ltd.

HighLevel Inc.

Icertis Inc.

Instagram Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Johnson & Johnson

LG Electronics Inc.

LVMH Moet Hennessy

LinkedIn Corp.

McDonald's Corp.

Media Research Center

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Morgan Stanley

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Patriot National Inc.

Poshmark Inc.

PubMatic Inc.

Retrophin Inc.

Roku Inc.

STAAR Surgical Company

Simpluris Inc.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Starboard Value LP

Travere Therapeutics Inc.

TripAdvisor Inc.

Trump Organization Inc.

Universal Service Administrative Co.

University of Miami

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Zillow Group Inc.

Zillow Home Loans LLC

iRobot Corporation

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Ashurst Perkins

Burns Charest

Butler Snow LLP

Cherry Johnson Siegmund James

Cohen & Wolf

Cohen Milstein

Conrad & Scherer

Cooley LLP

Cowdery Murphy

Cozen O'Connor

Crystal Pettiford Law

Daignault Iyer

Davis Polk

Davis Wright Tremaine

Dechert LLP

DiCello Levitt

Duane Morris

Eimer Stahl

Emery Reddy

Entente Law

Eversheds Sutherland

Fish & Richardson

Garteiser Honea

Gibson Dunn

Gillam Smith

Glancy Prongay

Goodwin Procter

HGT Law

HKM Employment Attorneys

Hagens Berman

Healy LLC

Holtzman Vogel

Jeffer Mangels

Jones Day

Jones Walker LLP

Katten Muchin

Keith & Lorfing

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

L'Abbate Balkan

Latham & Watkins

Lennon Murphy

Markun Zusman

McKool Smith

Meritz Reddy

Milbank LLP

Mintz Levin

Morris Nichols

Morrison & Foerster

Munger Tolles

Nixon Peabody

Orrick Herrington

Pakis Giotes

Paul Hastings

Quinn Emanuel

Rivkin Radler

Ross Aronstam

Russ August

Scott & Corley

Scott Douglass

Segal McCambridge

Sidley Austin

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Stearns Weaver

Stinson LLP

Sullivan & Cromwell

Walker Stevens

Waltzer Wiygul

Weintraub Tobin

White & Case

Wiggin & Dana

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Wilson Robertson & VanDeventer

Winston Taylor

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Public Utilities Commission

California Supreme Court

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Internal Revenue Service

International Chamber of Commerce

Judicial Conference of the United States

Minnesota Attorney General's Office

National Labor Relations Board

New York State Assembly

Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

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

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

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

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

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 Minnesota

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Nevada