Telecommunications

July 14, 2025
Judge Sets Hearing In $70M Alaskan Broadband Grant Row

After over a year of battling it out in Alaska federal court, two Native Alaskan villages will have their chance to go before the judge and argue for summary judgment against the U.S. Department of Agriculture in their suit over $70 million in broadband funds.
July 14, 2025
Calif. Panel Keeps Charter PAGA Case Out Of Arbitration

Charter Communications can't arbitrate an employee's Private Attorneys General Act suit because parts of the arbitration agreement are "unconscionable," a California appeals panel ruled, relying on the state Supreme Court's decisions addressing the same pact.
July 14, 2025
Calif. Panel Upends Arbitration Pact In Worker's Firing Suit

A Charter Communications worker's wrongful termination suit should not have been sent to arbitration, a California appeals court said, after finding the company's alternative dispute resolution pact held one-sided provisions and made it difficult for employees to opt out.
July 11, 2025
Catching Up On Stewart's Discretionary Denial Decisions

Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart and a top administrative patent judge issued 15 discretionary denial decisions on Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions over the past week, across nearly 40 cases. Here's what they decided.
July 11, 2025
Courts Face Early Push To Expand Justices' Injunction Ruling

In the two weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed federal judges' ability to issue universal injunctions, Trump administration attorneys have begun pushing to expand the decision's limits to other forms of relief used in regulatory challenges and class actions. So far, judges don't appear receptive to those efforts.
July 11, 2025
NPE Drops Injunction Bid In Samsung IP Suit Eyed By Feds

A nonpracticing entity has dropped its bid for a preliminary injunction in its patent infringement case against Samsung in eastern Texas federal court, shortly after the federal government made the rare move of expressing interest in the case.
July 11, 2025
Census Didn't Change Rural Carrier Definition, FCC Says

The Federal Communications Commission hasn't changed its definition of a "rural competitive local exchange carrier," the agency assured companies after the U.S. Census Bureau's shift in terminology for urban areas threw the definition into doubt.
July 11, 2025
Google Won't Have To Turn Over EU Ad Tech Settlement Docs

A Virginia federal judge refused a request from the U.S. Department of Justice Friday to force Google to hand over submissions it made to European enforcers when trying to settle their investigation as the sides ready for a remedies trial in the ad tech monopolization case.
July 11, 2025
FCC Approves T-Mobile's $4.4B UScellular Deal

Federal Communications Commission staff late Friday approved the license transfers needed for T-Mobile to complete its $4.4 billion acquisition of UScellular wireless operations.
July 11, 2025
FCC Cuts 'Utility-Style' Internet Regs After Net Neutrality's Fall

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday slashed 41 "utility-style" regulations on broadband service and network interconnection, following a Sixth Circuit ruling in January that sank Biden-era net neutrality rules.
July 11, 2025
Sales Org. Hits Texas Payment Co. With Contract Suit

A Texas-based provider of prepaid mobile recharge and payment solutions was sued in Georgia federal court by Boom Commerce, an independent sales organization, over alleged violations of a merchant processing application and agreement for payment processing services.
July 11, 2025
AT&T Can't Escape Suit Over Pension Plan's Mortality Data

AT&T must face a proposed class action claiming it miscalculated married couples' pension benefits, a California federal judge ruled, saying workers leading the suit provided evidence that the telecommunications company's use of decades-old mortality data and interest rates was unreasonable.
July 11, 2025
Suppressing Rival Views Can Break Antitrust Laws, DOJ Says

The anti-vaccine group once tied to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got a boost Friday in its D.C. federal court suit alleging that the Associated Press, The Washington Post, Reuters and the BBC colluded with social media platforms to censor rivals, drawing a Justice Department brief assailing news organization assertions that viewpoint competition can't be illegally suppressed.
July 11, 2025
Conservative Groups Bash Idea Of Next-Gen TV Mandate

The growing battle over potential federal rules to move the U.S. toward next-generation TV continued this week as several right-leaning groups came out swinging against government mandates forcing the switchover.
July 11, 2025
Ramey IP Atty Sanctioned But Beats Netflix's Contempt Bid

A California federal judge sanctioned a prolific patent plaintiff's former counsel William Ramey and the Ramey LLP law firm for sharing Netflix's confidential information with a third party while pursuing patent infringement claims against Netflix, but he declined to review whether Ramey should be held in civil contempt.
July 11, 2025
Charter's Cox Acquisition Vote Should Be Blocked, Suit Says

A Charter Communications Inc. shareholder has asked a Connecticut state court judge to block a July 31 vote on the Stamford-based company's proposed $37.9 billion acquisition of Cox Communications Inc., claiming the deal will enrich executives and their financial advisers but provide few benefits to shareholders.
July 11, 2025
Phones4u Can't Revive Collusion Case Against UK Networks

The Court of Appeal dismissed Phones 4u's claims Friday that the U.K.'s biggest phone operators colluded to drive the retailer out of business, upholding findings that there was no evidence of anticompetitive behavior between the networks.
July 10, 2025
$33M Sonos Appeal Has Fed. Circ. Asking: What's Up, Alsup?

A Federal Circuit panel struggled Thursday to piece together the different interpretations of what U.S. District Judge William Alsup decided before upending Sonos Inc.'s $32.5 million jury verdict against Google LLC, with one judge claiming disbelief that there could be such a "fundamental disconnect" between the companies' understandings.
July 10, 2025
Apple Tees Up Bid To End App Store Antitrust Class Action

Apple is preparing to file a summary judgment motion in California federal court seeking to end claims from a class of more than 185 million users in a long-running case accusing it of monopolizing the distribution of apps on its devices.
July 10, 2025
'Admonition' But No More Amazon Penalty For Hidden Docs

A federal judge in Washington state took Amazon.com to task Thursday for "bad faith" material review that labeled tens of thousands of documents as covered by attorney-client privilege despite involving no legal advice, but the judge, who is presiding over the Federal Trade Commission's Prime subscriptions case against the company, opted against further punishment.
July 10, 2025
Tegna To Pay $222K To Resolve FCC Probe Into Obscene Video

Broadcast giant Tegna has agreed to pay more than $222,000 to put an end to an inquiry that began almost four years ago when an unknown party played a 13-second pornographic video clip during an evening weather report on a Spokane, Washington, news station.
July 10, 2025
AT&T's $181M Patent Loss Gets Tough Look At Fed. Circ.

A Federal Circuit panel had hard questions for an attorney looking to safeguard Finesse Wireless' $181 million verdict against AT&T and Nokia for infringing a pair of radio interference patents, with one judge in particular seemingly taking issue Thursday with the infringement findings.
July 10, 2025
House Dem Says FCC Must Follow Law On DEI Probes

A House Democrat who helps oversee the Federal Communications Commission says agency chief Brendan Carr must avoid any hint of targeting companies' diversity initiatives for political reasons rather than legal rationale against discrimination.
July 10, 2025
Mass. Man Agrees To $10K Fine For Pirate Radio Stations

The Federal Communications Commission slapped a $10,000 fine on a Massachusetts man in a consent decree for operating pirate radio stations from three locations, though it was a reduction from the nearly $598,000 fine the FCC initially proposed.
July 10, 2025
$4.4B T-Mobile, UScellular Deal Gets DOJ OK, With A Warning

The U.S. Department of Justice gave its all-clear Thursday to T-Mobile's plan to take over most of UScellular's wireless operations, finding that T-Mobile's commitments to bolster the flagging company outweigh, at least for now, worries over the disappearance of UScellular's underdog offerings.

Expert Analysis

The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2024

Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2024, and explain how they may affect issues related to mass arbitration, consumer fraud, class certification and more.
Mentorship Resolutions For The New Year

Attorneys tend to focus on personal achievements or career milestones when they set yearly goals, but one important area often gets overlooked in this process — mentoring relationships, which are some of the most effective tools for professional growth, say Kelly Galligan at Rutan & Tucker and Andra Greene at Phillips ADR.
Series

Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
Managing Litigation Side-Switching During 2nd Trump Admin

Now that the new presidential administration is in place, the government will likely switch positions in a number of pending cases, and stakeholders should employ strategies to protect their interests, say attorneys at Covington.
3 Noteworthy Effects Of The 2025 NDAA

The 2025 defense budget includes further restrictions on semiconductor sales to Huawei, requiring companies to rethink customer-base oversight, but other provisions are likely to broaden procurement contract opportunities, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.
Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark

All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
5 Notable Information Security Events In 2024

B. Stephanie Siegmann at Hinckley Allen discusses 2024's largest and most destructive data breaches seen yet, ranging from ransomware disrupting U.S. healthcare systems on a massive scale, to tensions increasing between the U.S. and China over cyberespionage and the control of U.S. data.
Series

Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.
Opinion

No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.
5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.
What To Expect From Federal Cybersecurity Policy In 2025

There are 12 cyber policy questions to keep an eye on as the new administration and Republican control of Congress present an opportunity to advance less regulatory approaches and revisit some choices from the prior administration, say attorneys at Wiley.
4 Trade Secret Developments To Follow This Year

Significant developments in trade secret law are likely in 2025, and areas to watch include protection of AI-related innovations, the fate of the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban, and questions of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act's extraterritorial reach, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
Republican Trifecta Amplifies Risks For Cos. In 3 Key Areas

Expected coordination between a Republican Congress and presidential administration may expose companies to simultaneous criminal, civil and congressional investigations, particularly with regard to supply chain risks in certain industries, government contracting and cross-border investment, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.