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April 26, 2024
TikTok GC To Step Down, Work On Overturning US Law
The global general counsel for TikTok and parent company ByteDance will be stepping down from his role in June to take on a different job within the social media giant, the company announced Friday: fighting a new federal law requiring ByteDance to divest in TikTok or face a ban in the U.S.
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April 26, 2024
Wells Fargo Clients Seek Class Cert. In Race Bias Suit
Mortgage applicants accusing Wells Fargo of discriminating against borrowers from racial minorities with higher interest rates, worse terms and more scrutiny than white clients have asked a California federal judge to approve their class.
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April 26, 2024
Apple Keeps Win Over Fortnite Player In Calif. Antitrust Suit
A California state appeals court on Thursday refused to revive a putative class action brought by Fortnite players alleging that Apple's App Store policies violate the state's antitrust and unfair competition laws, saying because the tech giant's conduct is immune from antitrust liability it can't be held to be "unfair."
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April 26, 2024
Umpqua Bank Seeks Win On Investors' Ponzi Aiding Claims
Oregon-based Umpqua Bank has asked a San Francisco federal judge to toss claims that it aided and abetted a $250 million real estate Ponzi scheme, arguing the investors who brought the suit saw that their funds were put into "legitimate" investments.
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April 26, 2024
No Coverage For Treasure Hunter's IP Row, 9th Circ. Rules
Great American Insurance Co. had no coverage obligations over a $7.5 million settlement stemming from a treasure hunter's claims that his former partners refused to hand over maps and other intellectual property after they parted ways, the Ninth Circuit ruled Friday, finding the treasure hunter didn't allege insurable, accidental conduct.
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April 26, 2024
Real Estate Authority: Homelessness, PFAS, Flood Zones
Law360 Real Estate Authority covers the most important real estate deals, litigation, policies and trends. Catch up on this week's key developments by state — as well as on U.S. Supreme Court arguments over local homelessness policies, real estate attorney reactions to new rules on "forever chemicals," and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's latest take on building standards in flood zones.
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April 26, 2024
CVS Customers Say Colo. Co. 'Eavesdrops' On Web Activity
Two consumers who used CVS.com to order prescription refills have filed a putative class action against a Colorado software service provider claiming it illegally eavesdrops on visitors' interactions with the website without their knowledge, even gathering information about specific drugs and dosages they purchased.
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April 26, 2024
Microsoft Narrows Virtual Assistant Patent Row Ahead Of Trial
A Delaware federal judge has tossed claims that Microsoft's virtual assistant program infringed a patent initially issued to a company that developed Apple's Siri software, but declined to scratch out allegations on another patent in the dispute, which is teed up for trial early next month.
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April 26, 2024
9th Circ. Sends Warner Bros. False Ad Suit To Arbitration
Warner Bros. can arbitrate a proposed false advertising class action over its Game of Thrones: Conquest mobile app game, the Ninth Circuit said Friday, finding the customers had "reasonably conspicuous notice" of the app's terms of service that contained an arbitration provision via a sign-in wrap agreement.
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April 26, 2024
US Says 2 Chinese Nationals Smuggled Semiconductor Tech
The U.S. has charged two Chinese nationals with conspiring to smuggle semiconductor technology to a blacklisted Chinese company, according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
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April 26, 2024
Flight Attendants Seek Class Status In FMLA Penalty Suit
Former and current Southwest flight attendants have asked a California federal judge for class status in their suit claiming the airline punished workers who took family or medical leave by blocking them from improving their disciplinary records, arguing that their allegations are best resolved collectively.
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April 25, 2024
PI Ordered To Stay Away From Jury That Issued $10B Verdict
A California judge on Thursday kept in place an order for a private investigator to cease contacting jurors who delivered a $10 billion verdict in March against his client, telling him, "it doesn't sit well with me" that he's "going and bothering jurors" by visiting them at their homes.
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April 25, 2024
9th Circ. Upholds $1.7M Injury Verdict Against Genie
Equipment manufacturer Genie Industries Inc. can't upend a jury verdict and a $1.7 million judgment awarded to a Portland, Oregon, shipyard worker who was injured by the company's allegedly defective lift boom, the Ninth Circuit has ruled, rejecting the arguments that he failed to prove his injuries were permanent.
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April 25, 2024
Incarceration Can't Get Default Nixed In $92M Award Suit
A California federal court has refused to set aside an entry of default against a Russian businessman accused of engaging in a scheme to avoid paying a more than $92 million arbitral award, rejecting his defense that he couldn't respond because he was incarcerated in France.
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April 25, 2024
Meta Can't Get TTAB To Dismiss Software Biz's TM Challenge
An administrative tribunal has dealt a setback to the tech giant formerly known as Facebook in its legal efforts to register a trademark covering its new moniker, allowing an Italian software company called myMeta to proceed with arguments that it was first.
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April 25, 2024
Real Estate Exec Can't Escape Shareholder's Self-Dealing Suit
A California federal judge ruled that a derivative shareholder suit accusing the president of a real estate management and investment firm of misusing nearly $35 million of company revenue now passes the so-called Zuckerberg test since the plaintiff sufficiently pled that demand on the company's board members would be futile.
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April 25, 2024
Rubrik Leads Trio Of IPOs That Buoy Recovering Market
Three companies debuted trading Thursday following initial public offerings that raised nearly $1.4 billion combined under guidance from six total law firms, including two offerings that priced above range by data security firm Rubrik and aerospace company Loar, providing fresh energy for a strengthening IPO market.
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April 25, 2024
Calif. AG Charges A Top LA Prosecutor Over Cop File Access
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has unveiled criminal charges accusing a top Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office prosecutor and adviser to DA George Gascón of illegally accessing nearly a dozen confidential sheriff's deputy files in 2021.
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April 25, 2024
Zendesk Beats Shareholders' Suit Over $10B PE Takeover
Zendesk Inc. has defeated a securities class action in California federal court accusing the customer service software company of undervaluing itself to get a $10.2 billion go-private merger with private equity firms approved by Zendesk shareholders.
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April 25, 2024
Delta Illegally Shares Fliers' Info With Facebook, Suit Says
Delta Air Lines Inc. was hit with a proposed class action lodged Thursday in California state court by two customers who accused it of unlawfully sharing their personal information with Facebook, including their travel dates, airport destinations, travel class, loyalty status, language and currency used to book flights on the airline's website.
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April 25, 2024
Knicks Owner Wants Out Of Therapist's Sex Assault Suit
New York Knicks owner James Dolan asked a California federal judge to nix a massage therapist's claims alleging he helped disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein sexually assault her at a hotel in 2014, arguing the therapist doesn't plausibly allege Dolan knew she would be assaulted or that he encouraged it.
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April 25, 2024
3 Accused Of $36M COVID Test Fraud Scheme In Fla. Case
Three owners of laboratories spanning the U.S. were indicted by a grand jury in Florida on federal charges that they conspired to defraud the U.S. government by more than $36 million in a scheme that involved submitting false COVID-19 testing claims to healthcare benefit programs.
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April 25, 2024
Autodesk Faces Investor Suit Over Internal Controls
Software company Autodesk has been hit with a proposed class action alleging the company's stock price dropped after investors learned it lacked proper internal controls due to issues with its free cash flow and operating margin practices.
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April 25, 2024
DOJ Still Owes Victims After $139M Nassar Settlement
The federal government's $139 million settlement for victims of convicted sexual abuser Larry Nassar goes a long way toward holding the FBI responsible for its egregious mishandling of the victims' allegations, but gives no assurance that such complaints in the future will be handled properly, legal experts say.
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April 25, 2024
Dems Press DEA To Move Quickly On Rescheduling Marijuana
A coalition of Democratic U.S. senators and House members are urging the U.S. Department of Justice to complete swiftly its review of marijuana's legal status and remove the drug from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Examining The Arbitration Clause Landscape Amid Risks
Amid a new wave of mass arbitrations, recent developments in the courts and from the American Arbitration Association suggest that companies should improve arbitration clause drafting to protect themselves against big-ticket settlements and avoid major potential liability, say attorneys at Benesch.
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How Activision Ruling Favors M&A Formalities Over Practice
The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent nod to a proposed class action, alleging shareholder notice violations in Activision Blizzard’s sale to Microsoft, puts practitioners on notice that customary merger and acquisition market practices do not offer protection from potential liability, say John Stigi and Eugene Choi at Sheppard Mullin.
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Past CCPA Enforcement Sets Path For Compliance Efforts
The California Privacy Protection Agency and the California Attorney General's Office haven't skipped a beat in investigating potential noncompliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act, and six broad issues will continue to dominate the enforcement landscape and inform compliance strategy, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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Where 9th Circ. Lowe's Ruling Leaves PAGA Jurisprudence
Leah Kennedy and Carolyn Wheeler at Katz Banks discuss the legal landscape and controlling precedent around the Private Attorneys General Act that led to the Ninth Circuit's Johnson v. Lowe's decision last month on individual PAGA wage claims, and explore the open questions that it leaves.
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Meta Data Scraping Case Has Lessons For Platforms, AI Cos.
The California federal court ruling that artificial intelligence company Bright Data's scraping of public data from Meta social media sites does not constitute a breach of contract signals that platforms should review their terms of service and AI companies could face broad implications for their training of algorithms, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from consumer fraud to employment — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including coercive communications with putative class members and Article III standing at the class certification stage.
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Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference
Senior law enforcement officials’ statements this month at the American Bar Association's white collar crime conference suggest government enforcement efforts this year will increasingly focus on whistleblower incentives, artificial intelligence and data protection, and companies will need to update their compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Cannabis Case Lights Up Benefits Of Creative IP Protection
A recently filed California federal court case, The Holding Company v. Pacific West Distributors, illustrates potential creative strategies cannabis companies can use to build intellectual property rights, such as combining federal and state registrations for copyrights and trademarks, say attorneys at Seyfarth.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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Md. May See Vigorous Resale Price Maintenance Enforcement
In Maryland, indications of a new focus on resale price maintenance agreements are significant because state prosecution in this area has been rare, particularly outside California, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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Infringement Policy Lessons From 4th Circ. Sony Music Ruling
The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Sony Music v. Cox Communications, which in part held that the internet service provider was liable for contributing to music copyright infringement, highlights the importance of reasonable policies to terminate repeat infringers, and provides guidance for litigating claims of secondary liability, say Benjamin Marks and Alexandra Blankman at Weil.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.