DOJ Task Force To Target Healthcare Monopoly, Collusion

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division sharpened its focus Thursday on healthcare platforms that combine doctors with insurers, data and more in what the administration's top competition official called the "alarming" accumulation of assets.

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Okla. Law Curbing Anti-Oil Pension Fund Investments Blocked

By Patrick Hoff

Oklahoma can't enforce a law prohibiting the state pension system from investing in companies that limit oil and gas industry assets, a state judge ruled, finding the retiree leading the suit is likely to succeed on arguments that the statute is vague and violates the state constitution.

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EPA Beats Youths' Constitutional Climate Suit, For Now

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit from a group of children accusing the federal government of allowing unsafe levels of climate pollution in the air, noting it's unclear how a declaratory order from the court would redress their harms, but gave them one final chance to amend their allegations.

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NYC Wins Remand Of Climate Deception Suit Against Exxon

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

A New York federal judge on Wednesday returned to state court the Big Apple's lawsuit alleging Exxon, BP, Shell and the American Petroleum Institute violated a city consumer protection law by systematically deceiving the public about the climate change impacts of their operations.

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Senate Approves FAA Reauthorization Bill

By Henrik Nilsson

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration's safety and airport improvement programs in a package that includes hiring thousands more air traffic controllers and inspectors, among other things.

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Mobile Carriers Pay $10M To End 50 AGs' Deceptive Ad Claims

By Celeste Bott

A coalition of nearly all the country's state attorneys general on Thursday announced $10.25 million in settlements that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have agreed to pay to end a multistate probe into the wireless carriers' allegedly misleading advertising practices.

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AT&T Appeals $57M Fine For Selling Customer Location Data

By Jared Foretek

AT&T is appealing a $57 million fine from the Federal Communications Commission on allegations it failed to protect customer location data, calling the agency order an "abuse of discretion."

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Chancery Tosses Qualcomm Investor's Diversity Suit

By Leslie A. Pappas

A shareholder who sued Qualcomm Inc. for allegedly misleading the public and investors about its efforts to diversify its board has failed to show that the company didn't consider diverse candidates, Delaware's Court of Chancery said Thursday, dismissing the shareholder's case.

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Musk Fights Latest Subpoena Over $44B Twitter Purchase

By Bonnie Eslinger

Elon Musk's counsel urged a California federal judge on Thursday to undo a magistrate judge's decision requiring the businessman to testify again before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about his $44 billion purchase of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, calling the subpoena overbroad and unconstitutional.

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CFPB's Chopra Trains Sights On Credit Card Rewards

By Jon Hill

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said Thursday that his agency will be taking aim at what it is describing as "concerning patterns" in the credit card industry's rewards program practices, including stealthy changes to program benefits and manipulation of rewards point values.

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SEC Sues 3 Penny Stock Firms Over Failure To Register

By Emilie Ruscoe

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed suit against a Long Island man and his three companies, accusing them of violating registration provisions of federal securities law in connection with a $75 million penny stock scheme.

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Ex-Minor Leaguer Settles With SEC Over Del Taco Deal Tip Off

By Emilie Ruscoe

A former minor league baseball player has agreed to pay more than $58,000 to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading allegations involving burger chain Jack in the Box's $575 million acquisition of its fellow chain Del Taco.

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CFTC Moves For Win Over Gemini's 'Misleading' Statements

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has told a New York federal judge there's no need to try claims that Gemini Trust Co. LLC misled the regulator on a bitcoin futures contract since discovery "confirmed" that the cryptocurrency exchange made "scores of materially false or misleading statements and omissions."

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Binance Fined $4.4M By Canadian Regulator

By Aislinn Keely

Canada's anti-money laundering watchdog levied a 6 million Canadian dollars ($4.38 million) fine against crypto exchange Binance after the firm allegedly failed to register as a money services business and didn't report thousands of large transactions on its platform.

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'You Have To Engage,' Judge Tells Attys In Damages Debate

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal judge on Thursday chided attorneys for a man hoping to beat back a challenge to a $3.4 million discrimination verdict he won last year, saying that they needed to put a little more sweat equity into their filings if they hoped to keep their hefty judgment whole.

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Maryland Enacts Data Privacy, Kids' Digital Safety Laws

By Allison Grande

Maryland's governor on Thursday signed data privacy legislation that strictly limits the personal information that companies can collect from consumers and a separate bill to boost online safeguards for children that's modeled after a California bill that's currently embroiled in a constitutional challenge. 

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FTC Says Handbag Cos. Have Info Needed To Defend $8B Deal

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission assailed Tapestry and Capri on Wednesday for demanding more details on the market allegedly threatened by their planned $8.5 billion merger, which would pair the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade with that of Versace and Michael Kors, arguing the firms have the information they need.

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3M, Dupont Want Conn. AG's PFAS Suit To Stay In Fed. Court

By Aaron Keller

Stressing their work for the military, 3M Co. and several entities tied to what was once E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. have opposed a motion by the Connecticut Attorney General's Office to send a PFAS forever chemicals environmental pollution case back to state court.

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Amazon, Walmart Face Dem Questions Over 'Dynamic Pricing'

By Sarah Jarvis

Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown on Thursday raised concerns to Amazon and Walmart about corporations hiking prices by exploiting customer data and pricing algorithms, saying it undermines consumers' ability to comparison shop and save money.

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FTC Urges High Court To Reject Challenge To $5.2M Award

By Katryna Perera

The Federal Trade Commission has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a credit monitoring company's challenge to a $5.2 million refund award the federal agency won on behalf of a class of consumers, arguing the award is authorized under the Federal Trade Commission Act. 

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Avid Can't Escape Spoofing Suit From 48 States, Judge Says

By Jared Foretek

A suit from nearly 50 states accusing Avid Telecom of allowing billions of illegal robocalls can proceed to discovery after an Arizona federal judge ruled Wednesday that more fact-finding would be needed to determine whether the company should be considered a common carrier.

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Red States, Electric Co-Ops Challenge EPA Power Plant Rules

By Madeline Lyskawa

Twenty-seven Republican-led states and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association called on the D.C. Circuit Thursday to unravel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new source performance standards for greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric generating units.

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EPA Defends Factory Farm Water Pollution Regs At 9th Circ.

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday urged the Ninth Circuit to toss green groups' lawsuit seeking to revive their petition for new, stronger Clean Water Act regulations for large animal feeding facilities.

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CARB Chief Slams Truckers' Bid To Void 'Clean Fleets' Rule

By Linda Chiem

A California regulation requiring commercial truck and bus operators to transition to zero-emission vehicle fleets over the next decade doesn't flout federal law and hasn't even been enforced yet, a state official said Wednesday in a court filing seeking to nullify a legal challenge from a trucking group.

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5 Takeaways From FDA's Biosimilars Promotion Guidance

New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expands upon other recent efforts to clarify expectations for biosimilar and interchangeable labeling, highlighting a number of potential missteps that could draw attention from regulators, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

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The Legal Issues Raised In Minn. Rate Exportation Opt-Out Bill

A recent Minnesota House bill would amend state law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption and introduce several legal gray areas if passed, including issues regarding loan location, rates on credit card loans and values of state charters, says Karen Grandstrand at Fredrikson & Byron.

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Alito Warns Freedoms Of Speech, Religion Are In Danger

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito warned Saturday that support for freedom of speech on college campuses is "dangerously" low, and that freedom of religion is in peril nationwide.

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King & Spalding Accused Of Anti-White, Pro-LGBTQ Bias

By Ryan Boysen

A straight white woman is suing King & Spalding LLP alleging discrimination after getting a rare green light from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming she incurred "significant damages" when she was dissuaded from applying to a summer associate program open only to "diverse" applicants.

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Former Akin Chairman R. Bruce McLean Dies At 77

By Tracey Read

Former Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP Chairman R. Bruce McLean — who helped transform Akin into an international powerhouse — died Thursday, the firm said. He was 77.

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Fox Rothschild Hires Ex-Seed IP Trio On The West Coast

By Andrea Keckley

Fox Rothschild is bringing on more intellectual property talent on the West Coast, announcing Friday that it had added three former Seed IP attorneys to its Seattle offices.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Pomerantz's Murielle Steven Walsh

By Adrian Cruz

For Murielle Steven Walsh, the concept of standing up for the underdog came early in her life, as the longtime Pomerantz LLP partner described her constant battles with Catholic school teachers as some of the first motivating factors that led her to pursue a legal career that involves representing shareholders suing some of the world's biggest corporations.

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Cohen Urged To Stop Trashing Trump As Testimony Nears

By Rachel Scharf, Frank G. Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

The Manhattan judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial made clear Friday that he wants star witness Michael Cohen to stop talking publicly about the charges as the former president's erstwhile attorney prepares to take the stand as soon as Monday.

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Coverage Recap: Day 11 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Stewart Bishop

Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from Friday, day 11 of the trial.

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The Week In Trump: All Eyes On NY As Other Cases Lag

By Phillip Bantz

Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial took center stage with dramatic testimony from adult film actress Stormy Daniels, while the former president's criminal cases in Georgia and Florida ran into delays that could last through Election Day.

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Dem Lawmakers Call For 5th Circ. Judge To Exit CFPB Case

By Jack Rodgers

Six Democratic lawmakers sent a letter admonishing the Judicial Conference, saying Friday it was "undermining the integrity of the judiciary" by allowing a Fifth Circuit judge to participate in a matter in which he has a significant conflict of interest.

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Texas Judge Sanctions Atty The Cost Of Plane Ticket To DFW

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge sanctioned an attorney in the amount of the approximate cost of a last-minute flight from Los Angeles to Dallas-Fort Worth, saying in a show cause hearing Friday that he doesn't "know how you do things in LA" after the attorney didn't show up following a court order.

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Now Hiring: Michigan AG Seeks Attys For Climate Change Suits

By Madeline Lyskawa

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is looking for attorneys and law firms to serve as assistant attorneys general to pursue litigation related to climate change on behalf of the state of Michigan.

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SEC Asks For Win Following Ex-Apple Atty's Guilty Plea

By Sydney Price

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved for summary judgment Friday on insider trading claims against a former senior attorney at Apple Inc., arguing there is no need to relitigate claims since the lawyer already pled guilty to criminal charges related to a lucrative insider trading scheme.

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Atty Says Panoramic Fired Her For Raising Compliance Issues

By Gina Kim

Panoramic Health faces a wrongful termination suit filed Thursday in Colorado federal court by its former assistant general counsel who claims she was fired after raising concerns about its alleged noncompliance with federal anti-kickback statutes and regulations over its federally funded kidney care contracting program.

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Eastman Withdraws From Colo. Suit Amid Disbarment Case

By Thy Vo

Former Donald Trump lawyer John C. Eastman withdrew as an attorney in a Colorado civil suit on Friday as the California Supreme Court is set to consider a recommendation for the attorney's disbarment.

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Feds Seek 20 Mos. For Ex-Baltimore State's Atty

By Elliot Weld

Prosecutors asked a Maryland federal court to sentence former state's attorney Marilyn Mosby to 20 months in prison after she was convicted of lying to obtain money from a retirement fund and conning a lender to obtain a vacation home, saying she "could not be trusted to tell the truth" despite her position of public trust.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, Lewis Law Firm PLLC and Kleppin Firm PA lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court determined that plaintiffs in copyright ownership disputes can recover damages beyond the three-year statute of limitations for bringing a claim.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Help for lawyers in dealing with legal data challenges has come, thanks to corporate and law firm leaders who founded a new industry framework called Legal Data Intelligence. And at least one U.S. senator is questioning Amazon and Walmart's use of new tech to create "dynamic pricing" that may harm consumers.

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

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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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

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