Albertsons Didn't Flag Suspicious Opioid Orders, Judge Hears

By Ben Adlin

Albertsons failed to report its pharmacies' unusual opioid orders to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration despite explicit instructions from the agency to do so, the retailer's vice president of pharmacy compliance testified Thursday during a bench trial in Washington's lawsuit accusing the chain of exacerbating the state's opioid epidemic.

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9th Circ. Says U. Of Wash. Is Immune From Vax Firing Suit

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel declined on Thursday to reinstate former University of Washington employees' claims that they were wrongfully fired after refusing the COVID-19 vaccination on religious grounds, concluding the university qualifies as an arm of the state that cannot be sued for civil rights violations under the relevant federal law.  

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9th Circ. Won't Revive Hemp Co.'s $2.75M Destruction Suit

By Mike Curley

The Ninth Circuit won't reinstate a suit against the city of Tacoma, Washington, by the owner of a hemp company who alleges the city's police department illegally destroyed $2.75 million worth of industrial hemp as illegal cannabis, saying he failed to establish municipal liability.

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Kalshi Must Suspend Most Wash. Offerings, Install Geofencing

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state court judge has blocked Kalshi from offering event contracts to state residents in most of its prediction market categories while the attorney general's legal challenge unfolds, setting deadlines for the platform to institute location-based geofencing, while spurning the company's bid to maintain operations pending appeal.

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Wash. Halts Conversion Therapy Ban For Therapist Amid Suit

By Gianna Ferrarin

Washington state has agreed not to enforce its ban on a practice commonly known as conversion therapy against a therapist while his First Amendment challenge to the prohibition plays out in federal court, according to a stipulation entered Thursday.

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DOJ's HPE Merger Settlement Approved Over State Objections

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal judge approved a controversial settlement struck by the U.S. Department of Justice to end a case challenging Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, despite concerns from state enforcers about political influence in the settlement process.

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DirecTV Says Tegna Board Issue Proves Injunction Is Needed

By Nadia Dreid

DirecTV is pointing the Ninth Circuit toward a recent court order clarifying that when a federal judge told Nexstar and Tegna to remain separate while a challenge to their $6.2 billion merger plays out, that also meant they weren't allowed to put Nexstar execs on Tegna's board of directors.

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States Say DOT Illegally Sought 17M CDL Driver Records

By Jared Foretek

A group of 21 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia accused the Trump administration on Thursday of illegally pressuring a nonprofit commercial driver database operator to hand over millions of Social Security numbers for immigration enforcement by threatening to cut funding for noncompliance.

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Lilly Claims 6 Vendors Illegally Sold Obesity Drug Candidate

By Gianna Ferrarin

Eli Lilly & Co. hit a medical spa business, compounding pharmacy and a group of chemical suppliers with claims they're illegally selling an obesity drug candidate Lilly is researching, telling California and Texas federal courts the alleged "black market" sales threaten public health.

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9th Circ. Revives $140M Robo-Surgery Antitrust Case

By Jared Foretek

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a surgical instrument repair company's antitrust suit accusing the makers of the da Vinci surgical robot of illegally blocking third parties from repairing its instruments, ruling that a district judge erred in applying the U.S. Supreme Court's Kodak factors to the dispute.

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Customers Can't Depose Google, Apple CEOs, 9th Circ. Says

By Gina Kim

The Ninth Circuit has denied a group of consumers' petition for writ of mandamus challenging a lower court's order rejecting their repeated requests to depose Google's and Apple's CEOs and several other executives in antitrust litigation alleging the search engine giant shut out competitors.

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Series

Going To Hardcore Shows Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While government contracts law and the hardcore scene may seem entirely unrelated, in my experience, both are about community, focus, being prepared for the unexpected and managing chaos, says Isaac Natter at Fluet.

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Anti-DEI Group Asks FTC To Probe Law Fellowship Program

By Dorothy Atkins

An advocacy organization against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives filed an antitrust complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday, accusing Sponsors for Educational Opportunity of engaging in anticompetitive practices by allegedly colluding on DEI metrics and falsely advertising its program.

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Baker Botts Atty Cleared Of Defamation In Inventor's Suit

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida federal judge on Thursday tossed a defamation claim against a Baker Botts LLP patent attorney after agreeing with a magistrate judge's conclusion that an inventor had not shown that the lawyer's comments to a reporter were defamatory.

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NYC Bar Committee Calls For Nationwide AI Rules Framework

By Andrea Keckley

A New York City Bar Association committee concluded in a policy paper published Wednesday that artificial intelligence tools "may assist legal work but cannot substitute for professional legal judgment," calling for a national framework to be built into the Model Rules of Professional Conduct governing its use.

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Trump Picks Ex-Arkansas SG, Walmart Lawyer For 8th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump has announced that he's looking to elevate Judge Lee Rudofsky of the Eastern District of Arkansas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

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State Farm Attys Admit Filing Motions Full Of AI Hallucinations

By Jonathan Capriel

A law firm representing State Farm has admitted that its pretrial motions contained citations to nonexistent cases and legal quotes, errors that were seemingly "hallucinations" generated by AI software designed for lawyers and caught by the plaintiff's attorneys as they prepared for trial in a California state court case about fire damage coverage.

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Brief

DOJ Fraud Division To Reach 500 Staffers This Month

By Courtney Bublé

By the end of the month, there will be about 500 attorneys and staff in the U.S. Department of Justice's new fraud division, with more to come as time goes on.

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JP Ward Attorney Exodus Delays Pa. Labor Trafficking Suit

By Matthew Santoni

A "staffing disruption" at the Pittsburgh law firm J.P. Ward & Associates led the firm to request a stay of a labor-trafficking case against hotels in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, after the firm was reduced to one attorney and two staff members, according to court filings.

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