Media & Entertainment

  • January 21, 2026

    'Out Of Control': Coach Says He Placed Bets For Ex-MLB Star

    A baseball coach who placed illegal sports wagers for former MLB star Yasiel Puig took the stand Wednesday in the player's obstruction of justice trial, telling a California federal jury that Puig's gambling got "out of control" and that the coach feared repercussions from bookies after Puig didn't pay his debts.

  • January 21, 2026

    Feds Ordered Not To Review Seized WaPo Reporter's Devices

    Federal officials are not to examine electronic devices and other materials seized from a Washington Post journalist's home until a dispute over the constitutionality of the search warrant at issue is ironed out, a Virginia federal judge ruled Wednesday.

  • January 21, 2026

    Gambler Gets 2 Years For NBA Bet-Rigging Scheme

    A self-described compulsive gambler was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday to two years in prison for conspiring with a now-former NBA player and others to place rigged bets on his performance with knowledge that the Toronto Raptors center and power forward would be taking a dive.

  • January 21, 2026

    FTC Must 'Scale A Slick Wall' To Revive Meta Suit

    The Federal Trade Commission set itself up for a tough fight to overturn a D.C. federal judge's rejection of its lawsuit accusing Meta of monopolizing personal social media through its purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram.

  • January 21, 2026

    Netflix's $83B Warner Bros. Deal Draws DOJ Scrutiny

    Warner Bros. Discovery has disclosed that Netflix's proposed $82.7 billion purchase of the entertainment giant is now under an antitrust microscope, after the U.S. Department of Justice kicked off an in-depth probe that keeps the deal from closing for the time being.

  • January 21, 2026

    FCC Warns Shows To Follow Political 'Equal Opportunity' Reg

    The Federal Communications Commission cautioned TV broadcasters Wednesday that no exemption has been found that would let talk shows get around the agency's political equal opportunity rules.

  • January 21, 2026

    Google Likely Stuck With $425M Loss, But Bid For $3B Flops

    A California federal judge overseeing a class action accusing Google of illegally collecting information from 98 million cellphone users said Wednesday that he probably will not let Google decertify the class, but he is also unlikely to add $2.36 billion in alleged wrongful profits on top of a jury's $425 million verdict.

  • January 21, 2026

    Disney Can't Dodge 'Toy Story 3' TM Claim On Remand

    A California federal judge has refused to grant Disney a partial win in a trademark infringement case brought by a stuffed animal manufacturer over the "Toy Story 3" character Lotso, ruling that the manufacturer had established a Lanham Act case against Disney before the U.S. Supreme Court considered the case.

  • January 21, 2026

    Senate Panel To Examine Upcoming FirstNet Renewal

    A U.S. Senate subcommittee will take a close look next week at legislative plans to renew the First Responder Network Authority, which currently has a long-standing public-private partnership with AT&T.

  • January 21, 2026

    Greenberg Traurig Builds Up Nat'l Security Group With 3 Hires

    Greenberg Traurig LLP has hired the former cohead of Eversheds Sutherland's national security group in Washington, D.C., as the chair of its newly formed national security group, which is growing in the nation's capital with his addition and the hiring of a former CIA leader and a former deputy general counsel of the U.S. Cyber Command.

  • January 21, 2026

    Widow Of 'Sophie's Choice' Author Settles Stage Rights Spat

    The 97-year-old widow of author William Styron has settled a suit by a playwright who claimed he held exclusive rights to the stage version of Styron's novel "Sophie's Choice," according to a filing in Massachusetts state court.

  • January 21, 2026

    Maxim Says Playboy Ripped Off Its Modeling Contest

    Maxim has sued Playboy in Manhattan federal court for trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement, accusing Playboy of copying Maxim's online modeling competition by using the same mechanics and architecture when launching a contest of its own.

  • January 21, 2026

    Gibson Dunn Formalizes First Amendment Practice

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP announced Wednesday that it has formalized its First Amendment and free expression practice group under the leadership of three veteran litigators.

  • January 20, 2026

    GoodRx Users Denied Nod For $32M Deal In Data Sharing Row

    A California federal judge refused to sign off on a $32 million deal to resolve a proposed class action accusing GoodRx of illegally sharing users' sensitive health data with fellow defendant Criteo and other advertisers, faulting the parties for failing to provide a detailed analysis of the strength of each claim.

  • January 20, 2026

    Martin Shkreli Can't Force Wu-Tang's RZA Into Album Fight

    A New York federal judge has shot down Martin Shkreli's request to add Wu-Tang Clan rappers and producers RZA and Cilvaringz to litigation centered on the group's rare album "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin," slamming Shkreli's motion as "astonishingly devoid of support."

  • January 20, 2026

    Trump Media Investor Says Insider Trading Trial Was Flawed

    A Florida trader sentenced to over two years in prison for insider trading on confidential plans to take President Donald Trump's media company behind Truth Social public urged the Second Circuit on Tuesday to reverse his conviction, saying the lower court wrongly excluded evidence at trial that backed his claims of acting in good faith.

  • January 20, 2026

    DHS Tech Says He Was Fired For Criticizing Noem During 'Date'

    A U.S. Department of Homeland Security employee claims in a D.C. federal lawsuit that he was unlawfully fired after he went on what he believed was a date with a nurse, who secretly recorded him speaking negatively about Secretary Kristi Noem for the benefit of a conservative activist.

  • January 20, 2026

    XAI Seeks To Block Calif. GenAI Training Data Disclosure Law

    XAI has urged a California federal court to block the Golden State from enforcing a new law imposing training data disclosure requirements on generative artificial intelligence system developers, saying the law unconstitutionally forces it to reveal its valuable trade secrets to its competitors.

  • January 20, 2026

    Goldstein Poker Pals Got Money From Firm, Witness Says

    A former office manager at Thomas Goldstein's law firm Tuesday told the jury in his tax fraud trial in Maryland federal court that hundreds of thousands of dollars in wire transfers sent to the U.S. Supreme Court lawyer's poker counterparts were classified as business transactions in documents used by the firm's tax accountants.

  • January 20, 2026

    Pump.Fun Faces Sanctions Bid Over Meme Coin 'Harassment'

    The meme coin launchpad known as Pump.Fun is facing a sanctions demand for allegedly enabling an "escalating campaign of harassment and intimidation" that used mocking meme coins and threatening posts against lawyers and plaintiffs who are suing the platform.

  • January 20, 2026

    FTC Appeals Meta Loss To DC Circ.

    The Federal Trade Commission gave notice Tuesday that it would seek D.C. Circuit intervention over a federal judge's rejection of its lawsuit accusing Meta Platforms Inc. of illegally monopolizing personal social media through what the agency described as a buy-or-bury strategy behind the Facebook parent's purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp.

  • January 20, 2026

    Judge Mostly Rejects Discovery Requests In OpenAI MDL

    A Manhattan federal magistrate judge largely rejected a series of requests from a group of authors and news publishers to expand discovery in a copyright infringement case against OpenAI, but directed the parties to confer on some topics to discuss production of certain materials.

  • January 20, 2026

    Law360 Names Firms Of The Year

    Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 48 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, achieving milestones such as high-profile litigation wins at the U.S. Supreme Court and 11-figure merger deals.

  • January 20, 2026

    Microsoft Warns Google Play Store Deal Invites Antitrust Harm

    Microsoft Corp. urged a California federal judge to reject the proposed Android app distribution settlement in Epic Games' antitrust suit against Google, arguing that the deal would essentially erase the court's injunction requiring Google to open up its Play Store to Microsoft and other competitors.

  • January 20, 2026

    Zillow, Redfin Must Produce CEO Docs In FTC's Antitrust Case

    A Virginia federal magistrate judge gave the Federal Trade Commission a limited peek Tuesday into the communications between the CEOs of Zillow and Redfin over an alleged deal paying Redfin more than $100 million not to compete for rental listings, partially overriding Zillow's objections in a ruling from the bench.

Expert Analysis

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

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    Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Assessing The SEC's Changing Approach To NFT Regulation

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    Early U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission actions on nonfungible tokens pushed for broad regulation, but subsequent court decisions — including a recent California federal court ruling in Adonis Real v. Yuga Labs — and SEC commissioners' statements have narrowed the regulatory focus toward a more fact-specific approach, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

  • Where Crypto Mixing Enforcement Is Headed From Here

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    Recent developments involving crypto mixers, particularly the Tornado Cash verdict, demonstrate that the Justice Department's shift away from regulation by prosecution does not mean total immunity, rather reflecting an approach that prioritizes both innovation and accountability, says David Tarras at Tarras Defense.

  • Reel Justice: 'Roofman,' Modus Operandi Evidence And AI

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    The recent film “Roofman,” which dramatizes the real-life string of burglaries committed by Jeffrey Manchester, illuminates the legal standards required to support modus operandi evidence — which may soon become complicated by the use of artificial intelligence in crime series detection, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.

  • New NCAA Betting Policy Fits Trend Of Eased Restrictions

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    Allowing NCAA student-athletes to bet on professional sports fits into a decade-long trend of treating college athletes more like adults in a commercial system, but decreasing player restrictions translates to increased compliance burdens for schools, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.

  • Series

    Building With Lego Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Building with Lego has taught me to follow directions and adapt to unexpected challenges, and in pairing discipline with imagination, allows me to stay grounded while finding new ways to make complex deals come together, says Paul Levin at Venable.

  • How Banks Can Safely Handle Payments For Gambling Biz

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    As the betting market continues to expand, it's crucial for banks and fintechs to track historical developments in wagering and ongoing prediction markets litigation that can factor into a risk analysis for payment processing with respect to gambling operators, says Laura D'Angelo at Jones Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Networking 101

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    Cultivating a network isn't part of the law school curriculum, but learning the soft skills needed to do so may be the key to establishing a solid professional reputation, nurturing client relationships and building business, says Sharon Crane at Practising Law Institute.

  • Defeating Estoppel-Based Claims In Legal Malpractice Actions

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    State supreme court cases from recent years have addressed whether positions taken by attorneys in an underlying lawsuit can be used against them in a subsequent legal malpractice action, providing a foundation to defeat ex-clients’ estoppel claims, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • AI's Role In Google Antitrust Suit May Reshape Tech Markets

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    The evolution of AI in retail has reshaped the U.S.' antitrust case against Google, which could both benefit small business innovators and consumers, and fundamentally alter future antitrust cases, including the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Amazon, says Graham Dufault at ACT.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: How It Works In Massachusetts

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    Since its founding in 2000, the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session's expertise, procedural flexibility and litigant-friendly case management practices have contributed to the development of a robust body of commercial jurisprudence, say James Donnelly at Mirick O’Connell, Felicia Ellsworth at WilmerHale and Lisa Wood at Foley Hoag.

  • Viral 'Brewers Karen' Incident Teaches Employers To Act Fast

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    An attorney who was terminated after a viral video showed her threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on an opposing team's fan at a Milwaukee Brewers game underscores why employers must take prompt action when learning of viral incidents involving employees, says Joseph Myers at Mesidor.

  • Weighing Risks Of Ambush Marketing Around Sports Events

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    American brands tempted to insert themselves into conversations around the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games, but without the coveted sponsorship, should consider the legal hazards and minimize the risks by avoiding elements that imply an unauthorized commercial association with FIFA or the International Olympic Committee, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • State Child Privacy Laws May Put More Cos. In FTC's Reach

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    Starting with Texas in January, several new state laws requiring app stores to share user age-related information with developers will likely subject significantly more companies to the Federal Trade Commission’s child privacy rules, altering their compliance obligations, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

  • Why Appellees Should Write Their Answering Brief First

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    Though counterintuitive, appellees should consider writing their answering briefs before they’ve ever seen their opponent’s opening brief, as this practice confers numerous benefits related to argument structure, time pressures and workflow, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.

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