SAG-AFTRA Battles Use Of Fortnite's AI Darth Vader At NLRB

By Beverly Banks

The developer behind the video game Fortnite violated federal labor law by not negotiating with SAG-AFTRA before using artificial intelligence to voice Darth Vader, the union alleged in an unfair labor practice charge, claiming the company's AI use takes away work from bargaining unit members.

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Apple Can't Get Quick Pause Of App Store Order At 9th Circ.

By Dorothy Atkins

The Ninth Circuit agreed Monday to expedite briefing in Apple's appeal challenging a lower court's new injunction mandating certain App Store policy changes, but the panel declined to rule on Apple's emergency request to pause the injunction as Apple and Epic Games brief the hotly contested dispute.

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Meta Says Too Late For 'Dramatic Shift' In Antitrust Argument

By Craig Clough

Consumers who claim Meta monopolized the social media advertising market are attempting to make a late "dramatic shift" from their years-long argument that all of its users should have been paid a "made-up figure" of $5 a month for their data, the company told a California federal court Monday.

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Music Co. Rips Apple's Sanctions Bid Over App Store Ouster

By Lauren Berg

Musi Inc. and its counsel at Winston & Strawn LLP have urged a California federal judge to reject Apple's request for sanctions over accusations Musi made "false and misleading allegations" in a lawsuit over Apple's decision to boot the music streaming service from the App Store for intellectual property infringement.

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Flo Users Get Class Cert. In Google, Meta Data-Sharing Suit

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge has granted class status to users of the menstrual cycle tracking app developed by Flo Health Inc. in a suit accusing the company of unlawfully sharing their personal health information with Google and Meta, finding that the defendants' opposition to this move lacked clarity and support.

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FDIC Nixes Biden-Era Merger Rules As House Passes OCC Bill

By Jon Hill

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Tuesday finalized the repeal of stricter bank merger guidelines adopted last year, pulling them back the same day as the U.S. House moved to nullify the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's Biden-era merger policy rewrite.

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Trump Admin Rationale For HHS Firings Challenged By Judge

By Hannah Albarazi

A Rhode Island federal judge expressed skepticism Tuesday about the Trump administration's assertion that mass firings at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were lawful and intended to improve national health, saying during a preliminary injunction hearing that nothing in the record demonstrates "thoughtful work" behind these decisions.

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GOP Will Push Calif. Waiver Vote, Dems Will Jam EPA Noms

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

Senate Republicans vowed Tuesday to forge ahead with Congressional Review Act resolutions that would repeal clean-vehicle waivers for California that were approved by the Biden administration, while Democrats said they'll throw roadblocks in front of presidential nominees in retaliation.

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5 Ohio Cities Say Hyundai, Kia Negligence Claims Still In Play

By Linda Chiem

Five Ohio cities have told a California federal judge that Hyundai and Kia cannot try to circumvent the Ninth Circuit and scuttle negligence claims in consolidated litigation alleging the automakers knowingly sold vehicles with design flaws that spawned a car-theft crime wave.

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Meta Asks To Toss Claim That Illegal Tool Scraped Tax Info

By Anna Scott Farrell

Meta's tracking tool did not violate state privacy law, the company argued, urging a California federal court to toss a claim calling the tool an unauthorized recording device that collected sensitive information from tax filing websites H&R Block, TaxAct and Tax Slayer.

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BofA Class In Out-Of-Network ATM Fee Fight Narrowed

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge tweaked the definition of a class of account holders suing Bank of America over out-of-network fees for balance inquiries at certain ATMs, agreeing to exclude certain members from the class but largely rejecting the bank's qualms with the class certification.

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Netflix Hit With TM Suit Over Tyler Perry's 'She The People'

By Gina Kim

The founder of a leadership organization focused on women of color alleged in California federal court Monday that Tyler Perry's fictional Netflix comedy series "She the People" about a female Black politician infringes her registered trademark.

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Ye Must Answer Discovery Requests In 'Donda' IP Suit

By Isaac Monterose

A California federal magistrate judge has largely granted a company's request for documents related to its copyright infringement suit against Ye — the artist formerly known as Kanye West — his entities, UMG Recordings Inc. and Universal Music Corp. over two tracks in Ye's August 2021 "Donda" album.

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Uber Underpaid OT By Thousands, Account Exec. Says

By Emmy Freedman

Uber expected an account executive to put in at least 55 hours a week but didn't fully compensate him for all of these extra hours, a complaint filed in California state court said.

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Gov't Says Unions Too Slow In Calling For Halt Of Restructure

By Beverly Banks

President Donald Trump called for a California federal judge to tank an injunction bid from unions and advocacy groups about his executive order instructing agencies to plan for reductions in force, arguing the request was delayed and the district court lacks jurisdiction.

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19-Year-Old Mass. Student Admits To PowerSchool Hacking

By Hailey Konnath

A 19-year-old student at Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts, has pled guilty to hacking into the networks of two companies, including education software and cloud storage company PowerSchool Group LLC, and extorting them for ransoms, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

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Nextdoor Beats Investor Suit Over Post-SPAC Profitability

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has tossed a shareholder class action that alleges hyperlocal social networking service Nextdoor Holdings Inc. misled investors about its projected profitability when combining with a special purpose acquisition company, saying the suit's plaintiff never owned or sold the company's securities before the merger, among other things. 

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Elf Beauty Brass Face Investor Suit Over Declining Demand

By Sydney Price

Executives and directors of cosmetics company e.l.f. Beauty were hit with a shareholder derivative suit accusing them of concealing declining consumer demand, which led to a 55% decline in stock value as information regarding waning revenues and increasing inventory emerged.

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Tech Co. AppLovin's Brass Face 'Shadow Downloads' Claims

By Emilie Ruscoe

Executives and directors of technology company AppLovin face a shareholder derivative suit alleging they breached their fiduciary duties after the company allegedly inflated its download numbers, a key performance metric, by means of manipulative practices.

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Cleary Guides Up To $391M Sale Of Levi Strauss' Dockers Line

By Al Barbarino

Levi Strauss & Co. said Tuesday that it will offload its Dockers brand to Authentic Brands Group in a deal worth up to $391 million, signaling the company's intensified focus on its denim lines and the growth of its Beyond Yoga business.

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9th Circ. Says Dad Didn't Show Sons' Hardships If Deported

By Rae Ann Varona

The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday rejected a Mexican father's bid for deportation relief based on extreme hardships he claimed his sons would face if they accompanied him to Mexico, saying in a published opinion that substantial evidence suggested otherwise.

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Cooley Corporate Pro Rejoins Wilson Sonsini in Silicon Valley

By James Mills

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC is growing its corporate team, announcing Tuesday a mergers and acquisitions expert most recently at Cooley LLP is returning to the firm as a partner in its Silicon Valley office.

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Paul Hastings Gains Finance Pro From Latham In California

By Lynn LaRowe

Paul Hastings LLP announced Tuesday that it has expanded its global finance practice with a partner in Southern California who came aboard from Latham & Watkins LLP.

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Berkshire Hathaway RE Affiliate GC To Lead Pacific Sotheby's

By Christine DeRosa

Pacific Sotheby's International Realty, a luxury brokerage firm in the Southern California market, has found its new president in the former general counsel for San Diego-based Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties.

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9th Circ. Ruling Clarifies Derivative Suit Representation Test

The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Bigfoot Ventures v. Knighton clarifies the test used to assess the adequacy of a plaintiff's representation in a shareholder derivative action, and will likely prove useful to litigants by ensuring that courts can fully examine all relevant circumstances, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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How Mass Arbitration Defense Strategies Have Fared In Court

As businesses face consumers who leverage arbitration agreements to compel mass arbitration, companies are trying defense strategies like batching arbitration cases to reduce costs, and escaping specific mass arbitrations without rejecting the process completely, with varying results in the courtroom, say attorneys at Montgomery McCracken.

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The Alien Enemies Act Cases: A Roundup

By Britain Eakin

Litigation over President Donald Trump’s March 14 proclamation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act has moved at breakneck speed, spurring two U.S. Supreme Court decisions already while at least five different districts weigh his authority to invoke the wartime law. Here, Law360 catches you up on major developments in the litigation.

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Injunction On Trump Order Limited To Perkins, Judge Clarifies

By Dorothy Atkins

A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday clarified the scope of her injunction blocking President Donald Trump's executive order targeting Perkins Coie LLP, explaining that her ruling prohibits the president from directing government agencies to investigate only Perkins Coie's employment practices and not the other BigLaw firms.

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'Not A Denny's': 5th Circ. Judge Chides High Court Stopwatch

By Lauren Berg

The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday expedited a case brought by Venezuelans who are accused of being gang members and who are challenging the use of a 1798 wartime law to deport them to an El Salvador prison, with one judge chastising the U.S. Supreme Court's majority for allowing the appeal to move forward.

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SEC Chair Says Staff Exits Have Left Holes In Agency

By Jessica Corso

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins told Congress Tuesday that the agency has lost hundreds of employees in recent months due to voluntary buyouts and early retirement incentives, and that some now-missing expertise will need to be replaced. 

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Trump Case May Bolster Wis. Judge's Pitch For Immunity

By Jack Karp

The Wisconsin judge accused of obstructing federal immigration authorities' arrest of an unauthorized migrant in her courtroom has a strong argument that judicial immunity protects her after the U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling, some experts say, while others say judicial immunity does not extend to criminal prosecutions.

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Analysis

CFPB's Guidance Purge May Have Limited Impact For Industry

By Jon Hill

The Trump administration's recent culling of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau guidance may help advance the agency's pivot to lighter-touch regulation, but consumer advocates and even some financial services attorneys say the rescinded policies could still shape litigation and leave companies guessing about the agency's current views.

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Attys For Alleged Fox Hacker 'Deeply Regret' Fake AI Citations

By Matt Perez

Two attorneys apologized to a Florida federal judge on Monday for filing a motion to dismiss charges against their client — alleged Fox News video hacker Timothy Burke — that contained fake legal citations generated by artificial intelligence.

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Insurers Say Legal Malpractice Costs Keep Outpacing Inflation

By Emily Sawicki

The frequency at which major law firms faced malpractice claims held relatively steady in 2024, but payouts on claims continued to boom at a rate outpacing general inflation, according to this year's legal professional liability insurance survey, with nearly half of insurers surveyed reporting having paid at least one claim over $150 million.

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Amazon, Apple Get Atty Fees Over Dropped Antitrust Plaintiff

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Washington federal judge on Tuesday ordered an ousted lead plaintiff's counsel in a proposed antitrust class action against Amazon and Apple to pay a combined $223,000 in attorney fees to the defendants after finding last month that the lawyers had failed to tell the court that their client had abandoned the case.

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GSA Official Gives Mea Culpa On 'Non-Core' Federal Property

By Courtney Bublé

A top official of the federal government's real estate overseer testified on Tuesday that the administration was a bit rash in publishing a list two months ago with more than 400 "non-core" government properties, including federal courthouses, that it was considering disposing of.

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DOJ Watchdog Asked To Probe AG's Trump Media Stock Sales

By Craig Clough

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday urged the U.S. Department of Justice's inspector general to investigate Attorney General Pam Bondi's sale of millions of dollars' worth of shares in Trump Media just ahead of the stock market plunging.

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Dem Lawmakers Reintroduce Supreme Court Ethics Bill

By Lauren Berg

Two Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday reintroduced bills in the House and Senate that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt a binding ethics code and create new recusal and disclosure standards for the nine justices.

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State AGs Back NJ Judicial Privacy Law At 3rd Circ.

By Jack Karp

Most states' attorneys general, along with law enforcement organizations and a data privacy group, have encouraged the Third Circuit to uphold a New Jersey judicial privacy measure, saying states have sovereignty to enact such laws in a time of increased threats against judges.

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