Calif. Ban On Fee-Sharing With 'Alternative' Firms Challenged

By Jack Karp

A new law barring California lawyers and firms from sharing fees with out-of-state law firms owned by nonlawyers is unconstitutional and will harm the state's mass tort lawyers and their clients, according to a lawsuit filed last week.

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Nvidia Faces More Allegations Of YouTube AI Scraping

By Elliot Weld

The creators of YouTube channel h3h3 Productions and two golf content creators have brought a proposed class action against artificial intelligence and computer chip giant Nvidia, claiming it had improperly scraped their content to train the AI model Cosmos.

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Skaggs' Family Entitled To $114M If Angels Liable, Expert Says

By Gina Kim

An economist testifying as an expert for the plaintiffs in a California state trial over the death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs said Monday that the jury could award his surviving family members over $114 million in economic damages, based on Skaggs' future career earnings, if they find the Angels liable. 

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Meta Can't Block 'Disgruntled' Researcher's Depo Responses

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge overseeing discovery in litigation against social media giants over their impact on youth mental health rejected Meta's bid Monday to block a "disgruntled" former researcher from sharing information it deems attorney-client privileged in an upcoming deposition.

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Kessler Topaz To Lead Apple Investors In Siri AI Plans Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP will represent a putative class of Apple investors who claim the technology giant was overly bullish on its timeline for implementing certain artificial intelligence-based features for its digital personal assistant Siri.

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State AGs Demand Info From 'Buy Now, Pay Later' Lenders

By Joyce Hanson

A multistate coalition of seven attorneys general has launched a probe into the terms and fees set by "buy now, pay later" lenders that are popular with shoppers, saying they're concerned that the companies' products could be breaking consumer protection laws.

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Apple IPhone Buyers Push To Appeal Class Decertification

By Matthew Perlman

Consumers told the Ninth Circuit they need to appeal a district court ruling that decertified a class of iPhone buyers expected to reach 200 million members in an antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies because the ruling was a "death knell" for the case.

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Alaska Airlines Defeats Flight Pass Cutbacks Suit For Good

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge on Monday threw out a proposed class action accusing Alaska Airlines of unlawfully reducing the number of flights available to members of its Flight Pass program, ruling that the airline was well within its rights to make changes.

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FCA Says Drivers Lack Standing In Exploding Minivan MDL

By Danielle Ferguson

Fiat Chrysler has urged a Michigan federal judge to toss the remaining claims in sprawling multidistrict litigation over allegations that certain plug-in hybrid minivans are at risk for spontaneous fires, arguing most of the plaintiffs haven't suffered from an actual defect or dealt with financial loss.

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AT&T Seeks To Block T-Mobile Price Tool From Data Scraping

By Dorothy Atkins

AT&T Services Inc. urged a Texas federal judge Sunday to issue a temporary restraining order blocking T-Mobile US Inc. from using its "Switch Made Easy" price-comparison tool to access AT&T's password-protected software without permission, while T-Mobile countered that the emergency injunction bid is unnecessary and fundamentally mischaracterizes its technology.

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PTAB Cuts Some Claims In GoPro Camera Patent

By Adam Lidgett

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invalidated a pair of claims in a GoPro camera aspect ratio patent challenged by a China-based camera company but refused to throw out the first claim of the patent.

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Fla. Jury Rules In Favor Of Megan Thee Stallion Over Deepfake

By David Minsky

A Florida federal jury on Monday awarded $75,000 in damages to Megan Thee Stallion in her trial against online personality Milagro "Mobz World" Cooper, ruling that the rapper's reputation was injured over accusations of lying in court and after a deepfake porn video was shared across the internet. 

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9th Circ. Rejects Asylum Bid From Sikh Party Supporter

By Lauren Berg

An Indian man who says he was assaulted in his home country for participating in a Sikh political party cannot seek asylum in the U.S., the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday, saying he hasn't established persecution, while one judge called for a U.S. Supreme Court "course correction" ironing out the appropriate review standard.

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AGs Push For Law To Boost Tribal Access To US Marshals

By Crystal Owens

Thirty-nine state attorneys general are calling on federal lawmakers to pass legislation that would allow the U.S. Marshal's Service to assist tribal law enforcement in tracking down individuals with felony warrants, saying it's vital to public safety and to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis.

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Squire Patton Brings On DLA Piper Patent Litigator In SF

By James Mills

Squire Patton Boggs LLP is growing its intellectual property team, announcing Monday it is bringing on a DLA Piper patent litigation attorney as a partner in its San Francisco office.

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Mulling Differing Circuit Rulings On Gender-Affirming Care

Despite the Eleventh Circuit's recent holding in Lange v. Houston County that a health plan's exclusion for gender-affirming surgery did not violate Title VII, employers should be mindful of other court decisions suggesting that different legal challenges may still apply to blanket exclusions for such care, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: How To Build On Cultural Fit

Law firm mergers should start with people, then move to strategy: A two-level screening that puts finding a cultural fit at the pinnacle of the process can unearth shared values that are instrumental to deciding to move forward with a combination, says Matthew Madsen at Harrison.

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Bonus Spotlight

Sheppard Mullin To Offer Larger Bonuses To Busy Associates

By Kevin Penton

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP associates who labored past 2,000 hours in 2025 can expect to see a little extra in their upcoming bonus checks, according to an internal memo obtained by Law360.

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Hagens Berman Referred To DOJ For Alleged Misconduct

By Emma Cueto

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday recommended to the U.S. Department of Justice that it investigate powerhouse plaintiffs firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP's conduct in connection with several since-dropped product liability cases that a special master found to be filed in bad faith.

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King & Spalding Atty Dies In Mountain Climbing Accident

By Kelcey Caulder

People at King & Spalding LLP are mourning after an appellate attorney from the firm and a mountain guide fell to their deaths climbing New Zealand's tallest mountain.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Robart On Living Under Threats

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

It's been nearly nine years since U.S. District Judge James Robart blocked President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order barring travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, and though the judge has had a long career — including groundbreaking patent and securities decisions — he still occasionally gets recognized as that "so-called judge."

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Twitter Investors Lose Bid To DQ Musk Counsel Spiro

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has denied an attempt by Twitter investors to have Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner Alex Spiro disqualified from serving as both lead counsel for Elon Musk and a witness in a trial over claims that Musk tried to tank Twitter's stock.

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Dentons Sees Ex-Partner's Appeal Nixed In California

By Caroline Simson

California's highest court has quietly tossed litigation filed by a former Dentons partner who was fired over a $34 million contingency fee due from a Chinese client following an arbitration matter, several months after advising the parties to prepare for oral arguments.

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The Top In-House Hires Of November

By Sue Reisinger

Elon Musk's xAI has a new but familiar general counsel, while several sports groups — including the New York Mets, PGA of America and the SEC college athletic conference — also brought on new legal leaders in November.

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SDNY Head Backs Good Deals For Quick Cooperation By Cos.

By Stewart Bishop

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton on Tuesday said he's prepared to offer "real benefits" to corporations facing criminal investigations if they quickly agree to cooperate and compensate victims, ideally in the form of comprehensive, government-wide resolutions.

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Exclusive

14 Ex-Lawmakers Tell USPTO Proposed Rules Violate The Law

By Ryan Davis

A group of 14 former members of Congress, including America Invents Act sponsor Patrick Leahy, has told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the agency's proposal to restrict many patent challenges "violates foundational American legal principles and the AIA."

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The FTC urged a D.C. court to block a deal involving a new heart valve treatment, and courts rejected the commission's monopolization case over Meta's past acquisitions and the agency's challenge of a medical device coatings deal. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from November.

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2 New Judges Confirmed To NC Federal Court

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed two federal judges for North Carolina on Tuesday.

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