'Larger Than Life' Willkie Leader Dies After E-Bike Crash

By Lynn LaRowe

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP partner Michele Mulrooney, who died this week after an electric bicycle crash in Colorado, is being remembered as "someone who was larger than life" in her interactions with colleagues and clients as co-chair of the firm's national private wealth management practice.

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Analysis

How A 'Risky' Move Fueled Kobre & Kim's Win Over Phillips 66

By Cara Salvatore

In the trial over Propel Fuels' claims that Phillips 66 stole trade secrets during due diligence for an acquisition, Kobre & Kim switched up standard witness order and convinced a jury to award $605 million.

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Anthropic Agrees To Pay $1.5B To Settle AI Copyright Fight

By Theresa Schliep

Leading artificial intelligence developer Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a case brought by a group of authors who accused the company of illegally using their works to train its flagship large language model, the authors told a California federal court on Friday.

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Apple Using Pirated Books To Train AI Models, Authors Allege

By Rae Ann Varona

Apple is using unlicensed copyrighted works, including books from a controversial data set, in building its artificial intelligence models, two authors alleged in a proposed class action filed Friday in California federal court, warning that Apple's AI system will inevitably begin competing with real writers.

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Warner Bros. Sues AI Image Biz Over Character Outputs

By Elliot Weld

Warner Bros. has sued artificial intelligence image and video company Midjourney over alleged copyright infringement, saying it "thinks it is above the law" by allowing users to create images of copyrighted household-name characters.

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Disney Faces Class Action Over Kids' Data Use On YouTube

By Joyce Hanson

Entertainment giant Disney Co. targets millions of children by failing to mark YouTube videos as "made for kids," allowing third-party advertisers to collect their personal information illegally, according to a proposed class action filed Friday in California federal court.

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Calif. Judge Preserves TPS For Venezuelans, Haitians

By Britain Eakin

A California federal judge on Friday set aside the Trump administration's swift attempt to unwind temporary protected status for Venezuela and Haiti, finding the executive branch exceeded its authority by vacating Biden-era TPS extensions and faulting it for rushing to terminate designations.

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Munchkin Says 'Unhinged' GC Was Fired For Good Reason

By Hailey Konnath

Munchkin Inc. says it had multiple legitimate reasons to terminate the baby company's general counsel for cause after he launched a "retaliatory and vindictive campaign" against another executive, calling him "unhinged" and slamming his suit against the company as "harassing," according to a filing in California state court.

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California Powerhouse: Morrison Foerster

By Craig Clough

Over the last year, Morrison Foerster LLP continued to show why it is one of the top law firms that technology giants and innovators look to, as it represented OpenAI in high-stakes copyright litigation and a clash with Elon Musk, while it also scored courtroom wins for Apple and advised SoftBank on several eye-popping tech deals.

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Judges Warn ICE Is Turning Courts Into Deportation Traps

By Marco Poggio

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers violently arrest unauthorized immigrants in court buildings' hallways, former and current judges warn that the Trump administration is using courts as a dragnet, arresting people indiscriminately and expelling them with little to no due process in a bid to fulfill President Donald Trump’s goal of mass deportations.

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How Attys Freed Woman Snatched By ICE In Less Than 48 Hours

By Marco Poggio

The breakneck speed with which a Colombian asylum-seeker was detained, transferred and nearly deported underscores the time crunch facing attorneys who fight removals, say the Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP lawyers whose pro bono work freed the woman from custody.

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OnlyFans Users May Face Sanctions Over AI 'Misuse'

By Craig Clough

OnlyFans users who have alleged the site employs professional "chatters" to impersonate content creators are facing possible sanctions in their case, as a California federal judge ordered their attorneys to appear in court for filing briefs with nonexistent citations and quotations generated by an AI chatbot.

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Feds Say Supreme Court Trumps 9th Circ.'s UC Grant Ruling

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Trump administration has urged the Ninth Circuit to reconsider a panel decision that upheld an order to reinstate University of California research grants terminated by the White House, saying the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently contradicted the panel's holding in a "materially identical" case.

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Judge Doubts DOE Stance On Ending Mental Health Grants

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal judge hinted on Friday that 16 states have valid claims against the U.S. Department of Education for arbitrarily discontinuing mental health funding for public schools, expressing frustration with the federal government's argument that it could terminate grant funding the same way it could fire a landscaper under contract.  

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Roundup

Real Estate Recap: Investor Power Plays

By Real Estate Authority Staff

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including what attorneys have been seeing when it comes to the power dynamic between fund managers and their investors.

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9th Circ. Affirms Irrigation Exemption For Calif. Water Project

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The Ninth Circuit on Friday rejected fishing industry groups' demand that the federal government require a Clean Water Act permit for a California agricultural water runoff project that's been operating without one for decades.

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Miner Must Show Why Chuckwalla Suit Belongs In Mich.

By Joyce Hanson

A Michigan federal judge has ordered a Michigan resident challenging the Chuckwalla National Monument's protected status to show why the lawsuit should remain in the Great Lakes State, suggesting that the case seems to fit better in California where the vast desert acreage is located.

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Sierra Club Looks To Secure Border Wall Settlement Funds

By Tom Lotshaw

The Sierra Club and a nonprofit ally asked a California federal judge to order the Trump administration to preserve at least $50 million of border wall construction funds to pay for environmental projects required by a settlement struck with the Biden administration.

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Casper Can't Escape Innovator-Liability Drug Label Suit

By Mike Curley

A California federal judge won't let Casper Pharma LLC escape an innovator-liability suit alleging that its failure to provide adequate warnings on its gout treatment led to the death of a man who used its generic version.

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Merck Shakes Off Some Claims From Cholesterol Drugs Suit

By Elliot Weld

A New Jersey federal judge has partly granted a request from Merck & Co. to dismiss claims brought by Humana over an alleged anticompetitive scheme to control distribution of cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin, tossing several proposed theories of monopolization but allowing unjust enrichment claims and state law antitrust claims to survive.

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Conde Nast Can't Shake Calif. Web Tracking Class Action

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge Thursday denied Conde Nast's bid to toss a class action claiming that the media giant installs online trackers to facilitate third-party data collection and browser activity tracking, saying the suit plausibly alleges a violation of a 60-year-old statute created to target eavesdropping devices.

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H&R Block User Drops Tax Privacy Suit Over Ad Trackers

By Anna Scott Farrell

An H&R Block user who accused the company, Google and Meta of illegally sharing his private tax information through online marketing tools dropped his proposed class action following federal court orders to arbitrate his claims, according to a filing in a California federal court.

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9th Circ. Revives Ex-DLA Worker's Disability Bias Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

The Ninth Circuit revived a suspended Defense Logistics Agency employee's lawsuit that accused the agency of disability discrimination, saying in a published opinion that the agency's "numerous errors" warranted pushing back the former employee's deadline for filing suit.

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Alaska Airlines Pilot Pleads Guilty After Mid-Flight Crisis

By Rachel Riley

A former Alaska Airlines pilot pled guilty to felony charges in Oregon state and federal court on Friday in connection with an October 2023 flight, when he tried to shut off a jet engine from the cockpit in the midst of a mental health crisis.

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CEO's Alleged Threat After Records Demand Prompts Del. Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

A major stockholder and officer of a health risk software venture who reported receiving a threatening reply from the company's CEO when he requested records has sued for the documents in Delaware's Court of Chancery, saying the earlier request was otherwise ignored.

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Pot Co. Investors Say Ex-Partner Drained Coffers For Suits

By Mike Curley

The members of an investment firm are suing their former business partner in California state court, alleging that he misappropriated funds from the firm to defend himself in a separate suit by another business partner accusing him of fraud.

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Nikola Ch. 11 Plan OK'd Despite Founder's Pardon Objection

By Vince Sullivan

A Delaware bankruptcy judge Friday approved the Chapter 11 plan of electric-truck maker Nikola Corp., overruling an objection from the company's former CEO that was tied to his treatment under the plan and a pardon issued by President Donald Trump.

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Taxation With Representation: Milbank, Wachtell, Latham

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, aircraft lessor Air Lease Corp. agrees to a take-private deal, Evernorth Health Services invests billions in Shields Health Solutions, Cadence Design Systems Inc. acquires the design and engineering business of Hexagon AB, and Kraft Heinz Co. plans to split into two independent, publicly traded companies.

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Brief

9th Circ. Won't Pause $26M Fraud Ruling For Co.'s Appeal

By Tom Lotshaw

The Ninth Circuit has denied a New Jersey pipe importer's request to pause a decision affirming a $26 million fraud judgment while it appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Calif. Tribes Seek Ban On Kalshi's Alleged Sports Gambling

By Sydney Price

Native American tribes in California are asking a federal court for an injunction that would prevent trading platform Kalshi from offering sports contracts on its lands, arguing Kalshi's advertising is illegal and detracts from the tribes' casinos.

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Reed Smith Expands In LA With Music Industry Copyright Pro

By James Mills

Reed Smith LLP is growing its entertainment industry team, bringing in a veteran entertainment attorney specializing in music copyrights as senior counsel in its Century City office in Los Angeles.

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State Crypto Regs Diverge As Federal Framework Dawns

Following the Genius Act's passage, states like California, New York and Wyoming are racing to set new standards for crypto governance, creating both opportunity and risk for digital asset firms as innovation flourishes in some jurisdictions while costly friction emerges in others, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

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How 2nd Circ. Cannabis Ruling Upends NY Licensing

A recent Second Circuit decision in Variscite NY Four v. New York, holding that New York's extra-priority cannabis licensing preference for applicants with in-state marijuana convictions violates the dormant commerce clause, underscores that state-legal cannabis markets remain subject to the same constitutional constraints as other economic markets, say attorneys at Harris Beach.

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Parenting Skills That Can Help Lawyers Thrive Professionally

As kids head back to school, the time is ripe for lawyers who are parents to consider how they can incorporate their parenting skills to build a deep, meaningful and sustainable legal practice, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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Legal Sector Jobs Creep Back Down After 5 Months Of Gains

By Tracey Read

U.S. legal industry jobs inched down by 200 positions last month, reflecting a loss for the first time in six months, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Ex-Bankruptcy Clients Defend Deal Over Jackson Walker Affair

By Adrian Cruz

Former Jackson Walker LLP bankruptcy clients said Friday that a proposed settlement meant to resolve a dispute regarding the concealed romance between a judge and attorney should go through as planned because the U.S. Trustee lacks jurisdiction to challenge the deals.

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Not That Zuckerberg: Atty Sues Meta Over FB Page Takedown

By Rachel Rippetoe

Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney Mark S. Zuckerberg is suing Meta Platforms Inc. after his firm's commercial Facebook account was repeatedly suspended because of his shared name with the tech company's CEO and founder.

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Motley Rice Fights OptumRx DQ Bid In Utah Opioid Suit

By Jack Karp

Pharmacy benefit manager OptumRx cannot disqualify Motley Rice LLC from representing Utah in a lawsuit over the opioid crisis, since any information the firm obtained during its involvement in earlier government investigations is available to all other parties in the multidistrict litigation and so isn't confidential, the state has told a federal court.

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Judge Awards Over $6M In Atty Fees In Bluetooth Co.'s IP Suit

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado federal judge has awarded the attorneys representing a Bluetooth technology company more than $6 million after the company won on the bulk of its claims at trial last year in its trade secrets and breach of confidentiality case against a Massachusetts display technology company.

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Fla. Bar Moves To Suspend Atty Accused Of Widespread Scam

By Phillip Bantz

The Florida Bar filed a petition Friday seeking the emergency suspension of a lawyer accused of scamming dozens of clients, failing to pay associates and paralegals who worked at his firm and repeatedly violating court orders.

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Analysis

SEC, CFTC Set Sights On Crypto In Regulatory Collab

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday they are moving forward with a broad regulatory harmonization effort that they hope will encourage innovation in growing markets, and lawyers tell Law360 they expect the focus to be writing rules governing the crypto sector.

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Judicial Nominee Expands On Testimony About Ky. Pardons

By Courtney Bublé

A judicial nominee for the Eastern District of Kentucky continues to distance himself from the controversial pardons issued by former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, for whom he was counsel.

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SEC Lost Year's Worth Of Gary Gensler Texts, Watchdog Says

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made "avoidable errors" that caused the agency to lose all text messages sent and received by former chair Gary Gensler for nearly a year of his tenure, some of which haven't been recovered, according to a report from the SEC's Office of Inspector General.

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Analysis

Trump Plan For Nat'l Guard In Chicago Sparks Legal Concerns

By Celeste Bott

President Donald Trump's plan to send the National Guard to Chicago over the objections of Illinois' governor could face similar legal hurdles as his use of the military in Los Angeles to quell protests over immigration raids, with some experts and local officials suggesting he may try to use an impending immigration crackdown in the city to justify a similar deployment.

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FTC Drops Appeal For Rule Banning Noncompetes

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission officially abandoned its appeal Friday in a case that set aside a Biden administration rule banning the use of most employee noncompete clauses, but the agency said it plans to bring enforcement actions on a case-by-case basis instead.

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DC Circ. Won't Halt Order Releasing Billions In Foreign Aid

By Rae Ann Varona

Both a divided D.C. Circuit panel and a district court judge Friday refused to hit pause on the judge's recent order requiring the Trump administration to release billions of dollars in frozen foreign aid.

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Trump Nominates 3 To Be DC Superior Court Judges

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump has nominated three people to serve on the District of Columbia's local courts, bringing the district one step closer to easing its vacancy crisis.

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Democrat Slaughter Asks Justices To Let Her Stay On FTC

By Bryan Koenig

Democratic Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday not to pause her reinstatement while the Trump administration challenges lower court decisions holding that her firing was illegal, saying those decisions were plainly correct and she's in no danger of sowing "chaos."

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen professional boxing promoter Boxxer take action against the former head of boxing at Matchroom Sport, Aegis Motor Insurance and Chubb European Group clash over a reinsurance claim, and a transgender pool player sue the English Blackball Pool Federation over its decision to ban her competing in women's teams and tournaments. 

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In arguing that the proposed class action against the business should be denied, online platform OnlyFans' parent company said that the decision to use AI to create mistake-riddled documents is severe misconduct. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm unveiled a new fee disclosure rule involving pharmacy benefit managers and plans to revisit retirement plan fiduciary investment advice regulations. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Milbank LLP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and the Liberty Justice Center lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Federal Circuit held that President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs were improperly imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

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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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