Disney, Universal Team Up For IP Suit Against AI Art Co.

By Bonnie Eslinger

Disney and Universal have teamed up to sue artificial intelligence company Midjourney in California federal court, calling the startup in their Wednesday lawsuit a "copyright free-rider" for training its AI art generator with their protected works from such iconic franchises as "Star Wars," Marvel's "Iron Man," "Shrek" and "The Simpsons."

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Calif. Justices OK More Bar Exam Proposals After Fiasco

By Craig Clough

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday approved more measures to address the widespread problems that arose during the administration of the February bar exam, which includes a provisional license program for applicants who failed or withdrew from the exam. 

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DOJ Says Newsom Can't Ask Court To Halt Guard Deployment

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration is telling a California federal judge its decision to federalize the National Guard is unreviewable in court, calling California Gov. Gavin Newsom's effort to stop the takeover "a crass political stunt" in a new filing Wednesday.

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Ex-Google Engineer Loses Bid To Toss AI Espionage Counts

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge has refused to toss economic espionage charges against an ex-Google engineer accused of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets to help startups in China, adding that prosecutors' assertion that the man was trying to benefit the People's Republic of China "as opposed to benefiting himself ... seems dubious."

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AGs Press Meta To Do More To Stop Pump-And-Dump Scams

By Abigail Harrison

Attorneys general from states and territories around the country, as well as the District of Columbia, sent an open letter to Meta Platforms Inc. Wednesday urging the social media giant to help stem the tide of widespread investment scams across Facebook and WhatsApp that they said have caused people to lose "life-changing" amounts of money.

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NFL Tells 9th Circ. $4.7B Sunday Ticket Verdict Rightly Nixed

By Matthew Perlman

The National Football League has told the Ninth Circuit that a lower court was right to toss a $4.7 billion jury verdict for claims that the league colluded to raise the price of the Sunday Ticket broadcast package on DirecTV, after the court found testimony from a pair of experts during trial was unreliable.

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9th Circ. Judge Doubts Apple ICloud Buyer's Storage Appeal

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit judge on a panel appeared skeptical Wednesday of an Apple consumer's bid to revive a proposed class action alleging the tech giant shortchanged tens of millions of paying iCloud subscribers out of 5 gigabytes of the storage space, saying the consumer "got exactly what you were promised."

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Insurer Says Law Firm Mishandled Pesticide Exposure Suit

By Hope Patti

An insurer is claiming it is owed at least $625,000 from a law firm hired to defend a poultry farm against a suit over toxic pesticide exposure, alleging in federal court that it was forced to settle the suit above policy limits due to the firm's negligence and malpractice.

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Aetna Resolves Lipedema Patients' Coverage Class Action

By Patrick Hoff

Aetna has agreed to end a class action alleging it unlawfully refused to cover liposuction as a treatment for over two dozen patients afflicted with a rare chronic condition called lipedema, according to a Wednesday filing in California federal court.

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9th Circ. Doubts Kleenex Ad Fight Belongs In District Court

By Dorothy Atkins

Two judges on a Ninth Circuit panel doubted Wednesday that they have jurisdictional authority to revive a putative class action alleging Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s Kleenex Wet Wipes Germ Removal products mislead consumers about its ability to kill germs, saying repeatedly that the consumers' complaint has not met their burden to establish jurisdiction.

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American Airlines Workers Win $18.7M Toxic Uniform Award

By Y. Peter Kang

A California state jury has awarded $18.7 million to five American Airlines flight attendants who blamed their employer and a uniform maker for causing them to suffer injuries due to uniforms made with toxic chemicals.

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Acura Drivers' Attys Get $8.5M In Bluetooth Device Settlement

By Jonathan Capriel

A California federal judge has granted final approval to a deal between a class of Acura drivers and American Honda Motor Co., settling claims over alleged defects in vehicles' Bluetooth hands-free systems and awarding class counsel $8.56 million in attorney fees — an amount reduced from the attorneys' original $10.9 million request.

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HPE Says DOJ Wants 'Unfair' Juniper Merger Trial Advantage

By Bryan Koenig

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has asked a California federal judge to evenly dole out time for the July trial challenging its planned $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks Inc., arguing the U.S. Department of Justice wants to "tilt the playing field in its favor" with an uneven allocation.

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9th Circ. Backs Reddit Win In WallStreetBets Creator's TM Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive WallStreetBets subreddit founder Jaime Rogozinski's lawsuit accusing Reddit Inc. of hijacking his creation and infringing his right to trademark the brand, saying in an unpublished opinion that Rogozinski failed to adequately plead ownership over the brand mark.

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Micron's National Security Arguments Fall Flat At PTAB

By Theresa Schliep

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has said it will consider patent validity challenges that Micron Technology Inc. and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. brought against each other, overriding the competing semiconductor companies' efforts to escape scrutiny, including Micron's national security arguments.

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Analysis

New Patent Cases Rebound As EDTX Seals Top Venue Spot

By Ryan Davis

The number of new patent suits filed in 2024 increased 22.2% over 2023, bouncing back from a historically slow year, and the Eastern District of Texas further cemented its status as the most popular patent venue after a rule change made another Texas district less attractive to plaintiffs.

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PTAB Issues Mixed Group Of Discretionary Denial Decisions

By Dani Kass

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invoked its discretion to free Nike Inc. and Cleveland Medical Devices from having their patents scrutinized, but refused to do so for Vermeer Manufacturing Co.

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Filmmaker Ends Case Against Netflix, LeBron Over 'Rez Ball'

By Christine DeRosa

A California federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a copyright lawsuit with prejudice by a filmmaker who accused Netflix Inc., NBA superstar LeBron James and others of lifting elements from his script to make the movie "Rez Ball" after the parties filed a notice with the court.

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Lighting Co. Strikes Deal To End ESOP Management Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A California-based lighting company and the managers of its employee stock ownership plan agreed to resolve a proposed class action claiming they mismanaged the $25 million sale of company stock that established the plan, according to a filing in federal court.

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Weinstein Convicted Of 1 Charge In Mixed, Partial Verdict

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan state court jury on Wednesday convicted movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting a production assistant, acquitted him of assaulting a former model and indicated it had so far failed to reach a verdict on a charge alleging he raped an actress.

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Attys For Disney Streaming Customers Vie To Lead Settlement

By Jared Foretek

Days after announcing that they've reached a settlement with Disney, live TV streaming customers are looking to appoint Yavar Bathaee from Bathaee Dunne LLP to serve as the lead counsel in their proposed antitrust class action against the company over ESPN carriage agreement fees.

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Fintech Startup Chimes In With $864M IPO Above Price Range

By Tom Zanki

Venture-backed fintech startup Chime Financial Inc. priced an $864 million initial public offering above its marketed range on Wednesday, represented by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and underwriters counsel Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, furthering the IPO market's recent momentum.

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Disney's Hiring Is Biased Toward Immigrants, Calif. Court Told

By Irene Spezzamonte

The Walt Disney Co. illegally fired a human resources specialist because she raised concerns about what she saw as the company's practices of primarily hiring immigrant workers while disproportionately firing African American employees, she told a California state court.

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Judge Unlikely To Add Migrant Orgs. To Sanctuary Cities Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge Wednesday said he wasn't inclined to allow three Los Angeles-based immigrant organizations to intervene in a lawsuit brought by U.S. cities and counties challenging the Trump administration's targeting of sanctuary jurisdictions, saying it could "impede and complicate the case without any real benefit."

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High Court Birthright Case Could Reshape Judicial Power

Recent arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in cases challenging President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order primarily focused on federal judges’ power to issue nationwide injunctions and suggest that the upcoming decision may fundamentally change how federal courts operate, says Mauni Jalali at Quinn Emanuel.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Appreciating Civil Procedure

If you’re like me, law school’s often complex and theoretical approach to teaching civil procedure may have contributed to an early struggle with the topic, but when seen from a practical perspective, new lawyers may find they enjoy mastering these rules, says Chloe Villagomez at Foster Garvey.

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Analysis

These Firms Are Landing The Most PTAB Work

By Theresa Schliep

Intellectual property powerhouse Fish & Richardson again secured the top spot on a list of firms appearing in the most trials over the past three years in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

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Mass. Judge, On Stand, Denies Helping Immigrant Evade ICE

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts judge accused of approving a plan to let a man elude immigration officers by letting him leave the court through a back door seven years ago testified Thursday that was not her intent when she granted a request to let him speak with an attorney in a courthouse lockup.

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Trump's Deployment Of National Guard Illegal, Judge Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Thursday granted California's request for a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump's order sending the National Guard into Los Angeles, calling the president's actions "illegal" and unconstitutional, but the decision was quickly paused by the Ninth Circuit.

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Google Fights MDL Plaintiffs' Sanctions Bid Over Lost Chats

By Emily Sawicki

Google is pushing back on a request for sanctions that a slew of advertisers and publishers have brought in their antitrust lawsuit over the company's advertising placement technology, saying the plaintiffs have not shown Google hid evidence amid the "mountains" of electronically stored information it provided.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Proctor On Civility, Civil Rules

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

R. David Proctor, chief judge of the Northern District of Alabama, is a leader within the federal judiciary. He's both assigned and presided over multidistrict litigation. He may write a nationwide rule governing third-party litigation funding. And he's gained internet fame for ordering two attorneys to eat lunch together.

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Avenatti Sheds 3 Years After 9th Circ. Orders Resentencing

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge on Thursday resentenced disbarred attorney Michael Avenatti to just over 11 years in federal prison for filching millions of dollars from his clients' settlement funds, reducing a 14-year sentence overturned by the Ninth Circuit and leaving Avenatti with about eight years left after time served.

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DOJ Picks Proceed Despite Worry Over Honoring Court Orders

By Courtney Bublé

Two nominations for top positions in the U.S. Department of Justice were voted out of committee on party lines on Thursday.

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Calif. Sues Trump Over 'Wildly Partisan' EV Waiver Repeal

By Dorothy Atkins

The California attorney general and 10 other states sued the Trump administration in federal court Thursday, minutes after President Donald Trump signed resolutions repealing California's Clean Air Act waiver that allowed the state to establish its own vehicle emissions standards, slamming the resolutions as unconstitutional, irrational and "wildly partisan."

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Interview

Ex-Interior Secretary Salazar On 'Coming Home' To WilmerHale

By Aebra Coe

Former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado, who served as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Obama administration and most recently as ambassador to Mexico during the Biden administration, returned this month to WilmerHale's Denver office, which he founded in 2014.

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Justices Say Habeas Claims Can't Be Added After Judgment

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a prisoner may not add new claims to a habeas corpus petition once a final judgment is issued, cementing strict limits on repeat habeas filings prescribed by federal law.

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Justices Limit FTCA Defense In FBI Raid Case

By Chart Riggall

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday held that the Constitution's supremacy clause cannot shield the federal government from Federal Tort Claims Act suits, in the process reviving a Georgia woman's claim over an FBI raid aimed at a gang member but mistakenly carried out at her home.

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Analysis

Rising PTAB Filings Follow Surge In Patent Cases

By Theresa Schliep

The number of petitions filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ticked up last year, following a similar increase in federal court litigation and suggesting that activity at the board has somewhat stabilized, according to a new report.

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Weinstein Sex Abuse Trial Ends After Mixed, Partial Verdict

By Pete Brush

Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse retrial ended Thursday with a Manhattan jury failing to reach a verdict on a count alleging the movie mogul raped an actress, one day after he was convicted of forcing sex on a production assistant and cleared on a third charge.

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