Epic CEO, Google Execs To Testify At Play Store Deal Hearing

By Dorothy Atkins

Epic Games and Google plan to call Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, an economist, a Google executive and in-house counsel during an upcoming evidentiary hearing into their proposed Android app distribution settlement, which has drawn skepticism from the judge, who has appointed an economist to independently evaluate the deal.

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Tinder's $60.5M Deal For Charging Users Over 29 More OK'd

By Craig Clough

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has granted preliminary approval to a $60.5 million settlement Tinder reached with a class of users who alleged the dating app unlawfully charged subscribers age 30 and older more than younger daters, drawing the decade-long litigation to a close.

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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.

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Book Publishers Ask To Join Authors' AI Suit Against Google

By Ivan Moreno

Book publishers Cengage Learning and Hachette Book Group on Thursday asked to intervene in a proposed copyright class action from writers and illustrators accusing Google of using their works for AI training, arguing that as major publishers they have significant interests that are not currently represented in the case.

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Google Worker In IP Theft Trial Impersonated Exec, Jury Hears

By Bonnie Eslinger

An ex-Google engineer accused of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets to help China used a fake email account to impersonate a Google vice president that he'd listed as a business reference, and also had voice modification software on his computer, an FBI agent told jurors Thursday.

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Trump Admin Defies Funding K-12 Mental Health Grants

By Mark Payne

The Trump administration is fighting an effort by a coalition of U.S. states to preserve at least six months of funding for K-12 mental health grants meant to help students process gun violence, arguing that an earlier court ruling doesn't require the feds to fund the grants.

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Gov't Contractor Says Insurers Wrongfully Inflated Premiums

By Hope Patti

A contractor for the federal government said it should not have to pay an additional $1.7 million premium for workers' compensation policies issued by units of the Hartford, telling a Connecticut federal court that the retroactive charge was caused by the wrongful reclassification of hundreds of employees.

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Dems Push SEC To Pursue Crypto Case Against Justin Sun

By Aislinn Keely

Three House Democrats on Thursday pressed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reinvigorate its paused enforcement case against Tron founder Justin Sun and address their concerns that the agency's wave of crypto case dismissals coincided with considerable industry donations to President Donald Trump.

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Bang Energy Co. Founder's Bid To Avoid Paying $308M Denied

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge denied a motion brought by the founder of the company that makes Bang energy drinks to avoid paying Monster Beverage Corp. $308 million stemming from a false advertising lawsuit, saying the request must be brought in California. 

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Latham Guides Mission Produce On $430M Calavo Deal

By Al Barbarino

Latham & Watkins LLP is advising Mission Produce on a fresh agreement to buy fellow fruit purveyor Calavo Growers, which tapped Cozen O'Connor as its legal adviser, at a $430 million enterprise value.

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Crypto Lender Nexo Fined $500K For Unlicensed Loans

By Sydney Price

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced that crypto-backed loan company Nexo Capital Inc. will pay a $500,000 penalty to settle claims it did not have a valid license when making its high-risk loans to California residents.

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Verizon, Calif. Strike Diversity Deal In Frontier Takeover

By Christopher Cole

California utility regulators approved Verizon's takeover of Frontier Communications' fiber network Thursday, after the wireless giant has reached several agreements to support statewide diversity and digital equity initiatives.

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Jenner Atty And Ex-Newsom Aide O'Leary Heads To OpenAI

By Hailey Konnath

Jenner & Block LLP public policy partner Ann O'Leary, who previously worked as chief of staff for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, has joined OpenAI in the newly created role of vice president of global policy, according to an announcement this week.

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Crowell Lands Buchalter Practice Group Co-Chair In Calif.

By Rose Krebs

Crowell & Moring LLP announced Thursday that it has added the former co-chair of Buchalter PC's white collar and government investigations practice to bolster its capacity to handle healthcare fraud and other cases.

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Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

The regulatory and litigation developments for California financial institutions in the fourth quarter of 2025 were incremental but consequential, with the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation relying on public enforcement actions to articulate expectations, and lawmakers and privacy regulators playing a role as well, says Stephen Britt at Stinson.

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9th Circ. Copyright Ruling Highlights Doubts On Intrinsic Test

Two concurring opinions in Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg may mark an inflection point in the Ninth Circuit's substantial-similarity jurisprudence, inviting copyright litigants to reassess strategy as the court potentially shifts away from the intrinsic test, say attorneys at Troutman.

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Algorithmic Bias Risks Remain For Employers After AI Order

A recent executive order articulates a federal preference for a minimally burdensome approach to artificial intelligence regulation, but it doesn't eliminate employers' central compliance challenge or exposure when using AI tools, say Marjorie Soto Garcia and Joseph Mulherin at McDermott, and Candice Rosevear at Peregrine Economics.

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Considerations In Building Guardrails For AI Use In Arbitration

A recent California federal court case involving allegations of artificial intelligence ghostwriting an arbitration award, prior analogous practice on tribunal delegation, and emerging generative AI recommendations all support building a forward-looking framework for arbitration rules to minimize the risk of AI-based challenges, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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4 Ways GCs Can Manage Growing Service Of Process Volume

As automation and arbitration increase the volume of legal filings, in-house counsel must build scalable service of process systems that strengthen corporate governance and manage risk in real time, says Paul Mathews at Corporation Service Co.

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Fly-Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Much like skilled attorneys, the best anglers prize preparation, presentation and patience while respecting their adversaries — both human and trout, says Rob Braverman at Braverman Greenspun.

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As Goldstein Trial Begins, Gov't Points To 'Lavish' Lifestyle

By Jared Foretek

An accountant for billionaire investor Alec Gores said that Thomas Goldstein had suggested he open a foreign account for Gores' poker-related transactions or even classify him as a professional player for tax purposes, although Gores was just getting started in the high-stakes poker world.

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Simpson Thacher Offers Stipend To Lure Summer Associates

By Tracey Read

In an effort for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to attract top students who want to pursue public interest work, the firm said it will pay a stipend of $42,500 for the 2026-2027 cycle for those who opt to spend their 1L summer in a qualifying public service, government, academic, in-house legal or nonprofit role.

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Judiciary AI Rule Draws Fire As Judges Get Deepfakes Survey

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary policymakers heard extensive concerns Thursday regarding high-profile plans to formally screen evidence generated with artificial intelligence, and they set the stage for more feedback by preparing an AI survey for every federal trial judge.

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ICE Detention Facilities Nearly Doubled Last Year, Report Says

By Tom Lotshaw

An American Immigration Council report said the Trump administration detained record numbers of noncitizens last year, most without criminal records, and held them in a rapidly expanding network of facilities that could soon rival the federal criminal prison system.

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Fla. High Court Opens Door To Non-ABA Accrediting Entities

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday changed the bar exam admission requirements to allow graduates of law schools accredited by entities other than the American Bar Association to sit for the Florida bar exam.

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5th Circ. Revives Allstate's Fraud Suit Over Car Crash Billing

By Gina Kim

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived Allstate's racketeering suit alleging doctors and personal injury lawyers unleashed a barrage of unnecessary treatments for car accident patients and caused Allstate to pay $4.7 million in claims, finding the insurer sufficiently pled details about the conspiracy and specifics surrounding each allegedly fake medical billing.

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Sens. Advance Indiana Judge Nominee Grilled Over Sermons

By Courtney Bublé

A federal judicial nominee for Indiana who came under scrutiny by a Republican senator for his past sermons as an ordained elder was voted out of committee Thursday alongside five other judicial nominees.

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Trump US Atty Pick In NM Bumped To First Assistant

By Emily Sawicki

A New Mexico federal judge has ruled the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for New Mexico is not validly serving in the role but declined to disqualify the prosecutor from a slate of cases pending in the district, instead determining the lawyer may continue to work in the federal prosecutor's office as first assistant.

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Wash. Judges To Pick US Atty As Floyd's Term Set To Expire

By Gina Kim

The chief judge for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday announced the court's intent to select a U.S. attorney to serve on a temporary basis if President Donald Trump's pick, Charles Neil Floyd, who has been serving on an interim basis, isn't confirmed by the Senate by next month. 

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