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TOP NEWS Girardi Indictment Sparks Joy, Frustration, Disbelief Before the sun rose Thursday in Jakarta, Indonesia, Bias Ramadhan woke up and scanned his emails to find news he thought would never come: Thomas Girardi, the American lawyer who allegedly stole from his family's settlement, had been indicted. MGA Atty's N-Word Use Looms Over Doll Retrial Featuring T.I. MGA Entertainment indicated Thursday it will seek to introduce vulgar rap lyrics and allegations of criminal behavior connected to hip-hop moguls T.I. and Tameka "Tiny" Harris in a May retrial of their intellectual property battle over a line of popular dolls, a strategy the Harrises say is racist. Kyle Roche's Ex-Firm Must Sit For Depo Over Financial Ties A California federal judge overseeing allegations that crypto company Dfinity sold unregistered securities ordered a representative of the plaintiff investors' law firm to sit for a deposition on Dfinity's claim that secretly recorded comments from ex-firm partner Kyle Roche reveal financial ties that require disqualifying the firm, formerly called Roche Freedman. Calif. Regulators Hasten Relief Amid Skyrocketing Gas Bills The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to speed up distributing relief to Californians grappling with soaring natural gas bills, ordering utilities to provide annual climate credits to residential customers as soon as possible rather than waiting until the spring.
FTC Won't Recuse Chair From In-House Meta Deal Challenge The Federal Trade Commission has voted not to recuse Chair Lina Khan from participating in the agency's in-house case challenging Facebook parent Meta Platforms' planned purchase of a virtual reality app developer while the commission plots a path forward with its federal case.
Judge Albright OKs Apple Patent Suit's Move To Calif. Federal Judge Alan Albright allowed Apple to transfer to California litigation claiming the company unlawfully uses an inventor's patented wireless device technologies, saying in an order unsealed Thursday that while patent cases get through his Western District of Texas quicker, more case documents and witnesses are in the Golden State.
Senate Panel Approves 15 Judge Picks In 1st Votes Of Year The Senate Judiciary Committee approved 15 judicial nominees Thursday, teeing up the first tranche of federal court picks available for confirmation votes this year by the newly expanded Democratic majority. NY Atty Can't Dodge Libel Suit Over 'Securities Fraud' Email A California federal judge has knocked down all the defenses filed by a New York attorney in a libel case, who now must stand trial on allegations he maliciously sent an email with false statements about another attorney's purported "securities fraud."
Google Wants Audio Device Privacy Suit Arbitrated Google asked a California federal judge to send to arbitration a "significant portion" of a privacy class action by consumers alleging its Google Assistant-enabled devices recorded their conversations, arguing a large portion of class members agreed to mandatory arbitration agreements either when prompted during device setup or device purchase.
Coursera Hit With Class Action Over Subscription Renewals A new class action in California federal court accuses online course provider Coursera of flouting state consumer protection laws, saying users signing up for free trials are duped into additional charges through automatic subscription renewals.
Disney Urges Justices To Pass On 'Toy Story 3' TM Fight Media conglomerate Disney urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday not to take up its trademark dispute with a stuffed-animal manufacturer over the "Toy Story 3" character Lotso, arguing the Ninth Circuit didn't overexpand trademark protection and misuse a 1989 test regarding free speech.
IP Forecast: Fed. Circ. To Eye Cooley's Conduct In CBD Row Pure Hemp Collective heads to the Federal Circuit to argue it was wrongly denied legal fees based on how rival United Cannabis' Cooley LLP lawyers handled one of the first-ever cannabis patent suits, while United Cannabis plans to attack the appeal as "frivolous." Here's a look at that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week. Ex-Exec Says Wells Fargo Made Her A Pariah In Sales Scandal A former Wells Fargo regional president has hit the bank with a defamation lawsuit in California federal court, claiming it chose to "tar and feather" her reputation and made her a "pariah" by falsely blaming her for its so-called simulated funding scandal in Los Angeles.
Trial Lawyers Say Domino's Drivers Don't Need Arbitration The American Association for Justice urged the Ninth Circuit to restore its decision exempting from arbitration Domino's truck drivers who transport items in-state because the journey involves interstate commerce, the second filing from an outside party supporting the drivers' bid to reinstate the ruling.
Hyatt Hit With Wage Suit Citing Long Beach Hotel Worker Law A Hyatt hotel in Long Beach, California, violated state and municipal protections for cleaning staff by overworking them, underpaying them and denying them their mandatory rest breaks, a pair of cleaning workers alleged in a proposed class action filed in state court.
Investor Sues Fintech Ryvyl Over Accounting Flubs Fintech company Ryvyl Inc. and some of its executives and underwriters face an investor's proposed class action alleging the company concealed issues with its accounting, hurting shareholders when it announced it would need to revise certain financial statements.
Del. Court Hurries Lordstown's 115 Million Stock Query Electric carmaker Lordstown Motors Corp. won Delaware Chancery Court approval on Thursday to fast-track its petition to validate an October 2020 stock increase after a recent court decision raised concerns that the company over-issued more than 115 million shares. Judge Smacks Down WWE Antitrust Suit Discovery For Now A California federal judge wants a ruling on the defendant's motion to dismiss before venturing into the discovery phase of an antitrust suit by Major League Wrestling Media that accuses World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. of trying to quash competition.
DocuSign's Bad Conduct Warrants Fee Shift, Ex-CEO Says DocuSign's ex-CEO wants the Delaware Chancery Court to order the e-signature company to pay at least $709,000 for legal fees he has incurred in litigation alleging the company tried to "bully" him into resigning from its board and made false filings saying he resigned as a director. Colo. River Dispute A Matter Of Human Rights, Navajos Say The Navajo Nation is casting its attempt to draw water from the drought-stricken Colorado River as a question of human rights, telling the U.S. Supreme Court that its citizens risk losing their livelihoods, or even their homeland, if federal officials keep withholding such resources.
Latham Adds Gunderson Dettmer Emerging Cos. Atty In Calif. Latham & Watkins LLP is growing its emerging companies practice by adding a Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP emerging companies expert as a partner in its San Francisco Bay Area offices. Litigators Should Approach AI Tools With Caution Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT hold potential to streamline various aspects of the litigation process, resulting in improved efficiency and outcomes, but should be carefully double-checked for confidentiality, plagiarism and accuracy concerns, say Zachary Foster and Melanie Kalmanson at Quarles & Brady. SEC's 1st Reg BI Action Spells Enforcement Challenges The pleadings in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's action against Western International Securities highlights three problems for the agency in prosecuting its first Regulation Best Interest case, including that it isn't clear what the regulation actually requires, says Justin Chretien at Carlton Fields. Navigating DOJ's Fresh Focus On Criminal Monopoly Charges For the first time in nearly 45 years, the U.S. Department of Justice has brought criminal charges for violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Act in two very different cases, displaying a renewed willingness to level criminal charges for price-fixing or other coordination under both Sections 1 and 2, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner. Legal Industry Continued Job Growth In January Despite recession worries and law firm layoffs, employment in the legal industry is continuing to grow, with the sector adding 2,400 jobs in January, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor. Gilstrap, Albright May Be Overruled More In Non-Patent Cases A patent-heavy docket like the ones managed by U.S. District Judges Alan Albright and Rodney Gilstrap may lead them to render lower-quality decisions in non-patent cases than their counterparts, according to new research out of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Girardi Thefts A Tough Lift For Client Restitution Funds In recent years, the legal business has seen some ambitious liars, grifters and embezzlers — and the ripped-off victims left in their wake. But the scale of Los Angeles lawyer Thomas Girardi's alleged theft promises to surpass the financial limitations of client restitution funds. Live Nation Brings On Antitrust Litigator From Latham A longtime antitrust adviser to Live Nation who began his relationship with the company in 2009 during its merger with Ticketmaster has retired from Latham & Watkins LLP and accepted the role of executive vice president for corporate and regulatory affairs at the entertainment company. Virtual Immigration Hearing Denials Improper, NJ Judge Rules U.S. District Judge John Vazquez ruled Friday that the Newark Immigration Court has breached a stipulation requiring immigration judges there to issue timely, reasoned rulings on attorney motions for remote hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic. GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week A new report found that corporations around the world face increased expectations for good governance in the wake of the pandemic and a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced legislation that would severely limit the ability of employers to enforce noncompete pacts. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week. UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London The past week in London has seen the Financial Conduct Authority hoping to put care home Ponzi schemes to bed in separate claims against Lupton Fawcett, a law firm in Leeds, and a social care group, MBi; oil giant Shell in a sticky situation in a claim over pollution in two Nigerian communities; and Plexus Law's former boss suing the personal injury firm in a commercial contracts claim. 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. Podcast Pro Say: Using Bankruptcy To Duck Mass Torts Is Now Harder This week, the Third Circuit ruled that Johnson & Johnson can't use the controversial "Texas two-step" maneuver to spin off the billions of dollars in talc liability it's facing. The appellate court held that the talc unit's bankruptcy should've been tossed because the company is clearly not in financial distress and the bankruptcy petition wasn't filed in good faith. Ex-Eisner Atty Says Get His Name Out Of Court Fraud Suit An ex-Eisner LLP attorney urged a California judge Friday to strike "gratuitous" allegations that he aided a fraud on the court and remove them from Orion Telescopes & Binoculars' lawsuit against his client, saying Orion decided to "splatter and vomit my name" across the complaint for lawfully representing his client. Ohio Judge Hit With $1.1M Verdict For Firing Jewish Staff Atty A federal jury in Cincinnati on Friday delivered a verdict worth more than $1.1 million against an Ohio judge accused of firing his Jewish staff attorney and magistrate because she wanted to take off time during the High Holidays.
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