FAT Brands Inc., the owner of Fatburger and Johnny Rockets, and its affiliates have filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas bankruptcy court with $1.45 billion in funded debt, felled by an unsustainable debt load and flagging liquidity. 
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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Fatburger Owner FAT Brands Hits Ch. 11 With $1.5B Debt

By Emily Lever

FAT Brands Inc., the owner of Fatburger and Johnny Rockets, and its affiliates have filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas bankruptcy court with $1.45 billion in funded debt, felled by an unsustainable debt load and flagging liquidity. 

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Creators Say Snap Bypassed YouTube Safeguards To Train AI

By Adam Lidgett

Snapchat has been hit with a proposed class action in California federal court by YouTubers who claim the social media platform wrongfully scraped copyrighted videos to train its artificial intelligence model.

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Autodesk Investor Suit Over Internal Controls Axed For Good

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has dismissed, for good, a class action alleging that software company Autodesk misled investors on its financial metrics and internal controls, finding that there is nothing actionable or misleading about the three remaining challenged statements in the suit.

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Facebook Users' Suit Over Hacked Accounts Tossed, For Now

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge tossed with leave to amend Monday a proposed class action alleging Meta lets hackers take over users' Facebook accounts while profiting from users' data, finding that the consumers fail to allege a viable contract breach, but allowing them another shot at amending their theory of liability.

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Google's Allegedly Stolen AI Secrets Not Valuable, Jury Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

Former Google engineer Linwei Ding's counsel wrapped his defense case Tuesday, questioning a technical expert who told a California federal jury that the documents taken by Ding related to artificial intelligence supercomputers wouldn't allow someone to replicate Google's technology and had minimal value to competitors.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Language Access Bill Targets Trump's English-Only Order

By Joyce Hanson

Four members of Congress have introduced a bill that would protect language access at federal agencies for millions of people in the United States with limited English, saying an executive order by President Donald Trump declaring English as the official U.S. language wrongly minimizes multilingual services.

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REAL ESTATE & DEVELOPMENT

Marilyn Monroe Homeowners Sue LA Again Over Landmarking

By Gina Kim

Owners of a home where Marilyn Monroe died sued Los Angeles officials for the second time Friday, alleging in California federal court that designating the property a historic cultural monument prevented them from demolishing the decaying building they still must pay taxes on, which amounts to an unconstitutional government taking without just compensation.

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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL

Investor Group Battles PG&E's $100M Wildfire Suit Deal

By Emlyn Cameron

A faction of the proposed class members in a securities class action targeting Pacific Gas & Electric Co. have asked the California federal judge overseeing the case to deny a settlement of claims that the company misled investors about its safety practices ahead of deadly wildfires in the past decade.

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INSURANCE

Split 9th Circ. Backs Blue Shield Win In Residential Care Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A split Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday held Blue Shield of California did not abuse its discretion in declining to cover an adolescent's stay at a mental health treatment facility, rejecting arguments on appeal that the insurer wrongly went against the recommendations of treating physicians.

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PRODUCT LIABILITY

Kratom Buyers Call Co.'s Products Addictive, Dangerous

By Mike Curley

A group of kratom product buyers is suing 7Tabz Retail LLC in California federal court, launching the latest suit alleging kratom companies are pushing an addictive drug without warning buyers about the danger.

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PRIVACY & CONSUMER PROTECTION

Lasik Provider Can't Shake Wiretap Claims In Tracking Row

By Allison Grande

The operator of a laser eye surgery website must face a proposed class action alleging it illegally shared patients' confidential medical information with Meta, a California federal judge ruled, finding that the plaintiff could continue to press allegations under state and federal wiretap law.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Judge Asks If Jurisdiction Exists To Cancel 'Perplexity' TM

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge has ordered artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI to explain why she has jurisdiction to cancel a trademark for a similarly named company after vacating a default judgment that was issued due to that company failing to secure a lawyer.

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SPORTS & BETTING

SF Giants Accused Of Charging 'Junk Fees' On MLB Tickets

By Gina Kim

The San Francisco Giants for years lured consumers into buying tickets to ball games by unlawfully charging undisclosed "junk fees" that aren't revealed until checkout, after pressuring them with a countdown clock, alleges a proposed class action filed Monday in California federal court.

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SECURITIES

9th Circ. Affirms Ripple's Early Win On Registration Claim

By Emilie Ruscoe

The Ninth Circuit won't revive class action claims alleging cryptocurrency company Ripple Labs sold the digital token XRP in an unregistered securities offering, upholding in its decision Tuesday a lower court's finding that the claims are time-barred.

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SEC Blunts Some Shareholder Activists With Policy Reversal

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has reversed course on allowing shareholders with less than $5 million in holdings to publicize information about their proxy ballot proposals through the agency, saying it will object to such voluntary submissions going forward.

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Crypto Network Cofounder Hit With $100M RICO Suit

By Gina Kim

The co-founder and board members of cryptocurrency-associated data cloud platform Cere Network were sued in California federal court Tuesday over an alleged pump-and-dump scheme where they secretly sold over $41 million in Cere tokens on various exchanges and misappropriated investor funds. 

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COMPETITION

AGs' HPE-Juniper Hold Too Broad, Too Late, Judge Says

By Bryan Koenig

A California federal judge explained his reasoning for refusing to block further integration between Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks, while Democratic attorneys general challenge the Justice Department's controversial settlement permitting the merger.

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Medtronic Rival's VP Says Docs Praised Device But Didn't Buy

By Craig Clough

A vice president in charge of sales at Applied Medical testified Tuesday in a California federal trial over his company's antitrust claims against Medtronic, and said the overwhelmingly positive feedback Applied received from surgeons who used its advanced bipolar devices often didn't result in sales. 

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Shein Moves To Toss Artist's 'Misguided' Copyright, RICO Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

Shein urged a California federal court to toss a proposed copyright and racketeering class action that accuses the fast-fashion online retailer of using sophisticated algorithmic systems and artificial intelligence to steal artists' works, chiding the suit's bid to equate Shein with a criminal enterprise as "fanciful and severely misguided."

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PRIVATE EQUITY

Kirkland-Led Leonard Green Gets $3.6B For Single-Asset Fund

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Leonard Green & Partners LP, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, has announced it closed its inaugural investment program focused on single-asset continuation funds sponsored by third-party private equity managers, with $3.6 billion of commitments.

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3 Firms Guide GigCapital's Latest SPAC, Raising $220M

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

GigCapital9 Corp., the latest special purpose acquisition company led by serial SPAC sponsor Avi Katz, began trading publicly Tuesday after pricing its $220 million initial public offering.

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IMMIGRATION

Immigrants Sue ICE Over 'Intolerable' Calif. Detention Center

By Lauren Berg

After launching a "sweeping dragnet" of immigration arrests in California, the Trump administration is subjecting people to "dangerous conditions and pervasive abuses" at a detention center in the Mojave Desert as part of its broader plan to intimidate and deport immigrants, according to a lawsuit filed in California federal court.

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PEOPLE

Kelley Drye Adds Ex-23andMe, Facebook Privacy Pros

By Lauren Berg

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP said Monday it is boosting its privacy and information security practice with the addition of a former 23andMe attorney in California and a former Facebook attorney in Texas.

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Willkie Adds Private Equity Pro From Sidley Austin In LA

By Rose Krebs

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has added a partner from Sidley Austin LLP to strengthen its capacity to advise private equity funds, asset managers and other clients about corporate transactions.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Lessons From EdTech Provider's Data Breach Settlements

Education technology company Illuminate Education's recent settlements with three states and the Federal Trade Commission over state privacy law claims following a student data breach are some of the first of their kind, suggesting a shift in enforcement focus to how companies handle student data and highlighting the potential for coordinated enforcement actions, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.

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Key Sectors, Antitrust Risks In Pricing Algorithm Litigation

Algorithmic pricing lawsuits have proliferated in rental housing, hotels, health insurance and equipment rental industries, and companies should consider emerging risk factors when implementing business strategies this year, say attorneys at Hunton.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Minneapolis Law Firms Give Support To Staff And Community

By Aebra Coe

Minneapolis law firm leaders are looking to support their staffs, embrace their community and continue to offer pro bono legal aid to immigrants in the aftermath of federal agents killing an intensive care unit nurse this past weekend.

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2 Attys Sanctioned For AI Citations In Pa. Copyright Suit Filing

By Matt Perez

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has reprimanded two attorneys in a copyright infringement suit for filing a motion to dismiss that contained at least eight false case citations generated by artificial intelligence.

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Offit Kurman Beats Appeal In $40M Malpractice Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that a lower court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Offit Kurman and two of its lawyers in a legal malpractice case.

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Judiciary Panel Gets Earful On Legal Financing, Subpoenas

By Jeff Overley

Plans to overhaul federal rules involving recusal and subpoenas fueled spirited debate Tuesday before a judiciary panel, as prominent lawyers outlined forceful views on transparency in third-party litigation funding as well as relaxed policies for serving court documents and obtaining trial testimony.

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Ill. Judge Removed For Column Stating Pro-Trump Opinions

By Ryan Boysen

A retired Illinois state judge's temporary reappointment to the bench has been canceled after he penned a MAGA-tinged column railing against "draconian Covid lockdowns," "Fauci lies" and "lawfare" against President Donald Trump, which a local bar association called "wildly inappropriate."

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TikTok Cuts Deal As 1st Social Media Bellwether Trial Begins

By Dorothy Atkins

TikTok reached an eleventh-hour settlement late Monday in the first bellwether trial over claims that social media harms young users' mental health, cutting the deal days after Snap settled and leaving Meta and YouTube as the sole defendants as jury selection began Tuesday.

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BigLaw Firms Seek Partial Exec Order Appeal Consolidation

By Emily Sawicki

The four BigLaw firms that sued the White House and Justice Department over executive orders against them related to the clients they represent have asked the D.C. Circuit that the cases be "partially consolidated" amid the government's appeals of its losses, while maintaining the ability to file individual response briefs.

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Promo that reads 2025 Practice Groups of the Year

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Almeida Law Group

Ballard Spahr

Beasley Allen

Braverman Kaskey

Bursor & Fisher

Clarkson Law Firm PC

Cleary Gottlieb

Clement & Murphy

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

DLA Piper

Davis Polk

Dorsey & Whitney

Ellzey Kherkher

Fredrikson & Byron

Freshfields

Gibson Dunn

Glaser Weil

Goodwin Procter

Gordon Rees

Greenberg Traurig

Hagens Berman

Hangley Aronchick

Harney Westwood

Hintze Law

Horvitz & Levy

Hunton Andrews

Jenner & Block

Katten Muchin

Kelley Drye

Kellogg Hansen

Kiesel Law

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kleinbard LLC

Knobbe Martens

Labaton Keller

Lanier Law Firm

Latham & Watkins

Liang Ly LLP

Lieff Cabraser

Lucosky Brookman

Maynard Nexsen

McDermott Will & Schulte

Merchant & Gould

Mitchell Silberberg

Moore Law Group PC

Morgan Lewis

Motley Rice

Munger Tolles

Nematzadeh PLLC

Nilan Johnson

O'Melveny & Myers

Offit Kurman

Panish Shea

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Proskauer Rose

Quinn Emanuel

Redgrave LLP

Robbins Geller

Robins Kaplan

Rolnick Kramer

Scott & Corley

Sidley Austin

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden Arps

Stinson LLP

Sullivan & Cromwell

Susman Godfrey

Taylor Copeland Law

Tycko & Zavareei

Wagstaff & Cartmell

Wilkinson Stekloff

Williams & Connolly

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

Wilson Sonsini

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

23andMe Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Association for Justice

American Civil Liberties Union

Apple Inc.

Applied Medical Resources Corp.

Autodesk Inc.

Blue Shield of California

Caesars Entertainment Inc.

Cisco Systems Inc.

CoStar Group Inc.

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles

Exxon Mobil Corp.

FAT Brands Inc.

Fazoli's System Management

Future of Privacy Forum

George Washington University

GigCapital4 Inc.

Google LLC

HDOS Enterprises

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Hims & Hers Health Inc.

Instagram Inc.

Integrated Device Technology Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

Juniper Networks Inc.

Lawyers for Civil Justice

Leonard Green & Partners LP

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LinkedIn Corp.

Major League Baseball Inc.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Medtronic PLC

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

NVIDIA Corp.

Nasdaq Inc.

New York University

PG&E Corp.

Public Counsel

RELX PLC

RealPage Inc.

Ripple Labs Inc.

SAS Institute Inc.

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Snap Inc.

The Capitol Forum

TikTok Inc.

UCLA School of Law

University of Southern California

Washington Nationals

Wilmington Trust Corp.

Yardi Systems Inc.

YouTube Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Attorney General's Office

California Department of Justice

California Privacy Protection Agency

California Public Utilities Commission

Colorado Attorney General's Office

Cook County Circuit Court

Executive Office of the President

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Illinois Supreme Court

Judicial Conference of the United States

New York Attorney General's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Nevada