HBO Max Subscribers Sue To Stop Netflix-Warner Bros. Deal

By Nadia Dreid

HBO Max subscribers slapped Netflix with one of the first proposed class actions seeking to halt the streaming behemoth's $82.7 billion plan to buy Warner Bros.' studio and streaming business, calling the deal "one of the more audacious horizontal mergers in recent memory."

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Uber May Win Sanctions On Atty Who Disclosed MDL Docs

By Bonnie Eslinger and Mike Curley

A California federal judge said Tuesday it appeared an attorney for plaintiffs claiming Uber failed to protect passengers from sexual assault "acted in a cavalier manner" with a protective order in the multidistrict litigation, but didn't rule on Uber's requests for monetary sanctions nor its bid to kick the attorney off the plaintiff steering committee.

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Amazon Still Can't Claw Back FTC Probe Documents

By Bryan Koenig

A Washington federal judge refused Monday to reconsider his order allowing the Federal Trade Commission to hold on to documents produced in the investigation preceding its antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of creating an artificial pricing floor, concluding the online retail giant never clearly argued any material was produced "inadvertently."

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Judge Rejects Recusal Bid In UC Law SF Bias Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A California federal judge rejected a request to recuse himself from a disability discrimination suit against the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, over his ties to the school, saying on Sunday that the former student's motion would still be legally insufficient even if it were timely.

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J&J Expert Tells Jury Women's Cancer Can't Be Traced To Talc

By Craig Clough

A University of San Diego gynecologic oncologist told a California jury Tuesday in a bellwether trial over claims that Johnson & Johnson's talc products caused two women's ovarian cancer that it is "impossible" to conclude why any particular person contracts the deadly disease. 

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Judge Won't Nix Alleged AI-Tainted Award In Gaming Fight

By Caroline Simson

A California federal judge on Tuesday dismissed on technical grounds a closely watched case in which a consumer sought to vacate an arbitral award favoring Valve Corp., the company behind the PC game marketplace Steam, over the arbitrator's "outsourcing" of his adjudicative role to artificial intelligence.

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Generic-Drug Group Backs House Bill On Skinny Labels

By Elliot Weld

An industry group representing the generic and biosimilar drug manufacturing sector has applauded the introduction of a U.S. House of Representatives bill titled The Skinny Labels, Big Savings Act, saying it will reduce prices across healthcare.

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Mich. Retirement Group Can Join Voter Data Suit, Judge Says

By Danielle Ferguson

An association representing retired union voters, the founding director of a University of Michigan law clinic and a local influencer can all step into the federal government's attempt to force the state of Michigan to turn over voters' personal information, a Michigan federal judge ruled Tuesday.

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Smucker Pet Food Buyers Near Cert. In PFAS Disclosure Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge said Tuesday he's inclined to certify a class of consumers who allege The J.M. Smucker Co. failed to disclose risks of so-called PFAS forever chemicals in pet-food packaging contaminating kibble, telling counsel during a hearing that many issues Smucker raises "are better addressed on the merits."

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States Ask Justices To Curtail Federal Trucking Law Shield

By Y. Peter Kang

Ohio and 28 other states have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hold that a federal trucking industry law can't shield freight brokers from certain state-based injury claims, arguing Congress did not intend to undermine states' authority over regulating road safety.

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Fertility Clinic Can't Nix Claims It Gave Data To Google, Meta

By Gina Kim

An Illinois fertility clinic must face a proposed class action alleging it invades patient privacy by sharing their personal information and website activities with Google and Meta without consent, after a federal judge has said the plaintiff has standing since the exposure of her private information is a concrete, particularized injury. 

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Ed Sheeran Can Challenge Copyright On 'Let's Get It On'

By Elliot Weld

A Manhattan federal judge said Tuesday that she would allow Ed Sheeran to challenge the validity of a 2020 copyright on elements of the Marvin Gaye track "Let's Get It On" before the copyright holder is permitted to amend its suit alleging Sheeran's hit song "Thinking Out Loud" infringes it.

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Kiss' Gene Simmons Sings Praises Of Radio Pay Bill

By Theresa Schliep

U.S. lawmakers are revisiting an effort to get FM and AM radio broadcasters to pay artists when playing their music, with key members of a Senate subcommittee speaking at a hearing Tuesday in favor of a measure that also garnered enthusiastic support from Kiss singer Gene Simmons.

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NFL's Lions Want Suit Over Goff Photos Out Of California

By Alex Lawson

The Detroit Lions are looking to snuff out a photographer's copyright case in California federal court over the team's use of photos he took of quarterback Jared Goff, raising doubts about the dispute's ties to the Golden State.

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Minor Consented To Arbitration In Illegal Gambling Suit: Judge

By Caroline Simson

A California federal judge on Tuesday sent a proposed illegal gambling class action against the Israeli owner of popular mobile game Coin Master to arbitration, ruling that the minor plaintiff had sufficient notice of the arbitration provision when she registered to play.

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Marsh Rival Wants Out Of Employee Poaching Scheme Suit

By Elliot Weld

An insurance company accused by Marsh & McLennan Agency of poaching an employee has asked a Manhattan federal judge to dismiss Marsh's suit, saying the court had no jurisdiction because the claims had not been sufficiently tied to New York.

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Crypto Co. Paxful To Pay $4M For Money Laundering Failures

By Gina Kim

Paxful Holdings will pay $4 million over claims it failed to enforce anti-money laundering policies on its now-defunct, peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange that allegedly facilitated illicit transactions involving funds derived from criminal activity, including prostitution and distribution of child sex abuse material, according to a plea agreement filed Monday in California federal court. 

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FTX Customers Seek Final OK For $10M Deal With Silvergate

By Sydney Price

Customers of failed crypto exchange FTX asked a California federal judge to give final approval to a $10 million settlement resolving claims that Silvergate Bank and its parent company enabled the multibillion-dollar FTX fraud, saying the deal represents the best, and likely only, meaningful recovery available from the now-bankrupt lender.

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CoStar Urges Justices To Review Revived Antitrust Claims

By Matthew Perlman

CoStar is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit ruling reviving antitrust counterclaims from a rival commercial real estate platform, saying the appeals court accepted a novel theory of what constitutes exclusive dealing.

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Cannabis Stores Can't Sue Under RICO, 9th Circ. Rules

By Nate Beck

The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday backed a federal judge in tossing racketeering claims brought against a California city by a group of companies facing more than $5 million in local government fees under a contract to allow construction of six cannabis cultivation facilities.

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Calif. Nonprofit Hospital Hits Ch. 11 Looking To Sell

By Vince Sullivan

California's Oroville Hospital and its parent company filed for bankruptcy Monday, listing more than $100 million of debt and saying it needs the protections of Chapter 11 to complete a value-maximizing sale of its facilities.

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How AI Exec Order May Tee Up Legal Fights With States

The Trump administration's draft executive order would allow it to challenge and withhold federal dollars from states with artificial intelligence laws, but until Congress passes comprehensive AI legislation, states may have to defend their regulatory frameworks in extended litigation, says Charles Mills, a clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

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Navigating The New Patchwork Of Foreign-Influence Laws

On top of existing federal regulations, an expanding wave of state legislation — placing new limits on foreign-funded political spending and new registration requirements for foreign agents — creates a confusing compliance backdrop for corporations that demands careful preplanning, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

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How MAHA Is Taking Shape At The State Level

The national spotlight on the federal government's Make America Healthy Again movement is bolstering state-level actions regarding potential health impacts of certain food ingredients, increasing the difficulty and importance of maintaining effective compliance programs, say attorneys at Cooley.

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AI Evidence Rule Tweaks Encourage Judicial Guardrails

Recent additions to a committee note on proposed Rule of Evidence 707 — governing evidence generated by artificial intelligence — seek to mitigate potential dangers that may arise once machine outputs are introduced at trial, encouraging judges to perform critical gatekeeping functions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

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Bonus Spotlight

Litigation Shops Paying Above-Market Bonuses, Reports Say

By Andrea Keckley

Litigation boutiques Yetter Coleman LLP and Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP are giving above-market bonuses to their associates, according to reports from Above the Law and Bloomberg.

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Jack Smith To Launch Firm With Willkie Partner, 2 Ex-Deputies

By Jack Rodgers

Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel appointed to investigate President Donald Trump, is set to launch his own firm alongside two of his former top deputies and the co-chair of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP's investigations and enforcement practice.

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Judge Bove Faces Complaint Over Trump Rally Attendance

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove, who previously served as President Donald Trump's personal defense attorney and a top official at the U.S. Department of Justice, has been hit with a judicial misconduct complaint for his appearance at a Trump event on Tuesday night.

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Analysis

Wanted: Temporary US Attorney, No Experience Needed

By Phillip Bantz

Frustrated by a string of court rulings disqualifying several of his U.S. attorney picks, President Donald Trump lamented recently that he might "just have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint another one, another one." Experts say the idea raises legal and practical issues.

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Akerman Beats Healthcare Cos.' Bid To Escape Fee Suit

By Madison Arnold

Akerman LLP can continue its fees lawsuit against Rennova Health Inc. and other defendants after they lost their motion to dismiss the suit for being "facially time-barred, factually flawed and legally indefensible," a Florida state judge has ruled.

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Fla. Atty Faces Bar Referral Over 'Hallucinated' Case In Filing

By Madison Arnold

A Florida appeals court will refer an attorney to the state's Bar after she filed a brief that included a "hallucinated" case.

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AGs Say Judicial Safety Threats Reaching 'All-Time Highs'

By Matthew Santoni

Attorneys general for 43 states, three territories and the District of Columbia signed a letter to Congress urging more financial support for judicial security in the face of threats against judges, including funding for a program that lets judges scrub addresses and personal information from online databases.

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Disciplined Attys Want High Court's Take On Judge Criticism

By David Minsky

A father-daughter team of attorneys have brought a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging their suspensions for criticizing a Florida state judge who reversed a $2.75 million jury verdict in favor of their client in a racial discrimination lawsuit, saying their comments are protected by the First Amendment. 

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McIver's Immunity Disputed In Detention Center Assault Case

By Elizabeth Daley

Federal prosecutors asked a New Jersey federal judge to maintain all charges against U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, who was accused in an indictment of assaulting federal officers outside an immigration detention center during a scrum in which the mayor of Newark was arrested in May.

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Regulate AI With Existing Regs, Financial Industry Lobby Says

By Sarah Jarvis

The Financial Services Institute on Wednesday recommended that regulators apply existing rules and standards to artificial intelligence, saying they should use new rules only when AI brings "genuinely new issues or significantly alters existing risks."

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