Presidential Firing Limits Fight Builds At High Court

By Katie Buehler

The ousted U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board chair has encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to include a caveat for "legislative courts" if it overturns precedent that empowers Congress to limit the president's authority to fire certain agency officials, but opponents of independent agencies want a clean break from the status quo. 

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Privilege 'Dramatization' Won't Shield 7K Docs In Ads MDL

By Bryan Koenig

An Illinois federal judge took Meredith, Nexstar, Sinclair and other broadcasters to task Monday for trying to withhold 6,893 documents in multidistrict litigation alleging a television advertising price-fixing scheme, finding it "necessary to level set with defendants" on their own failings to justify withholding the material from ad buyers.

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'Forthright' Yardi Source Code Production Beats Rent Suit

By Bryan Koenig

Yardi thinks it's found the right formula for beating antitrust litigation targeting algorithms allegedly used to fix prices for rental housing, hotel rooms and more, winning a California state court ruling the software company's attorneys say is the first to nix claims by looking at the source code itself.

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X Defends Antitrust Case Over Apple's Deal With OpenAI

By Matthew Perlman

Elon Musk's social media platform X and its artificial intelligence arm defended their antitrust case targeting a deal that integrated ChatGPT into iPhones, telling a Texas federal court that Apple and OpenAI are trying to preserve their respective monopolies.

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Apple, Google Found To Hold 'Strategic Market Status' In UK

By Matthew Perlman

Britain's competition enforcer confirmed Wednesday that Apple Inc. and Google LLC's mobile platforms have strategic market status, paving the way for new rules meant to safeguard competition and protect consumers and businesses from harmful practices.

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NCAA, Tennis Players Can't Reach Deal In Prize-Money Suit

By David Steele

A court-ordered federal mediator has reported an impasse between the NCAA and college tennis players challenging the rules barring them from competing in and earning prize money in professional events without forfeiting their college eligibility.

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3rd Circ. Says Burford Can't Arbitrate German Discovery Fight

By Caroline Simson

The Third Circuit affirmed on Wednesday that a petition filed under a foreign discovery statute targeting Burford Capital in a dispute relating to German antitrust litigation can't be sent to arbitration, saying the funder cited the wrong section of the Federal Arbitration Act.

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Mass. Cannabis Lab's Suit Against Rivals Trimmed

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts state judge will allow a cannabis testing lab to pursue unfair competition claims against more than half a dozen competitors it accuses of fudging potency and purity test results to lure growers to their businesses, but not claims of unjust enrichment or tortious interference.

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Roundup

NC Biz Court Bulletin: COVID Coverage, A Suspect Signature

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina Business Court has rounded the corner into fall with insurance disputes over COVID-19 coverage at a chain of outlet malls and the theft of over $900,000 in legal THC reportedly stolen from a warehouse in the Southwest.

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Broadcast Distributors Decry Blackout Of Nexstar Stations

By Nadia Dreid

Nexstar Media Group is coming under fire for using a looming blackout as "deal leverage" in negotiations with Verizon that will decide how much the TV station titan will receive in exchange for letting Verizon retransmit Nexstar's channels.

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Energy Secretary Urges EU To Rethink Sustainability Rules

By Keith Goldberg

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Wednesday urged European leaders to scrap, or at least revise, proposed European Union corporate sustainability rules, claiming they will hamper exports of liquefied natural gas to the continent.

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SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

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Columbia Says Feds Must Release Info On DEI Law Firm Deals

By Grace Elletson

A free speech institute at Columbia University told a New York federal court Thursday that the Trump administration effectively denied its requests for information related to the government's demands that law firms supply details about their diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

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Judges Admit AI Missteps After Grassley's Oversight Push

By Courtney Bublé

Federal judges in New Jersey and Mississippi admitted their staff used artificial intelligence in faulty orders they had to redo over the summer, according to correspondence released Thursday by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who is investigating the matter.

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5th Circ. Vacates Lewis Brisbois' $1.5M Trademark Award

By Elliot Weld

The Fifth Circuit vacated a $1.5 million damages award Thursday that Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP won against three attorneys who registered a business with the same name, saying the Texas federal judge who granted the award had not explained his reasoning under the relevant statutes.

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Baldwin Opposes 7th Circ. Pick For Her State

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., on Thursday officially opposed the nomination to the Seventh Circuit of Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin, who would serve in her state.

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Judge Dings Law Profs In Judge-Shopping Sanctions Case

By Ryan Boysen

The federal judge behind a controversial sanctions order accusing three attorneys of judge shopping while challenging an Alabama gender care law is pushing back on claims that he lacked jurisdiction, as the ruling is on appeal in the Eleventh Circuit.

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Derailment Counsel Fee Provision 'Troubles' 6th Circ. Judge

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A three-judge Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday seemed skeptical that counsel representing victims of the fiery 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was blindsided by a "quick-pay" provision in the attorney fee agreement that saw class lawyers get paid before their clients.

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Squire Patton Boggs Partner Confirmed To Kentucky Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 48-45, along party lines, on Thursday to confirm former Kentucky Solicitor General and Squire Patton Boggs LLP partner Chad Meredith to the Eastern District of Kentucky.

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McGuireWoods Asks NC Justices To Stay Defamation Case

By Andrea Keckley

McGuireWoods LLP and a former partner are asking North Carolina's highest court to halt a defamation case over statements made in connection with an investigation into the former CEO of a managed care organization, saying they risk permanently losing their immunity defense if the suit is allowed to move forward.

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Ky. Rep. Revives Attempt To Abolish PTAB, Expand Eligibility

By Dani Kass

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Thursday he's again attempting to overhaul the patent system, including abolishing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, normalizing injunctions and broadening what can be patented.

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