CVS Ducks Antitrust But Not Biz Interference Claim At 5th Circ.

By Bryan Koenig

A Fifth Circuit panel has largely sided with CVS Pharmacy and its Caremark affiliate by preserving a district court's dismissal of federal antitrust claims over a Mississippi pharmacy's rejection from participating in the pharmacy benefit manager's network, although the judges did revive state law claims.

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Trial 'No Longer Warranted' After Judge's Stelara Reversal

By Bryan Koenig

The fate of insurer CareFirst's suit accusing Johnson & Johnson of using a merger and patent fraud to anticompetitively protect immunosuppressive drug Stelara from competition is in doubt after a Virginia federal judge reversed course and nixed key claims he had previously teed up for trial.

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Cal-Maine Gives Free Eggs To Settle Texas Price Gouging Suit

By Spencer Brewer

Cal-Maine Foods Inc. agreed to fork over 2 million free eggs to the state of Texas to settle claims of illegal price gouging, ending a suit brought by the state alleging Cal-Maine tripled the price of its eggs during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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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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EU Greenlights Hedge Fund's $5.89B Bid For Control Of Citgo

By Yun Park

The European Commission has announced its approval of a $5.9 billion bid by hedge fund Elliott Investment Management LP to purchase shares in Citgo's parent company and settle billions of dollars of debt owed by Venezuela and its state-owned oil company.

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CMA Reviews Merger Efficiencies To Boost UK Economy

By Tom Fish

The Competition and Markets Authority launched a review on Thursday of how it weighs the competitive benefits of some corporate mergers, with a view to potentially revising its approach by the summer.

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Car Buyers Secure OK For £54M Shipping Cartel Settlement

By Joanne Faulkner

The Competition Appeal Tribunal approved on Thursday a settlement worth £54 million ($71 million) from the last two vehicle shipping companies defending themselves against an opt-out collective action over delivery charges, despite some doubts over compensation take-up rates. 

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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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Civil Rights Groups Fight Relaxed Media Ownership Regs

By Christopher Cole

Groups representing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders urged the Federal Communications Commission not to allow media companies to further expand their ownership of local broadcasters, citing the need to protect viewpoint diversity and consumers.

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Visa, Mastercard Defend Swipe-Fee Deal Amid Objections

By Katryna Perera

Visa and Mastercard have again urged a New York federal judge to grant the first green light to a new settlement between the card issuers and a class of potentially millions of merchants to resolve two decades of antitrust litigation, pushing back against objections from Walmart and other merchant industry groups.

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Expedia Can Seek Singapore's Aid To Get Docs In Rival's Suit

By Yun Park

A Washington federal judge has granted Expedia's request to seek assistance from Singapore's court system to obtain documents from Trip.com to support its defense in an antitrust case filed by Switzerland-based bankrupt online hotel booking company Amoma Sarl.

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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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Ga. Chemical Co. Wants Early Win In Infringement Suit

By Chart Riggall

Georgia-based chemical company StarChem LLC called on a federal judge to hand it an early win in a trademark suit against a similarly named competitor, arguing that neither its rival nor a Chinese sister firm could show they ever used a mark they claimed to have acquired.

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Ex-WebAI Engineers Say Demos Were 'Faked' In Major Deals

By Abigail Harrison

WebAI Inc. turned a blind eye to a company leader who not only targeted two successful technology engineers but imperiled high-stakes deals with Qantas Airways and the U.S. Department of Defense by allowing a "fake demo" and inaccurate presentations, former company engineers have told a North Carolina state court.

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Logistics Co. Ex-Sales Director Can't Duck Trade Secrets Suit

By Elliot Weld

A North Carolina federal judge has denied a request from a former logistics company sales director to toss a suit alleging that he misappropriated trade secrets and poached clients before starting a competing firm.

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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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Unpacking The DOJ Meatpacking Probe

The recent U.S. Department of Justice meatpacking antitrust investigation is in line with the Trump administration's focus on crimes that affect U.S. consumers, and businesses in other agricultural sectors should be aware of the increased antitrust scrutiny currently aimed at the industry, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

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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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Series

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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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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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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