Alibaba Cos. Ink $600M Nonprosecution Deal Over Drug Sales

By Sarah Jarvis

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and its U.S.-based payment processor AUS Merchant Services Inc. will avoid prosecution and pay $600 million to end the U.S. Department of Justice's allegations that they allowed merchants to sell and import illegal pharmaceuticals and controlled substances into the U.S., the DOJ announced Wednesday.

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Analysis

USMCA Nonrenewal Brings New Caution For Business

By Dylan Moroses

The joint review process for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement formally kicked off Wednesday as the U.S. announced its intent not to renew the agreement without changes, leaving practitioners with questions about the outcomes of negotiations and expectations of continued business uncertainty.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of June

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Bayer, Harley-Davidson and PBS. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from June.

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Gov't Officials Tout Unprecedented Healthcare Fraud Push

By Gianna Ferrarin

It's been an unprecedented year for healthcare fraud enforcement, senior government officials from the U.S. Justice Department and Department of Health and Human Services told conference attendees gathered in a ballroom Wednesday morning at the Midtown Hilton in Manhattan.

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FTC Says Distorting AI Outputs To Follow State Laws Won't Fly

By Allison Grande

Companies that "alter or steer" the outputs of artificial intelligence models to comply with legislation in Colorado and other states that aim to regulate the use of the emerging technology risk deceiving consumers and facing federal enforcement, the Federal Trade Commission warned in a proposed policy statement released Wednesday.

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Amazon To Pay $2.25M To Settle FCRA Violation Claims

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Amazon has been ordered to pay $2.25 million in civil penalties to settle allegations that it knowingly violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by refusing to provide customers with transaction records after their personal information was used by identity thieves to commit fraud.

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Microsoft Brass Face Investor Suit Over AI Business Hype

By Katryna Perera

A Microsoft Corp. shareholder has launched a derivative suit against the company's top brass, claiming they misled shareholders about the company's artificial intelligence business strategy and products, and caused it to violate copyright and intellectual property laws by "training its AI software on copyrighted works for which it did not possess lawful licenses."

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PCAOB Names Ex-Venable Partner As GC

By Jessica Corso

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has named a former Venable LLP partner as its new general counsel, where he will be tasked with providing legal advice to an agency that is currently undergoing leadership changes.

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House Bill To Regulate Earned Wage Advances Clears Panel

By Aislinn Keely

The House Financial Services Committee has advanced a federal framework for fintechs offering paycheck advances despite pushback from some Democrats that the proposal hamstrings states by blocking them from applying their lending laws to the services and imposing stronger consumer protections.

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Watchdog Says DOL Needs Better Info Sharing Controls

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's lack of controls over information sharing between subagencies and nongovernmental entities, including law firms and legal advocacy organizations, may have unfairly advantaged those parties with privileged investigative information, an agency watchdog reported, though use of the practice has dropped off. 

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Colo. Regulator Says Gas Co.'s Ask For Review Is Too Late

By MJ Koo

Colorado utility regulators and a state consumer advocacy office have jointly moved to dismiss a natural gas company's bid for court review of an agency decision, arguing the company missed the required 30-day filing deadline by nearly three weeks.

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Brief

DOL Nears ESG Rule Rollback As White House Review Begins

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Department of Labor is gearing up to repeal a Biden-era rule allowing retirement fiduciaries to consider issues like climate change and social justice when choosing investments, sending the proposed repeal to the White House for review.

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Big Pharma Cos. Want 340B Drug Price FCA Suit Tossed

By Craig Clough

Four major pharmaceutical companies Wednesday urged a California federal court to toss False Claims Act allegations revived by the Ninth Circuit claiming they filed false ceiling prices for drugs and overcharged entities covered by a federal discount program, saying the suit is precluded by the FCA's public disclosure bar.

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8th Circ. Keeps Missouri's 340B Contract Pharmacy Law Alive

By Mark Payne

The Eighth Circuit declined Wednesday to temporarily block a Missouri law that bars drugmakers from imposing restrictions on federally funded providers that contract with pharmacies to distribute discount drugs in the 340B drug discount program.

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Amgen Wins Order Blocking Colorado's Enbrel Price Cap

By Lauren Berg

Colorado is preliminarily blocked from enforcing its price cap on Amgen's rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the biotech company is likely to succeed on its claim that federal patent law preempts the state's effort to limit the price of patented medications.

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Anthropic Says Export Controls Are Lifted For Latest Models

By Ganesh Setty

Anthropic has announced that export controls ordered by the Trump administration regarding its new Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 models have been lifted, saying it would make the frontier models available starting Wednesday.

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4 Military Parts Contractors Charged With Wire Fraud

By Elaine Briseño

A federal jury in Tennessee returned a 19-count indictment against four contractors for their alleged role in allowing the U.S. military to believe unapproved, aftermarket fuel injector, turbocharger and generator parts were from the original equipment manufacturer.

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3 NJ Bills On Data Center Regulation Sent To Governor

By Isaac Monterose

The New Jersey Senate and the state's General Assembly recently passed three data center regulation bills that will be considered by Gov. Mikie Sherrill.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Bryan Koenig

Getty Images abandoned its plans to buy Shutterstock, Sysco disclosed an in-depth probe into its deal for Jetro Restaurant Depot, Nexstar and Tegna battled challenges to their tie-up, and Paramount Skydance navigated reviews and potential challenges to its purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery on both sides of the Atlantic.

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Farm Says $99M Deere Right-To-Repair Deal Is Unfair

By Mike Curley

One of the farms suing Deere & Co. in federal right to repair litigation is objecting to a $99 million settlement that received preliminary approval in May, saying the deal provides minimal relief compared to what the class could have gotten at trial, especially since more than half of it may go to class counsel.

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5th Circ. Says Vape Co. Deserves Jury Trial For $19K HHS Fine

By Mike Curley

A split Fifth Circuit panel has thrown out a $19,192 civil penalty against a Texas vape seller issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, saying the company is entitled to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment and recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

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FCC Wants To Extend Covered List's Reach To Components

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission Wednesday announced new plans to expand the so-called covered list of telecommunications equipment — equipment deemed to be a national security risk — even further so that it bans not only a completed item but all the parts that make it up.

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Brief

FCC To Vote On Revamping Space, Earth Station Licensing

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday released the order it wants to vote on later this month to overhaul the licensing process for satellite and earth stations by creating an "assembly line" process that the agency says will slash red tape.

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FTC Upholds Horse Trainer's Ban, Scraps $25K Penalty

By David Minsky

The Federal Trade Commission upheld a horse trainer's two-year suspension on an alleged banned substances violation, but reversed a $25,000 fine after finding an administrative law judge wasn't authorized to impose the civil monetary penalty. 

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Calif. Tribe Seeks To Block July 8 Wild Horse Roundup

By Crystal Owens

A California tribe is looking to block the U.S. Department of the Interior from removing more than 600 wild horses via helicopter from a protected habitat starting July 8, arguing that the federal government has been on notice for nearly four decades that aboriginal interests are implicated by the territory's management activities.

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3rd Circ. Says Hidden Bank Accounts Count As Tax Evasion

By Kat Lucero

The Third Circuit found a Pennsylvania insurance business owner guilty of two counts of tax evasion, affirming Wednesday a lower court jury's conclusion that he willfully concealed a bank account on 2016 tax forms while the IRS was pursuing collection action against him.

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DOJ China Container Indictments Signal Global Cartel Risk

The U.S. Department of Justice's recent announcement that it had indicted Chinese manufacturers for conspiring to drive up the price of shipping containers sold in the U.S. illustrates the Antitrust Division's interest in pursuing overseas cartel conduct, especially in China, signaling that multinational companies with employees abroad should strengthen antitrust compliance to avoid running afoul of U.S. national security policy, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

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Agentic AI And Securities Law: Evolving Risk Disclosures

The U.S. disclosure regime is built on the premise that management can describe the material facts and risks facing its business, but, with the advent of agentic artificial intelligence, the question is whether the regime can accommodate decision-making systems whose behavior is not fully predictable, says Joseph A. Hall at Davis Polk.

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GM Privacy Penalty Signals A Change In Calif. Enforcement

General Motors' $12.75 million settlement with the California attorney general over its sale of driving behavior and geolocation data to brokers shows that disclosures and user choice may no longer be enough to define permissible data use, says Sonja Arndt-Johnson at Buchalter.

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More Cos. Will Copy SpaceX's Shareholder Proposal Opt-Out

For more than 80 years, the shareholder proposal looked like a federal right guaranteed to all public company investors, but after SpaceX opted out before its recent initial public offering, other companies are likely to follow, says Mohsen Manesh at the University of Oregon School of Law.

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Series

Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

The last three months were particularly consequential for Illinois banking law, with a federal court ruling reshaping the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, the state filling enforcement gaps, significant legislative activity and a revision to the community bank leverage ratio, say attorneys at Riley Safer.

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Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

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Legal Sector Jobs Spike With Work 'Churning Right Along'

By Aebra Coe

The legal sector added 5,100 jobs in June, the largest increase the industry has seen in more than two years, according to preliminary, seasonally adjusted data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the Asian Law Caucus and the Democracy Defenders Fund lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump's bid to limit birthright citizenship.

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Feds Seek Up To 21 Months For Ex-Judge On ICE Obstruction

By Elizabeth Daley

A former Wisconsin judge who was convicted of obstructing ICE officers' courthouse arrest of a man facing misdemeanor charges by pointing him to a side door should spend up to 21 months in prison, the government said in a sentencing memo, recommending she be made an example.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week 

By Sue Reisinger

Amid the changes coming for general counsel, the policies and enforcement priorities of federal regulators may fluctuate more rapidly after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week that could dramatically remake independent government agencies. And the EEOC rescinded affirmative action documents that have guided employers for decades.

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Georgia Atty Can't Revive Defamation Suit Over Ethics Case

By Emily Johnson

The Georgia Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a Georgia attorney's defamation suit against two people involved in an unsuccessful disciplinary action against her, saying her rambling appeal failed to prove that the trial court erred in dismissing her claims.

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When Does A Firm's 'Breakup' Fee-Split Contract Go Too Far?

By Rachel Rippetoe

It looked like a win for plaintiffs' firms when the Kentucky Supreme Court recently upheld a firm's 75% claim on fees from cases an attorney took with him when he launched his own practice, but the narrow ruling may leave room for lawyers to challenge similar agreements as penalties for leaving their firms.

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Judges To Tour Rust Belt To Build Trust In Courts

By James Boyle

Days after the Fourth of July celebration of America's 250th birthday, a group of current and retired judges will lead a four-day bus tour through three states to promote one of the bedrock principles of the country's independence: the rule of law.

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Analysis

Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Supreme Court's stark ideological divisions were on full display this term, particularly as it issued long-awaited rulings in the last few days of June. Here, Law360 dives into the numbers behind this court term.

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Mass Tort Titan Paul J. Napoli Dies

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Paul J. Napoli, an influential plaintiffs attorney who worked on some of the nation's highest-profile mass tort matters in recent decades, died on Tuesday at the age of 58.

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Skadden Adds Mass Torts Litigator As Partner In Chicago

By Christine DeRosa

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has grown its mass torts litigation offerings in Chicago with the addition of a Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP attorney, the firm said.

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'Embarrassed' Conn. Atty Details ChatGPT Briefing Errors

By Aaron Keller

With a sanctions hearing on the horizon, a Connecticut attorney has told the state's highest court he is "extremely embarrassed" by artificial intelligence errors in briefs filed in two recently decided cases, explaining he used ChatGPT to edit his research without knowing it could make "unprompted changes to the content."

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Del. Magistrate Orders JPMorgan To Advance Javice Fees

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court ruled Thursday that JPMorgan Chase & Co. must advance millions more in disputed legal fees to cover the appeal of the convicted founder of college financial aid startup Frank, concluding the bank failed to meet Delaware's demanding standard for withholding advancement by showing the billing requests reflected "clear abuse."

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Ex-DOJ Fraud Section Chief Joins Fried Frank

By Nadia Dreid

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP has added a veteran litigator from the U.S. Department of Justice who also brings more than a decade of experience representing financial institutions in white collar, enforcement and complex litigation spaces.

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Reed Smith Adds Ex-Norton Rose Partner, RE Atty In Munich

By Nate Beck

Reed Smith LLP has bolstered its private equity practice with the hire of a former Norton Rose Fulbright group leader in Munich.

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McCarter Atty Knew 'Magic Words' For $20M Deals, Court Told

By Brian Steele

If a onetime McCarter & English LLP partner had raised a single red flag about a Long Island town's legally flimsy agreement to repay $20 million worth of a businessman's loans, the ill-fated deals never would have gone forward, a Connecticut court heard Thursday.

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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.

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