Kroger, Albertsons Look To Block FTC Testimony Handover

By Cara Salvatore

Grocery giants Albertsons and Kroger asked a California federal judge to protect sensitive expert testimony that helped the Federal Trade Commission torpedo their planned merger in 2024, which a new FTC target said is urgently needed to show that the regulator is creating contradictory market analyses.

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Virginia Senators Ask DHS IG To Investigate Surveillance Tech

By Ganesh Setty

Virginia's Democratic senators have urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's inspector general to investigate the agency's technology procurement amid the Trump administration's immigration enforcement push, warning that DHS' various information collection tools put Americans' privacy rights under threat.

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3rd Circ. Preview: Privacy Issues Top Feb. Argument Lineup

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Issues involving privacy feature prominently on the Third Circuit's February oral argument schedule, with panels set to hear a dispute regarding an optometry business's duty to protect private data belonging to third-party customers, and a case over whether the city of Philadelphia can be sued by a mother after a police officer shared images of her son's death from the scene where he committed suicide.

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Amazon Says Shoppers' Labeling Suit Is Corrupted By AI Errors

By Adrian Cruz

In customers' latest filing in their proposed class action accusing Amazon of failing to make required disclosures on dietary supplement product pages, the e-commerce giant alleges that the plaintiffs have submitted a document riddled with errors derived from the use of generative text.

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9th Circ. Says DOJ Can Withhold VW Grand Jury Records

By Emily Field

The Ninth Circuit on Friday held that the U.S. Department of Justice couldn't be forced to hand over about 6 million Volkswagen documents that were part of a Jones Day investigation into the automaker's 2015 emissions-cheating scandal, as the government obtained them through a grand jury subpoena.

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Google Can't Ditch $425M Privacy Verdict, But Won't Owe $2B

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge on Friday refused to decertify a class of Google users who scored a $425 million jury verdict in their privacy suit; however, he also shot down the consumers' request that Google shell out an additional $2.36 billion in disgorgement of profits.

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Illinois Apple Users Granted Class Status For Siri BIPA Claims

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois state judge has decided to give class treatment to claims that Apple Inc. illegally mishandled biometric voice data the technology giant obtained from residents who've used Siri on its devices.

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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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US Rebukes WTO Siding With China On Energy Tax Credits

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Trade Representative condemned the World Trade Organization's decision to side with China in a dispute over energy tax credits passed during former President Joe Biden's term Friday, calling the global body's dispute resolution mechanism inadequate.

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Undersea Cable Cos. Seek Slash In FCC License Paperwork

By Christopher Cole

Submarine cable providers want the Federal Communications Commission to replace its current "ad hoc" procedure for approving license applications with one that's more streamlined and clearly spelled out in FCC rules.

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Calif. Senator Floats Bill To Expand Data Deletion Rights

By Allison Grande

A California senator is pushing to update the state's landmark data privacy law to expand the type of personal information that consumers can ask businesses to delete and to require companies to provide residents with more ways to submit data deletion, access and correction requests. 

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FCC Urges Cos. To Tamp Down Ransomware Risks

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission called on companies to take tough measures against ransomware attacks and report data breaches and outages from cybersecurity incidents.

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1st Circ. Upholds Atty's 7-Year Sentence In Email Fraud Case

By Carolyn Muyskens

A panel of the First Circuit has affirmed a more than seven-year prison term and $2 million restitution order for an Illinois lawyer convicted of collecting proceeds from a romance and real estate email fraud scheme.

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FTC Requires Facility Sales For $835M Healthcare Deal

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement Friday allowing Sevita Health to move ahead with an $835 million deal for BrightSpring Health Services Inc.'s community living business, conditioned on the sale of more than 100 facilities.

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Baltimore Sues Payday Lender Dave Over 'Usurious' Loans

By Dorothy Atkins

The city of Baltimore sued Los Angeles-based lender Dave Inc. in state circuit court Friday, alleging that the financial technology company disguises high-interest payday loans as "overdraft services," while charging "astounding, usurious" annual percentage rates exceeding 2,500%, which is far above Maryland's 33% legal limit.

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Live Nation Plaintiff States Fight Plan To Stay Antitrust Claims

By Ben Adlin

Nearly three dozen states accusing Live Nation of stifling competition in the live entertainment industry urged a New York federal judge not to pause their state-law claims in order to focus on federal law, arguing that handling all claims at once "will be the most efficient approach."

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Dozens Of Cases Linking Zantac To Cancer Thrown Out

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Delaware state trial judge tossed over 200 cases by individuals alleging Boehringer Ingelheim's discontinued heartburn medication Zantac caused cancer, ruling the claims were time-barred.

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ThermoLife Asks Justices To Resolve Split Over Sanctions

By Adam Lidgett

ThermoLife is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its fight against a lower court's decision to sanction the company and its CEO as part of a false advertising case, saying the Federal Circuit wrongly backed the award.

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Short Seller Seeks Exit From Blockchain Co.'s Defamation Suit

By Katryna Perera

A short seller claimed an Illinois federal court lacks both subject-matter and personal jurisdiction to hear a defamation suit brought by a blockchain-focused artificial intelligence firm, saying the suit should be tossed because the parties and the allegations in the case have no meaningful connection to Illinois.

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Allergan Sued Over 'Preservative Free' Eyedrop Labeling

By Gina Kim

AbbVie unit Allergan USA was hit with a proposed false advertising class action Wednesday in Illinois state court by two customers alleging that the company labeled its eyedrops as "preservative free" despite the fact that they contain boric acid. 

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Fanatics, Leagues Want Out Of Card Buyers' Antitrust Suit

By David Steele

Trading card customers accusing Fanatics of manipulating the market through its exclusive deals with the major sports leagues make premature and implausible conclusions, the collectibles giant told a New York federal judge in its bid to dismiss the suit.

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Drugmakers Ask To Appeal Overarching Conspiracy Claim

By Lauren Berg

A group of pharmaceutical companies that failed to secure a pretrial win on an overarching conspiracy claim in a sprawling generic-drug antitrust enforcement action is asking a Connecticut federal judge to let them seek Second Circuit review, saying the ruling raises a novel legal issue.

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FTC Taps Goodwin Atty For Consumer Protection Deputy Role

By Emilie Ruscoe

A veteran of Goodwin Procter LLP has been tapped to serve as deputy director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, the regulator announced.

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Privacy Ruling Shows How CIPA Conflicts With Modern Tech

A California federal court's recent holding in Doe v. Eating Recovery Center that Meta is not liable for reading, or attempting to read, the pixel-related transmission while in transit reflects a mismatch between the California Invasion of Privacy Act's 1967 origins and modern encrypted, browser‑driven communications, says David Wheeler at Neal Gerber.

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Viewing The Merger Landscape Through An HPE-Juniper Lens

If considerations beyond antitrust law were taken into account to determine whether Section 7 of the Clayton Act was violated in the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks deal, then legal practitioners advocating deal clearance may now have to argue that deals should be justified by considerations not set forth in the merger guidelines, says Matthew Cantor of Shinder Cantor.

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4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

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Paul Weiss Chair's Emails To Epstein Include Apollo Info

By Aebra Coe

Files released by the Department of Justice over the weekend belonging to the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein show a yearslong relationship between Epstein and Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp, which included dinners, phone calls and meetings, as well as communication related to Paul Weiss client Apollo Global Management.

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Ex-Goldstein Employee Claims Accountants Made Mistakes

By Jared Foretek

Defense attorneys for SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein presented evidence Monday that his firm's tax accountants made serious mistakes in tax filings for Goldstein's wife, Amy Howe, in 2021.

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6th Circ. Clears Judge Boasberg In DOJ Ethics Complaint

By Courtney Bublé

The complaint the U.S. Department of Justice filed against Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia has been dismissed.

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Analysis

Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

By Jeff Overley

What happened to a GOP donor's $250,000 Swiss watch? Can cigarette warnings show jarring medical images? Will a circuit split of "far-reaching importance" for arbitration get even wider? That's a taste of the oral argument menu we'll help you digest in this preview of February's top appellate action.

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Fenwick Reaches Deal In FTX Crypto Scam Suit

By Madison Arnold

Fenwick & West LLP and victims of the infamous FTX Trading Ltd. cryptocurrency scam are working toward a settlement in a case over the firm's alleged role in the trading platform's collapse.

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NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

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Watchdog Renews Halligan Bar Complaint After Court Rulings

By Emily Sawicki

The nonprofit Campaign for Accountability on Monday once again launched a bar complaint against former interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan in Virginia, after the Virginia State Bar declined to pursue an ethics investigation against the attorney last year, calling it a matter for the courts to determine.

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Brief

Judiciary Open As Usual Until Thursday Despite Shutdown

By Courtney Bublé

The federal judiciary has enough funding to sustain normal operations until Thursday, following the partial government shutdown that started at midnight on Saturday.

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DOJ Defends NJ US Atty Office Funding Amid Scrutiny

By Matthew Santoni

Defending the three-person leadership structure of New Jersey's federal prosecution operations since the departure of Alina Habba, an administrator told a federal court that two of the attorneys running the office are paid through the office's budget and the third is funded through the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

U.S. enforcers reached three new merger settlements, while the Federal Trade Commission successfully blocked a $945 million heart valve deal and lodged an appeal for its case targeting Meta's past acquisitions.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

A pair of new high-dollar suits in Delaware's Court of Chancery showed last week that post-deal stock appraisal suits still have legs, despite some efforts to reduce potential from deal-price gains challenges. The week ended with Delaware's justices nipping $100 million from the attorney fees owed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk from $176.2 million to roughly $70.9 million, rejecting part of a Court of Chancery fee calculation.

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The Top In-House Hires Of January

By Sue Reisinger

Legal department hires over the first month of 2026 included high-profile appointments at SiriusXM, at a host of West Coast tech companies including Microsoft and Meta, and at Black & Decker. Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from January.

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