Analysis

Meta Loss Shows Time Not On Enforcers' Side In Tech Cases

By Bryan Koenig

Meta's triumph over a Federal Trade Commission antitrust case Tuesday hinged on a D.C. federal judge's finding that the company lacks a monopoly in the present day, highlighting some of the challenges of using slow-moving litigation to challenge fast-moving markets.

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'Not Well-Taken': 2nd Bid To Halt CFPB Energy Loan Rule Fails

By Jon Hill

A Florida federal judge on Thursday smacked down a lender trade group's renewed bid to halt a Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that will tighten standards on clean-energy home improvement loans, calling the emergency request wasteful and "not well-taken."

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Renewed Federal Push To Block State AI Laws Faces Backlash

By Allison Grande

The Trump administration is pushing to revive a failed effort to stop states from regulating artificial intelligence systems, drawing opposition from California's data privacy regulator, consumer advocates and others that argue it's crucial for states to retain their ability to put guardrails on the emerging technology in the wake of continued federal inaction.

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FCC Rescinds Contested Biden-Era Cybersecurity Ruling

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday reversed a ruling made late in the Biden administration that required new steps from telecoms to beef up cybersecurity, even as an FCC Democrat decried the move as gutting the agency's response to the Salt Typhoon cyberattack.

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Musk Lied About Tesla To Fund Twitter Buy, 9th Circ. Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

Tesla shareholders urged the Ninth Circuit Thursday to revive their allegations that Elon Musk lied about the capabilities and safety record of Tesla's self-driving technology, saying the district court erred in finding no evidence of fraudulent intent since the billionaire clearly needed to boost Tesla's share price to buy Twitter.

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FirstEnergy Must Pay $250M In Ohio Bribery Scandal Fallout

By George Woolston

FirstEnergy Corp.'s Ohio utilities were ordered to pay a combined $250.7 million in restitution to customers and civil forfeitures by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio as part of the commission's investigation in response to the massive bribery scheme behind a $1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear energy plants.

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Meta Will Pay $190M, Change Policies To End $8B Privacy Suit

By Hailey Konnath

Meta Platforms Inc. has agreed to pay $190 million, as well as enhance its whistleblower program and implement a new code of conduct and insider trading policy, as part of a proposed settlement in an $8 billion privacy suit tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to several new filings Thursday.

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Ill. Justices Back Walgreens In Receipt Class Standing Fight

By Lauraann Wood

A Walgreens customer looking to hold the company liable for allegedly printing too much financial information on consumers' receipts should not have won class certification in her case because she lacked standing to bring her claims, the Illinois Supreme Court said Thursday.

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CFPB Will Shift Remaining Lawsuits Over To DOJ

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be handing off its enforcement lawsuits and other litigation to the U.S. Department of Justice as the Trump administration prepares for the consumer agency to run out of money, Law360 has learned.

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Va. Defends Ban On Unauthorized Flavored E-Cigarettes

By Mike Curley

The Virginia attorney general and tax commissioner are urging a federal judge to throw out a suit challenging the state's ban on flavored e-cigarettes that are not approved by federal regulators, saying the plaintiffs have no standing to sue and the ban complies with federal law.

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Crypto Orgs. Call On White House To Spur Agency Guidance

By Aislinn Keely

A coalition of more than 65 crypto-focused organizations penned a letter to President Donald Trump asking the White House to encourage federal agencies to stop prosecuting developers of decentralized software, exempt decentralized projects from certain rules and clarify tax treatment.

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FCC Pushes Upper C-Band Spectrum Auction Forward

By Christopher Cole

A prime piece of midband spectrum will likely go on the auction block soon after the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday kicked off new rules opening a portion of upper C-band airwaves for flexible wireless use.

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Trump's CFTC Pick Selig Advances To Senate Floor

By Aislinn Keely

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission will advance to the U.S. Senate floor after a Thursday agriculture committee vote on Michael Selig's nomination passed along party lines.

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DOJ Antitrust Chief Says Agriculture A 'Top Priority'

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Department of Justice's top antitrust official said enforcers have already opened several investigations in the agriculture sector, including into meatpackers at the direction of President Donald Trump, and called the industry a "top priority" for the agency.

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Realtors Rule Change Backs Antitrust Suit, Agents Argue

By Grace Dixon

A proposed class of Michigan real estate brokers and agents have asserted that the National Association of Realtors effectively admitted to the litigants' antitrust claim when it revoked its disputed policy, which required membership in the organization to use multiple listing services.

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Ex-SDNY Chief Rejects Claim Of Broken FTX Plea Promise

By Pete Brush

Former interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon told a federal judge Thursday that she never promised crypto lobbyist Michelle Bond any kind of no-prosecute deal as the government negotiated a guilty plea with Bond's husband, former FTX executive Ryan Salame.

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Roblox Can't Get Teen Grooming Suit Arbitrated

By Emily Field

A California state judge said Roblox couldn't compel a minor to arbitrate his claims that he was targeted and exploited by a sexual predator on the online gaming platform, saying that a recent federal law aimed at ending forced arbitration in sexual assault and harassment cases isn't limited to workplaces.

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State AGs Want Further HPE-Juniper Integration Barred

By Bryan Koenig

The Democratic state attorneys general challenging the controversial U.S. Department of Justice settlement clearing Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks want a California federal judge to bar the companies from "further integration" while they push the court to reject the deal outright.

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Pharma Cos. Seek Early Win In States' Price-Fixing Lawsuit

By Aaron Keller

A collection of states failed to prove an overarching conspiracy among 25 separate pharmaceutical companies to fix the prices of generic drugs, most of them dermatology formulations, the drugmakers argued Wednesday in support of a bid for an early win on one element of dozens of antitrust claims.

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Subletting Co. Settles NYC's Illegal STR 'Matchmaker' Claims

By Isaac Monterose

A subletting company has agreed to resolve claims that it was used as a "'matchmaker'" of sorts for advertising and setting up illegal short-term rentals in New York City, the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement announced.

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Journalist Jailed For Contempt, Fined For Stealing Court Mug

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge ordered U.S. marshals Thursday to haul a onetime conservative journalist to a nearby jail for contempt of court and separately fined him $1,000 for stealing a court coffee mug, saying he had had it with the defendant's "shenanigans."

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Adidas Must Face Claim It Shared Info With Microsoft, TikTok

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge has denied a motion from Adidas to toss a proposed class action alleging the apparel company violated a California privacy statute by placing tracking pixels from TikTok Pixel and Microsoft Bing on its website, finding the trackers plausibly constitute a "pen register" under state law. 

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Invisalign-Maker's Sweetened $32M Antitrust Payout OK'd

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge who previously rejected Invisalign-maker Align Technology's $27.5 million antitrust deal with SmileDirectClub buyers because it included a coupon program said Thursday he will approve a revised deal, which provides for an all-cash $31.75 million payout.

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10th Circ. Weighs Colo. Law On Healthcare Sharing Plans

By Rachel Konieczny

A Tenth Circuit panel grappled Thursday with how the court should interpret a Colorado law requiring entities not authorized to offer insurance in the state to report certain information about their healthcare sharing plans, in an appeal by a religious trade group challenging the law's constitutionality.

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Texas Sues Bristol-Myers For Alleged Drug Misrepresentations

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Office of the Attorney General sued pharmaceutical companies Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi in Texas state court, claiming Thursday the companies failed to disclose that a lucrative blood thinner used to prevent heart attacks and strokes does not work as well on certain minority patients.

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Libra Buyers Push For Asset Freeze Over Alleged Fund Moves

By Sydney Price

Buyers of the collapsed crypto project Libra who allege operators misled them into buying the token with the help of an endorsement from Argentine President Javier Milei are again asking a Manhattan federal judge to freeze proceeds from the asset sale to purportedly stop evidence destruction.

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Blue Shield Of California, Magellan Sued Over 'Ghost Network'

By Gina Kim

Blue Shield of California and Magellan Health maintain a "ghost network" directory of mental health providers who don't exist or don't accept new patients, leading customers to hit a dead end or desperately resort to expensive out-of-network providers, according to a proposed class action filed Wednesday in California federal court. 

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Claims Firms Barred From Misleading Plaintiffs In Pharma MDL

By James Boyle

On the same day that a Philadelphia federal judge approved $58 million in settlements as part of an ongoing generic-drug price-fixing multidistrict litigation, she also ordered several claims recovery firms to correct allegedly false and misleading ads used to attract potential clients seeking to make claims on the settlements.

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Conn. Faces Tough 2nd Circ. In 3M PFAS Enforcement Dispute

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

A Second Circuit panel on Thursday appeared receptive to 3M's argument that Connecticut's state lawsuit accusing it of polluting the environment with forever chemicals contained in consumer products actually belongs in federal court, where a similar lawsuit against the company is playing out.

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Hisense USA Overhypes TVs As 'QLED,' False Ad Suit Says

By Gina Kim

Hisense USA customers filed a proposed class action in California federal court on Wednesday, accusing it of falsely marketing its televisions as implementing QLED displays that help deliver brighter pictures, even though they either do not contain that technology or contain such negligible amounts that do not materially boost performance or display outputs.

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Contradictory Rulings Show Complexity Of Swaps Regulation

Recent divergent rulings, including two by the same Nevada judge, on whether the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state gambling laws when applied to event contracts traded on U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated markets illustrate the uncertainty regarding the legality of prediction markets, say attorneys at Akin.

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Rule Amendments Pave Path For A Privilege Claim 'Offensive'

Litigators should consider leveraging forthcoming amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which will require early negotiations of privilege-related discovery claims, by taking an offensive posture toward privilege logs at the outset of discovery, says David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law.

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Series

My Miniature Livestock Farm Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Raising miniature livestock on my farm, where I am fully present with the animals, is an almost meditative time that allows me to return to work invigorated, ready to juggle numerous responsibilities and motivated to tackle hard issues in new ways, says Ted Kobus at BakerHostetler.

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Bonus Spotlight

Texas Boutique Giving Associates Bonuses Of Up To $135K

By Tracey Read

Texas complex commercial litigation boutique Vartabedian Hester & Haynes LLP announced Friday that it will reward associates with additional year-end bonuses of up to $135,000 by Dec. 31, while more firms said they'd match or exceed the prevailing BigLaw scale.

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Atty Had 6 AI Tools Check Each Other, Yet Fakes Still Cited

By Andrea Keckley

A California federal judge has sanctioned a solo practitioner representing the plaintiffs in a proposed wage and hour class action against clothing brand Vuori Inc. after he admitted to using about a half-dozen artificial intelligence tools to prepare a motion.

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Fenwick & West Must Face New Claims In FTX Crypto MDL

By Madison Arnold

A Florida federal judge signed off on a bid to file new claims against Fenwick & West LLP by victims of the infamous FTX Trading Ltd. cryptocurrency scam after they argued that new information had emerged about the firm's alleged role in the trading platform's collapse.

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Google Calls Rumble's Judge Recusal Bid 'Cynical Maneuver'

By Rae Ann Varona

Google argued Friday that a California federal judge need not recuse himself from YouTube rival Rumble's antitrust suit despite his friendship with Google's top in-house litigation chief, saying Rumble's push for the recusal was a "cynical maneuver" for its Ninth Circuit appeal of a summary judgment loss.

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Ex-Gordon Rees Atty Reprimanded For Mistakes Blamed On AI

By Rose Krebs

An Alabama bankruptcy judge won't sanction Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLC for a filing submitted by one of its former lawyers that contained mistakes blamed on artificial intelligence, but has reprimanded the attorney and ordered her to notify her clients about the reprimand.

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Worker Says Morgan & Morgan Fired Her Over Fraud Concern

By Irene Spezzamonte

Injury law firm Morgan & Morgan PA fired a case manager after she voiced a concern about fraudulent client hospital records she said the firm gave to opposing counsel to snag more favorable settlements and failed to pay overtime, according to a suit in California state court.

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Tort Report: Ga. Injury Suits Surge Ahead Of Tort Reform

By Y. Peter Kang

Word of a big surge in Georgia injury lawsuits ahead of tort reform legislation and a $66 million Atlanta nightclub shooting judgment lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Ex-US Trustee Director's Firing Appeal Tossed, For Now

By Clara Geoghegan

The former head of the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog program had her appeal challenging her abrupt firing dismissed, at least for now, while a federal agency mulls questions around executive power in separate cases.

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DOJ Will Speed Some Classified Discovery In Bolton Case

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors agreed Friday to accelerate their classified discovery timeline in the prosecution of John Bolton, as a Maryland federal judge pressed them to move faster.

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Ga. Justices Spell Out How Atty Ads Can Be Misleading

By Emily Johnson

The Georgia Supreme Court has updated the State Bar of Georgia's rule that prohibits attorneys from misleading the public in advertising their services, defining how lawyers' messaging in ads could run afoul of the state's rule and possibly lead to disbarment.

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DC Judge Backs Local Grand Jury's Federal Indictment Power

By Jared Foretek

Following a D.C. federal judge's Thursday ruling that the city's unique legal structure allows prosecutors to bring indictments from local grand juries to federal court, a District of Columbia man on Friday asked the court to stay the ruling for five business days.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen Clyde & Co. face a claim from Yorkshire firm GWB Harthills, a property developer previously investigated over suspected bribery and corruption sue the general counsel and solicitor to HM Revenue and Customs, and sportswear giant Gymshark bring an intellectual property claim against its co-founder's rival company, AYBL. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

This week's edition of GC Cheat Sheet explores which top legal officers take home the most money and why. And the general counsel of SolarWinds Corp. can finally leave its data breach regulatory problems behind after the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its unprecedented case against the company and its chief information security officer.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick PLLC leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a D.C. federal judge rejected a Federal Trade Commission suit accusing Meta Platforms of illegally monopolizing social media through its purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram.

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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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