1st Circ. Clears IT Co. In Suit Over Zoll Patient Data Breach

By Chris Villani

An information technology company cannot be held liable for a data breach exposing the health information of patients of a unit of medical device maker Zoll Medical Corp, the First Circuit ruled, because the two companies did not have a business relationship permitting them to hold one responsible for another's conduct.

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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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Judge Halts IRS-ICE Info-Sharing Agreement

By Anna Scott Farrell

A D.C. federal judge temporarily stopped the IRS on Friday from sharing confidential taxpayer addresses with immigration enforcement officials, saying the agency's disclosures of addresses in August under an information-sharing deal were unlawful.

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Google Ad Tech Judge 'Concerned' By DOJ's Breakup Timing

By Bryan Koenig

A Virginia federal judge expressed concern during oral arguments Friday that breaking up Google's advertising placement technology business could take too long to help the market in the face of the company's anticipated appeal of the monopolization ruling won by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Bankers Press Congress To Pass 'Critical' AML Reporting Bill

By Sarah Jarvis

The American Bankers Association and 50 state bankers groups are urging congressional leaders to pass proposed legislation to increase dollar thresholds for anti-money-laundering reporting, saying it would be a "critical element" of modernizing illicit finance rules for banks.

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Ex-Google CEO Accused Of Sex Assault, Cyberstalking

By Hailey Konnath

A woman who says she dated former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has accused him of sexually assaulting her, stealing her businesses and surveilling her devices via a "backdoor" he built with Google engineers to covertly spy on employees, according to a complaint she's trying to file in California state court.

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'Housewives' Star Says Revenge Porn Talks Were Coerced

By Chart Riggall

Former "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star Brit Eady accused Bravo and the show's production company of blackmailing her into discussing a "disgusting" revenge porn incident where in front of a live event audience, a cast member showed a graphic image falsely attributed to Eady.

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SEC, Virtu To Settle Customer Data Suit For $2.5M

By Sarah Jarvis

Virtu Financial Inc. has agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission $2.5 million for allegedly failing to safeguard customer information, according to a Friday proposed final order that would end the regulator's two-year-old suit against the broker-dealer.

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Mich. Atty Fights Defamation Suit From Election Investigator

By Danielle Ferguson

A Michigan attorney has said any statements that a cybersecurity firm claims she made to scuttle its president's job prospects with the Pennsylvania Legislature are protected speech on a matter of public concern, urging a federal judge to dismiss a suit the firm brought after it told her it found no evidence of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

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Rothman Orthopaedics Hit With Pa. Wiretapping Lawsuit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Rothman Orthopaedics has been hit with a proposed class action in Pennsylvania alleging the company violated state wiretapping laws by intercepting private healthcare information on its website using a third-party tracking pixel.

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Ruger's $1.5M Data Breach Deal Heads For Final OK

By Brian Steele

A proposed class of data breach victims has asked a federal judge to issue final approval of a $1.5 million settlement with Connecticut-based gunmaker Sturm, Ruger & Co. and a New Jersey web developer, along with $500,000 in fees to attorneys with four firms including Siri & Glimstad LLP.

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Mich. Mortgage Co. Hit With Data Breach Class Actions

By Isaac Monterose

A Michigan mortgage lender was hit with several proposed data breach class actions that alleged in Michigan federal court that the lender failed to do enough to protect consumers' personally identifiable information, such as their Social Security numbers, from a June data breach.

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DoorDash Hit With Suit Over Breach Of Customer, Dasher Data

By Allison Grande

Delivery service DoorDash failed to delete old data and take other necessary steps to protect the personal information of customers, dashers and merchants that was exposed in a recent security breach, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court. 

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Sysnet Ends Noncompete Suit Against Ex-Manager

By Kelcey Caulder

Cybersecurity company Sysnet North America Inc. told a Georgia federal court it will dismiss a lawsuit alleging one of its former business relationship managers violated the restrictive covenants in his employment contract by taking a job with a direct competitor.

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Opinion

Despite Deputy AG Remarks, DOJ Can't Sideline DC Bar

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent suggestion that the D.C. Bar would be prevented from reviewing misconduct complaints about U.S. Department of Justice attorneys runs contrary to federal statutes, local rules and decades of case law, and sends the troubling message that federal prosecutors are subject to different rules, say attorneys at HWG.

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Bonus Spotlight

5 BigLaw Firms Match Prevailing Year-End, Special Bonuses

By Anna Sanders

BigLaw continues to dole out extra cash for attorneys just in time for the holidays, with five more firms matching the year-end and special bonuses previously announced by their peers.

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Feds' Claim Against Judge Weighing Trans Troops Ban Tossed

By Lauren Berg

The D.C. Circuit's chief judge tossed the U.S. Department of Justice's misconduct complaint against the federal judge overseeing litigation challenging the Trump administration's ban on transgender troops serving in the military, saying judicial misconduct proceedings are not the appropriate avenue to address concerns about a judge's impartiality.

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Comey, James Defeat Charges Over Halligan's Appointment

By Ryan Boysen

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the headline-grabbing indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, finding the controversial prosecutor handling both cases was not properly appointed.

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Calif. Personal Injury Law Firm Sued Over Ransomware Attack

By Gina Kim

A former Adamson Ahdoot LLP client lodged a proposed class action in California state court on Friday over a Nov. 3 ransomware attack, alleging the law firm failed to protect his personal information despite touting on its website that it follows industry standards to do so.

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Feature

Prep, Panic & Poise: Inside An Associate's First Oral Argument

By Jeff Overley

Fraser M. Holmes followed a long professional path to a Texas court's lectern. He'd been a baseball blogger, travel writer and social studies teacher before appellate law beckoned. After years of toil, a milestone moment — his first oral argument — finally arrived, but as justices took the bench, his heart sank: "Oh, my God. I think I've just forgotten my entire argument."

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Google Calls Rumble's Recusal Bid Irrelevant To Its Appeal

By Andrea Keckley

Google is urging the Ninth Circuit to disregard concerns Rumble has raised about the trial judge's relationship with the tech giant's litigation vice president, saying Friday that the information is irrelevant to the YouTube rival's appeal of the court's ruling that its antitrust lawsuit was filed too late.

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Oversight Chair Seeks USPTO Briefing On Litigation Funding

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is seeking a briefing by the end of the month from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on third-party litigation funding and reforms the agency is working on.

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8th Circ. Won't Force Judge's Recusal In Pork Price-Fixing Case

By Matthew Perlman

The Eighth Circuit has denied a mandamus petition from Agri Stats Inc. and major pork producers who are seeking a Minnesota federal judge's recusal in price-fixing litigation based on a law clerk's previous work on a related case.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week delivered a packed mix of fraud allegations, merger fallout, corporate-governance reforms and jurisdictional fights, while a new academic report ignited debate over attorney fee awards in Delaware's influential corporate forum.

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