FTC Presses OpenAI, Meta On AI Chatbots' Impact On Kids

By Allison Grande

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking information from Meta, OpenAI, Google and four others about the steps they're taking to measure and monitor the potentially negative impacts that AI-powered chatbots that are designed to act as companions are having on children and teens, the agency revealed Thursday. 

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4th Circ. Uneasy Weighing SSA Data Case After Justices' Stay

By Abigail Harrison

The full Fourth Circuit on Thursday seemed inclined to maintain the government's access to U.S. Social Security Administration records since the U.S. Supreme Court granted the same relief in an emergency order, but also noted that the justices left them bereft of a blueprint for evaluating the merits of that access.

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Roblox, Discord Again Accused Of Ignoring Teen Exploitation

By Emily Field

The mother of a 14-year-old girl allegedly groomed by a predator on Roblox and Discord recently joined the slew of parents suing the online platforms for failing to safeguard children from being sexually exploited, saying in a suit filed in California federal court that she wrongly believed Roblox in particular was safe for children.

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23 States Back High Court Stay Of FTC Dem's Reinstatement

By Matthew Perlman

Florida and 22 other states have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to grant the Trump administration's request to block a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission from serving on the commission while she challenges her firing.

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Vet's Wells Fargo Credit Ding Didn't Break Law, Jury Finds

By Emilie Ruscoe

Wells Fargo didn't violate the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to recognize fraud affecting the account of a customer who described himself as a veteran of the U.S. military's special forces, a federal jury in Washington state has concluded.

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2nd Circ. Says Kik Scans Don't Violate Fourth Amendment

By Parker Quinlan

Messaging applications like Kik are allowed to search users' conversations as part of due diligence into suspected cases of child sexual abuse material without violating users' Fourth Amendment rights, the Second Circuit has found.

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Brief

FCC Warns Cable, Prime Customers Of Scam Offering 50% Off

By Nadia Dreid

Comcast and Amazon won't offer customers discounts on their subscription if they pay in gift cards, the Federal Communications Commission is warning after noticing the proliferation of a new scam claiming that a "50% discount on your monthly bill is set to expire."

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Yale New Haven Offers $18M To Settle Data Breach Claims

By Aaron Keller

Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. has offered to create an $18 million global fund to settle what were once multiple lawsuits surrounding a March 8 data breach that affected more than 5 million individuals, according to a motion seeking a Connecticut federal judge's preliminary approval.

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$8.7 Million Data Breach Deal Gets Preliminary Approval

By Ganesh Setty

A human resources and employee benefits management company moved one step closer to resolving a consolidated, proposed class action over a data breach that affected roughly 580,000 individuals as a California federal court gave preliminary approval to an $8.7 million settlement.

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T-Mobile Settles With FCC Over Unapproved Phone Rollout

By Christopher Cole

T-Mobile has reached an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission to resolve allegations that it began marketing a new cellphone model before getting a green light in the FCC's equipment testing process.

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Disney Flouts Privacy Law By Exploiting User Data, Suit Says

By Gina Kim

The Walt Disney Co. is flouting privacy laws by illegally gathering and sharing with Google personal information of individuals who visit its website for data monetization and advertising purposes, without their knowledge or consent, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

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Users Accuse Encyclopaedia Britannica Of Privacy Invasion

By Joyce Hanson

Encyclopaedia Britannica website users have sued the digital reference platform in federal court on claims that it violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act by closely tracking their online activity and selling that information to third parties, including Facebook.

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Google, Apple Fight Proposed UK App Ranking, Pay Mandates

By Bryan Koenig

Apple and Google both pushed back on proposals by United Kingdom antitrust authorities to stop the companies from boosting their own apps and using commission-based payment systems but took slightly different approaches, according to separate responses made public Thursday.

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Cos. Face EU, US Regulatory Tension On Many Fronts

When the European Union sets stringent standards, companies seeking to operate in the international marketplace must conform to them, or else concede opportunities — but with the current U.S. administration pushing hard to roll back regulations, global companies face an increasing tension over which standards to follow, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

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Series

Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

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Federal Judges Faced Over 500 Threats Amid Rising Tensions

By Courtney Bublé

More than 500 threats have been made to federal judges over the last year to over 300 distinct judges, according to data released by the U.S. Marshals Service.

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JCPenney Settles Fee Dispute Over Jackson Walker Romance

By Emma Cueto

The corporate entities formerly known as JCPenney on Thursday asked a Texas federal court to greenlight a $1.4 million settlement with Jackson Walker PC in a dispute concerning the romance of a partner with a bankruptcy judge, the latest and largest of several settlements to seek approval in recent months.

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Retired Federal Judges Throw Shade On Shadow Docket

By Bonnie Eslinger

Retired federal judges speaking at a Federal Bar Association panel in California Thursday criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's increasing use of "shadow docket" emergency rulings that offer little or no explanation, with retired Ninth Circuit Judge Paul Watford saying the high court has "an obligation to give more of a ruling."

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Cleary's Next Managing Partner To Focus On US Growth

By Tracey Read

A New York-based corporate capital markets attorney is set to take over as Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP's managing partner at a time when the firm is already on a strong growth trajectory.

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Expert's AI Hallucinations Blamed On Attys' 'Willful Blindness'

By Dorothy Atkins

Utah anesthesiologists facing a False Claims Act fraudulent billing suit doubled down Wednesday on their bid to sanction and disqualify the whistleblower's counsel for not catching an expert witness report with numerous AI-generated fabrications, arguing the errors were so obvious that the failure to catch them constitutes "willful blindness."

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Girardi's Atty, Judge Debate If His Conviction Is 'Debatable'

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge pushed back Thursday on arguments by Tom Girardi's lawyer that he should be free on bond while he appeals his wire fraud conviction, saying that debating the case doesn't automatically mean it raises "fairly debatable" questions sufficient to meet the Ninth Circuit's standard for remaining free on appeal.

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US Attorneys, Judicial Noms Advance Amid Senate Tensions

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, faulted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday, for getting in the way of efforts by him and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the committee's ranking Democrat, to expedite the confirmation of U.S. attorney nominees. 

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Legal Services Corp. Awards $5.5M To 19 For Pro Bono Work

By Jack McLoone

Nineteen legal services organizations across 15 states received a total of $5.5 million in awards to support their pro bono services for low-income Americans, the Legal Services Corp. announced Thursday.

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Atty Accused Of Cyberstalking Law Firm Partner, Another Atty

By Ryan Boysen

A Texas attorney has been arrested for allegedly cyberstalking and threatening to kill two other attorneys, one of whom is believed to be a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP.

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Lin Wood Can't Shake Trial Win For Ex-Partners

By Jake Maher

Former attorney L. Lin Wood lost his bid to undo an approximately-$10 million award that he owes his ex-law partners relating to the breakup of their firm, with a Georgia state judge this week refusing to set aside a jury verdict in the case.

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Bill Giving White House More Control Of DC Judges Advances

By Courtney Bublé

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has advanced a bill on party lines that would abolish the commission in Washington, D.C., that vets and picks potential judicial nominees for the district's local courts.

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Influencer Vows To Revive Malpractice Case Against Akin

By Lynn LaRowe

A social media influencer is planning to bring a malpractice suit in Texas state court against Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP after a federal judge found a lack of jurisdiction over claims that the firm mishandled a dispute over payment for participation in an amateur boxing competition.

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2nd Circ. Says 9/11 MDL Firm Must Wait To Appeal Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

Sanctions imposed against a New York firm for leaking a document in violation of a protective order in the multidistrict litigation over the Sept. 11 attacks are too closely tied to the merits of the case for an appellate panel to consider tossing them, the Second Circuit has determined.

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Trump Wants Fed Gov. Cook Out Before Next Rate Meeting

By Lauren Berg

The Trump administration asked the D.C. Circuit Thursday to halt a preliminary injunction barring the removal of Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook, urging the appellate court to fast-track its decision in an effort to block Cook from participating in a meeting regarding interest rates next week.

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Ex-USPTO Solicitor Says Squires Is Better Than No One

By Dani Kass

A former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office solicitor is asking the U.S. Senate to confirm John Squires as USPTO director, saying political accountability has become more important than finding a candidate who is right for the job.

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