A California federal magistrate judge ordered YouTube on Thursday to provide him with unredacted versions of documents it produced in sprawling multidistrict litigation over claims social media is addictive, and demanded that YouTube identify counsel who made its relevance-redaction determinations, saying. "I want names and I want teams."
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TOP NEWS

'I Want Names': YouTube Attys' MDL Redactions Face Scrutiny

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal magistrate judge ordered YouTube on Thursday to provide him with unredacted versions of documents it produced in sprawling multidistrict litigation over claims social media is addictive, and demanded that YouTube identify counsel who made its relevance-redaction determinations, saying. "I want names and I want teams."

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Judge Hints Signature Is Evidence Staffer Waived Jury Trial

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey state court judge appeared skeptical Thursday of a fired Blume Forte Fried Zerres & Molinari staffer's argument that an arbitration agreement she signed as part of the firm's onboarding process is invalid because it was never explained to her, and she has no recollection of signing it.

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Google Fights MDL Plaintiffs' Sanctions Bid Over Lost Chats

By Emily Sawicki

Google is pushing back on a request for sanctions that a slew of advertisers and publishers have brought in their antitrust lawsuit over the company's advertising placement technology, saying the plaintiffs have not shown Google hid evidence amid the "mountains" of electronically stored information it provided.

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WHITE COLLAR

Avenatti Sheds 3 Years After 9th Circ. Orders Resentencing

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge on Thursday resentenced disbarred attorney Michael Avenatti to just over 11 years in federal prison for filching millions of dollars from his clients' settlement funds, reducing a 14-year sentence overturned by the Ninth Circuit and leaving Avenatti with about eight years left after time served.

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DISCIPLINARY MATTERS

Mass. Judge, On Stand, Denies Helping Immigrant Evade ICE

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts judge accused of approving a plan to let a man elude immigration officers by letting him leave the court through a back door seven years ago testified Thursday that was not her intent when she granted a request to let him speak with an attorney in a courthouse lockup.

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LITIGATION

Reed Smith Pushes For 2nd Circ. Stay In $102M Award Fight

By Emily Sawicki

Still seeking to represent prebankruptcy owners of international shipping company Eletson Holdings Inc., Reed Smith LLP has asked the Second Circuit to stay a bankruptcy proceeding and a district court action, arguing the reorganized Eletson, now allegedly under common control with a former adversary, has launched a "calculated effort" to seize the company's privileged client information.

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Turkey Buyers Fight Burford Units' Objection To Cargill Deal

By Lauraann Wood

Direct purchasers of turkey have told the Illinois federal judge handling consolidated turkey price-fixing litigation that he should disregard two litigation funding subsidiaries' untimely attempt to lodge what they called a meritless challenge to a nearly finalized price-fixing settlement with Cargill Inc.

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'Bad Faith': Valve Accused Of Thwarting Arbitration It Sought

By Bonnie Eslinger

Valve Corp. is blocking consumers from arbitrating antitrust claims against the gaming company by refusing to pay $20 million in arbitration fees, a "bad faith" move that flouts a court order granting Valve's bid to compel arbitration, a game buyer told a Washington federal judge in a motion for sanctions.

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Charter Flight Co. Sanctioned In 'Hot Start' Damage Suit

By Mike Curley

A Kansas federal judge sanctioned charter flight company Sky Jet M.G. Inc. on Thursday in its suit alleging an aviation repair company improperly overhauled an engine component leading to a "hot start," finding Sky Jet deliberately tried to prevent the repair company from finding out about cockpit recordings of the incident.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Attacks On Judicial Independence Tend To Manifest In 3 Ways

Attacks on judicial independence now run the gamut from gross (bald-faced interference) to systemic (structural changes) to insidious (efforts to undermine public trust), so lawyers, judges and the public must recognize the fateful moment in which we live and defend the rule of law every day, says Jim Moliterno at Washington and Lee University.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Analysis

These Firms Are Landing The Most PTAB Work

By Theresa Schliep

Intellectual property powerhouse Fish & Richardson again secured the top spot on a list of firms appearing in the most trials over the past three years in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

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Trump's Deployment Of National Guard Illegal, Judge Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Thursday granted California's request for a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump's order sending the National Guard into Los Angeles, calling the president's actions "illegal" and unconstitutional, but the decision was quickly paused by the Ninth Circuit.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Proctor On Civility, Civil Rules

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

R. David Proctor, chief judge of the Northern District of Alabama, is a leader within the federal judiciary. He's both assigned and presided over multidistrict litigation. He may write a nationwide rule governing third-party litigation funding. And he's gained internet fame for ordering two attorneys to eat lunch together.

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DOJ Picks Proceed Despite Worry Over Honoring Court Orders

By Courtney Bublé

Two nominations for top positions in the U.S. Department of Justice were voted out of committee on party lines on Thursday.

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Calif. Sues Trump Over 'Wildly Partisan' EV Waiver Repeal

By Dorothy Atkins

The California attorney general and 10 other states sued the Trump administration in federal court Thursday, minutes after President Donald Trump signed resolutions repealing California's Clean Air Act waiver that allowed the state to establish its own vehicle emissions standards, slamming the resolutions as unconstitutional, irrational and "wildly partisan."

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Interview

Ex-Interior Secretary Salazar On 'Coming Home' To WilmerHale

By Aebra Coe

Former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado, who served as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Obama administration and most recently as ambassador to Mexico during the Biden administration, returned this month to WilmerHale's Denver office, which he founded in 2014.

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Justices Say Habeas Claims Can't Be Added After Judgment

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a prisoner may not add new claims to a habeas corpus petition once a final judgment is issued, cementing strict limits on repeat habeas filings prescribed by federal law.

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Justices Limit FTCA Defense In FBI Raid Case

By Chart Riggall

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday held that the Constitution's supremacy clause cannot shield the federal government from Federal Tort Claims Act suits, in the process reviving a Georgia woman's claim over an FBI raid aimed at a gang member but mistakenly carried out at her home.

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Analysis

Rising PTAB Filings Follow Surge In Patent Cases

By Theresa Schliep

The number of petitions filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ticked up last year, following a similar increase in federal court litigation and suggesting that activity at the board has somewhat stabilized, according to a new report.

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Weinstein Sex Abuse Trial Ends After Mixed, Partial Verdict

By Pete Brush

Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse retrial ended Thursday with a Manhattan jury failing to reach a verdict on a count alleging the movie mogul raped an actress, one day after he was convicted of forcing sex on a production assistant and cleared on a third charge.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Aidala Bertuna

Akin Gump

Axinn Veltrop

Baker Botts

Ballard Spahr

Blume Forte

Boies Schiller

Brand Woodward

Bucher Law PLLC

Cahill Gordon

Cooling & Herbers

Corr Cronin

Davis Polk

Fabricant LLP

Finnegan

Fish & Richardson

Frank Freed

Freshfields

Girard Sharp

Goulston & Storrs

Hagens Berman

Herman Jones LLP

Holwell Shuster

Kellogg Hansen

Lewis Rice

Libby Hoopes

Lockridge Grindal

McKool Smith

Meehan Boyle

Montgomery McCracken

O'Hagan Meyer

O'Melveny & Myers

Proskauer Rose

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Russ August & Kabat

Seeger Weiss

Sidley Austin

Simon Paschal

Skadden Arps

Spero Law LLC

Sterne Kessler

Wilkinson Stekloff

Williams Barber

WilmerHale

Wilson Sonsini

Zaiger LLC

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Advanced Bionics AG

Agri Stats Inc.

Alphabet Inc.

American Arbitration Association

American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers

American Petroleum Institute Inc.

Apple Inc.

Burford Capital LLC

Cargill Inc.

Center for Biological Diversity Inc.

Danner Inc.

Federalist Society

Google LLC

Instagram Inc.

Institute for Justice

Jennie-O Turkey Store LLC

Lex Machina Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Natural Resources Defense Council

Nike Inc.

RELX PLC

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Sierra Club

VSE Corp.

Valve Corp.

Washington & Lee University

YouTube Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Air Resources Board

California Attorney General's Office

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Internal Revenue Service

Manhattan District Attorney's Office

New York County District Attorney's Office

New York Supreme Court, New York County

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Texas Attorney General's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Government Accountability Office

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Marine Corps

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Kansas

United States District Court for the District of South Dakota