Disney's $233M Deal In Living Wage Suit Gets Final OK

By Rae Ann Varona

A California state court has granted final approval of Walt Disney Co.'s $233 million settlement with more than 51,000 Disneyland workers who accused the entertainment company of flouting the city of Anaheim's minimum wage ordinance, handing the workers' lawyers $35 million in attorney fees.

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Judges Pan Chris Cuomo's Arbitrator Bias Claim On Appeal

By Frank G. Runyeon

A majority of the justices on a New York appellate court panel voiced skepticism of ex-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo's arguments that the arbitrator was biased against him in his $125 million wrongful termination case against the news network.

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'It Doesn't Look Good': CoComelon Foe Faces Uphill IP Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

Ninth Circuit panel judges doubted Wednesday a Chinese company's appeal of its $23.4 million copyright-trial loss to the maker of the children's YouTube channel CoComelon, with one judge telling counsel "it doesn't look good for you," and another observing he's "never seen copying evidence quite as compelling as this record."

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Movie Chain Shakes Privacy Row Over Meta Data-Sharing

By Allison Grande

A New York federal judge tossed a proposed class action accusing Bow Tie Cinemas of illegally sharing movie ticket buyers' personal information with Facebook parent Meta, finding a recent Second Circuit decision on what qualifies as data covered by the Video Privacy Protection Act was "fatal" to the plaintiff's claims.

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Anthropic, Reddit Spar Over Keeping AI Case In Federal Court

By Elliot Weld

Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has asked a California federal judge to keep Reddit's claims that user content is used to train large language models in federal court, saying that at least one of Reddit's claims are preempted by the Copyright Act and effectively arise from federal law.

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Morgan & Morgan Hauls Disney Into Court Over TM Concern

By Carolina Bolado

Law firm Morgan & Morgan sued Disney on Wednesday, asking a Florida federal court to declare that an advertisement it plans to run featuring elements from the animated short film "Steamboat Willie" does not infringe on Disney's intellectual property because the work entered the public domain last year.

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Colo. Judge Won't Toss Trans Pilot's Defamation Claim

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado federal judge Wednesday opted to not throw out the complaint of a transgender Army National Guard pilot who accused a conservative social media influencer of defamation when he claimed to his followers that she was the pilot who caused the deadly collision over the Potomac River that killed 67 people earlier this year, and that she did it as an intentional terrorist attack.

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Analysis

Sky-High AI Valuations Are Reshaping Dealmaking Playbook

By Al Barbarino

The latest financing for Anthropic underscores how difficult it has become to dismiss sky-high valuations backing AI as froth, and shows how such numbers could reshape acquisition and exit strategies while exposing investors to heightened legal and financial risks.

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Celeb Photo Agency Sues Over Decade-Old Farley Picture Use

By Lauraann Wood

Hyperlocal news organization Block Club Chicago has been hit with copyright infringement claims by a celebrity photo agency alleging predecessor site DNAInfo Chicago used a photo of late actor Chris Farley without licensing it on an article published more than a decade ago.

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Analysis

DOJ & Google Going To Trial, Again, On Ad Tech Remedies

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department goes to trial next week to try breaking up Google's advertising placement technology business after a Virginia federal court declared the company an illegal monopolist in ad tech.

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3rd Circ. Panel Puzzled By Economics Of NCAA Eligibility

By Matthew Santoni

The introduction of compensation for college athletes may have changed the economic effects of the NCAA's eligibility rules, but a Third Circuit panel wondered Wednesday whether enough analysis on the specific effects had been done to justify suspending one of those rules for a Rutgers University football player.

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Media Matters Again Denied Transfer Of X's Nazi Posts Suit

By Bryan Koenig

Media Matters for America must remain in Texas for X Corp.'s defamation lawsuit over a story about ads running alongside Neo-Nazi content, after a federal judge again refused Tuesday to transfer the case to California following a Fifth Circuit decision nixing a previous rejection of transfer.

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Chancery Approves $30M Match.com Spinoff Suit Settlement

By Jeff Montgomery

A Delaware vice chancellor approved a $30 million mediated settlement Wednesday to resolve a five-year dispute over the fairness of Match.com's 2019 reverse spinoff from Barry Diller-controlled IAC/Interactive, with stockholder attorneys taking home $6.9 million.

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AM Radio Bill Makes It Through House Committee, Again

By Nadia Dreid

More than two-thirds of the House of Representatives have signed on to co-sponsor a bill that would prevent automakers from removing AM radios from their vehicles, so it came as no surprise when the bill sailed through markup Wednesday afternoon.

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FCC Told To Take Care When Adding AI To Public Alerts

By Nadia Dreid

As the Federal Communications Commission mulls how to best overhaul its emergency alert rules, one California county is warning the agency to tread carefully when it comes to adopting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.

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Satellites Belong In FCC's Enviro Reviews, Agency Told

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission can't justify excluding potentially luminous satellites from environmental reviews keyed to industries under its jurisdiction, a group fighting light pollution said.

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Noteholders Say $219M Mexico Claim Can Proceed

By Caroline Simson

Noteholders owed hundreds of millions of dollars by Mexican television producer TV Azteca are defending their $219 million investor-state claim against Mexico after its courts allegedly stymied collection efforts, saying any procedural deficiency in their claim arose as a result of the Mexican court's actions.

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Conn. Gallery Owner Must Face 'Fake' Art Sale Claims

By Aaron Keller

A Greenwich, Connecticut-based art seller should face a jury on claims that it sold a fake Keith Haring chalk drawing for $165,000 after vouching for its authenticity, a judge has ruled, denying a gallery's request for a quick win on eight of nine counts.

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Live Nation Unit Sues Biz Partners Over Fla. Music Venue

By David Minsky

A Live Nation subsidiary and majority owner of a prominent Miami club has sued its business partners over a music venue's operation in Florida federal court, alleging they became greedy and reneged on a carefully negotiated mediation agreement, resulting in a potential loss of millions of dollars and reputational damage.

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Colo. Judge Denies ACE's Bid To Halt USA Cricket Split

By Elaine Briseño

A Colorado state judge refused Wednesday to stop USA Cricket from immediately ending its partnership with American Cricket Enterprises LLC, saying the sport's governing body must have a chance to be heard before deciding on ACE's request to maintain the agreement.

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Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.

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Uber Says Philly Law Firm, Doctors Fabricated Injuries

By James Boyle

Ride-sharing company Uber has accused personal injury firm Simon & Simon PC and a network of healthcare providers of fabricating medical records to inflate accident complaints, according to a RICO suit filed in Philadelphia federal court.

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NJ Atty Sanctioned For Citing AI-Generated Fake Case Law

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey federal judge on Thursday issued a $3,000 monetary sanction on an attorney for violating Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by submitting a reply brief including fabricated case law citations and later acknowledging that his use of generative artificial intelligence contributed to the errors.

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Polsinelli Can't Trim, Arbitrate Atty's Sexual Harassment Case

By Lauren Berg

Polsinelli PC and two former partners cannot trim and compel arbitration of claims in a $20 million sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit brought by a former equity shareholder, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday, saying the shareholder plausibly alleges her claims and isn't required to arbitrate the dispute.

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Analysis

Trump's Georgia Case: Legal Experts On What Happens Next

By Kelcey Caulder

The 2020 Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and his co-defendants may be both "dead" and costly for taxpayers, legal experts told Law360, citing the expected reluctance of most prosecutors to take over the litigation and a new state law that allows criminal defendants to recover legal fees in certain circumstances.

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Judge Halts Kids' Removal, Calls ICE Plan 'House Of Cards'

By Britain Eakin

A D.C. federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday barring the Trump administration from deporting Guatemalan children in federal custody, finding the move would likely violate congressionally established procedures for unaccompanied minors.

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DC Judge Included In Senate's Bloc Confirmation

By Courtney Bublé

A judge for the Superior Court of Washington, D.C., was confirmed on Thursday as part of the en bloc confirmation of 48 nominees to various positions following Republicans voting in favor of changing the rules.

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Analysis

Circuit Split On Felon Gun Ban Could Set Up High Court Review

By Spencer Brewer

A growing divide among federal appellate courts on how a gun ban for felons fits within the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 expansion of individuals' right to carry firearms in public could force the high court to revisit the Second Amendment.

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Analysis

Arbitration Clauses Won't Protect IPOs From Investor Suits

By Jessica Corso

With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission greenlighting the use of mandatory arbitration clauses for newly public companies, securities litigation experts are waiting to see whether any company is willing to risk the almost inevitable legal blowback that will come with taking advantage of the policy.

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Ex-Trump Atty Says Fla. Discipline Case Is Over 'Void' Charges

By Chart Riggall

Former Trump campaign attorney Kenneth Chesebro told the Supreme Court of Florida this week to reject a push to discipline him over his conviction in Georgia's election interference racketeering case, arguing his name was cleared by a court order invalidating the charge to which he pled guilty.

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Dems Demand Even More Funds For Courts, Judicial Security

By Courtney Bublé

An alternative continuing resolution unveiled by the Democrats in the House and Senate on Wednesday evening includes more funding for judicial security and the courts than the Republicans' version, but it's unlikely it will be adopted as is.

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Trump Asks High Court To Let Him Remove Fed's Cook

By Jon Hill

President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to allow him to move forward with firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook, escalating a fight over presidential removal power that will test the boundaries of the central bank's traditional independence.

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