Jolie May Have To Turn Over Her NDAs In Pitt's Winery Suit

By Craig Clough

Angelina Jolie may have to disclose many of the nondisclosure agreements she's signed to Brad Pitt's legal team in the former couple's dispute over a multimillion-dollar French winery, a Los Angeles judge said Thursday in a tentative ruling.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Bar Halts Plans To Develop New Bar Exam

By Ryan Boysen

The State Bar of California has shelved a plan to develop its own online bar exam, a shift that could save the cash-strapped organization up to $4 million per year, but drew opposition from law school deans concerned about its ambitious rollout timeline.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Delta, Flight Attendants Ink $16M Deal To End Wage Suit

By Abby Wargo

Delta Air Lines flight attendants reached a nearly $16 million settlement with the company in an almost decadelong suit accusing the airline of wage statement violations, they told a California federal judge, saying the "extremely favorable" deal should be approved because it would give class members close to full reimbursement.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Internet Archive Must Face Record Labels' Copyright Suit

By Henrik Nilsson

A California federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Internet Archive and the foundation that helps fund it must face a suit from record labels accusing the archive of copyright infringement by willfully copying and distributing thousands of protected recordings for free, saying the archive failed to show that the complaint was untimely.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apple Exec Must Produce All Docs On 27% App Fee Decision

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge presiding over a high-stakes antitrust hearing over Apple's compliance with a court-ordered ban on App Store anti-steering rules ordered a company executive Thursday to hand over all of his communications and notes on Apple's decision to impose a new 27% fee after her injunction.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

$2B Default Recommended For Making Fair Trial 'Impossible'

By Bryan Koenig

Years of lies should put a pair of Chinese electronics companies on the hook for over $2 billion in default judgment, a special master told a California federal judge, adding that their yearslong no-show and disregard of U.S. counsel advice to retain documents have rendered a fair trial "impossible."

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Whirplool, Others Must Face Trimmed Gas Stove Safety Suits

By Lauren Berg

Whirlpool Corp., Samsung Electronics and BSH Home Appliances Corp. must face trimmed claims in a trio of proposed class actions accusing them of failing to disclose to consumers the pollutant risks associated with natural gas stoves, a California federal judge ruled.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Stubhub, Attys Face Sanctions Bid Over 'Strategy Of Evasion'

By Bonnie Eslinger

Counsel for consumers seeking StubHub refunds for events canceled or rescheduled due to COVID-19 urged a California federal magistrate judge Thursday to sanction the online ticket platform and its lawyers, saying they've "engaged in a strategy of evasion, denial and distortion" to avoid producing hyperlinked documents despite a court order.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Smollett Atty Says Attackers' Defamation Suit Must Fail

By Celeste Bott

An attorney who represented "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett asked an Illinois federal judge Wednesday to end claims that she defamed two brothers accused of attacking Smollett by suggesting they wore "whiteface," arguing it was an unimportant detail that meshed with their own descriptions.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Investigate Pro-Gaza Reddit Post, GOP Pols Tell USPTO

By Andrew Karpan

An anonymous Reddit post purportedly from a patent examiner confessing "mixed feelings" about issuing a patent to an Israeli defense contractor, citing the country's ongoing bombardment of Gaza, has attracted the attention of Republicans in Congress and the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office herself.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices Say Courts Must Stay Suits Sent To Arbitration

By Caroline Simson

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously concluded Thursday that federal courts do not have discretion to toss a case once it's decided that the claims belong in arbitration, ruling in a wage and overtime suit brought by delivery drivers against their employer.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

High Court Decision Requiring A Stay Raises More Questions

By Caroline Simson

The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision Thursday finding that federal courts must honor a request to stay a case after ordering the dispute into arbitration leaves an important subsequent question unresolved: What happens if neither party requests a stay?

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Albertsons Sued Over 'Naturally Flavored' Fruit Bar Labels

By Henrik Nilsson

Albertsons Cos. Inc. was hit with a proposed class action Wednesday in California federal court by a shopper who alleges the grocer falsely labels its breakfast cereal bars as containing natural flavors even though they're made with artificial ingredients derived from petrochemicals.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BIC Hit With Class Action Over PFAS-Containing Razors

By Jonathan Capriel

The makers of BIC razors intentionally use so-called forever chemicals in several of their products but failed to mention that to customers, who say they wouldn't have bought the razors if they'd known they were exposing themselves to toxic chemicals.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Weighted Baby Swaddle 'Inherently Dangerous,' Suit Alleges

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts company has been hit with a proposed class action over its allegedly "inherently dangerous" weighted baby blankets and swaddling wraps, a product category suspected in multiple infant deaths and under investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Disinfectant Maker To Pay $1.2M To Exit Abandoned-Product Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

The peddler of a disinfectant that stands accused of working with Walmart to abandon millions of units of product made from unregistered chemicals, which is illegal to sell and difficult to dispose of, on two unwitting warehouse companies has reached a settlement to end a $30 million lawsuit.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Hunter Biden's Suit May Turn On If A Hard Drive Is A Computer

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden's lawsuit against a former Trump White House aide for accessing data allegedly taken from a copy of Biden's laptop said Thursday that case may hinge on if a hard drive copy qualifies as a "computer" under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Won't Let Alexa Users Revive Voice Data Privacy Row

By Allison Grande

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday refused to reinstate a proposed class action alleging Amazon's Alexa software illegally collects voice data to target users with advertisements, agreeing with the lower court that the e-commerce giant had clearly disclosed the practice and the plaintiffs hadn't shown they were harmed.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Nordstrom Settles Patagonia's Suit Over Alleged Counterfeits

By Adam Lidgett

Patagonia has agreed to toss its trademark lawsuit accusing Nordstrom's Nordstrom Rack discount stores of selling thousands of "obvious counterfeits" after their partnership ended and then refusing to issue a recall on the products once Patagonia complained.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Donna Summer's Estate Working With Ye To Settle IP Suit

By Ivan Moreno

Donna Summer's estate has indicated that it is finalizing a settlement with rappers Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign to resolve a copyright complaint that alleges the musicians sampled the legendary disco singer's 1977 hit "I Feel Love" without permission.

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Prosecutors Say Fake Fortune 500 Workers Funded N. Korea

By Alyssa Aquino

The Biden administration alleged that North Korea may have raised $6.8 million to develop nuclear weapons by installing remote information technology workers at Fortune 500 businesses, announcing charges Thursday against two individuals accused of helping agents pose as U.S. employees.

Indictment attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

C3.ai Shareholder Sues In Del., Citing Baker Hughes Pact

By Leslie A. Pappas

A shareholder of artificial intelligence-driven software developer C3.ai Inc. filed a derivative suit in Delaware's Court of Chancery late Wednesday, alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment related to the California company's strategic partnership with Baker Hughes Co.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Flight Attendant Fights United's Bid To Exit Disability Bias Suit

By Carolina Bolado

A former United Airlines flight attendant fought against the airline's bid to end her suit accusing it of firing her for not recovering from COVID-19 fast enough, arguing that the reason given for her termination — that she misused an employee travel benefit to travel to Florida while on sick leave — is not a legitimate ground to fire her.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Gilead, Teva Want 17 HIV Drug Antitrust Appeals Consolidated

By Matthew Perlman

Gilead Sciences Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals are asking the Ninth Circuit to consolidate 17 appeals contesting their win in a case alleging they delayed generic versions of HIV medications, saying the three groups of buyers are raising largely the same issues but refuse to commit to combining their briefs.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FTC Can't Make Albertsons, Kroger Produce Divestiture Docs

By Ali Sullivan

An administrative law judge on Thursday denied the Federal Trade Commission's "premature" bid to compel Kroger and Albertsons to fork over documents related to negotiations for the companies' expanded divestiture plan amid the commission's in-house challenge to the grocers' merger.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge OKs Plan For Those Hit By Rescinded Trump Travel Ban

By Parker Quinlan

Immigration advocates who sued the federal government said they were celebrating "a glimmer of hope" this week after a federal judge OK'd a plan that would require immigration officials to reconsider visa applications for people denied entry into the U.S. because of a Trump-era travel ban affecting individuals from Muslim-majority countries.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Ends ICE's 'Knock And Talk' Immigrant Arrest Tactic

By Alyssa Aquino

A California federal court has struck down U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's policy of entering immigrants' private property without authorization for arrest, ruling that the practice violated the immigrants' Fourth Amendment protections against unlawful seizure.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Baker Botts Grows IP Group With Perkins Coie Atty In Calif.

By Emily Johnson

Baker Botts has welcomed a Perkins Coie LLP partner to its Palo Alto, California, office, strengthening its intellectual property department with a litigator whose clients include Chinese and Taiwanese technology companies, the international law firm announced Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Nelson Mullins Adds 6 London Fischer Attys, Plans LA Office

By Madison Arnold

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP announced Thursday it has brought on six litigators from London Fischer LLP on both coasts, with four of them set to join a new downtown Los Angeles office and the other two coming aboard in New York.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mayer Brown Recruits Akin Gump Public Policy Pro In LA

By Xiumei Dong

Mayer Brown LLP has brought back a public policy and regulatory expert from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where he spent over a decade leading its California public law and policy practice.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Haynes Boone Adds Sheppard Mullin RE Finance Pro In Calif.

By James Mills

Haynes and Boone LLP continues to grow its Orange County office, announcing Wednesday that a Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP real estate finance ace is joining the office in Costa Mesa, California, as a partner.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony

In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Alito Flag Report Fuels Ethics Debate, But Likely No Recusal

By Katie Buehler

Responses to a report that an upside-down American flag flew outside U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's home following the 2020 presidential election broke along partisan lines Friday, with conservatives decrying it as a smear campaign and liberals calling for his recusal from pending election-related cases and for general court ethics reform.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Trump's Potential Witness Could Be Defense 'Dynamite'

By Phillip Bantz

As Donald Trump's hush money trial in Manhattan nears its end, experts say criminal defense attorney Robert Costello, who once advised the former president's ex-fixer and key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, has surfaced as a potentially bombshell witness for the defense.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Menendez Bribery Trial: 5 Things To Know About Week 1

By Carla Baranauckas

Explosive opening statements, closed-door jury questioning and an FBI agent's recount of the moment he found a treasure trove of gold bars and cash highlighted the first week of trial in the government's second corruption case against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ga. Judge In 2020 Election Cases To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones of the Northern District of Georgia, who has presided over high-profile cases involving the 2020 election, voting rights and abortion, will take senior status on Jan. 1, 2025, according to an update Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

AG Garland Held In Contempt By House Committees

By Courtney Bublé

Two House committees voted late Thursday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for not turning over audio recordings of the president and his ghostwriter speaking with special counsel Robert Hur for his investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Baltimore State's Atty Says 20-Month Sentence Too Harsh

By Emily Sawicki

Former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby has asked a federal judge to cut down prosecutors' requested 20-month prison sentence after she was convicted of abusing a COVID-19-era program to obtain money from a retirement fund and conning a lender to obtain a vacation home, arguing the proposal "stray[s] from the reality of this case."

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'We Feel It': NJ Ranks 2nd In Ch. 11 Cases, Chief Judge Says

By George Woolston

New Jersey federal courts saw the second most Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in the nation over the last year, Chief U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb of the District of New Jersey said on Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Courts Chief Warns Plan To Pick Appeals Bench A 'Mistake'

By George Woolston

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner of the New Jersey Supreme Court on Friday defended how the state judiciary assigns appeals court judges, criticizing a proposal to move the power to appoint appellate judges from the chief justice to the state Senate and the governor's office.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

1st Circ. Rejects Ex-Immigration Judges' Bid For Asylum Redo

By Elliot Weld

The First Circuit's full bench refused to reopen a Salvadoran woman's case seeking asylum, despite former immigration judges weighing in to say that the judge who denied her asylum didn't follow a legal requirement to ensure her record was complete.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Haynes and Boone LLP and Lubin & Enoch PC lead this week's edition of Law360's Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously determined that federal courts do not have discretion to toss a case once it's decided that the claims belong in arbitration.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The SEC adopted cybersecurity rules to require investment advisers and broker-dealers to put procedures in place for detecting data breaches and for notifying customers when their personal information may have been compromised, and lawyers said SPACs won't get sought-after relief from a new 1% tax on stock buybacks under a recent Treasury Department proposal. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »