Live Nation Beat Rivals With Better Tech, Jury Hears

By Stewart Bishop

A former executive for AEG Presents on Friday testified that his former employer's ticketing system was subpar to that of Live Nation's Ticketmaster, as counsel for the latter portrayed the live entertainment giant's dominant position in the market as a natural result of its superior services to clients.

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CoStar Expands Mass Copyright Case Against Zillow

By Isaac Monterose

Commercial real estate information company CoStar Group Inc. updated its mass copyright infringement suit against property listing company Zillow Group Inc. on Friday, now alleging in Washington federal court that Zillow stole more than 53,000 of CoStar's copyrighted property photos.

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Chanel Ducks The RealReal's Antitrust Counterclaims For Now

By Matthew Perlman

A New York federal court has tossed antitrust counterclaims lodged against Chanel by used luxury goods retailer The RealReal after the fashion house accused it of selling counterfeit handbags.

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Apollo, BlackRock Deny Asking Kirkland To Abandon Optimum

By Tracey Read

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other major financial companies have denied Optimum Communications' claims accusing them of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as the telecommunications company's transaction counsel to get revenge for a collusion lawsuit filed in New York federal court.

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FCC Can't Waive TV Broadcast Cap For Nexstar, DC Circ. Told

By Christopher Cole

Public interest and labor groups banded together with cable and satellite groups Friday to try convincing the D.C. Circuit that the Federal Communications Commission can't waive its 39% national audience cap to let the $6.2 billion merger of Nexstar and Tegna Inc. move forward.

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Kirkland-Led Transcend Bought By Otsuka In $1.2B Deal

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Clinical-stage biotechnology company Transcend Therapeutics Inc., led by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP, on Friday announced that it has agreed to be bought by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in a deal worth up to $1.225 billion.

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EU's Ribera: Antitrust Must 'Stay Strong' Against Politics

By Bryan Koenig

European Union antitrust chief Teresa Ribera had a word of caution Friday for competition enforcers who let political considerations influence their enforcement decisions, arguing in Washington, D.C., remarks that enforcement should remain stable against shifting political winds.

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EU Court Told To Uphold €7.7M Cartel Fine For Packaging Biz

By Eddie Beaver

An EU court correctly interpreted rules on how competition cases are shared between national regulators and the European Commission when it upheld a cartel fine of €7.67 million ($8.83 million) against Crown Holdings Inc., an advocate general has said.

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Judge Denies NAR Mandatory Membership Antitrust Claims

By Nate Beck

A Louisiana federal judge has rejected an antitrust lawsuit brought pro se by a group of brokers claiming they are illegally forced to join a trio of real estate associations to access the Multiple Listing Service online home listing system.

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Guests Ask High Court To Review Vegas Hotel Pricing Suit

By Matthew Perlman

Las Vegas hotel guests are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit ruling that refused to revive their proposed class action accusing casino-hotel operators of using software from Cendyn Group to illegally inflate room rates.

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Skull Shaver Can't Stop NJ Judge From Moving IP Suit To NC

By Elliot Weld

A New Jersey federal judge has adopted the recommendation of a magistrate judge who said Skull Shaver's patent infringement case against The Cut Buddy over electronic razor technology could move to North Carolina federal court.

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NC Biz Court Bulletin: Judge Exits, Duke Ducks Climate Suit

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina Business Court saw an unexpected shakeup with one judge's retirement, rendered a pivotal decision in a first-of-its-kind climate change case against Duke Energy and oversaw a trial between the feuding owners of a commercial bed skirt company.

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Brief

Berkshire RE Franchise Says 'Pied Piper' Lured Away Agents

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts franchise of Berkshire Hathaway's real estate unit alleged in a state court complaint Friday that the former sales manager of two offices outside Boston "acted as a corporate pied piper" to lure 21 colleagues to a competitor.

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Networks Using Legacy TV As A 'Cash Cow,' Advocates Say

By Nadia Dreid

Networks see local TV stations as little more than "cash cows" and are "sucking the lifeblood out of television stations" by demanding increasingly higher fees in exchange for allowing them to air network content, a pair of media advocacy groups have told the Federal Communications Commission.

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Defense Deals Can Trigger Extra HSR Filing With The DOD

Certain aerospace, defense and national security M&A transactions will require a concurrent Hart-Scott-Rodino Act filing to the U.S. Department of Defense, and practice tips for navigating this extra filing include early analysis of competitive implications of sector deals and planning for concurrent filings, say attorneys at White & Case.

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8 Tariff Refund Questions For Restructuring Professionals

For restructuring and turnaround professionals, seeking refunds following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision invalidating tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act raises several questions about how to capture legitimate recoveries while protecting an enterprise from the consequences of its own history, says Jonny Frank and Laura Greenman at StoneTurn, and Andrew Popescu at Province.

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When Class Certification Issues And Crypto Nuance Collide

A New York federal court's recent ruling in In re: Tether and Bitfinex highlights that crypto companies should expect courts to apply conventional class action principles to novel digital asset markets, albeit with careful attention paid to the unique features of crypto trading, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

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Series

Watching Hallmark Movies Makes Me A Better Lawyer

I realize you may be judging me for watching, and actually enjoying, Hallmark Channel movies, but the escapism and storylines actually demonstrate qualities and actions that lead to an efficient, productive and positive legal practice, says Karen Ross at Tucker Ellis.

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Pillsbury Asks To Toss Suit Over Nonclient Data Breach

By Matt Perez

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP sought dismissal of a consolidated data breach action in New York federal court Friday due to the plaintiffs' alleged lack of relationship with the firm and inability to identify any cognizable damages.

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Burford Considers Arbitration After 2nd Circ. Tosses $16B Win

By Nadia Dreid

Burford Capital Ltd. says it is contemplating taking its $16 billion fight with Argentina into international arbitration after the Second Circuit wiped out a judgment the litigation funding firm had won against the nation in New York federal court, sending its stock prices tumbling.

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'Is It Kafka?' Judge Presses Pentagon On Press Restrictions

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge requested additional briefing Monday from the Trump administration before deciding whether to toss the U.S. Department of Defense's revised rules restricting journalists' access to the Pentagon but said some new allegations from reporters read like the revisions came from a Franz Kafka novel.

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Ex-Laffey Bucci Atty Accused Of Stealing Over $1.3M

By James Boyle

Laffey Bucci D'Andrea Reich & Ryan has accused a former name partner in a Pennsylvania state court suit of misdirecting more than $1.3 million in referral and case fees through a secret agreement with another firm and misusing the plaintiffs firm's resources for personal expenses, including an affair with a client.

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Analysis

Exchanges Are First Line In CFTC Prediction Market Policing

By Aislinn Keely

As the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission insists it will be the primary cop for the growing expanse of prediction markets, experts said the agency is signaling that its first line of defense will be the internal enforcement programs of registrants like Kalshi.

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FCA Qui Tams Are Unconstitutional, Eli Lilly Tells Justices

By Mark Payne

The False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, drugmaker Eli Lilly has told the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to overturn a Seventh Circuit decision upholding a $183 million trial win for a whistleblower who claimed the drug company hid how much it charged for Medicaid-covered drugs. 

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Justices Wary Of 'Odd' Arbitration Jurisdiction Theory

By Caroline Simson

A lawyer urging the U.S. Supreme Court to find that federal courts that have sent a dispute to arbitration do not automatically have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate a subsequent award faced heavy skepticism Monday from the justices, who called his argument during oral arguments "odd" and "peculiar."

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket this past week featured disputes involving globally recognized companies, high-dollar contract fights, revived claims from the state's high court and the resolution of a closely watched de-SPAC case.

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Blumenthal Questions SEC Over Crypto Cases, Ryan Exit

By Katryna Perera

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is demanding answers from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins about the sudden resignation of the regulator's enforcement director and whether her departure was related to cryptocurrency cases, including one touching on the Trump family's ventures.

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