Google Health Tracking Plaintiffs Fight To Keep Suit Alive

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge who was asked by Google to toss a proposed class action alleging that the tech giant illicitly scoops up users' personal data from healthcare providers' websites indicated during a Thursday hearing that he might grant the request while adding that he still has "a lot more thinking to do."

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Teamsters Launch Strike In Bid To Force Amazon To Table

By Tim Ryan

Workers at seven Amazon facilities across the country who have organized with the Teamsters launched a strike against the e-commerce giant Thursday, demanding that the company meet them at the bargaining table.

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Calif. Judge Accused Of Misconduct With Former Secretary

By Emily Sawicki

A California state judge is accused of engaging in the unauthorized practice of law and violating numerous ethics canons amid his relationship with his then-secretary, including misrepresenting himself as her lawyer, engaging in inappropriate conversations with her and using public resources for private purposes.

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5th Circ. Finds No 230 Immunity In Salesforce Trafficking Suit

By Mike Curley

The Fifth Circuit on Thursday shut down Salesforce Inc.'s arguments that it was immune under the Communications Decency Act to claims that it benefited from sex trafficking that took place on Backpage.com, saying the plaintiffs' claims do not treat Salesforce as a publisher or speaker of third-party content.

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$1.1B Diablo Canyon Award Challenge Meets Skeptical Judge

By Rachel Scharf

A California federal judge appeared skeptical Thursday that an environmental group has standing to challenge the U.S. Department of Energy's award of $1.1 billion to help Pacific Gas & Electric Co. continue operating the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

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Bank Freeze Sought By Co. Alleging Fake Atty Stole $55M

By Craig Clough

Attorneys for a German company suing a California woman and JPMorgan Chase Bank, alleging that an employee was tricked into wiring nearly $55 million by a fraudster whose scam included posing as a Clifford Chance LLP partner, urged a California federal judge Thursday to freeze the bank accounts of the woman.

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Music Publishers Will Likely See AI Copyright Case Cut Back

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge said Thursday she was inclined to toss a portion of a copyright suit from music publishers claiming their song lyrics were ripped off to train artificial intelligence company Anthropic's chatbot, saying some allegations were "so general" while adding that she'd give leave to amend.

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Coppola Calls On 'Last Duel' Writer In Variety Libel Suit

By Craig Clough

Francis Ford Coppola's attorney urged a California judge Thursday not to toss the famed director's libel suit against Variety magazine over a story it published alleging the "Megalopolis" director sexually harassed actresses on set, and to consider a declaration from the author of "The Last Duel" supporting his client's case.

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Calif. High Court Sides With Jo-Ann In Co-Tenancy Dispute

By Hailey Konnath

The California Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the enforceability of a Jo-Ann Stores LLC co-tenancy provision allowing the fabric and craft chain to pay reduced rent at a Sacramento-area location because the mall doesn't have either 60% of space leased or three anchor tenants.

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Another Dispute Over Michael Avenatti's Jet Flies Into Court

By Lauren Berg

A California law firm is going after the incarcerated Michael Avenatti and others to get its hands on proceeds from the sale of a private jet the onetime attorney for Stormy Daniels purchased with money he stole from clients in the latest legal action over the seized plane.

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Analysis

The Top Patent Damages Awards Of 2024

By Ryan Davis

The largest patent damages verdicts of 2024 all amounted to nine figures, largely in line with recent years, with the largest award of $847 million being set aside by a judge weeks after the verdict, reflecting the scrutiny given to sizable damages, attorneys say.

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RealPage Inks $625K Calif. Tenant Protections Settlement

By Hailey Konnath

Tenant screening company RealPage has agreed to pay $625,000 in penalties and restitution to put to rest allegations it violated California's COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act by providing screening reports to housing providers that improperly led to tenants being denied housing, according to an announcement made Wednesday.

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Groups Say CARB Fuel Program Will Spur Environmental Harms

By Madeline Lyskawa

Environmental groups sued the California Air Resources Board in California state court on Wednesday, saying amendments to the state's low carbon fuel standard program will only further spur the expansion of factory farms, increasing environmental degradation in the San Joaquin Valley.

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Kia Telluride Owners Allege Brake Defect In Proposed Action

By Corey Rothauser

Telluride SUV owners told a California federal judge Tuesday Kia America Inc. knowingly sold 2020-2024 models of the vehicles with faulty brakes, putting them at significant risk.

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X Corp. Fails To Toss Data Breach Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge has refused to toss a twice-amended putative class action accusing X Corp. of failing to protect over 200 million users' personal information but tossed a breach of contract claim, saying users couldn't lean on the social media company's blog posts to allege X broke express security promises.

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E.l.f. Mascara Doesn't Confuse Consumers, Judge Rules

By Andrew Karpan

A San Francisco federal judge has said showing that the e.l.f. cosmetics brand had an "intent to create a dupe" of a mascara tube made by its Louis Vuitton-owned rival is not enough to prove that it actually "dupes any consumers."

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Arm-Qualcomm Trademark, Breach Suit Goes To Jury In Del.

By Jeff Montgomery

Jurors headed to deliberations late Thursday after nearly four days of trial in Delaware federal court on Softbank Group subsidiary Arm Ltd.'s claims that Qualcomm Inc. and Nuvia Inc. breached a protective contract for microprocessor core technology licensing agreements.

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Brief

$1.2B Sought From Phillips 66 After $605M Trade Secrets Win

By Ivan Moreno

A retailer of low-carbon fuels has asked a California state court to add $1.2 billion to a $604.9 million trade secrets verdict against Phillips 66, arguing that the jury's conclusion that Phillips 66's misappropriation of confidential information was willful and malicious merits exemplary damages.

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Uber Sues Seattle Over Courier Account Deactivation Law

By Rae Ann Varona

A Seattle ordinance aimed at preventing app-based workers from being unfairly deactivated from apps they use poses "grave constitutional problems," Uber alleged in a suit filed Wednesday in Washington federal court, saying the local law forces the transportation company to express views inconsistent with how it approaches privacy and safety.

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SEC Nabs $5M Judgment In Elder Fraud Case Against Adviser

By Sydney Price

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has scored a $4.8 million judgment in its suit accusing an investment adviser and her firm of scamming her primarily elderly clients out of over $2 million.

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Teradata Antitrust, IP Suit Revived Against German Co.

By Theresa Schliep

A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday revived data analytics company Teradata Corp.'s antitrust and trade secret suit against German software company SAP, saying a lower court rejected the case despite there being factual disputes over key issues concerning market effects and confidential information. 

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Tencent Removes 2 Epic Directors Following DOJ Scrutiny

By Jared Foretek

Two Epic Games directors appointed by Tencent Holdings are stepping down from Epic's board after the U.S. Department of Justice said their positions could constitute antitrust law violations, the agency has announced.

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Casinos Say DOJ Has No 'Starting Point' For Room Rates

By Bryan Koenig

Las Vegas casino hotels urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday not to revive the first algorithmic price-fixing case to reach an appeals court, in a brief that took direct aim at the Justice Department's amicus intervention in the room rate lawsuit.

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Calif. Hotel's Ch. 11 'Highly Likely' To Be Transferred To Del.

By Alex Wittenberg

A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Thursday he was "highly likely" to transfer the second Chapter 11 case of a San Jose, California, hotel back to the First State, granting an initial win to a lender that argued the case should be moved and dismissed as a bad faith filing.

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Feds Fight Calif. Tribe's Bid To Block Casino Trust Order

By Crystal Owens

The federal government is fighting a bid by a California tribe to block the U.S. Department of the Interior from approving a casino project on its historic homelands, arguing that it has not yet identified any irreparable harm that would justify a temporary restraining order.

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2024 Has Been A Momentous Year For ESG

Significant developments in the environmental, social and governance landscape this year include new legislation, evolving global frameworks, continued litigation and enforcement actions, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that has already affected how lower courts have viewed some ESG challenges, say attorneys at Katten.

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Ledbetter's Legacy Shines In 2024 Equal Pay Law Updates

The federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act turned 15 this year, and its namesake's legacy is likely to endure in 2025 and beyond, as demonstrated by 2024's state- and local-level progress on pay equity, as well as several rulings from federal appellate courts, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

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2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.

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Trends In Section 101 Motions 6 Years After Berkheimer

A half-dozen years after the Federal Circuit's landmark patent eligibility ruling in Berkheimer, empirical data offers practitioners some noteworthy insights on Section 101 motions, both nationally and across four exemplary jurisdictions, says Alexa Reed at Fisch Sigler.

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Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

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MoFo, Irell Latest Firms To Unveil Competitive Bonuses

By Aebra Coe & Hailey Konnath

Morrison Foerster LLP and litigation boutique Irell & Manella LLP have joined a chorus of firms announcing associate bonuses that meet or exceed the BigLaw standard for associate bonuses this year, with MoFo offering up to $218,200 and Irell handing its lawyers as much as $175,000.

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Podcast

Approach The Bench: What Judges Had To Say This Year

By Cara Bayles

Jurists weighed the benefits of partisan elections, praised innovations in telehearings and worried about the future of the profession in nearly a dozen interviews with Law360 this year.

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Gunster $8.5M Data Breach Deal Needs More Info, Judge Says

By Matt Perez

A Florida federal judge this week denied preliminary approval of an $8.5 million settlement in a data breach class action against Gunster and demanded more information on payouts, the plaintiffs' standing in the case and a historical breakdown of settlement rates.

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NJ Bar's Diversity Plan Isn't Biased, Panel Says

By Tracey Read

A New Jersey state appeals court reversed and remanded on Friday a lower court's ruling that found the state bar association's diversity practices to be an unlawful, discriminatory quota system.

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If Gov't Shuts Down, Judiciary Will Be Funded Until Jan. 10

By Courtney Bublé

If there is a government shutdown, the federal judiciary would be funded at least until Jan. 10, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said Friday.

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Analysis

How Lawyers May Sue The Trump Administration … Again

By Cara Bayles

During the last Trump administration, BigLaw firms challenged White House policies, focusing on immigration, environmental regulations and healthcare. This time around, attorneys could rely on old tools, and some new tactics, to stall the executive branch.

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Biden Exceeds Trump's Record On Judges By One

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Friday the last two judicial nominations from President Joe Biden, making his total of lifetime judicial appointments 235, just one over President Donald Trump's 234.

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High Court Bar's Future: Williams & Connolly's Sarah Harris

By Katie Buehler

Sarah M. Harris of Williams & Connolly LLP never planned on being a U.S. Supreme Court advocate, or even an appellate one. She stumbled upon that career path after realizing her initial goal of becoming a national security or government lawyer wasn't the right fit.

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No, Microsoft Isn't Driving DOJ's Google Antitrust Suit: Judge

By Bryan Koenig

A D.C. federal judge pushed back Friday on Google's efforts to paint Microsoft as the true plaintiff in the Justice Department's search monopolization lawsuit, casting doubt during a hearing that Google should get even more information about Microsoft's relationship with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

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Feature

Litigator On The Roof: The Acting, Singing Mass. Solicitor

By Chris Villani

The top appellate lawyer in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General will be ringing in the new year by performing a comical cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, the latest show in a lengthy side career in music.

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Hagens Berman Settles Suit Over Effexor Deal Atty Fees

By Bryan Koenig

A pharmaceutical reseller's in-house counsel and founder moved Friday to drop a Mississippi federal court breach of contract suit accusing Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP of stiffing him on his share of a $13 million attorney fees award from an antitrust class settlement, citing a resolution to the dispute.

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Q&A

A Judge Reflects: West Wing Call, 'Alford Plea?' Early Exit

By Hayley Fowler

When Chief Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III of the North Carolina Business Court hangs up his robes for the last time on Dec. 31, he'll leave behind a white-hot docket of high-profile cases and a profusion of opinions that helped mold the court into a tribunal fit to rival Delaware's Court of Chancery.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Andrea Keckley

This week's Legal Lions leader comes from the public sector, as federal prosecutors secured a $650 million settlement from McKinsey & Co. to resolve a lawsuit over the consulting giant's role in Purdue Pharma's promotion of OxyContin.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen the University of Southampton sue a drone-maker over the rights to an uncrewed aircraft patent, Importers Service Corp. and its subsidiary ISC Europe take action against a former director who allegedly owes the company over £1.1 million ($1.4 million), and DAC Beachcroft face a fraud claim by a "prolific litigant." 

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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.

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