Analysis

Prediction Markets Have Opened Compliance 'Pandora's Box'

By Phillip Bantz

The burgeoning prediction market has exploded the definition of what qualifies as confidential corporate information that employees could misuse for personal gain, leaving companies scrambling to update internal policies and guidelines, compliance experts say.

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Amici Chide Trump Admin For Calling Anthropic A Security Risk

By Tom Lotshaw

In separate amicus briefs to the D.C. Circuit, the ACLU, tech industry groups, former government officials and moral theologians variously panned the Trump administration's designation of Anthropic PBC as a supply chain risk to national security as unjustified, unlawful and counterproductive.

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Jets Legend Fumbles Suit Over '30-For-30' Portrayal

By Alex Lawson

A federal judge has dismissed Mark Gastineau's lawsuit over his portrayal in an ESPN "30 for 30" documentary, ruling that the New York Jets legend gave the companies broad authority to use his name, image and likeness in the film.

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Book Distributor Baker & Taylor Hits Ch. 11 To Wind Down

By Clara Geoghegan

Baker & Taylor, a 198-year-old book distributor, sought bankruptcy protection in New Jersey with at least $100 million in liabilities after the COVID-19 pandemic, litigation and a loan default forced it to shut down operations last year.

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FPI, Apartment Owners Reach $7M Deal In Wash. AG's Tenant Suit

By Rachel Riley

California-based property manager FPI and owners of five low-income apartment complexes have agreed to pay $7 million to end the Washington attorney general's lawsuit accusing them of exploiting senior tenants by overstating property qualities and withholding information about future rent rises, according to an agreed order finalized Monday.

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$200M Exxon Contract Trade Secrets Row Ended

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas state court judge issued a final judgment ordering that a contractor take nothing from its over $200 million claim that a rival allegedly used proprietary information to secure a lucrative maintenance work contract for Exxon, doing away with the lawsuit Tuesday.

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Geico Keeps RICO, Fraud Claims In NY No-Fault Billing Suit

By Gianna Ferrarin

Two New York companies must face the majority of claims in Geico's suit alleging they exploited the state's no-fault insurance laws by fraudulently billing Geico more than $2.7 million for unnecessary durable medical equipment, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

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Insurers Say Documents Tied To Fan Explosion Are Shielded

By Spencer Brewer

Multiple insurers told a Texas federal court that a carbon black manufacturer had no right to access certain information relating to communications following an explosion of two high-speed fans at its facility, saying it fell under attorney-client privilege.

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NY Accuses Solar Co., Lenders Of $275M Homeowner Fraud

By Jon Hill

New York's attorney general sued a solar panel company and two lending partners in New York state court Tuesday, accusing them of a $275 million scheme involving costly solar and home improvement projects falsely pitched to homeowners as free or subsidized.

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Private School Founder Forged Letter Of Credit, Suit Says

By Julie Manganis

The now-suspended founder and director of a group of private primary schools in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, used a bogus letter of credit to execute a $12.5 million lease, which the landlord discovered after the school abandoned its expansion plan amid public opposition, a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court alleges.

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Bard And AngioDynamics Resolve 11-Year Patent Dispute

By Ryan Davis

A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday closed the book on a vascular port patent dispute between C.R. Bard and AngioDynamics that had been pending for over 11 years, citing a settlement after the Federal Circuit invalidated Bard patents that a jury said AngioDynamics infringed.

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10th Circ. Considers Ask For New Trial In $5M Toll Lanes Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday considered a contractor's request for the court to order a new trial after a Denver federal jury awarded construction design firm Aecom $5.25 million for a contract breach in a Colorado toll lanes project, questioning the contractor's litigation strategy.

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SEIU Pension Fund Wins $842K Suit Against NJ Nursing Home

By Emily Brill

A Service Employees International Union pension fund has won its lawsuit accusing a New Jersey nursing home of skipping out on nearly $350,000 in contributions over 13 years, with a D.C. federal judge awarding the fund the missed contributions plus damages after finding it accurately calculated the nursing home's debt.

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BlackRock, State Street Want GOP States' ESG Suit Pared

By Bryan Koenig

BlackRock and State Street have asked a Texas federal judge to significantly winnow antitrust claims from Republican state attorneys general accusing the asset managers of driving up coal prices, arguing that claims based on electricity buyers are too far removed from coal.

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Chancery Tosses Weapons Co. Suit, Says Claims Belong In NC

By Jarek Rutz

A Delaware Chancery Court judge on Tuesday dismissed a weapons analytics company's suit seeking to force one of its founders to litigate a stock valuation dispute in Delaware, ruling that the claims belong in a parallel North Carolina action and stem from a different contract than the company asserted.

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Google Wants Cutoff Date For Ad Tech Rivals' Claims

By Bryan Koenig

Google moved to tee up a dismissal bid aimed at cutting key targeted policies from New York federal court antitrust claims from rival advertising placement technology providers, arguing that its "sophisticated" competitors cannot get around a four-year statute of limitations pegged to the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit.

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Avoid The Unexpected When Drafting License Agreements

The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Commave v. Zevrain raises several practice points for attorneys drafting commercial contracts, underscoring the importance of considering anti-assignment provisions, specific exclusions and potential carveouts when drafting license agreements or other commercial contracts, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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Time Limit Case Highlights How Justices Apply Federal Rules

In Coney Island Auto Parts Unlimited v. Burton, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the minority in a circuit split on when a litigant can seek relief from an allegedly void judgment — but the decision's most important lessons may be about the high court's interpretive approach to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at McDermott.

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Analysis

Texas Biz Court's Likely Role In Patent Fights Becoming Clear

By Dani Kass

The Texas Business Court has released its first opinion exploring when intellectual property can be used to create jurisdiction, and attorneys say the decision involving state trade secret law offers insight into when patent matters can be pursued there.

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Conn. Justices Won't Hear Ex-Alex Jones Atty's Ethics Case

By Andrea Keckley

The Connecticut Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to the two-week suspension of Alex Jones' former lawyer, leaving intact an intermediate Appellate Court decision affirming the pared-down punishment surrounding his law firm's handling of Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre victims' personal information.

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Calif. Bills Would Reform Litigation Funding, Client Recruiting

By Emily Sawicki

Two new bills introduced to the California Assembly this week seek to impose reforms on the state's legal industry, including adding mandatory disbarment for attorneys convicted of felony "capping" — or illegally paying for client recruitment — and blocking corporate litigation funders from influencing cases.

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Senator Unveils Draft AI Bill Intended To Wipe Out State Regs

By Hailey Konnath

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Wednesday released a draft of proposed legislation that would override a "patchwork" of state artificial intelligence regulations, touting the proposal as protecting "children, creators, conservatives and communities" and slamming the state regulations as hindering "AI innovation."

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Biotech Investor Blames Pierce Atwood For Messy Asset Sale

By Julie Manganis

A Ukrainian billionaire who was recently ordered to pay other investors in a failed genetic testing company more than $1.8 million in damages is blaming the Pierce Atwood LLP lawyers who advised him on what a court later found to be a "fundamentally unfair" forced asset sale.

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Powell Says He Won't Make Fed Exit While Facing DOJ Probe

By Jon Hill

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that he will stay on as a board member of the central bank if he remains under U.S. Department of Justice investigation when his term as Fed chairman runs out this spring.

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