Retailers taking legal action against Mastercard Inc. and Visa lost their bid on Thursday to increase their damages bill from alleged unlawful overcharging by the card companies.
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2024 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Retailers Lose Bid For Higher Damages Bill In Swipe Fees Trial

By Lucia Osborne-Crowley

Retailers taking legal action against Mastercard Inc. and Visa lost their bid on Thursday to increase their damages bill from alleged unlawful overcharging by the card companies.

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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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Brief

DOJ Wants Time In Fubo-ESPN Streaming JV Arguments

By Nadia Dreid

The U.S. Department of Justice has got something to say to the Second Circuit about an attempt from ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery to overturn a preliminary injunction stopping them from going forward with a joint sports streaming venture that a rival says will run it out of business.

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MERGER REVIEW

Fed, OCC 'Asleep At Wheel' On Merger Policy, Warren Says

By Jon Hill

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday accused top federal bank regulators of blowing off calls for tougher merger scrutiny and leaving the financial system exposed to dangerous megadeals, blasting them as "asleep at the wheel" as the Capital One-Discover merger inched closer to approval.

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INTERNATIONAL

BT Defeats £1.3B Class Action In Setback For Consumers

By Joanne Faulkner

Telecoms operator BT defeated on Thursday a £1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) class action brought on behalf of three million landline customers in the first substantive ruling deciding a U.K. collective proceedings order claim.

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EU Opens In-Depth Probe Of Liberty's $3.6B MotoGP Deal

By Jared Foretek

European antitrust regulators are investigating Liberty Media's proposed acquisition of Dorna Sports, citing concerns that the €3.5 billion deal could harm competition in motorsports broadcasting and drive up licensing costs.

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CMA Issues Guidance For New Digital Competition Rules

By Matthew Perlman

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority released guidance Thursday laying out how the agency intends to use its new powers to impose rules and obligations on large technology companies, ahead of the regime's launch next year.

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LITIGATION

FTC Says PBMs Can't Get Preliminary Block In Insulin Case

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission urged a Missouri federal judge Thursday not to temporarily block its in-house case accusing pharmacy benefits managers of artificially inflating insulin prices through unfair rebate schemes, arguing Congress clearly empowered such in-house adjudications and the officials who handle them.

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Generic-Drug Cos. Get State AGs' Trial Order Flipped

By Matthew Perlman

A Connecticut federal court has sided with the generic-drug makers accused of price-fixing by state-level enforcers and will allow a narrower case involving 15 drugs to move ahead prior to a much broader case involving more than 100 medications.

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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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Vanderbilt QB Gets Extra Year Of NCAA Eligibility, Judge Rules

By David Steele

A Tennessee federal judge has granted Vanderbilt University star quarterback Diego Pavia a preliminary injunction that allows him to play football next season despite NCAA rules that say his eligibility has expired.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

4 Trade Secret Pointers From 2024's Key IP Law Developments

Four significant 2024 developments in trade secret law yield practical tips about defending trade secrets overseas, proving unjust enrichment claims, forcing compliance with posttrial orders and using restrictive covenants to prevent employee leaks of confidential intellectual property, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

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The Story Of 2024's Biggest Bank Regs, And Their Fate In 2025

U.S. federal bank regulators were very active in 2024 with initiatives ranging from antitrust and capital to proposals regarding controlling shareholders and incentive-based compensation, but many regulations face an uncertain future under the new administration, say attorneys at Latham.

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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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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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LEGAL INDUSTRY

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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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

11KBW

Addleshaw Goddard

Ahmad Zavitsanos

Akerman LLP

Alston & Bird

American Center for Law & Justice Inc.

Armstrong Teasdale

Arnold & Porter

Bailey Duquette

Baker Botts

Barrett Law Group

Blacks Solicitors

Blackstone Chambers

Brick Court Chambers

Brito PLLC

Brownstein Hyatt

Buchanan Ingersoll

CMS Cameron McKenna

Charles Russell Speechlys

Choate Hall

Clark Hill

Cole Schotz

Competition Law Partners

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

Cravath Swaine

Curtis Mallet-Prevost

DAC Beachcroft

DLA Piper

Davis Wright Tremaine

Day Pitney

DeCotiis FitzPatrick

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dechert LLP

Faegre Drinker

Fenchurch Law

Fieldfisher

Fisher & Phillips

Forsters LLP

Fried Frank

Gage Spencer & Fleming

Gatehouse Chambers

Gibbons PC

Gibson Dunn

Glancy Prongay

Glenn Agre

Goodwin Procter

Gowling WLG

Greenberg Traurig

Gunster Yoakley

Gupta Wessler

Hadsell Stormer

Hagens Berman

Halunen Law

Haynes & Boone

Hinckley Allen

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Holman Fenwick

Holwell Shuster

Hueston Hennigan

Hugh James

Husch Blackwell

Irell & Manella

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

K&L Gates

Kasowitz Benson

Katten Muchin

Keker Van Nest & Peters

Kelley Drye

Kirkland & Ellis

Klarquist Sparkman

Krantz & Berman

Kutak Rock

Latham & Watkins

Law Office of Rajeh A. Saadeh

Linklaters LLP

Mayer Brown

Milbank LLP

Mintz Levin

Monckton Chambers

Morgan & Morgan

Morgan Lewis

Morrison Foerster

Nabarro LLP

Norton Rose

O'Melveny & Myers

One Essex Court

Orrick Herrington

Patterson Belknap

Paul Weiss

Paynter Law Firm

Perkins Coie

Petrillo Klein

Proskauer Rose

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Reynolds Porter

Riley & Jacobson

Robinson Bradshaw

Ropes & Gray

Ross Aronstam

Roythornes Solicitors

Rule Garza

Sanford Heisler

Saul Ewing

Schertler Onorato

Scott&Scott

Seward & Kissel

Shapiro Arato

Sidley Austin

Simmons & Simmons

Skadden Arps

Spector Constant & Williams

Spencer Fane

Stephenson Harwood

Stradley Ronon

Sullivan & Cromwell

TLT LLP

Trenk Isabel

Troutman Pepper

Trowers & Hamlins

Vartabedian Hester

Ward Hadaway

Welsh & Recker

White & Case

Wiggin & Dana

Wiley Rein

Wilkinson Stekloff

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Wilson Sonsini

Winston & Strawn

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Aetna Inc.

Allergan PLC

Amazon.com Inc.

American Civil Liberties Union

American Constitution Society

American Council of Life Insurers

American Intellectual Property Law Association

Appian Corp.

Apple Inc.

Association of Corporate Counsel

Atlantic Coast Conference

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.

Avet Pharmaceuticals Inc.

BNP Paribas SA

BP PLC

BT Group PLC

Beazley PLC

Blackstone Inc.

Boy Scouts of America

British American Tobacco PLC

CVS Health Corp.

Caesars Entertainment Inc.

Capital One Financial Corp.

Charter Communications Inc.

Chevron Corp.

Cincinnati Financial Corp.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Discover Financial Services Inc.

Duke Energy Corp.

ESPN Inc.

Epic Games Inc.

Essity AB

Express Scripts Holding Co.

Federalist Society

GP Global

Google LLC

Groupe Danone

Gulf Petrochem FZC

Heureka Group

Hytera

International Business Machines Corp.

JBS USA Holdings Inc.

Judicial Watch Inc.

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

Lambda Legal Defense & Educational Fund

Liberty Energy Inc.

Liberty Media Corp.

Major Lindsey & Africa LLC

MasterCard Inc.

McKinsey & Co. Inc.

Meadow

Microsoft Corp.

Motorola Solutions Inc.

Mozilla Corp.

NASDAQ Inc.

National Collegiate Athletic Association

Natixis SA

New Jersey State Bar Association

Novartis AG

Optum Inc.

Our Children's Trust

Pegasystems Inc.

Pfizer Inc.

Pinterest Inc.

Princeton University

Purdue Pharma LP

ROC Nation LLC

RealPage Inc.

Reynolds American Inc.

Riot Games Inc.

Ryan LLC

SAP AG

SVB Financial Group

Saatva Inc.

Saint-Gobain SA

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Sandoz International GmbH

Spotify Technology SA

Starr International Co. Inc.

Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Teradata Corp.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Texas Bankers Association

The Cigna Group

The New York Times Co.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC

The University of Alabama System

The Walt Disney Co.

TikTok Inc.

Treasure Island LLC

Twitter Inc.

United Steelworkers

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Valero Energy Corp.

Viatris Inc.

Virgin Hotels LLC

Visa Inc.

Walmart Inc.

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Wells Fargo & Co.

Western Environmental Law Center

WisdomTree Investments Inc.

Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Yardi Systems Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Air Resources Board

Central Intelligence Agency

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Companies House

Competition Appeal Tribunal

Competition and Markets Authority

Connecticut Attorney General's Office

Delaware Court of Chancery

European Commission

European Parliament

European Union

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Housing Finance Agency

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Georgia Court of Appeals

Internal Revenue Service

National Credit Union Administration

New York Attorney General's Office

New York Supreme Court, New York County

Ofcom

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Ohio Supreme Court

The Crown Prosecution Service

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

US Office of Management and Budget