Sandberg Says FTC Market View Makes No Sense In Meta Case

By Bryan Koenig

Meta Platforms' former longtime board member and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg pushed back Thursday on crucial Federal Trade Commission arguments trying to shape the market the social media giant is accused of monopolizing, criticizing a friends and family definition the FTC is using to exclude TikTok as a competitor.

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Judge Rules Google Monopolized Ad Tech In 2nd Win For DOJ

By Bryan Koenig and Matthew Perlman

A Virginia federal judge on Thursday handed the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division its second seminal win against Google, ruling that the search giant has illegally monopolized markets for display advertising placement technology.

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Bill-Pay Co. Customers Can Continue With Most Of Class Action

By Sydney Price

Customers of online bill-pay service Doxo Inc. can proceed with most of their claims in a Consumer Protection Act proposed class action alleging the company deceived them by not disclosing fees upfront, a Washington federal judge ruled Thursday.

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9th Circ. Revives Defect Suit Against CR Bard Over Clot Filter

By Gina Kim

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a patient's allegations that C.R. Bard's blood clot-preventing IVC filter was defective, ruling that a lower court was wrong to throw out the suit as untimely since there are factual disputes as to when the patient noticed the filter had malfunctioned.

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Prudential Financial Beats Certified Privacy Class Action

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge on Thursday entered a summary judgment favoring Prudential Financial and a software vendor in a certified class action accusing them of illegally recording consumer information in violation of the state's invasion of privacy law, finding that no evidence showed the vendor read or tried to read customers' communications.

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Firms Seek Fee Relief Over 'Grossly Unfair' Seresto MDL Snub

By Jonathan Capriel

Two New Jersey law firms say they were cut out of their fair share of $4.5 million in attorney fees, awarded as part of a $15 million settlement they helped secure against Bayer and others in a flea collar multidistrict litigation, asking an Illinois federal court to order lead counsel to open their wallets and share the reward.

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Analysis

FTC To Narrow Data Privacy Scope As Uncertainties Loom

By Allison Grande

The Republican-led Federal Trade Commission is poised to pursue a data privacy agenda focused on established harms and statutory authorities rather than ambitious rulemaking, although the recent firing of two commissioners casts doubt on the long-term viability of these actions and the future of a crucial transatlantic data transfer pact.

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Analysis

FCC Getting An Earful On Creating GPS Backstop

By Christopher Cole

Industries ranging from broadcast to broadband are giving the Federal Communications Commission their two cents on how to build an Earth-based network to reinforce the Global Positioning System, offering regulators a full menu of options to move ahead.

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CFPB Will Cut Examinations By Half In Broad Retreat: Memo

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to cut back sharply on its policing of nonbank financial firms, slash examinations and pull back on its use of fines as part of a dramatic shift in supervisory and enforcement priorities outlined in a new internal memo.

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Arkansas Bans PBMs From Owning Pharmacies

By Patrick Hoff

Pharmacy benefit managers operating in Arkansas will soon be prohibited from owning pharmacies in the state after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill that lawmakers say is meant to minimize conflicts of interest and safeguard patients.

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Globalstar Pushes For Feds' OK On Mobile Satellite Plan

By Christopher Cole

Globalstar is pressing its bid for the Federal Communications Commission to approve its plan for a U.S. mobile satellite service using licensed spectrum in what's known as the "Big LEO" band.

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CFPB Mass Layoffs Resume, Hitting All Corners Of Agency

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's acting Director Russell Vought moved Thursday to resume mass firings at the agency, prompting a scramble from its employee union to head off a torrent of pink slips terminating the vast majority of the agency's workforce.

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Lawmakers Probing Fire Truck Manufacturing For PE Harms

By Courtney Bublé

A bipartisan pair of senators has launched an investigation into the alleged adverse effects of private-equity driven consolidation in the multibillion dollar fire truck industry.

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Crypto Casino Owner Gambled With Investor Funds, Feds Say

By Elliot Weld

The founder of a purported cryptocurrency casino was criminally charged with stealing millions of dollars from investors and gambling the funds away at a different online gambling platform and in the stock market.

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NY Judge Scrubs Groups' Anti-Congestion-Pricing Claims

By Linda Chiem

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday rejected claims from local residents and community groups alleging New York's revised congestion pricing tolls wrongfully discriminated against out-of-state commuters and unfairly benefited public transit riders instead of roadway users.

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Fla. 'King Of Vape' Brings Defamation Suit Against NY Post

By David Minsky

A Florida retail store owner who operates under the name "The King of Vape" brought a federal defamation lawsuit against News Corp., saying the New York Post ran a recent story falsely describing him as an anti-Israel advocate and terrorist supporter who was recently sued for selling illicit e-cigarettes.

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Fandango Sells $10 Movie Credits That Expire, Suit Says

By Gina Kim

Movie ticket vendor Fandango misleadingly advertises that customers who sign up for its FanClub membership program will receive $10 credits that can be used for "any movie" at "any showtime" without restrictions, despite that the credits expire 30 days after they're issued, alleges a proposed class action filed Wednesday in California federal court. 

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Ford Says Free Repairs Doom Explorer Axle Bolt Class Action

By Carolyn Muyskens

Ford has asked a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class's claims that the automaker sold Explorers designed with a rear axle bolt that's prone to cracking, saying vehicle owners aren't out any money because they can get damaged bolts replaced free of charge.

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NJ Says Discord Misled Public About Messaging App's Safety

By George Woolston

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin alleged in a complaint Thursday that popular messaging app Discord has misled kids and parents for years about the app's safety, leaving children vulnerable to harassment, abuse and sexual exploitation.

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Ozempic Caused Blindness, NC Woman Claims

By Emily Field

A North Carolina woman said in New Jersey federal court Wednesday that her use of the diabetes drug Ozempic resulted in the permanent loss of her vision, alleging that manufacturer Novo Nordisk A/S should have known the drug could cause blindness.

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Robocall Arb. Denied Despite Alleged Recording Of Consent

By Jared Foretek

A federal judge declined to force a Tennessee man into arbitration in his suit accusing a health insurance brokerage of making illegal robocalls, ruling that the plaintiff had created enough doubt to get to trial.

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Mercer University's Data Breach Settlement Gets Final OK

By Chart Riggall

Mercer University and a group of former students and a professor got final approval Thursday for a settlement that will end claims the university failed to safeguard the personal information of some 93,000 people leading up to a 2023 data breach.

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Debt Firm's Successor, Ch. 11 Trustee End Latest Pay Dispute

By Daniel Connolly

A law firm that bought thousands of client files left over from the collapse of bankrupt California-based debt relief business Litigation Practice Group PC has agreed to pay nearly $1 million to the bankruptcy estate to help settle a payment dispute that began months ago.

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Co. Seeks 2nd Shot At Asbestos RICO Suit, Citing New Info

By Emily Sawicki

New information supplied by confidential whistleblowers is cause for an Illinois federal court to allow a Los Angeles pipe manufacturer a second chance at pursuing a racketeering case against a Chicago area law firm, the company has argued in a motion to alter or amend the judgment.

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Litigation Funder Sued In NC Over Data Breach

By Jonathan Capriel

Companies that offer medical lien and presettlement funding for personal injury plaintiffs were hit Thursday with a proposed class action accusing them of allowing hackers to obtain the sensitive data of "thousands to tens of thousands" of clients, according to a complaint filed in North Carolina federal court.

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Tribal Members Fight Bid To Transfer Canadian Tariff Dispute

By Crystal Owens

Four members of Montana's Blackfeet Nation are fighting a motion by the federal government to transfer their bid to block several Trump administration orders and proclamations imposing tariffs on Canadian goods, arguing there's no legal basis for the move to the U.S. Court of International Trade.

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Weight Watchers Fakes Limited-Time Sales, Suit Says

By Rae Ann Varona

Two California women on Wednesday hauled Weight Watchers into California federal court, alleging in a putative class action that the diet program company made up fake sales with fake limited-time offer periods to induce consumers into signing up for multimonth memberships.

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Wash. Justices Back Consumers In Old Navy Spam Email Suit

By Rachel Riley

Washington's highest court said in a 5-4 ruling Thursday that the state's spam law bars commercial emails that include any false information in their subject lines, endorsing two consumers' broader interpretation of the statute in a proposed class action against Old Navy.

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Planned Parenthood Patients Sue Lab Co. Over Data Breach

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state-based diagnostic testing services provider for Planned Parenthood has been hit with a pair of proposed class actions in Seattle federal court over an October data breach that reportedly impacted as many as 1.6 million people.

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Hidden Road Nabs Broker-Dealer Approval After Ripple Deal

By Aislinn Keely

Prime brokerage platform Hidden Road announced Thursday that it's received a broker-dealer license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, hot on the heels of a deal that will see Ripple Labs acquire the firm for $1.25 billion.

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How Calif., NY Could Fill Consumer Finance Regulatory Void

California and New York have historically taken the lead in consumer financial protection, and both show signs of becoming even more active in this area during the second Trump administration amid an enforcement pullback at the federal level, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Opinion

In Vape Case, Justices Must Focus On Agencies' Results

With the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Wages and White Lion Investments having put off the question of whether agency decisions arrived at erroneously are always invalid, the court should give the results of agency actions more weight than the reasoning behind them when it revisits this case, says Jonathan Sheffield at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

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Addressing Antitrust Scrutiny Over AI-Powered Pricing Tools

Amid multiple recent civil complaints alleging antitrust violations by providers and users of algorithmic pricing tools, such as RealPage and Yardi, digital-era measures should feature prominently in corporate compliance programs, including documentation of pro-competitive benefits and when to use disclosures, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance

Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.

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Series

Volunteer Firefighting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While practicing corporate law and firefighting may appear incongruous, the latter benefits my legal career by reminding me of the importance of humility, perspective and education, says Nicholas Passaro at Ford.

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PTAB Judge Heads To Boutique, Citing Return-To-Office Order

By Andrew Karpan

An outgoing Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge based in Austin, Texas, tells Law360 that President Donald Trump's return-to-office order was a "significant factor" in her decision to return to private practice, joining boutique patent firm Smith Baluch LLP as a partner.

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Ex-DOJ Atty Convicted In 1MDB Case Ordered Disbarred In NY

By Craig Clough

A New York appellate court ordered Wednesday that a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney be disbarred due to his felony conviction as part of a sprawling, billion-dollar fraud scandal connected to 1Malaysia Development Berhad and Fugees founder Pras Michél.

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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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Sunoco Accused Of Age Bias By Ex-Chief Counsel

By Gina Kim

A former chief counsel for Sunoco LP sued her ex-employer in Texas state court Wednesday, alleging she was denied promotional opportunities and later terminated due to her age, while also accusing the company of replacing attorneys older than 50 with significantly younger attorneys with less experience.

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PI Firm Sues Its Own Expert For Being 'Out Of Touch' At Depo

By Rae Ann Varona

A New Jersey personal injury law firm filed suit in state court against an expert witness it alleges had threatened to withdraw if he didn't receive an advance payment for preparing and attending his deposition, and then turned up to the deposition "confused, disoriented and out of touch."

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Google and its chief legal officer have now lost two major antitrust cases to DOJ prosecutors after a federal judge ruled Thursday the search engine monopolized markets and servers related to display advertising. Meanwhile, a new study shows companies are disclosing their business risks, and how they are trying to mitigate those risks, amid changing tariffs and the uncertainty of the U.S.-China trade war. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Schlichter Bogard LLC and the University of Virginia School of Law Supreme Court Litigation Clinic lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court revived a class action from Cornell University workers who said their retirement plans were saddled with excessive fees.

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Judiciary Faces Security Risks Amid Spending Freeze

By Courtney Bublé

The federal judiciary is warning congressional appropriators that funding shortfalls could threaten courthouse security.

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Judge Nixes Feds' DQ Bid In Migrant Kids Legal Funding Case

By Ryan Boysen

A California federal judge has denied the Trump administration's bid to remove her from a lawsuit challenging funding cuts that prevent attorneys from representing child migrants, ruling her employment at one of the plaintiffs nearly seven years ago doesn't undermine her impartiality.

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Joel Katz, Music Law's Longtime Power Broker, Dies At 80

By Chart Riggall

Joel Katz, the powerful music industry lawyer who co-founded Greenberg Traurig LLP's media and entertainment practice and helped bring the firm to the Atlanta market, has died at the age of 80, Law360 confirmed Friday.

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WilmerHale, Feds Dispute Reach Of Trump Order Against Firm

By Jack Karp

WilmerHale and the U.S. Department of Justice traded salvos in the BigLaw firm's challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order targeting it, with the firm and the government offering "starkly different" versions of what's at stake in the dispute.

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Wis. Sens. Renew Bipartisan Judicial Nomination Commission

By Courtney Bublé

The Republican and Democratic senators from Wisconsin announced Friday they are renewing their bipartisan commission to recommend U.S. attorney and judicial nominees to the president.

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