Ex-Knick Oakley Denies Scrapping Evidence In MSG Feud

By Pete Brush

Former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley testified to a federal judge Thursday that he never intentionally deleted text messages about his 2017 altercation with Madison Square Garden security, as the damages litigation in its eighth year meandered toward trial.

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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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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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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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Feature

Year In Review: A Sports Betting Enforcement Snapshot

By Alex Lawson

A messy gambling and fraud scandal that victimized Major League Baseball's best player, the blackballing of an NBA journeyman and rising fears about the integrity of college sports all marked a busy year for sports attorneys tracking the patchwork of enforcement efforts to crack down on illicit betting activity.

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Feature

The Spiciest Quotes Heard In Mass. Courts In 2024

By Chris Villani

Another year of hard-fought litigation was replete with quips, barbs, and both attorneys and defendants put on blast — plus one litigant who simply wished for the return of a nine-foot bedazzled grand piano.

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Brief

Sony Ups Stake In Japanese Video Game Maker's Parent Co.

By Al Barbarino

Sony Group Corp. said Thursday it has agreed to up its stake in Kadokawa Corp. to 10% through the purchase of more than 12 million shares for approximately 50 billion yen ($317.8 million), sending Kadokawa's stock skyrocketing more than 24%.

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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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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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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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X Workers Say Entire Severance Suit Should Survive

By Emmy Freedman

Former X employees urged a Delaware federal court to set aside portions of a magistrate judge's recommendation that the court partially toss their unpaid severance benefits lawsuit, saying the judge incorrectly found that a merger agreement stripped them of standing.

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NLRB, Post-Gazette Trade Barbs Over Bad Faith Bargaining

By Emily Brill

National Labor Relations Board prosecutors and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have squared off in dueling briefs in Pennsylvania federal court over whether the newspaper bargained in bad faith with its workers' unions and whether it should be forced back to the bargaining table.

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'Hawk Tuah' Memecoin Promoters Sued Over Crypto Flop

By Aislinn Keely

Buyers of the viral "Hawk Tuah" meme-themed cryptocurrency sued the project's promoters and developers in New York federal court Thursday for failing to register the asset as a security while they "created a speculative frenzy" that led holders to lose thousands of dollars.

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Feds Urge No New Trial For 'Undead' NFT Maker

By Katryna Perera

Prosecutors have urged a Florida federal judge not to open a new trial for the developer of the "Undead" series of non-fungible tokens who was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud, saying messages from the Discord social media messaging platform cannot be a "legal or factual basis" from which to grant a new trial.

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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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FCC Chief Floats Spectrum Revamp For Space Launches

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing new rules to revamp the spectrum band running from 2360-2395 megahertz to make room for commercial space launches.

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U.S. Sanctions Georgian Officials For Brutality Against Critics

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions on two officials from the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs for their crackdowns on media and political opposition figures Thursday, bringing the number of Georgian officials sanctioned in the last three months to four.

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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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Data Privacy Landscape After Mass. Justices' Wiretap Ruling

In Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital, Massachusetts’ highest court recently ruled that the state’s wiretap law doesn’t prohibit all tracking of website user activity, but major financial and reputational risks remain for businesses that aren't transparent about customer’s web data, says Seth Berman at Nutter.

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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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