Hollywood Filmmaker Receives $1.7B Sex Assault Verdict In NY

By Rachel Scharf

A New York state jury held Wednesday that Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director James Toback must pay $1.68 billion to 40 women he sexually assaulted over the course of four decades, according to an announcement from the victims' lawyers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Conn. Justices Won't Review $1.4B Verdict Against Alex Jones

By Brian Steele

The Connecticut Supreme Court has denied a bid by bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones to appeal a judgment awarding more than $1 billion to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims who sued him for defamation.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Willkie Atty Says NY Post Leak Cost Him Chance At Millions

By Emily Sawicki

A Connecticut lawyer who tipped off the New York Post to a dispute between his landlord client and a tenant, a Willkie Farr partner, has asked a federal judge to help unravel the partner's claim that he lost a "multimillion-dollar opportunity" to work for Debevoise.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dominion Wins Defamation Claim In Mixed Newsmax Ruling

By Lauren Berg

A Delaware Superior Court judge on Wednesday agreed with Dominion Voting Systems that Newsmax made false and defamatory statements that the voting machine company rigged the 2020 election in favor of former President Joe Biden, but ruled a jury would have to determine whether those statements were made with malice.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Disney Doesn't Deserve $5.7M Fee In 'Moana' Suit, Artist Says

By Gina Kim

Disney doesn't deserve $5.7 million in fees for beating an animator's copyright suit accusing it of ripping off his Polynesian adventure story to create "Moana," the plaintiff said Tuesday, arguing his case wasn't frivolous, considering the California federal judge found multiple times that sufficient similarity existed between the works. 

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Media Matters' Delay Irks Judge In X 'Libel Tourism' Case

By Bonnie Eslinger

The California federal judge overseeing X Corp.'s lawsuit alleging Media Matters for America drove advertisers from its platform blasted the defendant on Wednesday for waiting over a year before seeking to enforce a forum selection clause in X's terms of service requiring disputes be litigated in San Francisco.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ChatGPT Output Can't Be Defamation, OpenAI Tells Ga. Court

By Emily Johnson

OpenAI LLC this week told a Georgia state court that its product ChatGPT did not defame a talk radio show host because its warnings that ChatGPT output was not factual "were repeated, prominent, clear, and specific" and the output claiming he was a defendant in a suit was not presented as actual facts.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

OpenAI Countersues Musk For 'Relentless' Harassment

By Rae Ann Varona

OpenAI on Wednesday lodged a countersuit to Elon Musk's lawsuit accusing the ChatGPT maker of abandoning its nonprofit mission, urging a California federal court to stop the billionaire from continuing an alleged "harassment campaign" aimed at impeding its success.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Chancery Lets Paramount Investors Probe Skydance Deal

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's top Chancery magistrate said Wednesday that Paramount Global stockholders probing the company's proposed $8 billion Skydance Media merger can have access to dozens of documents, but kept sealed further details in a transcript of a hearing closed to the public for at least five additional days.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tillis Says China IP Theft Should Be Priority In Trade Talks

By Jared Foretek

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., on Wednesday called China's theft of U.S. intellectual property "rampant" and said the issue should be near the top of the agenda if the Trump administration enters trade negotiations with the Chinese government in the coming weeks.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dropbox Can See Case Funding Details In IP Row, Court Says

By Adam Lidgett

A patent owner has to hand over a copy of an agreement it has with a litigation funder as part of its infringement lawsuit against Dropbox over cloud-based file system patents, a federal magistrate judge in California has ruled.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Charter Confused Jurors In $1B Patent Feud, Gilstrap Told

By Andrew Karpan

A New York-based startup whose infringement case against Charter Communications was rejected by a federal jury in Marshall, Texas, last month now wants a new trial, telling U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap that Charter deployed a "calculated plan to confuse the jury."

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ITC Ends Google Patent Case Against Sonos

By Andrew Karpan

The U.S. International Trade Commission has decided to end another investigation into whether Sonos speakers infringe patents issued to Google, finding those patents are invalid.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GameStop Customer Wants 'Boring' Browsing To Stay Private

By Matthew Santoni

GameStop Inc.'s use of third-party software to record customers' online browsing violates Pennsylvania's wiretap law, even if the data collected isn't sensitive or traceable to a particular person, a proposed class representative told the Third Circuit during an oral argument Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Live Nation Likely Won't Escape Concertgoers' Antitrust Suit

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court indicated on Wednesday that he's not inclined to toss an antitrust case from consumers accusing Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC of monopolizing the concert ticketing market following their 2010 merger.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FTC Has Authority To Bring Antitrust Case Against Amazon

By Matthew Perlman

A federal court in Washington found the Federal Trade Commission has the authority to bring an antitrust case targeting Amazon's treatment of sellers on its platform directly in federal court without also pursuing an in-house administrative case.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Twitter Seeks To Strike Arbitrations In Severance Fight

By Irene Spezzamonte

Fifteen individual arbitration awards don't add anything to workers' claims seeking additional severance payments from X, the social media platform argued, urging a Delaware federal court to strike them from the docket.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FBI Agent Denounced By OneTaste Execs Likely To Testify

By Stewart Bishop

An FBI agent accused of misconduct by two former OneTaste executives will likely be allowed to testify at their upcoming trial on forced labor conspiracy charges, a Brooklyn federal judge said Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Shaq's $11M Deal With NFT Investors Gets Judge's Final OK

By Katryna Perera

Hall of Fame basketball player Shaquille O'Neal and the creators of the Astrals nonfungible token project have received a judge's final approval of an $11 million deal to resolve a proposed securities class action with buyers of the tokens that O'Neal allegedly promoted.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump's FCC Nominee Faces Light Scrutiny At Senate Hearing

By Nadia Dreid

The woman that President Donald Trump has tapped to become the fifth member and final member of the Federal Communications Commission and cement the agency's Republican majority mostly skated through her nomination hearing Wednesday morning.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Miami Dolphins Win Arbitration Bid In Crowd Brawl Suit

By Elaine Briseño

A Florida appellate panel on Wednesday sent to arbitration a lawsuit attempting to hold the Miami Dolphins liable for injuries a woman suffered after a fight broke out in the stands, ruling that although the plaintiff did not purchase the tickets, the arbitration clause was still valid.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Publishers Clearing House Hits Ch. 11, Plans Digital Pivot

By Clara Geoghegan

Publishers Clearing House, which started as a magazine subscription seller known for giant check giveaways, filed for bankruptcy Wednesday in New York with plans to focus on its digital advertising operations and sell its assets.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2 Del. Rulings Reinforce Proof Needed For Records Demands

Two recent Delaware Court of Chancery decisions involving Amazon and Paramount Global illustrate the significance of the credible basis standard on books and records requests, underscoring that stockholders seeking to investigate wrongdoing must come forward with actual evidence of misconduct — not mere allegations, say attorneys at Cleary.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

TikTok Bias Suit Ruling Reflects New Landscape Under EFAA

In Puris v. Tiktok, a New York federal court found an arbitration agreement unenforceable in a former executive's bias suit, underscoring an evolving trend of broad, but inconsistent, interpretation of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Opinion

Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Susman Godfrey Latest BigLaw Firm Targeted In Trump Order

By Dorothy Atkins

Susman Godfrey LLP became President Donald Trump's latest BigLaw target when he signed an executive order Wednesday revoking its access to government resources and buildings, a directive the firm immediately blasted as "unconstitutional" and vowed to fight.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Florida Won't Hire Law Firms With DEI Initiatives, AG Says

By Madison Arnold

The state of Florida will no longer hire law firms with diversity, equity and inclusion programs to serve as outside general counsel, according to a new memo from Attorney General James Uthmeier.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

House Approves Bill To Restrict Nationwide Injunctions

By Courtney Bublé

The House voted 219-213 on Wednesday to approve a bill curbing nationwide injunctions, a move the Trump administration has thrown its support behind after district court judges paused or halted many of the administration's initiatives over the last few months.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roberts Pauses Rehiring Of Fired NLRB, MSPB Members

By Katie Buehler

Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily paused an en banc D.C. Circuit's order reinstating two fired members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board on Wednesday, in a dispute that challenges a 90-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling protecting certain government officials from presidential removal.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pillsbury Expands Houston Office With 3 Corporate Attys

By Tracey Read

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP has added three attorneys with unique dealmaking experience to its growing Houston office.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Freshfields Litigation Co-Leader Joins Baker Botts In NY

By Andrea Keckley

A former Freshfields U.S. commercial litigation practice co-head with expertise in cross-border disputes has joined Baker Botts LLP in New York, the firm announced Tuesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trade Court Judge Beats Ethics Charges Over Clerk Boycott

By Jack Karp

A U.S. Court of International Trade judge did not engage in impermissible political activity when he threatened not to hire law clerks who attended Columbia University because of the school's handling of protests over Israel's war in Gaza, the Judicial Council of the Seventh Circuit has found.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Judge's Fundraising Conflicts Spur Censure And Retirement

By Frank G. Runyeon

A New York state judge was censured and agreed to retire at the end of the year after an investigation found he had failed to recuse from cases where attorneys who served as his campaign officials and fundraisers appeared before him in court, a state ethics watchdog announced Wednesday.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LA DA Demoted Prosecutors Over Menendez Work, Suits Say

By Rachel Scharf

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has been sued by two former top prosecutors who say they were demoted in retaliation for advocating to have Erik and Lyle Menendez released from prison after serving more than 35 years for murder.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ill. Senator Sought Bribe In 'Politics For Profit,' Feds Say

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois state senator engaged in "politics for profit" as he solicited a bribe to limit a state study on automated traffic enforcement and then lied about his conduct to investigators, federal prosecutors told a jury Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »