Apple Reaches $95M Privacy Deal With Millions Of Siri Users

By Craig Clough

A proposed class of tens of millions of Apple customers asked a California federal judge to approve a $95 million settlement that would end the litigation accusing the tech company of privacy violations over its voice-activated software Siri eavesdropping on conversations. 

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Calif. Federal Judge Escapes House Party Brawl Suit, For Now

By Rachel Scharf

A California federal judge has been dropped, for now, from litigation over an alleged assault during a party supposedly hosted at the jurist's Pasadena home with underage drinking and insufficient supervision.

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'It Ends With Us' Director Sues NYT Over Blake Lively Story

By Rachel Scharf

"It Ends With Us" director and actor Justin Baldoni has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit accusing The New York Times of amplifying co-star Blake Lively's "unverified and self-serving narrative" that he orchestrated a public relations smear campaign in retaliation for sexual harassment complaints.

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Calif. Judge Ices Social Media Addiction Law For 30 Days

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge Thursday blocked the state from beginning its enforcement of a new law designed to bar online platforms from using algorithms to deliver addictive feeds to children, finding there was "great value" in giving the Ninth Circuit 30 days to consider his decision to largely uphold the measure. 

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'Trained Lawyer' Can't Undo Guilty Plea In 'Varsity Blues'

By Chris Villani

An attorney and former television executive lost her bid to have her "Varsity Blues" guilty plea undone after a federal judge found that she had knowingly admitted her guilt and that a recent high court ruling did not undercut the government's case.

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3 Things To Know About 9th Circ. Ruling In $56M Beer Battle

By Ivan Moreno

The Ninth Circuit has affirmed a $56 million trial verdict for Stone Brewing Co. in a long-running trademark battle involving Molson Coors, saying the evidence supported the jury's conclusion that the Canadian-American beer company's repackaging of its Keystone Light brand infringed its competitors' "Stone" mark.

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Biden Lauds Bipartisanship In Confirming Record No. Of Judges

By Courtney Bublé

With less than three weeks left in office, President Joe Biden on Thursday celebrated putting 235 lifetime judges on the federal bench.

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Perkins Coie Fights DQ Bid In Facial Recognition IP Suit

By Ryan Boysen

Perkins Coie LLP wants to continue defending Jumio Corp. in a patent infringement lawsuit involving facial recognition technology, calling plaintiff FaceTec Inc.'s bid to disqualify the law firm over its previous work for FaceTec a "tactical" ploy.

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Analysis

The Top Property Insurance Cases To Watch In 2025

By Eli Flesch

Two cases that could change the policies offered by California's insurer of last resort and a forthcoming Hawaii Supreme Court decision on a $4 billion wildfire settlement are among the top property insurance suits to follow in the new year. Here, Law360 looks at five cases that practitioners should note in 2025.

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Calif. Says Insurers Must Expand Coverage In High-Risk Areas

By Jennifer Mandato

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced Monday that carriers will be required to increase coverage in areas of the state that are at high risk of wildfires, marking the final major step in the department's historic regulatory effort to restabilize the state's insurance market.

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Samsung Sued Over Alleged PFAS In Galaxy Watch Wristbands

By Jonathan Capriel

Samsung has been putting "forever chemicals" in the wristbands it sells for its smartwatches and fitness trackers, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court by a Los Angeles resident who cites a newly published scientific study.

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Calif. Court OKs $46M Verdict In Jiu-Jitsu Injury Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A California state appeals court has affirmed a $46.5 million jury verdict in a suit accusing a Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor of causing a student's catastrophic injuries while sparring, saying jury instructions regarding the assumption of risk were properly given by the trial court.

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Meta Seeks To Pause Social Media MDL Coverage Fight

By Hope Patti

Meta has urged a California federal court to find that its insurers cannot yet litigate to attempt to avoid covering thousands of pending lawsuits accusing the social media giant of deliberately designing its platforms to be addictive to adolescents, arguing that the coverage issues overlap with issues in the underlying cases.

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DOJ Joins FTC Suit Against Fintech Lender Dave

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Department of Justice has taken the reins in the Federal Trade Commission's suit against fintech app Dave and added its CEO as a defendant, while the mobile banking platform decried the updated complaint as "a continued example of government overreach."

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Crypto Scam Victim Says Fraudsters' Banks Ignore Red Flags

By Aislinn Keely

A California man who says he lost nearly a million dollars to a crypto "pig butchering" scam sued the alleged fraudsters and their banking partners, claiming the financial institutions ignored red flags and failed to conduct basic checks that would have revealed the scammers' actual business.

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Uber Can't Hold Off Seattle Driver Deactivation Law

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge denied Uber's bid to temporarily bar the city of Seattle from enforcing new app-based worker account deactivation rules against it, finding the day before the challenged ordinance took effect that the company is unlikely to succeed in its claims of a First Amendment violation.

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Brief

9th Circ. Dismisses LegalForce Trademark Appeal

By Matt Perez

The Lanham Act, the primary federal statute dictating trademark law, does not apply to the advertising and selling of equity, the Ninth Circuit stated in an appeals case between intellectual property firm LegalForce RAPC Worldwide PC and a Japanese company that fundraised off the brand "LegalForce."

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Issa Again Selected To Lead House IP Subcommittee

By Ryan Davis

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., will again lead the House subcommittee overseeing intellectual property in the upcoming Congress, a role in which he has sponsored bills seeking to limit how many patents can be asserted in biosimilar cases and require disclosure of litigation funding.

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Omnitracs' $19M Patent Trial Jury Win Tossed By Calif. Judge

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge has overruled a jury's holding that Platform Science willfully infringed one of Qualcomm spinoff Omnitracs' fleet management software patents and vacated the resulting $19 million verdict, finding that the plaintiffs' expert gave faulty testimony. 

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Brief

Comcast Foe Fails To Resurrect Patent Case Over Xfinity App

By Andrew Karpan

The full Federal Circuit on Thursday denied a request to look at a decision overturning a Delaware federal jury's infringement verdict in favor of a small California company that has been suing Comcast over patent claims for the past five years.

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9th Circ. Partly Revives Casino ATM Contract Dispute, Again

By Katryna Perera

A unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit partially reversed a bench trial verdict Thursday in two merchant service companies' dispute, in which a payment processor alleged a business it partnered with breached their contract by failing to adapt to chip-based credit card technology by a key deadline, reinstating the case for a second time.

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9th Circ. Says Religious Carveout Sinks Kosher Worker's Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A religious exception shielding religious entities from certain claims applies to jobs at an Orthodox Jewish organization ensuring that food is kept kosher, the Ninth Circuit ruled, upholding the dismissal of a worker's lawsuit claiming he missed out on thousands of dollars in overtime pay.

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9th Circ. Revives Cos.' Suit Over Unions' SeaWorld Lobbying

By Braden Campbell

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived part of a hotel operator's suit accusing two unions of thwarting its efforts to develop two San Diego properties, saying the district court prematurely dismissed a claim that the unions abused their protest rights to stop a project at SeaWorld.

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9th Circ. Won't Revive Nonprofit's Union Dues Deduction Fight

By Gina Kim

The Ninth Circuit refused to reinstate a conservative nonprofit's suit accusing Teamsters unions representing Washington state employees of committing constitutional violations by allegedly ignoring the nonprofit's mail containing dues revocation cards, concluding that refusal to accept such mail isn't a state action, and the unions aren't state actors.

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Feds Want 6 Years For Ex-FBI Informant Who Smeared Bidens

By Elliot Weld

Prosecutors told a California federal judge that a former FBI informant who falsely told agents that a Ukrainian energy company had paid off President Joe Biden and his son Hunter should be sentenced to six years in prison, saying he betrayed the United States by trying to influence the 2020 election even after being granted citizenship.

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Edwards Brass Face Investor Suit Over Heart Valve Sales

By Sydney Price

The executives and directors of medical device maker Edwards Lifesciences have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in California federal court alleging the company understated how industry trends and macroeconomic factors would impact the success of its mainstay device.

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Solar Panel Tech Co. Faces Investor Suit Over Project Delays

By Katryna Perera

Solar power software and tracking company Nextracker Inc. has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action in California federal court alleging it misled investors about production delays it faced following a spike in demand caused by tax credits offered through the Inflation Reduction Act.

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Epic Tells 9th Circ. Google's Legal 'Reckoning Long Overdue'

By Dorothy Atkins

Epic Games Inc. has slammed Google's Ninth Circuit appeal of an injunction requiring the tech giant to open up its Android Play Store to rival app distributors, defending the ruling and a jury's liability verdict and arguing that Google's appeal is a meritless attempt to avoid a "reckoning long overdue."

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9th Circ. Revives Pot Fines Suit Against Calif. County

By Sam Reisman

A proposed class of Northern California landowners can pursue a swath of constitutional claims against Humboldt County officials with the Ninth Circuit ruling they plausibly pled the county was overzealous in its efforts to crack down on allegedly illegal cannabis growers.

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A Guide To Significant 2024 Data Broker Legal Developments

2024 saw notable developments in U.S. data broker regulation and enforcement, and this momentum will likely carry into 2025, despite hypothetical efforts to the contrary under the new administration, say attorneys at Frankfurt Kurnit.

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Retailers Must Adapt As Courts Shift On False Price Claims

The increasing frequency with which courts are denying motions to dismiss false reference price claims signals that these lawsuits are not going away anytime soon, so retailers must be prepared for a more complex and prolonged defense process, say attorneys at Akerman.

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How Changes In State Gift Card Laws May Affect Cos. In 2025

2024 state legislative movements around the escheatment of unused gift card balances and consumer fraud protections should prompt issuers to consider whether changes in company domicile or blanket cash-back policies are needed in the new year, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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Series

Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.

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Bonus Spotlight

Holland & Knight Matches BigLaw Bonuses In Major Markets

By Anna Sanders

Holland & Knight LLP announced associates in major U.S. markets will receive year-end and special bonuses matching those given by other BigLaw firms, with attorneys working in regional offices making smaller figures, according to a report.

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Biden Honors Del. Jurist For Role In Brown V. Board Ruling

By Jeff Montgomery

President Joe Biden issued a top civilian award, posthumously, to former Chancellor Collins J. Seitz of Delaware Chancery Court, father of the state's current chief justice, for his role in decisions woven into the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

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Clyde & Co. Merges With Dallas Insurance Boutique

By Emily Sawicki

Clyde & Co. LLP has announced a merger with Dallas boutique Tillman Batchelor LLP, expanding the global law firm's insurance capabilities in Texas amid its ongoing growth in North America.

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Taft Hired BCLP Comms Director Ahead Of Merger

By Andrea Keckley

Once its merger with Sherman & Howard LLC became effective at the start of the new year, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP announced Thursday it had hired Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner's former director of communications.

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AI Chatbots Will Transform Legal Scholarship, AI Chatbot Says

By Matt Perez

Generative artificial intelligence like OpenAI's ChatGPT software will redefine legal scholarship, according to a new paper primarily produced by the chatbot.

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States Debate High Court Solution To Election Map Catch-22

By Katie Buehler

Louisiana has implored the U.S. Supreme Court to decisively resolve litigation over its federal election map in one of three ways, suggesting the justices could toss the case on standing, decide the merits, or, preferably, find that federal courts have no role in refereeing redistricting disputes.

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Ex-GMU Prof.'s Accusers Say He Can't Prove $108M Damages

By Aebra Coe

Former FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright allegedly failed to provide information to back his $108 million defamation damages claim and then walked out of a deposition, according to a Virginia court filing by two former students whom Wright sued over their statements to Law360.

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Atty Wants Free Speech Suit Over Tenn. Court Rule Kept Alive

By Jack Karp

A free speech challenge to a Middle District of Tennessee rule barring attorneys from making "any extrajudicial statements" about cases in the district should be allowed to move forward since the court is not entitled to sovereign immunity, according to the Nashville civil rights lawyer behind the suit.

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Giuliani Says Memory Faulty In Meandering NY Contempt Row

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge mulled a bid to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt of a $148 million defamation judgment Friday, during a day of sparring in which the former New York City mayor repeatedly told counsel for two defamed Georgia poll workers that he doesn't remember case details.

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Battling Berts: Judge Enjoins Ga. Law Firm In Trademark Row

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia federal judge Friday temporarily barred an Atlanta-based law firm from advertising and promoting its personal injury legal services through messaging like "If You're Hurt ... Call Bert!" and "If You're Hurt, Call Bert," ruling that it is too similar to another personal injury firm's trademarked slogan.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

How to deal with diversity, climate change and artificial intelligence are the key issues giving general counsel night terrors at the start of the new year. And in Delaware, the Chancery Court is allowing a stockholder suit to move forward against Fox Corp., related to its false reports of voting fraud in 2020.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen Chris Eubank Jr. hit with a libel claim from a boxing promoter, a perfume boss face proceedings from his businesses following sanctions violations claims, and Israeli broadcasters file intellectual property claims against BT and Sky. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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