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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6th Circ. Overturns FCC Net Neutrality Rules

By Christopher Cole

The Sixth Circuit upended the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules Thursday, holding that commercial broadband providers cannot be regulated as telecommunications common carriers.

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DC Kept Disabled People In Restrictive Care Too Long: Ruling

By Nadia Dreid

After 15 years of litigation, a D.C. federal judge ruled this week that the District of Columbia has been violating a federal law that prohibits the segregation of people with disabilities by refusing to remove people from Medicaid-funded nursing homes into less restrictive forms of care.

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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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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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Amazon Gets Zulily's Antitrust Suit Trimmed, For Now

By Lauren Berg

A Seattle federal judge trimmed a lawsuit brought by now-defunct online retailer Zulily that accuses Amazon of using its monopoly power to shut out competition from other online retailers, tossing conspiracy and state consumer protection law claims, but allowing Zulily to rework its complaint.

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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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Tempur Sealy Ups Floor Space Promise In FTC Merger Case

By Bryan Koenig

Tempur Sealy is increasing its commitments to preserve floor space for rivals' mattresses in Mattress Firm stores, attempting to beat the Federal Trade Commission's merger challenge by extending the current floor space "slot" distribution after a Texas federal judge noted that prior commitments were below current allotments.

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Colo. AG Launches 2026 Bid For Governor

By Thy Vo

Colorado Attorney General Philip J. Weiser, a former law school dean who served in the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, on Thursday announced his bid to become the state's next governor in 2026.

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NTIA Clarifies Use Of Broadband Funds For Alternative Techs

By Nadia Dreid

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has dropped more information to make the way forward clearer for states that want to use their federal broadband dollars to fund alternative means of connecting people, such as satellites.

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Rep. Jordan Picks Wis. Lawmaker For House Antitrust Panel

By Jared Foretek

Republicans are moving to install a frequent critic of President Joe Biden's Federal Trade Commission at the head of the House of Representatives' antitrust subcommittee, naming Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., to the post Tuesday.

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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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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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Ex-Bank Chair Asks 7th Circ. To Halt FDIC Enforcement Order

By Jon Hill

An Illinois community bank's onetime chairman has asked the Seventh Circuit for an emergency stay of professional sanctions ordered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after an in-house proceeding that he argues was unconstitutional and wrongly decided.

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NJ Panel Tosses Honda CR-V Product Defect Suit

By Carla Baranauckas

A 2016 Honda CR-V was not defectively designed because it lacked some available driver-assistance technologies, which were not mandated by state or federal law, a New Jersey appellate panel said Thursday in dismissing with prejudice a plaintiff's product liability and negligence claims arising from a fatal crash.

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Southern Comfort Malt Liquor Buyers Score False Ad Cert.

By Gina Kim

A New York federal judge certified a class of Southern Comfort customers alleging Sazerac Co. deceptively labeled its malt beverage products, but declined to allow one plaintiff to serve as class representative, finding Thursday he lied in interrogatory answers and "appeared not to know the basic premise of the case."

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Stanley Cup Maker Sued Over Alleged Lid Hazard

By Rachel Riley

The Seattle-based maker of the trending Stanley-brand tumbler has been hit with a proposed class action in Washington federal court by a New York consumer accusing the manufacturer of failing to adequately compensate customers for a lid defect that led to the recall of 2.6 million travel mugs.

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Amazon Says FTC Stalling Discovery In Prime Sign-Up Suit

By Greg Lamm

Amazon said the Federal Trade Commission is stonewalling discovery efforts vital to showing that the agency knew a federal law protecting online shoppers from deceptive billing practices was vague, in an enforcement action accusing the e-commerce giant of duping customers onto signing up for Prime subscriptions.

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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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ERISA Can't Shield Packaging Co. From Genetic Privacy Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A food packaging company must face a former employee's lawsuit claiming it unlawfully asked about her family medical history, an Illinois federal judge ruled, saying the claims weren't preempted by federal benefits law because it wasn't clear a corporate wellness plan was involved.

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Ga. County Sues 3M, Daikin To Remove PFAS From Landfill

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia county has filed a lawsuit against 3M Co., Daikin America Inc. and several other manufacturers and users of so-called forever chemicals, alleging the sale and use of the toxic chemicals in carpet manufacturing has caused a "public-health crisis" across the northwestern part of the state.

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Beasley Allen Aims To Toss Suit From Ex-Ally Firm

By Emily Sawicki

Beasley Allen has called on a Mississippi federal court to dismiss or transfer a defamation and breach of contract lawsuit from The Smith Law Firm PLLC over their joint venture agreement for talc litigation against Johnson & Johnson, arguing the case should be tossed in favor of its own suit filed earlier in Alabama.

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Aetna Sues Drugmakers In Conn., Alleging Generics Price-Fixing

By Aaron Keller

Health insurer Aetna has sued 23 drugmakers, including Novartis and Pfizer, over an alleged scheme to fix the prices of 111 generic medications, citing information gleaned from a congressional probe, lawsuits by state attorneys general, a Pennsylvania multidistrict litigation proceeding, and U.S. Department of Justice findings.

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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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Brief

DC Allowed To Resubmit AvalonBay Rent-Fixing Claims

By Nadia Dreid

The District of Columbia will get another chance to tweak its claims against landlord AvalonBay Communities and see if the changes are enough to prop up allegations that it has been using the property management platform RealPage to fix the price of rentals.

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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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Identifying Deepfakes During Evidence Collection, Discovery

Attorneys must familiarize themselves with the tools used to create and detect deepfakes — media manipulated by artificial intelligence to convincingly mimic real people and events — as well as best practices for keeping this fabricated evidence out of court, says Bijan Ghom at Saxton & Stump.

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The 6 Most Significant FCRA Litigation Developments Of 2024

From a key sovereign immunity decision at the U.S. Supreme Court to a ruling on creditworthiness out of the Seventh Circuit, several important Fair Credit Reporting Act cases wound their way through the courts in 2024, each offering takeaways for both plaintiffs and defendants, say attorneys at Shipkevich.

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Lessons From The SEC's 2024 Crackdown On AI Washing

AI washing was the subject of increased scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 following a surge in the commercial adoption of generative artificial intelligence technologies in 2023, highlighting the importance of transparency, accuracy and accountability when communicating about AI, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

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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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