Sundance Can't Ditch Suit Over Purchase Data Disclosures

By Allison Grande

A Utah federal judge has refused to toss a proposed class action accusing specialty retailer Sundance of unlawfully sharing its customers' private information with various third parties, finding that a ban on class actions contained in the state law being relied on by the plaintiffs didn't doom the dispute. 

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X Partially Revives Lawsuit Against Israeli Data Scraping Firm

By Craig Clough

X Corp. partially revived its lawsuit Tuesday against Israeli data scraping firm Bright Data after a California federal judge allowed the social media company to amend some of its claims and add new ones, finding X now plausibly alleges the defendant's "sophisticated efforts" to access the platform caused harm.

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Crypto Miner Can't Get Quick Appeal In SEC Fraud Suit

By Jessica Corso

A Utah man accused of defrauding crypto mining investors out of $18 million must face the claims that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought against him after a lower court judge on Tuesday declined his request to send the case to the Tenth Circuit.

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Gilead Gets $31.8M In Calif. Case Over Counterfeit HIV Drugs

By Adam Lidgett

Gilead Sciences Inc. has won nearly $32 million in a case involving a scheme to wrongfully repackage HIV treatments and sell them off as counterfeit Gilead products, a California federal judge has ruled.

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Bojangles' Restaurants Sued Over Weekslong Cyberattack

By Ryan Harroff

A former employee of Southern-style fast-food chain Bojangles' Restaurants Inc. said the company negligently failed to protect his and his proposed class members' personal information, allowing hackers to access it earlier this year in a cyberattack that lasted for weeks.

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Maine Launches Climate Fraud Suit Against Oil Giants

By Madeline Lyskawa

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey slapped Exxon, Shell, Chevron and other oil giants with a complaint in state court Tuesday, echoing claims asserted by other states and municipalities across the country that the companies carried out a successful climate deception campaign for decades.

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Report Floats Indoor-Only Sharing For Federal Spectrum

By Jared Foretek

A public interest group is urging federal agencies to consider indoor-only use by new users across five spectrum bands currently occupied by federal users in order to allow sharing by private users without compromising the needs of military and other incumbent networks or risking interference.

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BofA Blames ID Fraudsters For Fake Accounts Behind Suit

By Sydney Price

Bank of America told a North Carolina federal court that third-party identity theft is to blame for the alleged fake accounts that prompted proposed class claims, and cited Wells Fargo's escape from a similar suit as a reason to toss the case.

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California's Top Bank, Fintech Regulator To Exit At Year's End

By Jon Hill

The top banking and fintech regulator for California is departing from the state's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation in a little more than a month, an agency spokesperson told Law360 on Tuesday.

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Don't Undermine Existing CBRS Users, Wireless Cos. Tell FCC

By Christopher Cole

Businesses that rely on the Citizens Broadband Radio Service want the Federal Communications Commission to refrain from making any changes that could disrupt existing business users of the tiered access spectrum.

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EchoStar, Navajo Push FCC For Fixed Wireless In 12 GHz

By Christopher Cole

EchoStar Corp. and other 12 gigahertz license holders said they can provide the Navajo Nation part of that spectrum band to help deploy broadband on tribal lands if the Federal Communications Commission paves the way for fixed 5G wireless services.

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T-Mobile, Sprint Slam FCC Privacy Fine At DC Circ.

By Nadia Dreid

T-Mobile and Sprint are asking the D.C. Circuit to knock down $92 million in fines the FCC slapped them with for selling users' sensitive location data, saying that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision backs their contention they deserved a jury trial.

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FTC Says AI Weapons-Screening Biz Hyped Faulty Scanners

By Brian Dowling

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday accused Evolv Technologies of making false and unsupported claims that its AI-powered security screening products detect weapons while ignoring harmless personal items.

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5th Circ. Says CFPB Payday Rule Can Take Effect Next Year

By Jon Hill

The Fifth Circuit said Monday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can begin requiring compliance with its payday lending rule in just a few months as planned, sidestepping a request from lender trade groups to keep a court-ordered stay in place for longer. 

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Amazon Not Liable For Chemical Used In Suicides, Panel Says

By Greg Lamm

A Washington state appeals court on Monday said Amazon can't be sued for the online sale of a chemical that four people used to kill themselves, in an opinion that said the state's product liability law has not caught up with the "previously unfathomable accessibility to instrumentalities of death."

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Atty Sanctioned In Privacy Suit Over Dodgy Prejudice Claims

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge chided a plaintiffs' attorney during a Tuesday hearing in a privacy-related proposed class action, saying the lawyer needs a "refresher" on local rules and fining him $150 for seemingly pushing his own self-interests.

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NAR Buyer-Broker Settlement Approved Over DOJ Concerns

By Bryan Koenig

A Missouri federal judge granted final approval Tuesday to the National Association of Realtors' antitrust settlement with home sellers, signing off on a $418 million payment and changes to broker commission rules, as NAR and the plaintiffs assailed the U.S. Department of Justice for raising last-minute concerns about the deal. 

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NY Groups, Truckers Say Congestion Pricing Unconstitutional

By Linda Chiem

A New York teachers union, and coalitions of residents and truckers have told a federal judge that Manhattan's recently resurrected congestion pricing is still unconstitutional and discriminatory, and federal and state transportation agencies shouldn't be allowed to shake their claims just because the tolls will be reduced.

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Customers Sue Fintech Partner Banks After Processor Failure

By Emilie Ruscoe

Five banks holding funds for customers of fintech platforms face proposed class action claims of gross mismanagement after "significant ledger irregularities" totaling $85 million were discovered in the wake of an intermediary software company's bankruptcy.

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Chemical Co. Demands Defense Coverage In PFAS Foam MDL

By Hayley Fowler

Specialty chemical company Clariant Corp. is suing five of its insurers in the North Carolina Business Court seeking defense costs in a host of underlying mass tort lawsuits over forever chemicals found in firefighting foam products.

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Google Search Judge Says AI Will Affect Remedy Phase

By Matthew Perlman

The judge overseeing the government's search monopolization case against Google suggested Tuesday in D.C. federal court that artificial intelligence is shifting the market and will likely play a role in the remedies the court imposes on Google for allegedly violating antitrust law.

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Smart Devices Fail To Disclose Security Lifespan, FTC Says

By Jared Foretek

As holiday shopping gets underway, the Federal Trade Commission is raising alarm about smart device update disclosures, saying an overwhelming majority of devices – from hearing aids to home security cameras and fitness devices — come without clear information on how long the manufacturer will keep them protected from security risks.

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Autodesk Wants Out Of Investor Suit Over Internal Controls

By Katryna Perera

Autodesk Inc. asked a California federal judge on Tuesday to toss a proposed class action alleging the software company's stock price dropped after investors learned it lacked proper internal controls due to issues with its free cash flow and operating margin practices, saying its business plan statements at issue were "forward-looking" and accompanied by "cautionary" language.

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Hemp Org. Warns Farm Bill Would Ban Some Legal Products

By Courtney Bublé

A major hemp trade organization said Tuesday the Senate Democrats' version of the Farm Bill has some "concerning" implications for hemp that could result in product bans.

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Tossing Uri Consumers' Claims Stifles 'Growth,' Justice Says

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court justice said Tuesday that a decision by the court finding that power plants owed nothing to consumers for damages resulting from outages during Winter Storm Uri stifles "growth" in common law, dissenting from his colleagues who denied a motion for the whole court to rehear the case.

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Brief

Mohawk Sues PFAS Manufacturers For Fraud

By Kelcey Caulder

The world's largest flooring manufacturer has sued 3M Co., E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., The Chemours Co., and Daikin America Inc. in Georgia state court, alleging the chemical manufacturers lied about the dangers of so-called forever chemicals in order to trick the company into purchasing their products.

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9th Circ.'s High Bar May Limit Keyword Confusion TM Claims

A recent Ninth Circuit ruling that a law firm did not infringe upon a competitor’s trademarks by paying Google to promote its website when users searched for the rival’s name signals that plaintiffs likely can no longer win infringement suits by claiming competitive keyword advertising confuses internet-savvy consumers, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

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Series

Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.

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Opinion

FTC Actions In Oil Cases Go Against Its Own Rulemaking

Two recent Federal Trade Commission actions concerning the oil and gas industry appear to defy its own merger guidelines, with allegations that fall far short of the commission's own standard — raising serious questions about the agency's current approach, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

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Bonus Spotlight

Bonus Season Heats Up As More Firms Match Milbank's Scale

By Xiumei Dong

The 2024 associate bonus season is heating up, with more law firms matching Milbank LLP's year-end and special bonuses and U.K. firms extending the same offering to their U.S.-based attorneys, according to firm memos shared with Law360 Pulse and media reports.

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King & Spalding Partner Selected As Trump's Trade Rep

By Hailey Konnath

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced that King & Spalding LLP international trade partner Jamieson L. Greer was his pick for U.S. trade representative, noting that Greer played a "key role" in imposing tariffs on China during Trump's first term.

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Texas Atty Sanctioned For Citing Bogus Cases After Using AI

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas lawyer pursuing a wrongful termination lawsuit against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has been sanctioned for submitting a brief that included citations to nonexistent cases generated by an artificial intelligence tool, a Texas federal judge ordered this week.

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Affinity Bar Groups Decry Colo. No-Poach Restrictions

By Thy Vo

Several attorney groups told Colorado's justices that barring lawyers from recruiting colleagues before officially leaving a firm would take away professional autonomy and harm lawyers from underrepresented backgrounds the most, filing briefs in support of a lawyer's challenge to her contract with a personal injury firm. 

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Fulton County DA Seeks To Reinstate Trump Election Charges

By Emily Johnson

The Fulton County District Attorney's Office told the Georgia Court of Appeals on Monday that six criminal charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others should be reinstated as they have an "abundance" of information to prepare their defense against allegations of trying to subvert the results of the November 2020 election.

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Giuliani's New Atty Faults Previous Counsel As NY Trial Nears

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge declined Tuesday to delay a January trial over whether Rudy Giuliani must turn over his Florida condo and World Series rings to fund a $148 million defamation judgment, after the former New York City mayor's new lawyer criticized outgoing counsel.

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Ex-Faegre Drinker Atty Files Disability Bias Suit

By Andrea Keckley

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP was hit with a disability discrimination lawsuit on Monday by a Denver attorney who says she was pushed out after seeking accommodations for hip problems.

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NJ Equal Pay Law Date Will Guide Atty's Discrimination Suit

By Irene Spezzamonte

Discovery and damages in a former Reed Smith LLP labor and employment attorney's suit claiming gender discrimination will be limited to the effective date of New Jersey equal pay law, a state judge ruled, saying the law doesn't apply retroactively.

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Fla. Bar Alleges Atty Delayed Trial Over His Broken Tooth

By Dorothy Atkins

The Florida Bar has launched a complaint against a criminal attorney in the Florida Supreme Court, accusing him of violating state bar rules by refusing to proceed with a jury trial because he had a broken tooth.

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