Trump Selects Ex-Fla. AG Pam Bondi As New AG Pick

By Lauren Berg

President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has selected Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, as his new pick for U.S. attorney general, just hours after former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Social Media MDL Judge Rips State Attys Defying Orders

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in multidistrict litigation over social media platforms' allegedly addictive designs on Thursday ordered states to provide the names and state bar numbers of agency counsel who have refused to comply with discovery orders, threatening sanctions and asking, "What happened to the rule of law?"

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

Judge Suggests 1st Circ. Should Hear Lobster Tracking Case

By Andrew Karpan

A federal judge in Maine on Thursday tossed a case by lobster fishermen suing to keep their fishing routes secret from state observation, but the judge encouraged the lobstermen to appeal the ruling so that a federal appeals court can wade into this "significant" Fourth Amendment dispute.

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

Snap Moves To Toss New Mexico's Child 'Sextortion' Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

Snap Inc. has moved to toss New Mexico's lawsuit accusing it of enabling child sexual exploitation on its instant messaging app, Snapchat, telling a New Mexico state court that the state's attorney general lodged a "sensationalist" lawsuit rife with patently false allegations.

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

Biden's FCC Chair Stepping Down From Agency Jan. 20

By Christopher Cole

The Democratic head of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday she will be leaving the agency on Jan. 20.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Gaetz Ends AG Bid, Citing 'Distraction' To Trump Transition

By Phillip Bantz

Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Aims To Better Protect Undersea Telecom Cables

By Christopher Cole

From shortening license terms to working with federal law enforcement to protect underwater telecom infrastructure, the Federal Communications Commission launched an effort to shield submarine cables from ever-increasing national security risks on Thursday.

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

CFPB Wraps Rule To Pull Big Payment Apps Into Supervision

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday that it has finalized a measure to bring providers of major digital payment apps under its supervisory umbrella, expanding the reach of its oversight deeper into the technology sector and drawing fresh calls to reverse course.

Final Rule attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

FCC To Hit Video Doorbell Maker For Skirting Security Rules

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission wants to slap Chinese smart home device maker Eken with a more than $700,000 fine for breaking agency rules that require foreign companies to have an agent located in the U.S.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Data Co. Gets Remand Of Suits Over Judicial Privacy

By Carla Baranauckas

A federal judge sent 39 lawsuits alleging violations of a New Jersey judicial privacy law back to state courts, finding the district lacks subject matter jurisdiction.

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

FCC Targets Spoofing Scams With Third-Party Caller ID Regs

By Christopher Cole

In hopes of better combating spoofed robocalls, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday required telecoms to meet certain legal obligations when hiring third parties to verify caller ID data using a widely accepted technical standard.

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

Ex-Yale Student Can Submit Acquittal Files To DHS, Judge Says

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge on Thursday allowed an expelled Yale student to send his sexual assault accuser's name to immigration officials, approving the submission of a mostly unredacted state criminal trial transcript under a narrow exception to a magistrate judge's ban on naming the woman.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sports Site Gets Video Privacy Suit Moved To Arbitration

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge has sent to arbitration a putative class action accusing a high school sports streaming service of unlawfully sharing users' video-viewing information with third parties such as Meta Platforms Inc., finding that the plaintiff had agreed to these terms when he first signed up for an account on the site. 

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

Deals Rumor Mill

Trump Eyes Crypto, SpaceX To Sell Shares, And More Rumors

By Tom Zanki

Donald Trump's social media company wants to enter the cryptocurrency business, while Elon Musk's SpaceX is planning a tender offer of shares that values the space technology startup at $250 billion. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Morgan Lewis Litigator Jumps To Thompson Hine

By Emily Sawicki

Thompson Hine LLP announced Thursday it has added a business litigation partner in Chicago who lists rate flexibility for his clients among the reasons he was attracted to the firm after more than a decade with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

When Investigating An Adversary, Be Wary Of Forged Records

Warnings against the use of investigators who tout their ability to find an adversary’s private documents generally emphasize the risk of illegal activity and attorney discipline, but a string of recent cases shows an additional danger — investigators might be fabricating records altogether, says Brian Asher at Asher Research.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How To Safely Leverage AI In The Digital Assets Industry

Digital asset businesses that use or plan to implement artificial intelligence should assess their risk management frameworks to ensure that AI-related business areas, including customer support and fraud detection, are in compliance with applicable laws and regulatory guidance from the last year, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How They Won It

How A Purple Jacket Led To A Murder Exoneration And $13M

By Julie Manganis

To win compensation under a Massachusetts state law, lawyers for Michael J. Sullivan, who spent 26 years in prison, were required to prove he was innocent of the 1986 crime for which he was convicted. A couple of lucky breaks helped.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Interview

High Court Bar's Future: Sullivan & Cromwell's Morgan Ratner

By Jeff Overley

Morgan L. Ratner has emerged as a leader of the U.S. Supreme Court bar's next generation, and she attributes her ascent to brilliant mentors, a laid-back argument style, an aversion to overconfidence and a firm commitment to clear principles in every case — even if that means reluctantly telling the chief justice, as she once did, that a hypothetical cat stuck in a tree shouldn't be saved.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump Sentencing Halted To Weigh President-Elect's Immunity

By Frank G. Runyeon

The New York state judge who oversaw Donald Trump's hush money trial officially canceled his Nov. 26 sentencing date Friday to weigh the impact of his new status as president-elect, pushing briefing into December.

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

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen cash-strapped Thurrock Borough Council bring a £40 million ($50 million) negligence claim against 23 other local authorities over its solar investments from a not-for-profit local government body, AstraZeneca sue a fire safety company following a blaze at its Cambridge headquarters last year, and a director who was convicted in 2016 for corporate manslaughter face action by Manolete Partners. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bonus Spotlight

Top Firms Big And Small Join In On Milbank Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

The latest law firms to follow Milbank LLP on 2024 associate bonuses late Thursday and into Friday run the gamut from global giant to boutique, according to firm memos shared with Law360 Pulse and media reports.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Andrea Keckley

Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP, King & Spalding LLP, Holland & Knight LLP and Barnes & Thornburg LLP lead this week's list of Law360 legal lions for beating a Pennsylvania state court lawsuit brought against Bayer AG unit Monsanto by a woman who said she got cancer by using the weed killer Roundup.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Squire Patton Lawyer Dies In Laos Amid Poisoning Reports

By Ashish Sareen

A junior lawyer at Squire Patton Boggs LLP has died in Laos, the law firm confirmed Friday, amid reports in the media that she was the victim of a suspected mass poisoning incident.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Google's chief legal officer has blasted a U.S. Department of Justice proposal to force it to sell its Chrome browser, saying a sale would "break" a range of Google products and be a threat to U.S. tech leadership in the world. And in a close but surprising outcome, California voters have turned down a minimum wage hike for workers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Gaetz, Greene Face Atty Fees Bid For $550,000 In Calif. Suit

By Madison Arnold

Progressive groups including the NAACP are seeking more than $550,000 in attorney fees and costs from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Rep. Matt Gaetz after escaping their lawsuit alleging that the organizations conspired to pressure city officials in California to cancel the politicians' rallies.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Bondi Vowed Trump Payback. Ex-Colleagues Aren't Worried.

By Phillip Bantz, Chris Villani and Carolina Bolado

U.S. attorney general nominee Pam Bondi is an outspoken ally of President-elect Donald Trump and vowed during the campaign that his "prosecutors will be prosecuted," but people who've worked with her say she's well qualified to serve as the nation's top cop and downplayed concerns that she would politicize the U.S. Department of Justice.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Navajo Co. Dismisses Case Alleging Paralegal Took Docs

By Thy Vo

A natural resources company owned by the Navajo Nation has dismissed a lawsuit against a paralegal it accused of failing to turn in her computer for removal of its privileged documents, after the paralegal said she had already arranged to surrender her device before the lawsuit was even filed.

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

Senior Dem Asks Schumer For Votes On Circuit Court Picks

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Friday pushed back against a deal Democrats and Republicans cut earlier this week that obligates Democrats to forgo votes on four appellate picks.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »