Buzbee Says Jay-Z Is Who Should Be Sanctioned In Diddy Suit

By Hailey Konnath

Texas attorney Tony Buzbee tore into rapper Jay-Z's request that Buzbee be sanctioned for filing a suit accusing Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs of raping a 13-year-old, arguing that Jay-Z is merely trying to intimidate the accuser and that if anyone should be sanctioned, it's Jay-Z.

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Combs Lodges $50M Suit Over Supposed Sex Assault Tapes

By Rachel Scharf

Sean "Diddy" Combs filed a $50 million defamation suit in New York federal court on Wednesday accusing a grand jury witness, a lawyer and Nexstar Media Inc. of spreading falsities about nonexistent videos that purportedly depict the indicted hip-hop mogul sexually assaulting intoxicated celebrities and minors.

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'Bad Spaniels' Toy Dilutes, Doesn't Infringe Jack Daniel's TM

By Lauren Berg

A "Bad Spaniels" dog toy parodying Jack Daniel's iconic whiskey bottle does not infringe trademark rights but does dilute the whiskey maker's trademarks and trade dress, an Arizona federal judge ruled Thursday, following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the First Amendment does not shield the toy's maker.

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Think, McFly! 'Back To The Future' Writer Says No Apple Theft

By Craig Clough

The co-writer of "Back to the Future" suggested to a California federal jury Thursday that an independent filmmaker suing Apple and acclaimed director M. Night Shyamalan for copyright infringement should make like a tree and get out of the courtroom because her film bears no resemblance to the Apple TV+ show, "Servant."

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4th Circ. OKs Limiting Online Docs Access To Attys, Staff

By Lynn LaRowe

A split Fourth Circuit panel has ruled that limiting a Virginia court's remote access service only to attorneys and their staff does not violate the First Amendment, as claimed by a news outlet that wanted to skip the trip to the courthouse and view records online.

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Calif. Kids' Privacy Law Ignores 1st Amendment, Judge Says

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge appeared open Thursday to preliminarily blocking for the second time a landmark California law requiring tech giants to bolster privacy protections for children, telling the state's counsel that nothing shows the Legislature "cared one whit about the Constitution," and "now you're trying to reverse engineer it."

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AI Chatbot Co. CEO, Atty Spouse Indicted On $60M Fraud

By Jessica Corso

Federal prosecutors in California arrested the former CEO of an artificial intelligence company Thursday alongside his lawyer wife, accusing the duo of a $60 million fraud scheme in which they allegedly lied to investors about the company's financial state and diverted funds to pay for their wedding.

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Fox Raises Specter Of Corruption In LA's Smartmatic Contract

By Rachel Scharf

Fox News has filed a public records lawsuit suggesting that Los Angeles County officials may have taken bribes to award a 2020 election contract to Smartmatic, the voting technology company currently pursuing a $2.7 billion defamation suit over Fox's coverage of that election.

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2nd Suit Filed Against Calif. Art Museum Over Bias Allegations

By Gina Kim

Los Angeles contemporary art museum The Broad's former facilities director said in an age and race bias suit filed Thursday he was fired following a "pretextual 'witch-hunt'" stemming from its chief operating officer's hatred for white men and her unsubstantiated statements accusing him of being a misogynist.

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Ex-Police Chief Defamed Protester With Gang Claim, Suit Says

By Chart Riggall

Atlanta's ex-police chief faces a renewed defamation suit over comments he made during a 2020 press conference to address arrests made at a Black Lives Matter protest, in which he allegedly accused one arrestee of being a violent gang member.

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Netflix, Litigation Funder Fight Over Docs In Subpoena Row

By Adam Lidgett

Intellectual property strategy service AiPi LLC says it has been abiding by an order to produce documents relating to patent litigation against Netflix, while the streaming giant says "AiPi's attempt to appear reasonable is contrivance."

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Nike Says Defamation Allegations Must Go In $60M TM Fight

By Adam Lidgett

Nike moved this week to stop a Los Angeles-based company that says it once collaborated with the sportswear giant on custom sneakers for celebrities and athletes from moving forward with a defamation counterclaim against Nike's $60 million trademark lawsuit.

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Meta Wants Mass. Justices To Intervene In AG's Suit

By Julie Manganis

Meta Platforms has urged Massachusetts' highest court to take up its challenge to a pending lawsuit brought by the state attorney general's office, which accused the social media company of intentionally designing Instagram to be addictive to children and teenagers.

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'Not Just A Game': Producers Fight Pause On 'The Deb' Suit

By Rachel Scharf

Producers of the musical film "The Deb" urged a Los Angeles judge on Thursday not to pause Rebel Wilson's embezzlement claims while the actress appeals another portion of the case, saying they need a resolution in order to sell the movie and recoup nearly $14 million for investors.

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Ex-Amazon Exec Will Oversee Google, Apple Probe In UK

By Nadia Dreid

The U.K.'s competition enforcer said Thursday it will be looking into how Google and Apple's "mobile ecosystems" have been affecting competition for both consumers and businesses, an announcement that comes just days after the watchdog booted its leader for a former Amazon head honcho.

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Feds Want 14 Years For Fraudster Who Scammed NBA Pros

By Elliot Weld

Prosecutors asked a Manhattan federal judge to sentence a recidivist fraudster who was convicted of swindling two former NBA players out of $8 million to up to 14 years in prison, saying his previous sentences had not deterred him and he'd committed repeated bail violations.

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House Bill Filed To Renew FCC Auctions, Spectrum Pipeline

By Christopher Cole

A Republican lawmaker introduced a bill Thursday that would give the Federal Communications Commission authority to auction the airwaves and direct the government to turn over at least 2,500 megahertz for private sector or shared use in the next five years.

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AT&T, Dish Owe FCC $20.6M In Unverified Subsidy Payments

By Nadia Dreid

AT&T and Dish Network will have to repay the Federal Communications Commission the more than $20 million it took in early pandemic broadband subsidy funds because they failed to verify that the people they used those funds for were eligible for the program.

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Paul Hastings Adds Ex-Chair Of Willkie Farr Music Practice

By Kevin Penton

Paul Hastings LLP has added the former chair of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP's music and digital media practice as a partner in its Los Angeles office and as chair of its own music industry practice, the firm announced Thursday.

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Series

Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.

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Analysis

Companies Risk White House Wrath By Keeping DEI Programs

By Sarah Jarvis

For companies pushing forward with their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives amid a torrent of attacks from President Donald Trump and his allies, there are myriad potential risks ahead — and murky questions about the legal parameters of Trump's anti-DEI agenda.

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Law Students Scramble As Federal Gov't Yanks Job Offers

By Alison Knezevich

Law students across the country are scrambling to figure out their next steps after a range of federal agencies yanked job and internship offers this week because of the new hiring freeze imposed by the Trump administration.

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Mass Tort Atty Files Ch. 11 Owing $202M To Litigation Funders

By Hilary Russ

A Houston plaintiffs attorney has filed for personal Chapter 11 protection with more than $202 million of litigation funding liabilities, according to his petition in the Southern District of Texas.

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Feud Heats Up Over Estate Of Wife Killed By Ex-BigLaw Atty

By Emily Johnson

The godson of a Georgia woman killed by her husband, former Fisher Phillips partner Claud "Tex" McIver, has said her cousins shouldn't get proceeds from a settlement of an underlying wrongful death suit, calling them "strangers" to her and claiming "the redistributive windfall" they're asking for "has no place in Georgia law."

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Boston Firm Says IT Vendor Holding Computers 'Hostage'

By Julie Manganis

Boston-based law firm Melick & Porter LLP says a company it hired to manage its information technology is now holding its computer network and data "hostage" by refusing to cooperate with the transition to a new vendor unless Melick pays it $380,000.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Phillips Black Inc., Ridley McGreevy & Winocur PC and King & Spalding LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court revived claims from a woman on death row in Oklahoma that prosecutors unfairly sex-shamed her and relied on gender-based stereotypes to convince a jury that she had killed her estranged husband for insurance money.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A new Law360 Pulse survey shows that more than 90% of in-house counsel have no regrets about their decisions to join companies. In litigation stemming from Purdue Pharma's sales of OxyContin that fueled the opioid crisis, the Sackler family would lose control of Purdue and pay $6.5 billion in the latest proposed settlement. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.​

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen Axa Insurance and Admiral face a claim from a former lawyer recently exposed for personal injury fraud, the owner of Reading Football Club sue a prospective buyer and mobile network Lycamobile tackle action by Spanish network Yogio. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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