Feature

NFL Antitrust Verdict, WWE Chair Woes Define 2024's 1st Half

By Elaine Briseño

The first half of 2024 saw bombshell allegations and yearslong litigation lurching forward, highlighted by the shocking lawsuit accusing the founder of WWE of horrific sexual conduct, an iconic magazine almost shuttering and two NFL cases reaching significant milestones.

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Jury Finds Gibson The Rightful Owner Of Liberace Piano

By Brian Dowling

A Boston federal jury on Friday affirmed Gibson Guitars' right to have Liberace's bedazzled 9-foot-long grand piano returned to it from a Massachusetts piano store to which it loaned the entertainer's iconic instrument more than a decade ago.

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Jury Finds Booking.com Owes Ryanair $5K For Data Scraping

By Andrew Karpan

Irish discount airline Ryanair has convinced a Delaware federal jury to find that online travel website giant Booking.com should pay $5,000 for using screen scraping software in a way that ran afoul of computer fraud laws, which the airline likened to "internet piracy."

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Calif. Firm Beats Rival's Claims In 'Sweet Justice' TM Fight

By Rachel Rippetoe

A California federal court on Thursday nixed a personal injury firm's countersuit against its rival in a battle over the trademark use of the term "Sweet Justice," ruling that the firm's counterclaims are a "mirror-image" of the underlying suit.

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Jan. 6 Witness Says Defamation Suit Has 'Little Substance'

By Chart Riggall

Former Trump White House aide and Jan. 6 committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson renewed her calls Thursday to spike a defamation lawsuit from a former business partner of Hunter Biden, arguing her impressions of him described in her book aren't enough to stand up his claim.

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14 NBA Teams Hit With Copyright Suits Over Songs In Videos

By Ivan Moreno

Fourteen NBA teams have been hit with complaints by several music companies that accuse the basketball franchises of using copyrighted songs in promotional videos without permission, according to lawsuits in Manhattan federal court.

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'Vanderpump' Stars Face Fresh Sandwich Shop Suit

By Hailey Konnath

The former chef at a Los Angeles sandwich shop owned by "Vanderpump Rules" cast members Ariana Madix and Katie Maloney has accused the reality stars of refusing to honor a partnership agreement under which she was entitled to a 10% ownership stake, according to a suit filed in Los Angeles County.

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LA Dodgers, AEG Sued Over Attack After Elton John Concert

By Rae Ann Varona

The Los Angeles Dodgers and sport and entertainment company AEG Worldwide are responsible for an attack on a married couple following Elton John's final concert tour run at the Dodger Stadium, the couple alleged in a new lawsuit seeking damages in California state court.

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Analysis

A Guide To The USPTO's Long List Of Requests For Comment

By Ryan Davis

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has kept attorneys busy this year by seeking input on numerous patent issues and proposed rules. Here's a cheat sheet to the topics where feedback has been collected, from fee hikes to director reviews, and those with upcoming comment deadlines, including artificial intelligence.

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Q&A

Temple U.'s Ken Jacobsen On NCAA-House Deal, What's Next

By David Steele

Even with a deal of such size and consequence — approximately $2.8 billion, more than 184,000 athletes in the class, all the Power Five conferences named and with decades of court rulings leading up to it — the settlement over name, image and likeness compensation in the Grant House-led class action against the NCAA is best seen as a beginning, rather than an end.

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Calif. Alice Invalidations Block Koss' PTAB Appeal At Fed. Circ.

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit on Friday said it won't review whether the Patent Trial and Appeal Board rightfully invalidated some claims of Koss Corp.'s wireless earphone patents, as the patents were definitively invalidated in California.

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen a libel clash between comedian Paul Currie and the Soho Theatre Company over allegations of anti-semitism, technology giant Huawei face a patents claim by Mediatek, Westfield Europe pursue action against Clearpay Finance for contract breaches and tour operating company Carnival hit chartered airline Maleth Aero for significant flight delays. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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9th Circ. Judge Open To Reversing Google's Privacy Win

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit judge appeared receptive Friday to reversing Google's summary judgment win in Chrome users' proposed privacy class action, telling Google's counsel that the standard is what a reasonable consumer would expect and "you have a much higher opinion of the average intelligence of the computer user than I."

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Pornhub's Parent Co. Seeks Exit From Trafficking Class Action

By Gina Kim

MindGeek asked a California federal judge Friday to end a class action filed by individuals who alleged its company Pornhub published sexually explicit videos of them as minors, arguing there's no evidence showing MindGeek promoted child pornography on its sites, and that it removed the videos upon request.

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Off The Bench

Off The Bench: Trial Time For Jerry Jones, Sunday Ticket Row

By David Steele

In this week's Off The Bench, Jerry Jones' legal battle with the woman claiming to be his daughter reaches a courtroom, Sunday Ticket subscribers clap back at the NFL, and soccer fans go after the stadium they could not enter for the Copa America final.

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MLS, US Soccer Can't Get Redo On Antitrust Suit Preservation

By Elaine Briseño

A New York federal judge told Major League Soccer and the sport's U.S. governing body that he would not reconsider a previous order that kept alive an antitrust suit against the organizations, but he did offer some of the clarification they were seeking about market definition.

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Law Profs Throw Flag On NFL's 'Unconscionable' Arbitration

By David Steele

Allowing the NFL's arbitration system, with commissioner Roger Goodell as the arbitrator, to prevail in Brian Flores' discrimination dispute with the league is "unconscionable" and "egregious," a dozen law professors have told the Second Circuit in an amicus brief supporting the former Miami Dolphins head coach.

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Guo Trustee Reboots Civil RICO Case After NY Conviction

By Aaron Keller

The Chapter 11 trustee overseeing the Connecticut bankruptcy of Chinese exile Miles Guo has filed a notice that lifts a March stay on civil RICO and alter ego claims after the debtor's criminal conviction this week on racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering charges in the Southern District of New York.

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House Republican Rips FCC's School Wi-Fi Subsidy

By Christopher Cole

A key House Republican with oversight of the Federal Communications Commission attacked the agency's new subsidy providing Wi-Fi services for school and library patrons, saying it will make consumer costs soar without helping education.

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Brief

FCC Looking Into 911 Disruptions From Global IT Outage

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it was helping investigate 911 service disruptions that resulted from a global information technology outage that affected numerous industries, including telecommunications.

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Feds Taxed $6M Race Car Like Any Old Jalopy, Importer Says

By Dorothy Atkins

Importers have accused U.S. Customs and Border Protection in a new lawsuit of misclassifying a $5.6 million 1955 Jaguar sports car as being subject to a 2.5% duty imposed on common "station wagons and racing cars" instead of classifying the vintage vehicle as a duty-free collectible.

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NASCAR Names New General Counsel Amid Shake-Up

By Sue Reisinger

NASCAR Holdings' has named a new general counsel and a new deputy general counsel and head of privacy to fill out the team of chief legal officer Amanda Oliver.

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Questions Remain After 3rd Circ.'s NCAA Amateurism Ruling

The Third Circuit's recent holding that college athletes can be considered employees under the FLSA adds to the trend of student-athletes obtaining new legal status in collegiate athletics, but leaves key questions unanswered, including how the economics of the decision will be applied, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

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BCLP Seeks Merger Partner As Departures Continue

By Aebra Coe

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP's headcount has declined by more than 20% since the law firm's seminal combination, according to firm data, with a surge of lateral departures this spring and summer. Sources have told Law360 Pulse that firm leaders are currently seeking a merger partner.

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Several State Courts Impacted By Global Tech Outage

By Sarah Martinson

Several state courts have been impacted by a global Microsoft Windows outage Friday morning causing operational challenges and courthouse closures.

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DOJ Seeks Probe Of Conflicts In Ex-Fed. Judge's Cases

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked its internal watchdog to look into why federal prosecutors kept quiet about the fact that they allegedly knew now-resigned Alaska federal Judge Joshua Kindred had inappropriate relationships with several attorneys appearing before him, the DOJ confirmed to Law360 Friday.

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Calif. Bar Backs Creating New Virtual Bar Exam To Cut Costs

By Hailey Konnath

The State Bar of California's Board of Trustees has signed off on plans to negotiate a potentially $8 million, five-year deal with Kaplan North America LLC to replace the Multistate Bar Exam with its own state exam that could be taken remotely, according to a statement issued Friday.

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Kavanaugh Murder-Attempt Suspect Set To Face Trial

By Rae Ann Varona

A man charged with attempting to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has failed to reach a plea deal after nearly two years of negotiations, setting his case up for trial in Maryland federal court, federal prosecutors said Friday.

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2nd Circ. Upholds Ax Of Ex-Ropes & Gray Clerk's Bar Exam Suit

By Ryan Boysen

A former Ropes & Gray LLP attorney who was fired after twice failing the New York bar exam can't sue the state agency that administers the test for failing to accommodate her disabilities, the Second Circuit ruled Friday, finding the agency is protected by sovereign immunity.

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Apple Wants Litigation Funder To Explain Role In Patent Row

By Rose Krebs

Apple Inc. wants a Delaware federal judge to order litigation funder Omni Bridgeway LLC to turn over documents explaining its relationship with Finnish company MPH Technologies Oy and its financial interest in MPH's ongoing patent litigation against Apple in California.

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NYC Bar OKs Attys' Financial Stakes In Alternative Biz Entities

By Andrea Keckley

A new ethics committee report says a New York City lawyer may hold a financial interest in alternative business structures in jurisdictions that let them provide legal services, provided the lawyer is merely a financial investor, not practicing law through the entity.

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Judge Recuses As Tech Firm Slams Dow Chemical's Request

By Ryan Harroff

An Ohio federal judge has recused himself from a trade secrets case brought against Dow Chemical Co. after the technology firm that sued it showed the court a settlement offer without approval that would grant Dow Chemical's recusal motion, which the tech firm said was a "cavalier approach to a drastic remedy."

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Class Seeks $1.5B Settlement In Payday Loan Dispute

By Crystal Owens

A class of borrowers has urged a Virginia federal court to approve what would be the largest settlement ever obtained in a challenge to participants in the tribal lending industry, arguing that the agreement would give significant relief to hundreds of thousands in the form of debt cancellations and cash payments.

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'Texit' Atty Sues State Rep., Judge Over Defamation Fees

By Catherine Marfin

A civil rights attorney who has represented the group behind the "Texit" movement filed a lawsuit against a state representative and court officials in a North Texas county, accusing the group of colluding to run up attorney fees against him in a defamation case connected to the pro-Texas-secession group.

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Colo. Federal Judges Point Out Recent High Turnover

By Daniel Ducassi

Colorado's chief federal judge on Friday observed "there has been a lot of turnover" on the bench in the district over the past several years, noting five out of the seven active district court judges were nominated by President Joe Biden. 

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Blanche Law PLLC and Continental PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Florida federal judge tossed the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his allegedly illegal retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

A kidney care company has asked a federal judge to throw out a former in-house counsel's lawsuit that claims she was fired for raising concerns about violations of federal anti-kickback statutes, and a study showed the world's most extensive public country-by-country tax reporting rules would require 51% of large U.S. multinational corporations to disclose tax arrangements. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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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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