Trials

  • October 16, 2024

    Fla. Jury Finds 2 Live Crew Can Take Back Music Rights

    A Florida federal jury ruled Wednesday that the Miami rap group 2 Live Crew is entitled to the copyrights on dozens of songs, finding the group made a valid claim under a law that allows them to claw back ownership of their music after more than three decades.

  • October 16, 2024

    Combs Asks To ID His Accusers, Citing 'Media Circus'

    Hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has asked a Manhattan federal judge to identify the accusers behind his sex-trafficking and racketeering case, claiming the "media circus" surrounding the prosecution and related civil suits has made it impossible for him to develop an adequate defense.

  • October 16, 2024

    'Fat Leonard' Faces 11 Years For Navy Bribery Scheme

    Federal prosecutors are seeking more than 11 years in prison for Leonard Francis, the Malaysian defense contractor and ex-fugitive known as "Fat Leonard" who led a sprawling bribery and corruption scheme that allegedly caused over $20 million in losses for the U.S. Navy.

  • October 15, 2024

    Hunter Biden Sues Fox, Ex-Top Atty Over 'Humiliating' Series

    Hunter Biden on Tuesday renewed his lawsuit accusing Fox News Network of humiliating and harassing him with its fictional, six-part "mock trial" series, which he called a politically motivated attack that featured sexually explicit photos of him, this time naming as a defendant the network's former chief legal and policy officer.

  • October 15, 2024

    Chicago Wants To Ditch $50M Wrongful Conviction Verdict

    Chicago is asking a federal judge to overrule a jury that awarded $50 million to an innocent man wrongly convicted of first-degree murder, saying officers who allegedly coerced the man's confession are immune.

  • October 15, 2024

    Exec's $77M WeWork Offer Was Stupid, Not Fraud, Jury Told

    Counsel for the former CEO of real estate investment firm Arciterra told a Manhattan federal jury Tuesday his client was a fool for making what prosecutors described as a fake $77 million tender offer for a controlling stake in WeWork before its bankruptcy, but he wasn't trying to falsely pump up the coworking company's stock price.

  • October 15, 2024

    Western Digital Had No Way Around Patent, Spex Chief Says

    Western Digital owes between $5 and $8.50 per unit for infringing Spex's data security patent based on Spex's 2009 licensing deal with Kingston Technology, Spex's president told California federal jurors Tuesday, noting that Western Digital had no noninfringing alternative to implement hardware encryption in its storage devices. 

  • October 15, 2024

    Uncle Luke Says 2 Live Crew Songs Weren't Works For Hire

    Rapper and producer Luther Campbell, also known as Uncle Luke, told jurors Monday that the checks they'd been shown for payments to members of hip-hop group 2 Live Crew were for per diem expenses, not paychecks, and insisted that the group members were not employees of his record label and can therefore claw back their rights to their old hit recordings.

  • October 15, 2024

    Justices Won't Look Into Avenatti's Identity Theft Conviction

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider whether the Second Circuit used an incorrect standard when ruling that identity theft played a "key role" in celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti's forging of ex-client Stormy Daniels' name and signature, upholding the disbarred lawyer's aggravated identity theft conviction.

  • October 15, 2024

    Conn. Medical Group Hit With $30M Verdict In C-Section Suit

    A Connecticut state jury has slapped a Greenwich medical group with a $30 million verdict — which could more than double after interest — finding that the medical staff botched a pregnant patient's cesarean delivery, precluding her from giving birth to another child.

  • October 15, 2024

    Travis Scott Wants Astroworld Settlement Info Before 1st Trial

    Rapper Travis Scott is urging a Texas appeals court to order the Harris County judge overseeing litigation over the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival to require several would-be bellwether plaintiffs to disclose details of their settlement agreements with his co-defendants, writing that his attorneys need the information to prepare for the impending first trial.

  • October 15, 2024

    Amazon Prevails In Patent Trial Over Wi-Fi System

    A federal jury has found that Amazon didn't infringe certain claims in a trio of wireless network patents, clearing it of allegations relating to some of the e-commerce giant's Wi-Fi enabled devices.

  • October 15, 2024

    Young Thug Demands Entire Prosecution File In RICO Case

    Atlanta rapper Young Thug called on a Georgia state judge on Friday to order prosecutors to hand over their entire prosecution file so that he can decide whether to object to the anticipated testimony of Deputy District Attorney Michael Sprinkel.

  • October 15, 2024

    J&J Hit With $15M Verdict In Builder's Mesothelioma Suit

    A Connecticut state court jury on Tuesday slammed Johnson & Johnson and several subsidiaries with a $15 million compensatory damages verdict for a real estate developer who sought to hold the companies liable for his mesothelioma diagnosis.

  • October 15, 2024

    Judge Approves Murdaugh Boat Crash Settlement

    A South Carolina judge has approved a $15 million settlement in a suit against a gas station that allegedly sold alcohol to disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh's underage son, who was later involved in a boat crash that killed one person, after a hangup with an insurance carrier was resolved.

  • October 15, 2024

    Qorvo Follows $39M Jury Win With Trade Secrets Purge Order

    A federal judge said wireless company Qorvo Inc. is entitled to permanent injunctions blocking Akoustis Technologies Inc. from infringing two acoustic wave resonator patents and another order requiring the "purging" of all misappropriated trade secrets from Akoustis' systems on top of a $39 million verdict in favor of the business.

  • October 15, 2024

    Pair Convicted In Baccarat Cheating Scheme At Mass. Casino

    A Massachusetts jury has convicted a baccarat dealer and a player on charges that they cheated a Boston-area casino out of $15,000, according to the state attorney general's office.

  • October 15, 2024

    Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues

    A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

  • October 15, 2024

    The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders

    Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.

  • October 15, 2024

    Kirkland Litigator Moves To Paul Hastings In DC

    A life-long Kirkland & Ellis LLP attorney, who Paul Hastings announced Monday has joined the team in Washington, D.C., as a partner, told Law360 Pulse he was inspired to become a litigator after a clerkship he had after law school on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

  • October 15, 2024

    'Varsity Blues' Prosecutor Joins Quinn Emanuel In Boston

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has added a former Massachusetts federal prosecutor who oversaw numerous high-profile cases in recent years, including the "Varsity Blues" college admissions scandal.

  • October 11, 2024

    Spex Expert Pushed On Differences In Western Digital's Drives

    Western Digital's counsel on Friday challenged a Spex Technologies expert witness on his testimony that Western Digital's drives lift Spex's data encryption patent, showing California federal jurors that the drives in question don't allow for the type of communication contemplated by Spex's invention.

  • October 11, 2024

    Apple Judge OKs New Schedule But Pans 'Burden' To Court

    A California federal judge Friday issued an order in antitrust litigation against Apple that permits the plaintiffs and the tech giant to push out discovery deadlines, but said the change "shifts the burden to the court," so they'll have to prepare for trial "with or without" rulings on filed motions.

  • October 11, 2024

    Judge Awards $2.4M For Crash Sparked By Military Explosives

    A Washington federal judge on Friday awarded $2.4 million to a couple who sued after the husband was seriously injured in a 2016 motorcycle accident in a thick cloud of smoke from a brush fire sparked by explosives detonated by National Guard soldiers on a training exercise.

  • October 11, 2024

    Apple Watch Patents Dodge Ax As Masimo Jury Trial Nears

    A Delaware federal judge has refused to invalidate Apple Inc.'s smartwatch patents being challenged by health technology company Masimo Corp. ahead of this month's jury trial over whether the tech behemoth infringed Masimo's pulse oximetry technology patents.

Expert Analysis

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • How Attorneys Can Reduce Bad Behavior At Deposition

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    To minimize unprofessional behavior by opposing counsel and witnesses, and take charge of the room at deposition, attorneys should lay out some key ground rules at the outset — and be sure to model good behavior themselves, says John Farrell at Fish & Richardson.

  • Best Text Practices In Light Of Terraform's $4.5B Fraud Deal

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    Text messages were extremely important in a recent civil trial against Terraform Labs, leading to a $4.5 billion settlement, so litigants in securities fraud cases need to have robust mobile data policies that address the content and retention of messages, and the obligations of employees to allow for collection, say Josh Sohn and Alicia Clausen at Crowell & Moring.

  • Tricky Venue Issues Persist In Fortenberry Prosecution Redo

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    Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry was recently indicted for a second time after the Ninth Circuit tossed his previous conviction for improper venue, but the case, now pending in the District of Columbia, continues to illustrate the complexities of proper venue in "false statement scheme" prosecutions, says Kevin Coleman at Covington.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Malicious-Prosecution Ruling Shows Rare Restraint

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon, Ohio, declining to limit malicious-prosecution suits, is a model of judicial modesty and incrementalism, in sharp contrast to the court’s dramatic swings on other rights, says Steven Schwinn at the University of Illinois Chicago Law School.

  • Opinion

    Trump Immunity Ruling Upends Our Constitutional Scheme

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. U.S. decision elevates the president to imperial status and paves the way for nearly absolute presidential immunity from potential criminal prosecutions — with no constitutional textual support, says Paul Berman at the George Washington University Law School.

  • High Court Paves Middle Ground For Proceedings Obstruction

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Fischer sensibly leaves the door open for prosecutors to make more nuanced assessments as to whether defendants' actions directly or tangentially impair the availability or integrity of anything used in an official proceeding, without criminalizing acts such as peaceful demonstrations, say attorneys at Perry Law.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

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