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TOP NEWS

Trump’s Posts Linked To Threats Against NY Judge, Clerk

By Frank G. Runyeon

Social media posts by Donald Trump have led to an ongoing deluge of death threats and antisemitic slurs against a law clerk and the New York judge overseeing the ex-president’s civil fraud trial, a court security official said Wednesday.

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Lizzo’s Free Speech Args Fail Shia LaBeouf Test, Judge Told

By Craig Clough

An attorney for dancers suing Lizzo for sexual harassment told a California judge on Wednesday the singer’s argument that everything she does is of public interest and can fall under protected speech should fail just as it did when her attorneys argued it for another client, actor Shia LaBeouf.

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Big Names Sued Under Adult Survivors Act As Window Closes

By Hailey Konnath

With the one-year lookback window for New York’s Adult Survivors Act poised to close at midnight Thursday, New York state and federal courts saw a slew of new sexual assault lawsuits filed targeting high-profile defendants from the worlds of music, film, sports, politics, banking and law.

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Alex Jones’ Co. And Creditors Propose Rival Ch. 11 Plans

By Hilary Russ

Alex Jones’ creditors have proposed a Chapter 11 plan framework in Texas that would let the bankrupt right-wing conspiracy theorist choose between liquidating his assets or paying $85 million of liabilities over 10 years, while Jones’ company proposed a rival reorganization plan in its parallel bankruptcy case.

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Rep. Anna Eshoo, Spectrum Policy Advocate, Won’t Run Again

By Courtney Buble

Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who has been instrumental on spectrum policy issues, will not be seeking re-election after 30 years in office.

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Analysis

Would Ending Chevron Deference Really Make Waves? 

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

Experts say federal agencies and courts have drifted away from relying on Chevron deference in recent years, following the lead of U.S. Supreme Court justices who have criticized it, but the doctrine hasn’t been totally abandoned by lower courts — and a closely watched high court case could decide its ultimate fate.

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DEALS

PE Shop To Buy Canadian Arcade Game Biz For $112.8M

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Canadian entertainment and media company Cineplex, advised by Goodmans LLP, has agreed to sell its arcade game company Player One Amusement Group to private equity shop OpenGate Capital for CA$155 million ($112.8 million) in cash, the parties announced Wednesday.

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PE Firm New Mountain To Scoop Up Music Rights Giant BMI

By Al Barbarino

New Mountain Capital will purchase BMI in a deal that New Mountain has said will allow it to bolster the music rights giant’s long-term growth at a time when the music infrastructure supporting artists has failed to keep pace with rapid digitization. 

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PRIVACY & CONSUMER PROTECTION

School Plaintiffs’ Leadership Tapped In Social Media MDL

By Jonathan Capriel

Facebook and other social media platforms are facing massive multidistrict litigation accusing them of harming young people by purposely making their platforms addictive, and counsel for the suing school districts will have a seat at the leadership table, a California federal judge has ruled.

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COMPETITION

US Chamber Backs Live Nation Arbitration Appeal To 9th Circ.

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce told the Ninth Circuit it supports Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC in their appeal of a court order refusing to send proposed class action claims against them to arbitration, saying the flawed ruling threatens arbitration benefits for businesses and customers alike.

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SECURITIES & WHITE COLLAR

Luxury Designer Admits To Trafficking Reptile-Skin Purses

By David Minsky

A Colombian handbag designer and her company both pled guilty in Miami federal court to three charges related to smuggling purses made with the skins of protected reptiles into the U.S., including Miami and New York, and using friends and family as couriers.

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Analysis

FCC Paperwork Woes Lead To Big Fines For Small Towns

By Christopher Cole

Small local governments are facing tougher enforcement and fines by the Federal Communications Commission if they don’t renew broadcast licenses on time for TV stations serving remote areas, with communities’ taxpayers paying the tab.

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HEALTH

FDA Rule Calls For ‘Dual’ Sharing Of Side Effects In TV Ads

By Dan McKay

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants TV ads for prescription drugs to use simultaneous on-screen text and narration — delivered without distractions — when they warn consumers about the risk of side effects, life-science attorneys say, citing new standards published in the Federal Register.

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PERSONAL INJURY & MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

Hospital Wants New Trial Over Juror Misconduct In ‘Maya’ Case

By Carolina Bolado

Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital asked Wednesday for a new trial after learning that the wife of the jury foreperson — who led the jury to a $261 million verdict in favor of Maya Kowalski, the child at the center of the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya” — had been following the case closely online and sat in the Florida courtroom with a social media influencer close to the Kowalskis.

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

By Tabitha Burbidge

The past week in London has seen Glencore face a claim from collapsed hedge fund Eton Park in the wake of its bribery scandal, the ex-CFO of Peppa Pig and Teletubbies toymaker bring data protection proceedings against the employment barrister who represented him at tribunal, and Delta Airlines check in to fresh trademark proceedings against hotel chain Marriott. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

FTC Warning Letters Note 5 Mistakes For Influencers To Avoid

The Federal Trade Commission recently sent warning letters to two trade associations and 12 health influencers over their social media posts, offering insight into how the agency plans to enforce its updated endorsement guides and highlighting five concerns to keep in mind for marketing campaigns, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

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Deploying Analogies To Explore AI Copyright Questions

Xin Shao at F. Chau & Associates translates two representative artificial intelligence copyright cases into more traditional copyright law scenarios to facilitate the direct application of legal theories to undisputed technological facts.

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The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

In today’s competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Dinsmore Opens In Miami With 11-Atty Lewis Brisbois Team

By Madison Arnold

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP has continued its growth in the Sunshine State with an 11-attorney team from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP that joined a new downtown Miami office.

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5th Circ. Eyes Barring AI Use, Mandating Accuracy Check

By Madison Arnold

Attorneys before the Fifth Circuit may soon have to inform the federal appeals court that their documents were not written using generative artificial intelligence programs and, if they were, that they were reviewed by humans for accuracy.

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Retiring Boston Judge Leaves Big Quotes To Fill

By Chris Villani and Brian Dowling

While many jurists are quiet on the bench, U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris — who announced Wednesday she would be retiring from active judicial service — has never been shy about letting people know what she thinks.

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Mass. Judge Patti Saris To Take Senior Status

By Chris Villani

Massachusetts U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris has told the White House she will retire from active service and take senior status, giving President Joe Biden the chance to appoint a fifth judge to the 13-member court.

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Ex-Paul Weiss Partner Picked As SDNY Magistrate Judge

By Emily Sawicki

The Board of Judges of the Southern District of New York has selected a former Paul Weiss partner and current director of a pro se legal clinic to serve an eight-year term as a magistrate judge.

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‘Hope’ Award Honors Enviro Atty For Mental Health Work 

By Anna Sanders

New York state environmental attorney David Keehn was honored with the Ray of Hope Award for his advocacy for lawyer well-being after more than a decade uplifting others struggling with substance misuse and other mental health concerns.

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Brown Rudnick Settles $1.3M Fee Row With Fugitive Trader

By Aaron West

Brown Rudnick LLP agreed this week to a half-million-dollar settlement in a $1.3 million fee dispute with a fugitive former client the firm represented in multiple multimillion-dollar U.S. Securities and Exchange insider trading and fraud actions and who never paid the firm “a single dime” for its work.

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James Madison U. Punts On Legal Action In Fight With NCAA

By David Steele

James Madison University will not follow through on its threat to take the NCAA to court to make its football team eligible for a postseason bowl, a decision made along with its recently hired legal counsel and Virginia’s attorney general after its quest for an undefeated season ended.

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Calif. Atty Can’t Recover Costs Yet In Anti-BLM Posts Case

By Ryan Boysen

An attorney who was recently cleared on ethics charges stemming from May 2020 tweets calling for Black Lives Matter demonstrators to be shot can’t recoup $4,000 in attorney fees just yet, because the State Bar of California is appealing that decision.

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Up Next At High Court: SEC Courts, Repeat Offender Sentences

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court returns Monday from a long holiday weekend to hear arguments over the proper standard to apply when sentencing a repeat felony offender under the Armed Career Criminal Act and the constitutionality of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s in-house courts system.

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Podcast

Pro Say Thanksgiving Special: A Plate Full Of Offbeat News

Join us as the Pro Say crew convenes to give thanks for all the unusual legal news that made us laugh this year. Our grand Thanksgiving tradition of revisiting the best of our offbeat segments continues.

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