Reuters Legal

U.S. District Judge William Alsup dismissed a lawsuit in which Elon Musk's X Corp accused an Israeli data-scraping company of illegally copying and selling X content and selling tools that let others do the same, saying in part X’s claims interfere with the rights the federal Copyright Act gives to content creators. Alsup gave X the chance to amend its complaint but warned that it should bring its best arguments or the case would be dismissed for good. Lawyers for X did not immediately respond to requests for comment.   Subscribe to The Daily Docket: https://reut.rs/3O4K9yr #legal #copyright

Dallas-founded law firm Locke Lord is set to pay $12.5 million to settle claims that it allowed one of its former energy industry clients to engage in a $122 million Ponzi scheme. US District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 10 signed off, on the settlement agreement between the firm and a court-appointed receiver for Heartland Group Ventures, an oil and gas company that was accused of fraud, by the SEC in December 2021. The SEC alleged that Heartland and its affiliates took $122 million from 700 US investors, purportedly for oil and gas projects, but used much of the funds to pay off other investors and for other purposes. David Thomas has more: https://reut.rs/3ypTSLa #legal #legalnews #litigation

Former lawyer Michen Cohen began testifying against Trump at the hush money trial. Okhlahoma’s attorney general fired a legal team after a judge blocked anti-ESG law. Locke Lord to pay $12.5 million to settle claims over ex-client’s alleged fraud. A federal judge halted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rule capping credit card late fees at $8. Here's your Legal File: #legal #legalnews #legalindustry #lawyers #litigation #banking

Oklahoma's attorney general said he is firing the outside legal team hired to defend a state law prohibiting state pension systems from contracting with companies that limit investment in the oil and gas industry, days after a judge temporarily blocked the statute's enforcement.   Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond in a statement on May 9 said he was firing counsel at the Plaxico Law Firm, which he said was handpicked by state Treasurer Todd Russ to defend the law. Drummond said he would also remove Russ from any decision-making authority over the legal defense going forward.   The decision came after a state judge on May 7 issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of the law in oil-rich Oklahoma. The judge found that a retired state employee who is challenging the measure was likely to succeed in his lawsuit alleging the law violates the state constitution and is too vaguely written     Subscribe to The Daily Docket: https://reut.rs/3O4K9yr

Meta Platforms has resolved a #trademark lawsuit filed by investment firm Metacapital Management over the tech giant's name change from Facebook, the companies told a New York federal court on May 10. Meta and Metacapital said in a court filing, that they had agreed to a settlement in principle and asked the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to pause the case while they finalize the agreement. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment and more information about the settlement. Meta Platforms rebranded from Facebook in October 2021 to reflect its focus on the metaverse, a shared virtual realm. It applied to register 'Meta' trademarks in 2022 related to financial services including investment management. New York-based Metacapital sued later that year. Metacapital said in its lawsuit that it has been using its name since its founding in 2001. The firm said its clients have included major financial institutions like CitiBank, Barclays and JP Morgan. Blake Brittain has more: https://reut.rs/3QHfk4S #legal #legalnews #litigation

New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez’ criminal bribery trial begins today in Manhattan federal court, a case that could have implications for which party controls the Senate next year;   Plus, Oklahoma’s attorney general fired the state’s outside attorneys after a judge temporarily blocked the state’s anti-ESG law;   Locke Lord agreed to pay $12.5 million to resolve claims it turned a blind eye to a client’s fraud;   and the Texas Supreme Court limited women’s ability to recover damages from medical providers after unwanted pregnancies.   Subscribe to The Daily Docket: https://reut.rs/3O4K9yr

U.S. Circuit Judge Kent Jordan plans to retire from the 3rd Circuit in January, giving Democratic President Joe Biden a chance to fill a seat on the Philadelphia-based court held currently by a Republican appointee. The decision by Jordan, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, was disclosed on May 9 by the federal judiciary, which said he gave notice on May 7 and planned to retire on Jan. 15. Both Biden and Jordan are from Delaware, and Biden had supported his nomination to the 3rd Circuit when he was his home state senator in 2006, a fact the judge referenced in his letter to the president notifying him of his decision. The 66-year-old's retirement creates a new vacancy on a court that currently has seven judges appointed by Republican presidents, six by Democrats, and one vacancy that Democratic President Joe Biden is already trying to fill. Nate Raymond has more: https://lnkd.in/gPtFEsKd

New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP said on May 9 that it has formed a new artificial intelligence practice, as large firms compete to handle clients' growing AI-related legal needs. The 800-lawyer firm said the group would be headed by leaders of its intellectual property and finance practices in Silicon Valley, New York and London. Several other large U.S. law firms have also established dedicated AI practice groups over the past year and a half, hoping to capitalize on a surge in AI-related dealmaking, regulatory, and litigation work. Formalizing a practice group can help firms market and expand the work in buzzy, lucrative areas like AI. Find out more: https://reut.rs/44AAG9A 

Back in March, at the first hearing in consolidated litigation over allegedly undisclosed side effects from Ozempic and other diet drugs, plaintiffs lawyers told Philadelphia federal judge Gene Pratter that they'd already agreed on a slate of four lawyers to lead the mass tort case. On May 8, Pratter appointed those same four lawyers as lead counsel in the multidistrict litigation against diet drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. But Pratter was no rubber stamp, writes alison frankel. In fact, Frankel says, the judge devised a leadership selection process that other MDL judges should consider adopting. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gythygkp

Donald Trump returned to court after porn star Stormy Daniels' lurid testimony about her alleged sexual encounter with him, as prosecutors prepared to call their final witnesses in the criminal hush money trial. It was a busy week in court for Trump. On May 6, the judge overseeing the criminal hush money trial threatened Trump with jail time for repeatedly violating a gag order. On May 9, Trump's lawyer sought to show inconsistencies in porn star Stormy Daniels' various tellings of a 2006 sexual encounter she has said she had with Trump. Daniels' account of her encounter with Trump in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite riveted jurors on May 7. Subscribe to The Afternoon Docket: https://reut.rs/4aVlZjE