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Companies Google Inc FollowAlphabet Inc FollowFeb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Justice Department lawyers say that Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O) destroyed internal corporate communications and have asked a federal judge to sanction the company as part of the government's antitrust case over its search business. The DOJ's sanctions bid marks at least the second time in the case that the government has sought to punish Google. Last year, the DOJ alleged Google unfairly kept internal documents away from antitrust investigators, claiming they were protected by attorney-client privilege. The judge declined in April 2022 to sanction Google for conduct that occurred prior to the start of the litigation in 2020. The case is United States v. Google LLC, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No.

U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond's order in Philadelphia federal court granted a request by Unisys to depose Leon Gilbert and Michael McGarvey, former leaders of Unisys' "digital workplace solutions" business unit. Representatives for France-based Atos and lawyers for Gilbert and McGarvey did not immediately respond to messages on Wednesday seeking comment. Unisys in a court filing said that "this case involves the theft of huge quantities of Unisys trade secrets," including technologies and business strategies for digital workplaces. Attorneys for Gilbert and McGarvey disputed the allegation and said "Unisys has not identified a single trade secret." The case is Unisys Corp v. Leon Gilbert and Michael McGarvey, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The case involves a group of consumers who contend Facebook exploited user data to maintain its market power. Representatives for Quinn Emanuel and Facebook declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Hagens Berman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Scarlett in recent court filings said Quinn Emanuel was not respecting her view as a leading antitrust attorney based on her gender. Quinn Emanuel denied the claim, saying it has "worked very hard to be cooperative with all counsel on the case, including female counsel." Donato started the appointment process from scratch in January amid quarreling between Seattle-based plaintiffs' firm Hagens Berman and 900-lawyer Quinn Emanuel.

Companies Alphabet Inc FollowFeb 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Football League (NFL) must face a $6 billion class action alleging it unlawfully limited televised games and drove up the cost of its "Sunday Ticket" package, a U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the NFL on Wednesday did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Google-owned YouTube (GOOGL.O) in December signed a multi-year deal for exclusive streaming of Sunday Ticket package games. Google did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Part of the clash included a Hagens Berman partner accusing Quinn Emanuel of discounting her views based on her gender. Quinn Emanuel denied the allegation, calling it a "mystery." The two law firms on Friday night submitted their pitches to Donato about why he should appoint them solely rather than jointly to lead the consumer class. A representative from Hagens Berman did not immediately comment, and a Quinn Emanuel spokesperson declined to comment. Hagens Berman and Quinn Emanuel have been on opposite sides in other cases.

☆ Grocery consumers sue to block Kroger’s $25 bln buy of Albertsons
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Kroger is the biggest grocer in the U.S. by revenue, and Albertsons is the second-largest supermarket chain. Nearly 5,000 grocery stores would be under one corporate umbrella if the deal, announced in October, goes through. A representative for Albertsons declined to comment on Friday, and a Kroger spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Kroger operates stores under banners including Harris Teeter, Pay Less and King Soopers. U.S. antitrust law lets private consumers sue over proposed mergers and acquisitions, apart from any enforcement action brought by a state or federal agency policing competition laws.

Google said the new DOJ case, filed jointly with eight states last month, which also alleges advertising-related abuses, overlaps with multidistrict litigation in New York that formed in 2021. Google has disputed the claims in the new lawsuit, saying it "duplicates an unfounded" one that Texas filed and now is part of the New York litigation. "They just want DOJ versus Google, nobody else," Vladeck said. Fox also said there is a new federal law that gives state plaintiffs their preference for venue in antitrust litigation. The case is In re Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1:21-md-03010-PKC.

[1/2] Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks ahead of a rally held by former U.S. President Donald Trump, in Robstown, Texas, U.S., October 22, 2022. REUTERS/Go NakamuraJan 30 (Reuters) - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton must face an ethics lawsuit by state attorney regulators over a case he brought challenging results of the 2020 election, according to a court ruling posted on Monday. The ruling is a setback for Paxton, who had argued that his work as the top Texas state lawyer was beyond the reach of Texas attorney ethics regulators. The Texas State Bar, an agency that oversees licensed attorneys in the state, filed the lawsuit against Paxton in state court in Dallas last May. The state bar countered that Texas attorney conduct rules "apply to any attorney engaged in the practice of law regardless of their position."

[1/2] The logo for Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 17, 2021. The complaint filed Tuesday in a Virginia federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division attempts to compel Google to sell part of its advertising technology unit. The suit mirrors allegations in another antitrust case brought against Google in New York federal court by a Texas-led coalition of 17 states in 2020. In the states' case, a New York federal judge in September rejected Google’s bid to dismiss it entirely. Google also faces two largely parallel antitrust lawsuits by states and the federal government alleging unlawful dominance in online searching.

☆ Judge rules for Florida's DeSantis against prosecutor for abortion stance
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DeSantis on Aug. 4 barred Warren from performing any official "act, duty or function of public office." Hinkle found that Warren's suspension violated Florida's state constitution, but the judge said the U.S. Constitution barred him from issuing a reinstatement order "against a state official based only on a violation of state law." The court also wrote that "Mr. Warren's actual performance as a reform prosecutor was conduct, not speech protected by the First Amendment." Lawyers for Warren and a DeSantis representative did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Lawyers for DeSantis argued that the governor suspended Warren from office not over his speech but his conduct as a prosecutor.

☆ Washington court paves way for Albertsons' $4 bln dividend, declines to review case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Washington Supreme Court made the decision after a lower court judge refused last month to issue a preliminary injunction against the dividend. The Washington attorney general's office in November sued to block the dividend, arguing that it would weaken Albertsons before Kroger's $25 billion purchase. The merger proposal will be reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission, which polices merger and acquisition activity for compliance with antitrust law. In a statement, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said his office was "surprised and disappointed the Supreme Court decided not to hear this case." Chief executives of the two grocers in November defended the $25 billion proposed tie-up at a hearing before a U.S. congressional committee.

☆ Video gamers sue Microsoft in U.S. court to stop Activision takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Mike Scarcella | Industry Insight | Saw Law Firms Move Past The Pandemic Into A More Client-Focused Service Environment | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It was filed on behalf of 10 video game players in California, New Mexico and New Jersey. A Microsoft representative on Tuesday defended the deal, saying in a statement that it "will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers." After the FTC sued, Microsoft President Brad Smith said, "We have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court." Private plaintiffs can pursue antitrust claims in U.S. court, even while a related U.S. agency case is pending. The FTC previously said it sued to stop "Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio."

☆ Washington state court blocks Albertsons special dividend
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Washington's state supreme court on Friday blocked Albertsons Companies Inc (ACI.N) from paying a special dividend ahead of its acquisition by Kroger Co (K.N), a court order showed. The court extended a block put in place by a lower court, and said the block would remain in place until a further order of the court. Reporting By Mike Scarcella in Washington, DC; writing by Peter Henderson; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The class members are Google Play Store individual consumers in 12 states, including Ohio, Michigan and Georgia, in addition to American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The plaintiffs' lawyers in the newly certified class action are jointly working with those state enforcers. Google has defended its Play Store business practices, denying the claims in the case before Donato and others. In arguing against class-action certification, attorneys for Google said the plaintiffs failed to show how they were harmed, an argument that Donato rejected. The class attorneys allege among other things that Google prohibited app developers from steering customers to competitors and used "misleading warnings to deter customers from downloading apps outside the Google Play Store."

Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERSWASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Biden administration ruled on Thursday that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has immunity from a lawsuit over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, drawing immediate condemnation from the slain journalist's former fiancee. In late September, Saudi King Salman named Prince Mohammed prime minister in a royal decree which a Saudi official said was in line with responsibilities that the crown prince was already exercising. FIST-BUMPBiden was criticized for fist-bumping the crown prince on a visit to Saudi Arabia in July to discuss energy and security issues. The White House said Biden had told Prince Mohammed that he considered him responsible for Khashoggi's killing. In a highly charged global atmosphere, the United States is keen to prevent its long-time ally from further distancing itself.

Nov 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday blocked key provisions of a Florida state law that curbs professors from endorsing particular viewpoints in public university classrooms, calling the measure "positively dystopian" in the latest blow to the Republican-enacted measure. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee said in a 139-page ruling that Florida's Individual Freedom Act, also known as the Stop WOKE Act, would have unlawfully required public university professors to self-censor. His ruling came in consolidated lawsuits filed by professors and students challenging the Individual Freedom Act, which Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis championed and signed into law in April. A spokesperson for DeSantis did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, nor did the Florida attorney general's office, which defended the law in court. Attorneys for Florida had argued that the state had full power to restrict what public university professors, as state employees, could say in their classrooms.

The antitrust plaintiffs' lawyers, Shana Scarlett of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Stephen Swedlow of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, on Monday did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment. A Facebook spokesperson did not immediately comment about whether the settlement might affect the antitrust case. The privacy settlement wrapped up allegations that Facebook continued to track users' web activity despite being logged out of the site. Facebook denied the privacy claims, and the company is fighting the allegations in the antitrust case. In the antitrust case, plaintiffs' lawyers at Hagens Berman and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart had asked Davila to include a sentence saying the resolution of the privacy settlement doesn't impact the antitrust litigation.

Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing that the ban from Twitter marked "overtly partisan censorship" and was "contrary to First Amendment principles deeply rooted in American history and law." His lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and a court order requiring Twitter to "immediately reinstate" his account that was permanently suspended on Jan. 8, 2021. A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, and a Twitter spokesperson did not immediately reply. A lawyer for Trump, John Coale in Washington, told Reuters on Monday, "We want him to have the right to get back on" to Twitter. Donato also denied Trump's claim that Twitter was serving as a "state actor" when it banned his account.

☆ Albertsons $4 bln dividend kept on hold by Washington court
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A customer leaves an Albertsons grocery store, as Kroger agrees to buy rival Albertsons in a deal to combine the two supermarket chains, in Riverside, California, U.S., October 14, 2022. Lawyers for Albertsons and Washington state, which sued over the dividend, agreed at a hearing on Thursday to allow the temporary hold to run at least until Schubert's hearing. Schubert said in court that he believes the state faces an "uphill" legal fight to block the dividend. He said he was not aware of a case in which a court granted an injunction in a similar dispute. A lawyer for Washington state, Eric Newman, said on Thursday that the court was moving too quickly.

The states filed their friend-of-the-court brief in San Jose, California, federal court, where the FTC in July asked a federal judge to bar Meta's acquisition of Los Angeles-based Within. The states, joined by the District of Columbia and Guam, said the deal threatens to "harm competition in the emerging virtual reality space." Circuit to revive the states' claims after a U.S. district court judge dismissed the case. Utah, which also signed the amicus brief, is leading a group of states in an antitrust lawsuit challenging how Google runs its app store. The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Meta Platforms Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No.

The litigation from Clark is his latest maneuver to beat back ethics charges stemming from his efforts while at the Justice Department to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Clark pressured Rosen and Donoghue to send Georgia a letter claiming falsely that the Justice Department had uncovered voting irregularities there. When they refused, he sought to get Trump to oust Rosen so he could be installed as Acting Attorney General. Both Rosen and Donoghue are expected to be called as witnesses at Clark's public disciplinary hearing in January. In a statement, one of Clark's attorneys said the ethics case against Clark represents a "flagrant misuse" of the disciplinary function and sets a "dangerous precedent."

☆ U.S. moves to dismiss price-fixing case against two former Pilgrim's Pride execs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Federal prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico to dismiss the case against Jason McGuire, who was a former executive vice president of sales at Pilgrim's Pride, and Timothy Stiller, a former general manager. In July, a Colorado jury found three other Pilgrim's Pride executives, and two executives of Claxton Poultry Farms, not guilty. The defendants who were acquitted then included former Pilgrims Pride chief executives William Lovett and Jayson Penn. Domenico in a separate order last week denied a bid from McGuire and Stiller to dismiss the case. Pilgrim's Pride agreed to pay a $110.5 million fine in 2020 after pleading guilty to the Justice Department's price-fixing charges.

Supporters of gay marriage rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington June 25, 2015. The Supreme Court in 2013 let Walker's ruling stand, paving a way for same-sex couples to marry in California. The Supreme Court in June 2015 in a landmark ruling of its own legalized gay marriage nationwide, ruling along the same constitutional grounds as Walker. The Supreme Court in 2010 rejected a bid to allow the trial to be publicly broadcast, finding that such a step was not allowed under the San Francisco federal court's rules. San Francisco-based KQED in 2017 asked a federal court to "unseal the tapes and permit them to be viewed by everyone."

The appeals court also said it would agree to reverse a portion of the lower court's order that required the government to hand over records with classification markings for the special master's review. A Justice Department spokesperson did not have an immediate comment. Cannon, a Trump appointee herself, appointed Dearie to serve as special master in the case at Trump's request, despite the Justice Department's objections about a special master. While it voiced disagreement, however, the Justice Department did not appeal that portion of Cannon's order. It is not clear if prosecutors may separately seek to appeal other parts of Cannon's ruling on the special master appointment.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not have an immediate comment. Cannon, a Trump appointee herself, appointed Dearie to serve as special master in the case at Trump's request. The Justice Department had objected to the appointment of a special master. As one of his defenses, Trump has claimed on social media posts without evidence that he declassified the records. While it voiced disagreement, however, the Justice Department did not appeal that portion of Cannon's order.

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