Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse

A young woman has successfully sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media. Jurors in Los Angeles found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, the owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the 20-year old's mental health. The woman, known as Kaley, was awarded $6m in damages. Jurors found that Kaley should receive $3m in compensatory damages and an additional $3m punitive damages, because they determined Meta and Google "acted with malice, oppression, or fraud" in the way the companies operated their platforms. Meta will be expected to shoulder 70% of Kaley's damages award, and Google the remaining 30%. Meta and Google said they disagreed with the verdict and intended to appeal. The landmark verdict is potentially setting precedent for thousands of other pending lawsuits nationwide, and the case could reshape how tech companies are held accountable for children’s harm from their products.

 

Financial Times

Los Angeles Times

BBC News

Baltimore is the first major U.S. city to file a complaint against Elon Musk's xAI concerning issues with its Grok image generator. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in an emailed statement to CNBC that sexual deepfakes on Grok “have traumatic, lifelong consequences for victims . . . We’re talking about tech companies enabling the sexual exploitation of children.” Scott wrote: “Our city will not stand by and allow this to continue; it’s a threat to privacy, dignity, and public safety, and those responsible must be held accountable.” A complaint filed in Baltimore Circuit ⁠Court said xAI is violating the city's consumer protection statute by promoting Grok as a safe, general-purpose ​artificial intelligence assistant for everyday people.

 

CNBC	The Guardian

A refinery worker has taken legal action against Valero Energy Corporation following an explosion at the company’s Port Arthur, Texas facility earlier this week. The legal action claims Valero failed to maintain proper safety standards at the refinery. Jonathan Jaimes filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Jefferson County District Court in Beaumont, Texas. He is seeking damages exceeding $1m. "(Jaimes) ​played no role in the tasks or events leading to the explosion. ​The blast and heat from the fire of the explosion caused (Jaimes) to be thrown ‌to ⁠the ground and injured, as a result of the explosion," according to the lawsuit.

 

Reuters

Reuters reports that SEC Enforcement Division Director Margaret Ryan - who resigned last week after just over six months in the role - had clashed with agency leaders over the direction of its enforcement program, including the handling of cases with ties to President ​Donald Trump and his family, according to three people familiar with the matter. Ryan wished for a more aggressive pursuit of charges for fraud and other misconduct including in cases that touched the president's circle, but faced resistance from the likes of SEC chair Paul Atkins, two of the people said.

 

Reuters

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has questioned whether a small credit rating provider that has been criticized for its grades on private credit loans can “consistently produce credit ratings with integrity.” The SEC expressed doubts about Egan-Jones's ability to rate government debt and asset-backed securities, citing questions about the firm's financial and managerial resources. The agency said it will hold a hearing and decide by August 12 on whether to grant or deny the firm's application to regain its ability to grade government debt and asset-backed securities after a 2013 ban.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Legal AI startup Harvey has raised $200m in fresh capital at an $11bn valuation. The company offers AI tools for legal and professional services that can streamline contract analysis, compliance, due diligence and litigation. The company’s products are used by more than 100,000 lawyers across 1,300 organizations, according to a press release. “AI isn’t just assisting lawyers. It’s becoming the system through which legal work gets done,” said Harvey CEO and co-founder Winston Weinberg. “The law firms and in-house teams leading the way are building agents that execute complex workflows so lawyers can focus on judgement, strategy and outcomes.”

 

Bloomberg

CNBC

Silicon Republic

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has said people's perception of skilled trades must change. The boss of the world's largest asset manager observed that the average plumber had been portrayed on television as being overweight and having their pants hanging below their waistline, while investment bankers are idolised in drama series like Industry. "I think what we did [was] wrong," he said. "We really put judgment on so many jobs and so many people who probably should not have gone into banking or media or law, probably should have been a great worker with their hands, and we need to now rebalance that approach." He told the BBC that, in the US after World War Two, "we built the foundation of education, and we said to all the young people, go to college, go to college, go to college. And we probably overdid it." He added: "We need to balance that out, and we need to be proud that . . . a career can be just as strong in these fields of plumbing and electricians."

 

BBC News

A White & Case employee says the law firm discriminated and retaliated against him when he demanded an investigation into the dissemination of intimate photos taken of him at a work party. The complaint filed in the Bronx County Supreme Court by the plaintiff, known as John Doe, says the firm, and especially its parties, have become a “breeding ground for misconduct, sexual harassment, and the degradation of minority employees.”

 

Bloomberg Law

China-ruled Macau lawmakers have unanimously passed a bill allowing court proceedings to be held behind closed doors to protect national security. The legislation requires judges to refer cases to the Committee for Safeguarding National Security if public hearings could risk security. The committee's decisions on whether to close hearings are final and not subject to appeal. The law follows the 2023 amendments to the national security law, which led to the arrest of leading democrat Au Kam San for alleged collusion with foreign forces. Rights groups have condemned the move, urging the release of Au and opposing suppression of peaceful criticism.

 

U.S. News

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has reprimanded Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau for issuing a video statement in English only following a runway collision at LaGuardia Airport that killed two pilots. Air Canada, as a federal government-regulated entity, is subject to the Official Languages Act, and as such it is required to provide equal services in English and French. Quebec Premier Francois Legault said "if [Rousseau] still doesn't speak French, that's disrespectful to his French-speaking employees and customers" and "he should resign." All that Rousseau said in French when he provided an update on the situation in English was “bonjour” at the beginning and “merci” at the end.

 

Bloomberg