Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse
19th March 2026
 
THE HOT STORY
DOJ antitrust head says acquihires are a 'red flag'
The top U.S. antitrust enforcer has told Reuters that so-called acquihires, whereby firms - notably in the technology sector - pay ​large sums in deals with startups to ​take their technology and talent, but stop short of ⁠formally acquiring the target, are a “red flag.” Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed ​Assefi said: "When I see conduct that appears aimed to circumvent [the formal merger review process], as a litigator, as an enforcer, that's more of a red flag to ​me than if ​you had ⁠just participated and complied [with the review process]." Assefi said companies should be willing to engage ​in ⁠the merger review process.
LEGAL
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LAWSUITS
White House defends Anthropic blacklisting in U.S. court
The Trump administration has in a court filing said that the Pentagon’s blacklisting of Anthropic was justified and lawful, and it opposes the artificial intelligence lab’s ​lawsuit challenging the decision. The legal filing says Anthropic is unlikely to succeed on its claims that its speech protections were violated under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, asserting the dispute stems from contract ​negotiations and national security concerns rather than retaliation. "It was only when Anthropic refused to release the ⁠restrictions on the use of its products - which refusal is conduct, not protected speech - that the President ​directed all federal agencies to terminate their business relationships with Anthropic," the filing from ​the U.S. Justice Department said, observing that "no one has purported to restrict Anthropic’s expressive activity."
BMG sues Anthropic for alleged AI training use
Music giant BMG has sued artificial intelligence company Anthropic for allegedly using its copyrighted lyrics ‌to train the large language models powering its Claude chatbot. BMG said in the complaint filed in ​California federal court that Anthropic infringed hundreds ⁠of copyrights by copying and reproducing lyrics from hit ​songs by the Rolling Stones and many other prominent rock and pop musicians. "Anthropic’s practice of training AI models on copyrighted works sourced from unauthorized torrent sites, among other acts, stands in direct opposition to ​the standards required ​of any responsible ⁠participant in the AI community," BMG said in a statement.
Sole survivor of fatal Cybertruck crash files lawsuit against Tesla
The sole survivor of a 2024 Cybertruck crash in California has sued Tesla over the incident, which killed three college students who were unable to escape the burning vehicle. Jordan Miller's complaint alleges that Tesla "consciously disregarded the safety of occupants in Tesla vehicles, and prioritized aesthetics over function" despite having knowledge of the dangers of its door systems. "A vehicle shouldn't become a trap once you're in an accident," said Anthony Label, Miller's attorney. "There should be a way to get out." Tesla did not respond to NBC Bay Area's request for comment on Tuesday.
SEC and Musk discuss 'potential resolution' to lawsuit
The Securities and Exchange ‌Commission (SEC) and Elon Musk are in talks to settle the agency's lawsuit accusing the world's richest person of waiting too long in 2022 to disclose his initial purchases of Twitter, which he eventually purchased for $44bn. In a court filing, the SEC and Musk said ​they are "engaged in discussions of a potential resolution that would mean further proceedings might not be necessary."
LAW
Trump officials weigh $1bn deal to stop offshore wind farms
Trump administration officials are drafting agreements to pay nearly $1bn to ​oil major TotalEnergies as compensation for the cancellation of leases for ‌wind farms in federal waters off New York State and North Carolina. Under the terms of the proposed settlements, the U.S. Interior ​Department will cancel the leases in federal waters for the Attentive Energy and Carolina Long Bay projects, while the Justice Department would pay more than $928m to the developers to reimburse them for their winning bids in lease sales. “It is quite unusual for the administration to do this cash outlay, seemingly just because Trump doesn’t like offshore wind,” observed John Leshy, who served as the general counsel for the Interior Department during the Clinton administration.
DOJ to allow hiring of U.S. prosecutors straight from law school
The Justice Department has relaxed its hiring policy for federal prosecutors, allowing new hires straight out of law school amid a shortage of qualified candidates. Traditionally, many U.S. attorney's offices required at least three years of legal experience, but the new standards enable districts including Minnesota and Southern Florida to onboard fresh graduates.
CASES
Cesar Chavez abused and raped women and girls, NYT investigation says
An investigation by The New York Times has brought to light allegations against the late labor leader Cesar Chavez, claiming he sexually abused two girls in the 1970s and raped Dolores Huerta, his longtime partner in the United Farm Workers. The United Farm Workers acknowledged the claims, saying: "Allegations that very young women or girls may have been victimized are crushing." In light of the revelations, celebrations honoring Chavez have been canceled, and calls for renaming schools and murals have emerged. The Cesar Chavez Foundation has pledged to support victims and address the allegations.
CORPORATE
Microsoft considers legal action over $50bn Amazon-OpenAI cloud deal
Microsoft is weighing legal action against its partner OpenAI and Amazon over a $50bn deal that could violate its exclusive ​cloud agreement with the ChatGPT maker, the Financial Times reports. The dispute ​centers on whether OpenAI can offer Frontier via Amazon Web Services without violating the ​Microsoft partnership, which requires the start-up's models to be accessed through the ⁠Windows-OS maker's Azure cloud platform.
REGULATION
FTC is looking at how drug companies react to patent cliff
Dan Guarnera, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's head of antitrust enforcement, has said the agency will be monitoring for anticompetitive practices in the pharmaceutical ‌industry as a number of blockbuster drugs come to the end of their patents. "We ⁠are always happy to hear concerns from market participants, including generics and patient groups, to make sure ​that the entry of generics can happen as it's designed to under the patent laws," he said.
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
Google proposes new search controls amid U.K. scrutiny
Google has said it is developing new ​search controls to let websites specifically opt out of its generative AI features, as ‌the company moved to address the concerns of the Competition and Markets Authority, Britain's competition regulator, about its dominance in search services. Reuters reports that Google has also proposed "a less intrusive" switch in a user's device settings to make it ​easier to change the default search engine, rather than frequent pop-ups, which it said would ​annoy users.
INTERNATIONAL
Slovakia keeps whistleblower office after EU funding threat
Slovakia’s government has repealed legislation to abolish its Whistleblower Protection Office after it said the European Commission had threatened to withhold funds tied to anti-corruption standards. The latest planned payment to Slovakia under the the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Plan, which amounted to €591m ($680m), was given the go-ahead by the bloc in January but had not yet been disbursed. Bloomberg notes that the move to repeal the law underscores the importance of EU funding for the eastern European country.
OTHER
Powell says he will remain Fed chief until successor is confirmed
Jerome Powell, the Chair of the Federal Reserve, said on Wednesday that he would continue to lead the central bank until his replacement, Kevin Warsh, was confirmed by the Senate. Powell also said he will not leave his Board of Governors position, which technically extends until early 2028, until the Department of Justice investigation of him is “well and truly over with transparency and finality.” Critics say the investigation is part of a broader, politically motivated pressure campaign on Powell and the institution, with the goal of having him lower interest rates or resign, CNBC notes.

 

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