Antitrust Law

Caddies’ $50M suit says PGA Tour usurps endorsement opportunities with bib requirement

A class action lawsuit filed on behalf of professional golf caddies claims the PGA Tour forces them to wear bibs displaying the logos of corporate sponsors without sharing the revenue generated. The complaint (PDF), filed in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday, values the bib sponsorships at $50 million a…

Feb 4, 2015 10:31 AM CST

After last-minute lead plaintiff substitution, iPod users seek $350M at trial and get zilch

Corrected: A $350 million federal class action noteworthy for its last-minute appointment of a new lead plaintiff made it the jury this week—only to have the jury rule for the defendant company after about three hours of deliberation. The jury on Tuesday found Apple Inc. not liable for allegedly suppressing…

Dec 16, 2014 3:55 PM CST

Judge boots lead plaintiff in $350M case at trial against Apple, orders counsel to find a substitute

Agreeing with Apple Inc. that the only remaining lead plaintiff in a $350 million class action over iPods didn’t actually purchase one of the devices at issue, a federal judge has booted her from the case. However, rather than dismiss the antitrust case, which is at trial in Oakland, California,…

Dec 9, 2014 2:00 PM CST

Does $350M case at trial against Apple have a lead plaintiff? Judge hasn’t yet ruled

One of two lead plaintiffs dropped out of a $350 million antitrust class action against Apple Inc. last week, after lawyers for the computer goliath questioned whether she had purchased one of the iPods at issue in the California case. However, the federal judge overseeing the trial that is now…

Dec 8, 2014 5:40 PM CST

Uh-oh. Did lead plaintiffs seeking $350M in Apple trial purchase iPods as required?

Several days into the trial of a federal antitrust class action in which some 8 million iPod purchasers seek $350 million in damages from Apple Inc., a problem has arisen. It isn’t clear that the two lead plaintiffs did, in fact, purchase devices at issue in the nearly 10-year-old case,…

Dec 5, 2014 10:15 AM CST

Plaintiffs are seeking $1B in Apple trial over software that required iTunes to be played on iPods

Technology has moved on in the nearly 10 years since a class action was filed against Apple Inc. over the company’s handling of songs downloaded onto iPods from its iTunes Music Store. However, that won’t prevent the computer goliath from being hit with a costly damages award, if a federal…

Dec 4, 2014 10:25 AM CST

Google wins SLAPP motion, has constitutional right to list search results as it wishes

Unhappy about search-engine results that put its website way down in the list of results, the owner of CoastNews sued Google, alleging antitrust law issues and seeking some $5 million in damages. But the search-engine Goliath not only prevailed but did so in a motion to dismiss under California’s SLAPP…

Nov 18, 2014 2:30 PM CST

Clippers sale is completed as Donald Sterling files challenge with appeals court

A probate judge’s final order on Tuesday cleared the way for the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer for $2 billion. The sale was completed as Donald Sterling sought an emergency order from a California appeals court to unwind the sale, report the…

Aug 13, 2014 12:42 PM CDT

Judge rules ban on payments to college athletes is an antitrust violation

A federal judge in Oakland, California, has ruled that the NCAA’s ban on payments to college athletes for use of their names and images is an antitrust violation. The 99-page ruling on Friday by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken said the NCAA could cap the payments to athletes, though the…

Aug 11, 2014 1:45 PM CDT

State AG sues 2 foreclosure law firms; one agrees to pay $10M and sell or close down

The Colorado attorney general filed suit Tuesday against the state’s biggest foreclosure law firms and two related companies. He alleges they racked up millions of dollars in profits by charging excessive fees to all parties involved in the cases, in violation of antitrust, consumer protection and debt-collection statutes. One of…

Jul 16, 2014 8:06 PM CDT

Apple OKs high-low settlement of as little as zero and as much as $400M in e-book price-fixing case

Faced with ongoing federal antitrust litigation contending that Apple Inc. conspired with publishers to fix the prices of e-books, the company insists that it did nothing wrong. However, Apple has nonetheless agreed to a high-low settlement of the case, contingent on what happens in a pending federal appeal, according to…

Jul 16, 2014 5:59 PM CDT

Solo lawyer says someone hijacked her bar number for rogue legal filing in high-profile federal case

California solo practitioner Cathy Jones says she isn’t affiliated with a firm called Briggs Jones Law, and she didn’t file a motion that urged U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh to recuse herself in a high-profile case. But someone using that law firm name along with Jones’ name, bar number and…

Jul 10, 2014 11:14 AM CDT

LegalZoom hits a legal hurdle in North Carolina

Corrected: While the purveyor of online self-help documents LegalZoom was still probably celebrating the South Carolina Supreme Court’s approval of its business model in March, two weeks later, just over the border in North Carolina, a judge breathed extended life into a case claiming the company engages in the unauthorized…

May 19, 2014 10:27 PM CDT

NBA owner Donald Sterling suspended for life, and experts say his legal options are limited

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling was banned for life from the National Basketball Association and fined $2.5 million after a recording surfaced over the weekend of him making racist and sexist statements. In a press conference in New York City on Tuesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that Sterling…

Apr 29, 2014 11:40 PM CDT

Apple, Google settle in claimed conspiracy to put a lid on tech salaries; workers had sought $3B

With a trial looming next month in a federal class action in which over 64,000 tech workers were seeking $3 billion in damages, some of Silicon Valley’s biggest companies have agreed to settle claims that they conspired to put a lid on salaries. The amount of the settlement by Adobe…

Apr 25, 2014 11:05 AM CDT