Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse

Judges in New York’s federal appeals court have overturned a ruling that found Argentina liable to pay $16bn to former shareholders of the oil major YPF. Burford Capital, which financed the case, described the decision that overturned a judgement against Argentina for nationalising YPF in 2012 "very disappointing" and an "abandonment of minority shareholder rights." Bloomberg observes that the ruling is a significant victory for Argentine President Javier Milei, who had refused to negotiate with the plaintiffs, and helps clear his government’s path to a return to international markets at some point.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The U.S. Department of Justice has sent ​subpoenas in its investigation of Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, in a move which ‌shows the DOJ is moving ahead with its probe into the $110bn deal that would combine the two major studios, as well as the companies' streaming services and news operations. Reuters notes that Hollywood and Wall Street are intensely interested in the deal, which would bring together some of the entertainment industry's most lucrative franchises but be a blow ​to film and television jobs.

 

Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump has issued an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. The order, effective in 30 days, is indicative of Trump's ongoing opposition to DEI measures, which he claims hinder job opportunities for capable Americans. He said: "My Administration has made significant progress in ending racial discrimination in American society." Contractors must now include a clause in their bids affirming they will not engage in any racially discriminatory DEI activities. This latest move follows previous actions to dismantle diversity programs within federal agencies.

 

Barron's

Daily Mail

The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, regarding his prosecution for lying to the FBI. The settlement, revealed in a federal court filing in Tampa, Florida, includes an undisclosed payment to Flynn. Flynn, who pleaded guilty twice to charges related to his conversations with Russia's ambassador, later sought to withdraw his plea, claiming he was misled by prosecutors. His lawsuit, initiated in 2023, alleged malicious prosecution linked to the investigation by former Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and sought at least $50m in damages. Although the Justice Department initially contested the lawsuit, a federal judge dismissed the case in 2024 but allowed Flynn to file a revised complaint. Flynn revived the case after Trump returned to office.

 

U.S. News

Lebohang "Lebo M" Morake, the Grammy-award winning composer of the iconic "Circle of Life" chant from Disney's "The Lion King," is suing comedian Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, known as Learnmore Jonasi, for allegedly damaging his reputation through intentional mistranslation. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, claims Jonasi mocked the chant's cultural significance during his stand-up routines and a podcast, misrepresenting its meaning. Morake's complaint states that Jonasi's actions have caused over $20m in damages and seeks an additional $7m in punitive damages.

 

U.S. News

Baltimore, Annapolis, and Anne Arundel County in Maryland have lost their bid to convince the state's Supreme Court to revive their lawsuits seeking to recover damages over climate change from oil and gas companies. Bloomberg Law notes that the high court expressed the same skepticism in its decision as it did in October arguments: that the cases actually raise federal interests despite the municipality appellants casting them as purely centered on deceptive marketing in violation of state law.

 

Bloomberg Law

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued warnings to Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, and Stripe against denying customers access to financial services based on political or religious views, citing a recent executive order from President Trump targeting so-called “debanking.” FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson said that removing customers or restricting access in ways inconsistent with company policies could trigger investigations and enforcement under consumer protection laws, with particular scrutiny of allegations that some platforms have excluded users for ideological reasons. The move forms part of a broader push by the administration to address claims of discrimination within the financial system, though the companies have not publicly responded to the warnings.

 

Wall Street Journal

The European Commission has preliminarily found Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos in breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA) for failing to protect minors from being exposed to pornographic content on their services. The Commission's preliminary findings indicate that the companies did not diligently identify and assess the risks that their platforms pose to minors accessing their services. "Children are accessing adult content at increasingly younger ​ages and these platforms must put in place robust, privacy-preserving and effective measures to keep ​minors off their services," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen sai.

 

European Commission

Le Monde

Politico

Reuters

U.S. children's gaming platform Roblox is to introduce content and communications controls for players under 16 in ​Indonesia to comply with the country's social media ‌block for children. Roblox was among platforms identified by the Communications and Digital Ministry earlier this month as ​high risk. "This week, we announced that in order to ​address regional requirements in Indonesia, we will soon introduce additional controls ‌on ⁠content and communication for players under the age of 16 years old in Indonesia," Matt Kaufman, Roblox's Chief Safety Officer, said.

 

Reuters

OpenAI has shelved plans to release an erotic chatbot “indefinitely” amid concerns from employees and investors about the effect of sexualised AI content on society. “AI shouldn’t replace your friends or your family; you should have human connections,” commented one former senior employee, who said they left OpenAI in part due to the issue.

 

TechCrunch

Engadget

Financial Times

Reuters