The latest Legal Practice Pulse innovations, trends, actions and strategies shaping the working world

  • Google should share search data with third-party engines, EU says

    Google should share search data with third-party engines, EU says

    The European Commission has said Google should allow third-party search engines, including that of artificial ?intelligence chatbots with search functionalities, to access its search data in order to comply with the Digital Markets Act. Clare Kelly, senior competition counsel at Google, said the company would contest the measures, which it said overreached and would jeopardise…

  • IBM to pay $17m in DEI settlement

    IBM to pay $17m in DEI settlement

    IBM has agreed to pay roughly $17m to resolve allegations of illegal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. The DOJ had said the company “knowingly” made “false claims” about its hiring and employment practices in its federal contracts. IBM allegedly identified “diverse” candidates for hiring or promotions, while developing race and sex demographic goals. “IBM…

  • Italian court accepts legal action over Facebook mass breach

    Italian court accepts legal action over Facebook mass breach

    A court in Milan has given the go-ahead to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of tens of millions of Facebook users affected by a data leak. According to the court ?order, the data scraping incident, ?which took place between January 2018 and ?September 2019 and was disclosed ?by Facebook parent Meta in 2021, affected around…

  • Google sued by rival app store over alleged monopoly

    Google sued by rival app store over alleged monopoly

    An antitrust lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court accuses Google of shutting out rival Android app stores by monopolizing app distribution ?and billing, in violation of U.S. antitrust law. Aptoide, a Portuguese company that bills itself as “the alternative Android app store,” ?and has about 436,000 apps in its catalog and more than 200…

  • Long Covid to cost up to $135bn a year over the next decade

    Long Covid to cost up to $135bn a year over the next decade

    Research suggests long Covid is likely to cost up to $135bn a year across OECD economies over the next decade. Direct healthcare costs combined with the wider effect of people leaving the workforce and lower productivity will have a lasting impact, the global forum said. The OECD found that only six countries have formal pathways…

  • Abbott Laboratories must pay at least $53m in cases over infant formula

    Abbott Laboratories must pay at least $53m in cases over infant formula

    A Chicago jury has said Abbott Laboratories must pay $53m in compensatory damages to a group of families that had accused the company of failing to warn that its formula for premature infants can cause a potentially deadly bowel disease. The verdict ?is the latest among hundreds of lawsuits alleging that Abbott’s ?cow’s milk-based formula…