SEARCH AND DESTROY? - Hausfeld, Keller Lenkner and other lawyers filed a class action against Google on Tuesday in California Northern District Court on behalf of restaurants who allege that the company deceptively manipulates search engine results for profit. The case, brought on behalf of restaurant operators, contends that Google sells user inquiries to third-party food delivery companies without the restaurants’ consent. The complaint also accuses Google of engaging in a “bait-and-switch” scheme in which the search engine adds an “order online” button just below a restaurant’s tradename, misleading consumers to believe that the button will direct them to the restaurant but instead bringing them to an unauthorized page designed to increase orders and clicks for Google’s financial benefit. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.
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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
FIGHTING BACK - When Vladimir Putin first started talking about invading Ukraine, local law firms with offices in Russia shut their operations down. When Russia invaded Ukraine a little over two weeks ago, local firms severed ties with Russian clients and called on foreign businesses and law firms to do the same. Now, as Law.com International’s Linda A. Thompson reports, more than two weeks into Russia’s invasion, law firms have completely ceased their normal operations and are instead wielding their network of international business contacts to funnel military, logistic and financial resources into the country, as well as helping clients and civil society gather evidence of war damages and potential war crimes. “It’s our country, we have to protect it,” said Timur Bondaryev, founder and managing partner of the leading Ukrainian independent firm Arzinger. “Therefore, everybody’s doing what he or she is best fitted for.”
