California

  • October 01, 2026

    Calif. AG Latest To Subpoena OpenAI Over Hacking Risks

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta revealed Thursday that he has served an investigative subpoena on OpenAI as part of his office's broader probe into cybersecurity risks posed by the company's artificial intelligence models, including a recent incident where its autonomous AI agents hacked third-party platform Hugging Face. 

  • October 01, 2026

    Quince Gets Williams Sonoma's False Ad Suit Axed For Now

    A California federal judge threw out Williams-Sonoma Inc.'s lawsuit accusing online retailer Quince of trying to dupe consumers into believing its goods are the same as Williams Sonoma's products at discounted prices, though the judge gave Williams Sonoma the opportunity to take another stab at its complaint.

  • October 01, 2026

    Judge Should Penalize Meta $40B In Latest Trial, NM Argues

    The state of New Mexico asked a judge Thursday to penalize Meta $35 billion to $40 billion for statements that a jury found grossly misrepresented the social media giant's actual data privacy practices, while Meta argued no harm was proven and the damages should be in the $345 million to $3.45 billion range.

  • October 01, 2026

    States Sue Trump Over 'Theft' Of $810M Congressional Funds

    California and six other states sued the Trump administration in San Francisco federal court, alleging the executive branch's unlawful clawback of $810 million that was appropriated by Congress for a number of programs that the president dislikes is "tantamount to theft."

  • October 01, 2026

    Bipartisan Legislation Floated To Fight Foreign-Website Piracy

    The two chambers of Congress have introduced related legislation that would allow U.S. courts to direct internet service providers to block foreign criminal and piracy sites within the U.S.

  • October 01, 2026

    Apple Says YouTube's Bad Protections Doom AI Scraping Suit

    Apple urged a California federal judge Thursday to toss a proposed class action brought by YouTube creators alleging it violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provisions by scraping copyrighted videos to train its AI tools, arguing there was no circumvention and any access controls fell outside the DMCA because they were "ineffective."

  • October 01, 2026

    OpenAI Loses $1M Fee Award After Defeating SpaceXAI Suit

    A California federal judge on Wednesday rejected OpenAI's request for $1 million in attorney fees after the company defeated a trade secrets suit from SpaceXAI, ruling that although Musk's artificial intelligence company's allegations ultimately fell short, they weren't objectively specious.

  • October 01, 2026

    Fate Of Patent Awards Over $1B Shows Hurdles In Apple Case

    Taction Technology Inc. has secured the largest patent damages verdict in history with a $5.7 billion win against Apple Inc., but it may face an uphill battle to collect, since nearly every previous patent judgment over $1 billion was later reduced or overturned.

  • October 01, 2026

    UCLA Law Is Latest DOJ Target Over Race Bias In Admissions

    The U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division accused the UCLA School of Law of discriminating against white and Asian students in its admissions process in a letter sent to the school's counsel Thursday, following multiple other similar letters that the DOJ sent to other higher-education institutions.

  • October 01, 2026

    Customers Ask 9th Circ. To Halt Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal

    Streaming service customers are asking the Ninth Circuit to step in and stop Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery until a court can decide if their antitrust suit challenging the merger will be dismissed.

  • October 01, 2026

    DOJ's RealPage Deal Doesn't End States' Antitrust Claims

    A North Carolina federal court has refused to toss antitrust claims from state enforcers accusing RealPage of providing software that allows residential building owners to inflate rents, despite RealPage's settlement in the case with the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 01, 2026

    Super Micro Fraud Suit Dismissed Over Vague Allegations

    Super Micro Computer has beaten, for now, a shareholder suit accusing it of violating a previous settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over accounting improprieties, with a California federal judge finding the allegations vague and lacking specificity.

  • October 01, 2026

    Ex-Actavis Exec Escapes Some Drug Price-Fixing Claims

    A Connecticut federal judge has dismissed a swath of claims against a former executive of Actavis and Taro in the generic drug price‑fixing litigation brought by state enforcers, holding that evidence was insufficient to prove he joined several alleged single‑drug conspiracies.

  • October 01, 2026

    Aya Health Tells 9th Circ. It Needn't Seek Suits Against Itself

    Aya Healthcare urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to undo an order pausing its wage-and-hour arbitration bid, arguing that requiring the travel nursing agency to first notify 400,000 workers of the collective action before deciding whether arbitration is appropriate violates the Federal Arbitration Act and essentially forces Aya to solicit lawsuits against itself.

  • October 01, 2026

    Aerospace Co. Jettisons Suit Over 401(k) Management

    An aerospace technology subsidiary of Honeywell escaped a lawsuit claiming it unlawfully concealed investment policy documents from former plan participants who claimed the company's retirement plan was mismanaged, with a California federal judge concluding the participants weren't harmed by the lack of disclosure.

  • October 01, 2026

    Blue States Fight EPA Rollback Of Power Plant Climate Rules

    A New York-led coalition of mostly Democratic states and municipalities lodged a petition on Thursday before the D.C. Circuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent repeal of Biden-era limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants.

  • October 01, 2026

    Calif. Judge Vacates Trump's $100K H-1B Fee Policies

    A California federal judge has vacated the implementing policies underlying President Donald Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee, saying the federal agencies charged with implementing the fee ran afoul of rulemaking procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • October 01, 2026

    Bill Withers' Estate Sues Capitol, UMG Over Olivia Dean Song

    Capitol Records, Universal Music Group, Sony and others were sued Thursday in California federal court by the late R&B and soul singer Bill Withers' music publisher, which accused them of infringing the melody of his song "Just the Two of Us" for Olivia Dean's song "I've Seen It."

  • October 01, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Galderma In Injection Training IP Case

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed an order clearing Galderma SA of a medical training startup's accusations that it misappropriated trade secrets related to an injection training system and derailed what could have been a lucrative deal with Allergan PLC.

  • October 01, 2026

    Meta Beats Calif. Drivers' DMV Data Collection Suit

    A California federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action alleging Meta Platforms Inc. illegally obtained information from the state's Department of Motor Vehicles through its Pixel software, saying the plaintiffs leading the complaint haven't shown that Meta got any personal or embarrassing information.

  • October 01, 2026

    Buchalter Data Breach Exposed Calif. Hospital Patient Data

    California-based Buchalter PC suffered a data breach in August that exposed a limited amount of personal information belonging to patients at Los Angeles-area hospital Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, according to a letter Arrowhead sent Monday to affected individuals.

  • October 01, 2026

    Google Shakes Suit Over Search Engine Default Agreements

    A proposed consumer class action accusing Google of monopolizing the online search market has been tossed by a California federal judge who said the plaintiffs didn't provide evidence showing that "better" options could have been available if Google hadn't struck default search engine deals with Apple and other companies.

  • October 01, 2026

    Ambiguous Bond Terms Net FDIC Win In SVB Coverage Fight

    Two insurers must provide coverage to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as receiver for Silicon Valley Bank, for the bank's claim for losses from a $73 million fraud scheme, a North Carolina federal judge ruled, finding ambiguity in bond contract language tipped the scales in the insured's favor.

  • October 01, 2026

    Snell & Wilmer Nabs IP Pro In California From Morgan Lewis

    Snell & Wilmer announced Thursday it has hired a former Morgan Lewis & Bockius attorney to join its intellectual property group, with a focus on life sciences and technology. 

  • October 01, 2026

    Lyft To Pay $272.5M To Settle California Misclassification Suit

    Lyft has agreed to pay $272.5 million in what California officials called the largest settlement of its kind in state history, resolving claims that the ride-hailing company misclassified drivers as independent contractors and denied them wages and benefits, the state announced Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

  • AI Note-Taking Suits May Fill Gap In Privacy Law Structure

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    A recent class action against Granola joins other pending lawsuits against AI note-taking providers, highlighting the legal uncertainty surrounding these tools, but there are practical steps companies using "invisible" AI services can take to mitigate risk, including conducting inventories and reviewing access permissions, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • How 'Swap' Fight Underpins Prediction Market Enforcement

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    As courts around the country grapple with whether, and under what circumstances, event contracts qualify as swaps, federal enforcement authority hangs in the balance, with implications for companies that need to manage compliance risks during this period of legal uncertainty, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • FDA Closeout Letter Suggests Relaxing Stance On Wearables

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent decision not to pursue enforcement action against Whoop's wearable blood pressure tracker, read together with guidance released earlier this year, suggests a softer shift in the FDA's approach to regulating wearables, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • How Rogue AI May Shape Corporate Liability, Responsibility

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    Recent artificial intelligence cyber incidents offer a window into how companies deploying autonomous systems should document risk controls even when systems exceed their intended boundaries, as jurors may treat unexpected AI conduct as foreseeable evidence of inadequate safeguards, says Jorge Monroy at Verdict Insight Partners.

  • The State Of Prediction Market Litigation After 9th Circ. Ruling

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Kalshi v. Assad gives state regulators significant appellate backing to enforce state gaming laws over prediction markets, creating a direct split with the Third Circuit that will likely lead to Supreme Court review of the question, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Meta Layoff Suit Serves As Early Test Of AI Bias Claims

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    A lawsuit in California federal court alleging that Meta's use of artificial intelligence in recent layoffs negatively affected employees on protected leave provides insight for plaintiffs about what evidence to preserve and how to build these discrimination claims, says Manny Starr at Frontier Law Center.

  • Series

    Ballet Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of learning and performing ballet taught me that success — whether in dance or practicing law — comes only through hours of thorough preparation, boundless energy and relentless effort, says Sharon Katz-Pearlman at Greenberg Traurig.

  • 9th Circ. 'Bad Spaniels' Ruling Rewrites TM Dilution Playbook

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling that each element of the Jack Daniel's packaging parodied by the Bad Spaniels dog toy must be independently assessed for fame narrows trademark owners' ability to use a flagship mark's halo effect to protect the entire brand from tarnishment, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • How Texas' Protein Powder Probe Reflects Prop 65's Influence

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    Texas' recently announced investigation into contaminants in protein powder illustrates how California's Proposition 65, with its hundreds of listed chemicals, safe harbor levels and consumer warnings, may have an influence on enforcement and regulation in other states, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • Calif. Ruling Opens Del. Cos. Up To Stockholder Inspection

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    A California appellate court's recent decision in Salamon v. Orchid Global underscores that despite last year's amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware companies with principal operations in California remain subject to California's broader and more stockholder-protective inspection regime, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • 10 Ways To Avoid Privacy Risks Revealed In AI Notetaker Suits

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    Litigation claiming Otter.ai trained its AI-powered transcription tool on user conversations and a recent complaint alleging Granola’s notetaking bot joined video calls unbeknownst to participants show companies should assess these technologies as communications-capture tools with privacy and wiretap risks, says Jennifer Ruehr at Hintze Law.

  • What 9th Circ. Devas Ruling Means For AI Infrastructure Deals

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent confirmation of a $2 billion arbitration award in Devas Multimedia's arbitration against a state-owned commercial arm of India’s space agency creates a cross-border enforcement road map for disputes that are bound to arise from the current generation of artificial intelligence infrastructure deals, says Fernanda Merouco at Davis Wright.

  • 9th Circ. Wage Ruling Shows Arbitration Pacts Are Still Useful

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    After years of uncertainty for California employers, the Ninth Circuit’s recent Cocom v. ABM Aviation decision signals that workplace arbitration agreements remain a powerful and enforceable tool — if thoughtfully drafted and employment-focused, says Benjamin Runge at Thompson Coburn.

  • The Expanding Litigation Front Against The Data Center Boom

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    A survey of environmental and land use claims raised in disputes over data center projects across the country shows that the outcomes of these disputes will have significant implications not only for the future of data center development, but for infrastructure projects in general, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

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