California

  • February 14, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Rejects COVID Test Suit In Gilstrap-Authored Ruling

    A California federal judge properly found that Spectrum Solutions LLC didn't infringe a COVID-19 test maker's patent directed to preserving biological samples, the Federal Circuit said Friday in an opinion written by a top patent judge visiting the court.

  • February 14, 2025

    FCC Could Pull Equipment OKs For New Dahua US Owner

    The Federal Communications Commission is threatening to pull authorizations for a Taiwanese network infrastructure company's U.S. subsidiary, saying the company appears to be selling video surveillance products that are restricted as part of the commission's "covered list" of equipment found to pose a national security risk.

  • February 14, 2025

    Munger Tolles Gets $10M Retainer To Rep LA In Fire Litigation

    Munger Tolles & Olson LLP has signed a $10 million retainer agreement to represent the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in a series of lawsuits alleging it irresponsibly left a local reservoir empty ahead of last month's devastating Palisades Fire.

  • February 14, 2025

    Buchalter, Parker Milliken Get Stay In $19M Theft Suit

    A California judge on Friday granted a stay to Buchalter PC and Parker Milliken Clark O'Hara & Samuelian APC while the law firms appeal a decision denying their bid to arbitrate a lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to help their client bilk nearly $20 million from some trusts in a Ponzi scheme.

  • February 14, 2025

    Judge Upholds Pay-For-Delay Ban Law, But Only In Calif.

    A California federal judge has upheld part of a new state law that the Association for Accessible Medicines alleged unlawfully restricted "reverse payment" settlements between makers of brand-name and generic drugs, finding that the law's attempt to regulate deals outside of California runs afoul of the Constitution, but is otherwise valid.

  • February 14, 2025

    Calif. Insurance Chief Backs Wildfire Mitigation, Recovery Bills

    California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced his support Friday for a slew of bills aimed at addressing wildfire mitigation and recovery, including measures to maximize insurance claim payouts and stabilize the state's insurer of last resort.

  • February 14, 2025

    Wachtell Reps Seagate On $119M Deal For Intevac

    Mass-capacity data storage innovator Seagate Technology Holdings PLC, advised by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, has agreed to buy thin-film processing systems supplier Intevac Inc., led by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, in an all-cash deal valued at $119 million.

  • February 14, 2025

    Judges Suggest Withdrawal Was Optional In Dam Permit Spat

    D.C. Circuit judges Friday pressed a California water district on whether it was partly to blame for delays in recertifying two hydroelectric dams, suggesting it voluntarily agreed to the state board's requests that it refile the applications in order to avoid the Clean Water Act's certification time limit.

  • February 14, 2025

    Judge Allows Grower's 4th Amendment Claim In Hemp Crop Suit

    A California federal judge has partially reconsidered her prior order denying Kern County and its police officers' bid to dismiss claims by a hemp grower alleging they wrongly bulldozed 500 acres of crops, allowing the company's Fourth Amendment excessive destruction claim to proceed, but dismissing its due process claims.

  • February 14, 2025

    Camston Wrather Files For Ch. 7 With Over $100M In Debt

    California-based sustainable resource recovery company Camston Wrather LLC has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy listing liabilities between $100 million and $500 million along with up to $50 million in assets, citing insufficient funding to continue operations.

  • February 14, 2025

    White House Fires 2 Calif. US Attorneys Picked By Biden

    President Donald Trump directed the White House to fire the two remaining Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys in California on Wednesday in his latest push to purge the U.S. Department of Justice of officials appointed under the Biden administration.

  • February 14, 2025

    Womble Bond Adds BakerHostetler Business Partner In Irvine

    Womble Bond Dickinson has hired a former BakerHostetler partner, who joined the firm's business litigation practice group as a partner in Irvine, California.

  • February 14, 2025

    DOJ Takes Military Bias Dispute With Nev. To 9th Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Justice said it will appeal to the Ninth Circuit after a federal judge tossed its suit accusing the state of Nevada and its public employees retirement system of overcharging service members for pension credits.

  • February 14, 2025

    Judge Leaves Curbs On DOGE Treasury Access After Hearing

    A Manhattan federal judge left in place temporary curbs on sweeping powers handed by President Donald Trump to Elon Musk's government-slashing U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, after 19 states challenged the organization's access to U.S. Treasury payment systems.

  • February 13, 2025

    Trump Picks Atty Who Worked At Apple To Head NHTSA

    President Donald Trump has tapped Jonathan Morrison, an attorney with an automotive background who most recently worked at Apple Inc., to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to a recent U.S. Senate filing.

  • February 13, 2025

    Kimberly-Clark, P&G Dodge Tampon Fraud Claims, For Now

    A California federal judge on Thursday dismissed a woman's fraud claims accusing Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble of touting their Tampax and Kotex tampons as safe despite containing toxic levels of lead, saying that the putative class actions she filed lacked details on tests she asserted discovered the lead.

  • February 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Panel Doubts SEC's 'Gag Rule' Violates Free Speech

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday appeared to doubt a First Amendment challenge to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's "gag rule" that settling parties cannot deny allegations against them, as each judge noted that the agreements are voluntary.

  • February 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Undo Meta's $725M Privacy Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday affirmed Meta Platforms Inc.'s $725 million settlement resolving privacy claims over the Cambridge Analytica data harvesting scandal, finding that the California district court conducted a full review of the deal's terms before approving it.

  • February 13, 2025

    After Winning $18M, ASUSTek Foe Asks For New Patent Trial

    A patent litigation company that obtained a nearly $18 million award from a federal jury in Waco, Texas, against Taiwanese computer manufacturer ASUSTeK says it wants to try winning some more money at a new trial, though the company admitted it "recognizes the extraordinary nature of the relief it is requesting."

  • February 13, 2025

    SEC Nets $38M In Judgments Over Cannabis Fraud Claims

    A purported marijuana cultivation company and associated entities are on the hook for judgments worth nearly $38 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims over an alleged Ponzi-like scheme soliciting would-be investors in "nonexistent" grow facilities.

  • February 13, 2025

    US Will Weigh In As Justices Consider $1.3B India Award Suit

    The Trump administration is going to get argument time in front of the justices when the corporate arm of India's space agency faces off against a satellite telecom over the enforcement of a $1.3 billion arbitration award at the nation's highest court.

  • February 13, 2025

    Dem AGs Urge Companies To Keep DEI Programs In Place

    A coalition of 16 Democratic state attorneys general told companies Thursday not to immediately scrap programs meant to promote diversity, equity and inclusion within their organizations, saying these initiatives are largely legal despite threats from President Donald Trump's administration.

  • February 13, 2025

    Artists, AI Image Cos. At Odds Over Scale Of Depositions

    Artists in a proposed artificial intelligence copyright infringement class action against four companies that make or distribute software creating images with text prompts are at odds with the defendants over how many of their witnesses they should be allowed to depose, according to a filing in California federal court.

  • February 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives Air Force Guam Munitions Disposal Dispute

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a Guam community group's challenge to the U.S. Air Force's request for a renewed permit to explode expired munitions on the island, finding that the Air Force did not conduct a required environmental review.

  • February 13, 2025

    SoCal Judge Admonished For 'Demeaning' Female Lawyers

    A Southern California judge was publicly reprimanded by the state's judicial discipline agency Thursday for a yearslong "pattern of discourteous, undignified and impatient behavior" toward female attorneys, including the use of profanities and inappropriate gestures meant to convey the act of pumping breast milk. 

Expert Analysis

  • 2 High Court Securities Cases Could Clarify Pleading Rules

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    In granting certiorari in a pair of securities fraud cases against Facebook and Nvidia, respectively, the U.S. Supreme Court has signaled its intention to align interpretations of the heightened pleading standard under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act amid its uneven application among the circuit courts, say attorneys at V&E.

  • What 2 Key Rulings Mean For Solicitation Under TCPA

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    Two recent rulings from federal district courts in New York and California — each of which came to a different conclusion — bring to light courts' continued focus on and analysis of when an alleged communication constitutes a solicitation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, say Felix Shipkevich and Jessica Livingston at Shipkevich.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Payward And The Secondary Crypto Transaction Confusion

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    Following orders in cases against Coinbase and Binance, the recent California federal court ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Payward raises even more questions about regulation of secondary transactions involving crypto-assets, as it tries to sidestep fundamental flaws in the SEC's legal theories, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Takeaways From Texas AG's Novel AI Health Settlement

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    The Texas attorney general's recent action against a health tech company marks another step in rapidly proliferating enforcement against artificial intelligence and privacy issues across multiple states, and highlights important risk mitigation considerations for health companies that implement AI systems, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • What To Know About Latest Calif. Auto-Renewal Law Update

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    While businesses have about nine months to prepare before the recently passed amendment to California's automatic renewal law takes effect, it’s not too early to begin working on compliance efforts, including sign-up flow reviews, record retention updates and marketing language revisions, say Gonzalo Mon and Beth Chun at Kelley Drye.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from four recent class certification rulings involving denial of Medicare reimbursements, automobile insurance disputes, veterans' rights and automobile defects.

  • How Lucia, Jarkesy Could Affect Grocery Merger Challenge

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    While the Federal Trade Commission is taking a dual federal court and administrative tribunal approach to block Kroger's merger with Alberstons, Kroger's long-shot unconstitutionality claims could potentially lead to a reevaluation of the FTC's reliance on administrative processes in complex merger cases, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: The MDL Map

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    An intriguing yet unpredictable facet of multidistrict litigation practice is venue selection for new MDL proceedings, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation considers many factors when it assigns an MDL venue, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

  • What To Expect From Calif. Bill Regulating PE In Healthcare

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    A California bill currently awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's approval, intended to increase oversight over private equity and hedge fund investments in healthcare, is emblematic of recent increased scrutiny of investments in the space, and may affect transactions and operations in California in a number of ways, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives

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    As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.

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