California

  • October 21, 2024

    AI Software Developer Genesys Confidentially Files IPO

    Artificial intelligence-based software developer Genesys Cloud Services Inc. said Monday it has confidentially filed plans for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, joining other AI-linked prospects preparing for IPOs.

  • October 21, 2024

    SpaceX Firing Suit Belongs In State Court, Ex-Workers Say

    Terminated SpaceX employees on Monday urged a California federal judge to remand their hostile work environment and retaliation case to state court due to lack of diversity jurisdiction, arguing that when they first sued, SpaceX's principal place of business was Hawthorne, California, not Starbase, Texas, where the company later moved.

  • October 21, 2024

    3rd Take's The Charm For Terrence Howard in CAA Suit

    A Los Angeles judge Monday declined to dismiss "Empire" star Terrence Howard's suit alleging Creative Artists Agency's conflicting interests led him to accept a salary below industry standards, finding the latest version of the complaint adequately addressed her statute of limitations concerns.  

  • October 21, 2024

    Ontrak Jury Lacked Key Compliance Instruction, Judge Told

    Counsel for convicted Ontrak founder Terren Peizer urged a California federal judge Monday to grant a new trial in the healthcare executive's novel insider trading case, saying jurors weren't properly instructed that they should acquit if Peizer's $20 million share sale was blessed by a compliance officer.

  • October 21, 2024

    Sidley Boosts Litigation Team With Latham Trial Atty In LA

    Sidley Austin LLP is boosting its Southern California litigation team, announcing Monday it is bringing in a Latham & Watkins LLP "bet-the-company" trial attorney as a partner in its Century City office in Los Angeles.

  • October 21, 2024

    Goodwin Steers Biotech Firm Septerna's Plans For $175M IPO

    Biotechnology firm Septerna Inc. on Monday launched plans for an estimated $175 million initial public offering, joining a hot market for drug developers of late, under guidance from Goodwin Procter LLP and underwriters' counsel Cooley LLP.

  • October 21, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives Atty's ADA Suit Against Calif. Bar

    The State Bar of California may not have sovereign immunity that would allow it to duck an attorney's federal lawsuit claiming it failed to provide him with adequate disability accommodations during a bar exam amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ninth Circuit said Monday.

  • October 21, 2024

    20-Year FBI Vet Joins Motion Picture Association In California

    A former supervisory special agent with the FBI has joined the Motion Picture Association in Los Angeles to work as vice president of the group's content protection enforcement for the Americas region, and for its Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, according to a Monday announcement.

  • October 21, 2024

    Ex-Morgan Lewis Atty Seeks Moderation In LA County DA Bid

    Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and onetime partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, is running on a "hard middle" platform as he looks to unseat progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, the candidate told Law360 in an interview delving into his experience on both sides of the bar.

  • October 21, 2024

    Justices Nix GOP States' Intervention In Asylum Rule Talks

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a group of Republican states' attempt to intervene in settlement talks between immigrant rights groups and the Biden administration over a rule limiting asylum at the southern border.

  • October 18, 2024

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 18, 2024

    Fritos Didn't Defame In Flamin' Hot Cheetos Feud, Judge Told

    An attorney for Frito-Lay Inc. on Friday urged a California federal judge to dismiss a former employee's suit claiming he invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos and had his livelihood destroyed when the company disavowed his story, saying it's not inherently defamatory to disagree about the snack's origins.

  • October 18, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge Doubts AI 'Robot Judges' Can Replace Jurists

    Ninth Circuit Judge William Fletcher expressed skepticism Friday that artificially intelligent "robot judges" should replace jurists, saying during a conference on complex litigation ethics that judges understand how to creatively apply the law to best serve justice, and "I don't trust the AI system to break the law when it should."

  • October 18, 2024

    Fired SF Rail Workers Win First Phase Of Vax Mandate Trial

    A California federal jury on Friday ruled that the Bay Area Rapid Transit District didn't prove it tried to accommodate six unvaccinated employees the agency fired during the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing the trial to a second phase over whether the workers had a "sincerely held" religious belief against being vaccinated.

  • October 18, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Sinks BofA's Fight Over Image Recognition Patents

    Bank of America had no luck Friday in an appeal seeking to revive a handful of challenges targeting patents owned by companies run by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong that are suing the bank in California federal court.

  • October 18, 2024

    US Fights PetroSaudi Bid To Limit $380M Seizure

    The U.S. on Friday slammed a PetroSaudi company's request for a California federal court to clarify that officials can only seize 5% of a $380 million award, calling the request an improper attempt at revisiting a 3-year-old court ruling.

  • October 18, 2024

    Tech Cos. Ask 9th Circ. To Skip DMCA Probe In GitHub IP Suit

    Microsoft, GitHub and OpenAI have told the Ninth Circuit to rebuff an interlocutory appeal petition from a group of anonymous software developers who want clarity on whether the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires an infringing copy to be identical to the original to claim a DMCA violation, saying the injury the group alleges is theoretical.

  • October 18, 2024

    Weedmaps' Parent Co. Faces Investor Suit After SEC Fine

    The parent company of cannabis tech company Weedmaps was hit with an investor's proposed class action alleging shareholders were damaged following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's announcement that it fined the company $1.5 million for allegedly making misleading statements about its monthly active users.

  • October 18, 2024

    Biotech Co. Wins Injunction Against Ex-Worker In Secrets Suit

    Biotech startup Trilobio Inc. won a temporary restraining order against a former employee after a California federal judge concluded the company has a strong likelihood of success on its claims that the worker stole trade secrets to start his own business after being fired for poor performance.

  • October 18, 2024

    Chinese National Admits To Smuggling Semiconductor Tech

    A Chinese national has pled guilty in California federal court to illegally exporting U.S. semiconductor technology to a blacklisted Chinese company, according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 18, 2024

    Fake 'Hollywood Reporter' Scams Job Seekers, Mass. AG Says

    Scammers posing as the publishers of entertainment industry trade publication The Hollywood Reporter created an impostor website to lure job seekers into a cryptocurrency fraud scheme, the Massachusetts attorney general alleged in a complaint Friday.

  • October 18, 2024

    AGs Slam 4th Circ. Bid To Restore NC Abortion Drug Limits

    In a joint amicus brief to the Fourth Circuit, a coalition of 17 states and the District of Columbia has said the abortion drug mifepristone is a part of women's reproductive healthcare, assailing the "needless" limits that states including North Carolina have sought to impose on the drug's access.

  • October 18, 2024

    Ore. Water Rights Issues Grounded In State Law, 9th Circ. Told

    The Klamath Irrigation District is asking the Ninth Circuit to certify two questions to the Oregon Supreme Court concerning the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's authority to use and control the use of water under Oregon law.

  • October 18, 2024

    SunPower Corp. Gets OK For Chapter 11 Plan

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge Friday approved residential solar technology company SunPower Corp.'s plans to distribute the proceeds of its asset sales to the creditors in its Chapter 11 case after hearing all objections had been resolved or put off.

  • October 18, 2024

    Hogan Lovells Guides Buyer On San Diego Soccer Team Deal

    National Women's Soccer League team the San Diego Wave Fútbol Club has assumed new ownership after Hogan Lovells-advised private equity firm Levine Leichtman Family Office bought the team from previous owner Ron Burkle, advised by Loeb & Loeb LLP, marking the latest in a string of NWSL deals this year.

Expert Analysis

  • New Laws, Regs Mean More Scrutiny Of Airline Carbon Claims

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    Recent climate disclosure laws and regulations in the U.S. and Europe mean that scrutiny of airlines' green claims will likely continue to intensify — so carriers must make sure their efforts to reduce carbon emissions through use of sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen and carbon offsets measure up to their marketing, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • What Companies Should Consider Amid Multistate AG Actions

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    The rise of multistate attorney general actions is characterized by increased collaboration and heightened scrutiny across various industries — including Big Tech and gaming — and though coalitions present challenges for targeted companies, they also offer opportunities for streamlined resolutions and coordinated public relations efforts, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Atmospheric Rivers: Force Majeure Or Just A Rainy Day?

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    As atmospheric rivers pummel California with intense rainfall, flooding and landslides, agencies and contractors in the state struggling to manage projects may invoke force majeure — but as with all construction risk issues, the terms of the agreement govern, and relief may not always be available, say Kyle Hamilton and Corey Boock at Nossaman.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • Best Practices For Chemical Transparency In Supply Chains

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    A flurry of new and forthcoming regulations in different jurisdictions that require disclosure of potentially hazardous substances used in companies' products and processes will require businesses to take proactive steps to build chemical transparency into their supply chains, and engage robustly and systematically with vendors, says Jillian Stacy at Enhesa.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    Flawed Fintiv Rule Should Be Deemed Overreach In Tech Suit

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    A pending federal lawsuit over the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's unilateral changes to key elements of the America Invents Act, Apple v. Vidal, could shift the balance of power between Congress and federal agencies, as it could justify future instances of unelected officials unilaterally changing laws, say Patrick Leahy and Bob Goodlatte.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation

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    Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • 5 Steps To Navigating State Laws On Healthcare Transactions

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    As more states pass legislation requiring healthcare-transaction notice, private equity investors and other deal parties should evaluate the new laws and consider ways to mitigate their effects, say Carol Loepere and Nicole Aiken-Shaban at Reed Smith.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • High Court's BofA Ruling Leaves State Preemption Questions

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    A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cantero v. Bank of America sheds light on whether certain state banking regulations apply to federally chartered banks, but a circuit split could still force the Supreme Court to take a more direct position, says Brett Garver at Moritt Hock.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet

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    A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.

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