California

  • November 18, 2024

    BlackBerry Faces Uphill Fight To Nix Harassment Claims

    A California federal magistrate judge expressed doubts Monday about BlackBerry's latest bid to toss claims that its current CEO sexually harassed a former executive before he took the top job, saying she's unsure if she can decide at the pleading stage what constitutes "objectively severe" discrimination.

  • November 18, 2024

    Justices Urged To Review Landlords' COVID Eviction Ban Suit

    A group of trade associations and a nonprofit urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to grant a review petition filed by landlords claiming they lost $100 million as a result of Los Angeles' COVID-19 eviction moratorium, which ended in January.

  • November 18, 2024

    Alstom Wants Injunction In Dispute Over 'Buy America' Waiver

    Train manufacturer Alstom has urged a D.C. federal judge to block a pending federal disbursement for a $12 billion high-speed rail project, saying the payment could "irrevocably" allow the project to use trainsets that violate federal "Buy America" requirements.

  • November 18, 2024

    Diddy Accusers' Atty Buzbee Accused Of Extorting Celebs

    An anonymous public figure lodged a suit in Los Angeles court Monday accusing personal injury lawyer Tony Buzbee of using false rape allegations to "shake down innocent celebrities, politicians and businesspeople" who have even the smallest ties to indicted hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.

  • November 18, 2024

    USPTO Director Kathi Vidal To Rejoin Winston & Strawn

    Winston & Strawn LLP said Monday that Kathi Vidal, director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, is slated to rejoin the firm.

  • November 18, 2024

    LA Atty Again Accused Of Bilking Inmates With False Hope

    A Los Angeles attorney accused of raking in thousands of dollars by giving inmates and their families intentionally misleading information about their chances for resentencing after convictions for violent crimes has been hit with more charges by the State Bar of California, this time an 18-count disciplinary notice that follows an earlier 18-count notice filed in August.

  • November 18, 2024

    Calif. Staffing Biz Settles Immigration Bias Claim With DOJ

    The U.S. Department of Justice said it reached an agreement to resolve claims that a California staffing company refused to accept a valid work authorization document from a woman seeking employment.

  • November 18, 2024

    Calif. Bar Asks State High Court To Wipe Some Discipline Files

    Amid an effort to reform attorney regulation, the trustees of California's state bar have asked the state high court to approve a proposed rule change that would expunge older discipline files that don't involve disbarment. 

  • November 18, 2024

    Justices Reject SC Agency's Appeal Of Google Subpoena

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to take up a South Carolina state agency's appeal of a Fourth Circuit decision requiring its compliance with a Google subpoena in a case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing key digital ad technology.

  • November 15, 2024

    Natera Exec Calls Guardant's Cancer Test Claims 'Dangerous'

    Natera's president of clinical diagnostics testified at trial Friday in a California federal false advertising case that Guardant Health's claims about Guardant's competing colorectal cancer test were "false and misleading" and also "dangerous."

  • November 15, 2024

    Real Estate Recap: Industry Leaders Weigh In

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including President-elect Donald Trump's industry pick for Middle East special envoy, a playbook on commercial real estate distress from BigLaw leaders and one KKR exec's optimism for the end of a two-year real estate slump.

  • November 15, 2024

    X Sues To Block Calif.'s New Deepfake Political Ads Law

    X Corp. filed a lawsuit in California federal court seeking to block a new Golden State law aimed at combating artificial intelligence-generated deepfake political ads, claiming the regulation that takes effect in January is unconstitutional and violates Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

  • November 15, 2024

    Sake Co.'s 'Tipsy' TM Fight Can't Find Its Footing In Calif.

    A California federal judge has determined that a Los Angeles sake brand can't litigate a trademark dispute in the Golden State with a similarly named wine store in Brooklyn, saying a cease and desist letter wasn't enough to establish jurisdiction.

  • November 15, 2024

    Ye's Ex-Construction Manager Latest To Sue For Misconduct

    Ye has been hit with yet another employee lawsuit, this time from a former project manager alleging he was subjected to daily antisemitic tirades, forced to listen to the rapper have sex, and ultimately fired for refusing to start construction on a new Donda Academy building without permits.

  • November 15, 2024

    SEC-Sanctioned Accounting Firm Sued Over Pre-IPO Work

    The former public company accounting firm BF Borgers is facing a California state lawsuit by an ex-client that says it was forced to scuttle its plans for an initial public offering after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused the firm of being a "sham auditing mill."

  • November 15, 2024

    Social Media Cos. Must Face Schools' Public Nuisance Claims

    Meta Platforms and other social media giants must face most of the public nuisance claims brought by school districts and local government entities in multidistrict litigation alleging the companies designed their platforms to addict children, a California federal judge ruled Friday.

  • November 15, 2024

    HHS Likely To Limit Migrant Data After Flores Deal Ends

    A California federal judge indicated Friday that she can't force the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide human rights groups with regular data about children in low-security detention facilities now that the long-running Flores settlement has been replaced with a government regulation.

  • November 15, 2024

    Musk Adds Microsoft To Legal Fight With OpenAI

    Elon Musk is expanding his breach of contract, fraud and antitrust suit in California federal court against OpenAI and its founder, Sam Altman, this time adding Microsoft and erstwhile business partner Reid Hoffman to the list of defendants.

  • November 15, 2024

    New Trade Secrets Case Brought In Trucker Tracking Row

    A fight between two neighboring San Francisco startups that sell artificial intelligence-powered software used to monitor truck drivers has resulted in yet another lawsuit: a new state court case that accuses a CEO of personally "texting and meeting in person" with competing sales reps in order to obtain trade secrets. 

  • November 15, 2024

    Calif. Justice Reformers Vow To Fight After Election Day Losses

    California voters' Election Day moves to oust progressive prosecutors and enact purportedly tough-on-crime ballot measures point to a broad conservative swing in criminal justice, a movement that San Francisco's former District Attorney Chesa Boudin and other reform proponents told Law360 they intend to fight in coming years.

  • November 15, 2024

    California Blames Travelers For Rot Remediation Policy Deceit

    In a case with potentially untold financial consequences, California district attorneys are blaming Travelers in state court for trying to attract customers by offering coverage for fungi and rot remediation for years without adequately disclosing stringent exclusions to state policyholders, in violation of state code.

  • November 15, 2024

    FERC Ignored Calif. Hydro Permitting Mischief, DC Circ. Told

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission turned a blind eye to clear evidence that California's water board gamed the permitting process in concluding that the state agency didn't waive its Clean Water Act permitting authority over two hydroelectric dams, the D.C. Circuit heard this week.

  • November 15, 2024

    GM's Cruise Accepts $500K Criminal Fine Over Robotaxi Crash

    Cruise LLC, the autonomous vehicles subsidiary of General Motors Co., has agreed to pay $500,000 in criminal fines to end claims that it made false statements to federal highway investigators by omitting that one of its vehicles dragged a pedestrian over 20 feet, according to an announcement by federal prosecutors.

  • November 15, 2024

    Political Fundraiser Avoids Jail In LA 'Casino Loyale' Probe

    A former political fundraiser was sentenced by a California federal judge Friday to one year of home detention for facilitating a bribe to former Los Angeles City Councilman José Huizar, the latest in a string of recent sentences handed out to cooperating witnesses in the FBI's "Casino Loyale" probe.

  • November 15, 2024

    EV Carmaker Lucid Sued In Del. For Inflated Biz Claims

    A stockholder who bought electric-car maker Lucid Group shares sued in Delaware's Chancery Court on Friday to recover derivative damages for the company tied to claims that the business raised billions on knowingly inflated production outlooks only to later drastically downsize its forecast.

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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