California

  • November 25, 2024

    Gibson Dunn Treated Crypto Client Like 'Hot Potato,' Suit Says

    Crypto trading firm Swan Bitcoin hit Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP with a malpractice lawsuit in California court Friday, alleging Gibson Dunn dumped Swan "like the proverbial 'hot potato'" in underlying trade secret litigation and tried to take on Swan's rival as a client after a lateral hire created a conflict of interest.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Judicial Panel OKs Trio Of State Appeals Court Moves

    California's Commission on Judicial Appointments on Monday unanimously approved a state appeals jurist for a presiding post and signed off on elevating a pair of Los Angeles County Superior Court judges to the state appellate bench.

  • November 25, 2024

    'Shameful': Dems Rip Credit Bureaus Over Scrapped Hearing

    Democratic senators on Monday lit into the Big Three credit bureaus for allegedly backing out of preelection commitments to testify last week before the Senate Banking Committee, calling the move "shortsighted and shameful."

  • November 25, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Reverse Amber Heard's Loss In Coverage Suit

    The Ninth Circuit upheld an insurer's favorable ruling Monday in its legal dispute with actress Amber Heard, affirming that she had no right to independent counsel paid for by New York Marine and General Insurance Co. in a defamation suit by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.

  • November 25, 2024

    Tuna Price-Fixing MDL Lead Attys Awarded $86M In Fees

    A California federal judge has agreed to award a combined total of $86 million in fees and costs to lead counsel representing two classes of canned tuna buyers who reached settlements in recent months with StarKist, Dongwon Industries and Lion Capital in a decadelong price-fixing case.

  • November 25, 2024

    Pitt Ordered To Disclose Docs Jolie Says Will Prove Abuse

    A California judge overseeing a dispute between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie over a multimillion-dollar French winery ruled Monday that Pitt must disclose documents and communications that Jolie says will prove he sought to cover up his domestic violence against her and their children.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Jury Delivers $35M Verdict In Eyedrop Trademark Row

    A Tennessee pharmaceutical company convinced a California federal jury that a rival owes it about $35 million for infringing its trademarks on brands of post-surgical eyedrops.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Court Says Son Can't Take Up Dead Father's Suit

    Canada's Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. can't be held liable for injuries a man, who later died, allegedly suffered in one of its all-terrain utility vehicles, a California state appellate panel ruled, saying the trial court properly tossed the case as abandoned after the plaintiff's son failed to make himself the successor for the litigation.

  • November 25, 2024

    Microsoft-Activision Atty Snubs $15M Class Fee In Del. Suit

    An attorney for Microsoft Corp. and Activision Blizzard Inc. on Monday downplayed the benefits from an ongoing stockholder suit seeking $15 million for mid-case fixes to the two companies' $68.7 billion merger, saying the action's modest advantages should be weighed more as disclosure matters than a deal rescue.

  • November 25, 2024

    Giant Emerald Can Return To Brazil, DC Judge Rules

    A massive and storied emerald smuggled into the United States two decades ago is one step closer to returning to Brazil after a D.C. federal judge granted the U.S. Department of Justice's request to forfeit the gem to its home country.

  • November 25, 2024

    Colo. Judge Won't Keep SJSU Trans Athlete From Tournament

    A Colorado federal judge on Monday refused to prohibit a San Jose State University transgender volleyball athlete from competing, shutting down a bid from a group of female players in the sport hoping to secure a preliminary injunction against the Mountain West Conference.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Panel Scraps Ex-Medical Supply Exec's $533K Fee Win

    A California appeals court has found that an Orange County judge was wrong to order a medical supply company to pay out half a million dollars in legal fees to a former executive who a jury found took confidential files out the door with him.

  • November 25, 2024

    Tesla Nears Deal In Trade Secret Suit Against EV Rival Rivian

    Tesla said in a notice filed in California state court that it would be settling its lawsuit accusing rival electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive of recruiting its employees, who allegedly took Tesla's trade secrets with them to the defendant to use for its plans to release an electric truck.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Gov. Promises EV Tax Credit If Trump Axes Federal

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said that he's preparing to save electric vehicle tax credits — at least for residents of his state — if the Trump administration and a Republican Congress eliminate federal ones.

  • November 25, 2024

    'Sham' Patent Charges Bog Down Holiday Light Fight

    Amid a multi-front intellectual property fight between a China-based holiday light manufacturer and a so-called "patent troll," the company told a Georgia judge Monday that the patent holder had impermissibly tried to engineer jurisdiction by signing over to itself one of the patents at issue just minutes before filing its counterclaim.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Board Seeks Comment On AI Rules Amid Pushback

    The California Privacy Protection Agency on Friday opened the public comment period for its latest rulemaking package proposing expansive draft rules regulating technologies fueled by artificial intelligence — including in the employment, education, healthcare, consumer protection, banking and insurance contexts — which business groups have already criticized as being overly broad and burdensome.

  • November 25, 2024

    Beyond Meat Told It's Likely To Beat Production Woe Suit

    A Los Angeles federal judge appeared poised Monday to toss, for good, a reworked investor class action accusing Beyond Meat of concealing major problems with its efforts to scale production on plant-based meat substitutes for fast food chains like McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut.

  • November 25, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds Nixing Convention Center's Coverage Suit

    The Ninth Circuit backed the dismissal of a Seattle convention center operator's suit seeking coverage for pandemic-related losses, saying Monday that COVID-19 and resulting government shutdown orders did not cause the requisite physical loss or damage to the center to trigger coverage.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Appeals Court Backs Taylor Farms Win In Wage Suit

    A California state appeals court refused to reinstate a lawsuit accusing packaged salad company Taylor Farms of unlawfully omitting the hourly pay rate for incentive bonuses from workers' wage statements, saying the company doesn't have to include this information because it showed it doesn't base its calculations on a real hourly rate.

  • November 25, 2024

    Quarles & Brady Lands Buchalter Employment Duo In Calif.

    Quarles & Brady LLP has brought on a pair of Buchalter PC employment attorneys as partners in its San Diego office, marking the Milwaukee-based firm's latest expansion in the Golden State since arriving there through a merger nearly two years ago.

  • November 25, 2024

    Jury Finds Natera Owes Guardant $292.5M In False Ad Suit

    A California federal jury on Monday awarded $292.5 million in actual and punitive damages to medical test maker Guardant Health after finding that its rival Natera falsely advertised its colorectal cancer test Signatera as superior to Guardant's competing product Reveal.

  • November 25, 2024

    Justices Turn Away $10M Tanker Seizure Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will not review a petition asking it to resolve if courts are bound by "hard-and-fast" rules limiting their inquiry into whether a property can be seized to enforce a maritime debt, an issue the petitioner argued affected "fundamental principles of admiralty law."

  • November 22, 2024

    Del Monte's 'Fruit Naturals' Label Not Deceptive, 9th Circ. Says

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday refused to revive a California woman's proposed class action accusing Del Monte Foods of falsely advertising fruit cups as being "natural" despite containing synthetic preservatives, saying a reasonable consumer would know to read the products' back label to confirm the ingredients.

  • November 22, 2024

    Natera's Conduct 'Despicable,' Guardant Says As Trial Wraps

    Guardant urged a California federal jury at the close of its false advertising trial Friday to make rival Natera pay it hundreds of millions of dollars, saying the competitor's misrepresentation of the companies' competing cancer detection tests was "despicable," while Natera countered it was Guardant that used deceptive marketing.

  • November 22, 2024

    PayPal Wants Renewed Suit Over Merchant Rules Tossed

    PayPal on Thursday urged a California federal court to again throw out a proposed class action claiming it illegally boosts online retail prices with its restrictive merchant agreements, arguing that the latest version of the complaint doesn't fix any of the issues flagged by the court.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 37 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Navigating Scrutiny Of Friendly Professional Corps. In Calif.

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    In light of ongoing scrutiny and challenges to private equity participation in the California healthcare marketplace, particularly surrounding the use of the friendly professional corporation model, management services organizations should consider implementing four best practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 in California, which saw efforts to expand consumer protection legislation and enforcement actions in areas of federal focus like medical debt and student loans, demonstrated that the state's role as a trendsetter in consumer financial protection will continue for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Calif. Long-Tail Ruling Continues Policyholder-Friendly Trend

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    The California Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, rejecting horizontal policy exhaustion, was the latest in a string of its decisions involving insurance coverage for continuous or progressive injury claims that favor policyholders, say Billie Mandelbaum and David Goodwin at Covington.

  • A Case Study For Calif. Cities In Water Utility Takeovers

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    With growing water scarcity and drier weather looming, some local governments in California have sought to acquire investor-owned water utilities by eminent domain — but the 2016 case of Claremont v. Golden State Water is a reminder that such municipalization attempts must meet certain statutory requirements, say attorneys at Nossaman.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Justices' Removal Ruling Presents Hurdles, But Offers Clarity

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Campos-Chaves v. Garland and two other consolidated cases endorses a multistep notice practice that could impair noncitizens' access to adequate judicial notice, but its resolution of a longstanding circuit split also provides much-needed clarity, says Devin Connolly at Reeves Immigration Law Group.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • Justices' 'Blind Mule' Ruling Won't Change Defense Strategy

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Diaz v. U.S., holding that expert witnesses can testify broadly about the mental state of “most people” in a group, simply affirms the status quo for the majority of defendants, and is unlikely to change defense counsel’s strategy at trial, says Walter Gonçalves at the Arizona Federal Public Defender's Office.

  • Compliance Countdown To New Calif. Workplace Safety Rules

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    Nearly all California employers should be taking steps to prepare for the July 1 deadline to comply with a Labor Code update that will introduce the first general industry workplace violence prevention safety requirements in the U.S., say attorneys at Littler.

  • Arbitration Implications Of High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Coinbase v. Suski ruling not only reaffirmed the long-standing principle that arbitration is a matter of contract, but also established new and more general principles concerning the courts' jurisdiction to decide challenges to delegation clauses and the severability rule, say Tamar Meshel at the University of Alberta.

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