California

  • March 19, 2025

    Netlist, Samsung Contract Fight Gets New Judge Mid-Retrial

    The third trial in a dispute over whether Samsung Electronics Co. breached a patent licensing agreement with chipmaker Netlist Inc. was reassigned to a new California federal judge Wednesday on its second day, after the long-running case's previous overseer recused due to concerns about his impartiality being questioned.

  • March 19, 2025

    Toxic-Loft Suits Too Late, But Owners Share Blame, Jury Says

    A California state jury in Los Angeles found Wednesday that 20 residents of an art loft building waited too long to file toxic exposure claims, but suggested that the building owners caused the delays, triggering further proceedings before a judge.

  • March 19, 2025

    California Rancheria Can Comment On Casino Land Dispute

    A D.C. federal judge has let the Redding Rancheria file a friend of the court brief in two tribes' challenge to the U.S. government's decision to take 221 acres into trust for the rancheria's casino project, ruling it has a special interest in the litigation.

  • March 19, 2025

    Beech-Nut Beats Baby Food Metals Case Revived By 2nd Circ.

    A New York federal judge tossed Wednesday a recently revived consolidated proposed consumer class action alleging Beech-Nut Nutrition Co. sold baby food contaminated with metals, finding that the consumers have not shown they were economically harmed, while rejecting their claims they overpaid for the products or did not receive the benefit of the bargain.

  • March 19, 2025

    Calif. Panel Probes Disbarring Eastman Over 2020 Election

    An appeals panel appeared unlikely Wednesday to reverse a California State Bar judge's finding that John Eastman, a former attorney for President Donald Trump, engaged in misconduct when he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election, but questioned whether disbarment is the appropriate punishment.

  • March 19, 2025

    Universal Can't Shake Limp Bizkit's $200M Copyright Case

    A California federal judge said part of a copyright lawsuit from the band Limp Bizkit that claims Universal Music's "royalty software" has shorted artists more than $200 million can go forward, but only after a major part of the case is first resolved in state court. 

  • March 19, 2025

    Samsung, LA Resident Settle Galaxy Wristband PFAS Suit

    A California federal judge Wednesday closed the book on a Los Angeles resident's proposed class action alleging Samsung Electronics America Inc. uses "forever chemicals" in the wristbands it sells for its smartwatches and fitness trackers, the same day the parties reported reaching a resolution.

  • March 19, 2025

    Westlaw Rival Seeks Early Appeal Of 1st AI Ruling On Fair Use

    Legal tech company ROSS Intelligence Inc. has urged a Delaware federal court to let it seek the Third Circuit's opinion on two issues concerning the copyrightability of Thomson Reuters' Westlaw headnotes and fair use, saying the district court's recent about-face on the issues made it clear that legal guidance was needed.

  • March 19, 2025

    Plumbing Co. Workers Nab Class Status In ESOP Suit

    Participants in a plumbing subcontractor's defunct employee stock ownership plan can proceed as a class in their lawsuit claiming the plan overpaid for company shares and later sold them at a deflated price, a California federal judge ruled, saying the workers leading the suit are adequate representatives.

  • March 19, 2025

    Activist Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Meta, Twitter RICO Fight

    Political activist Laura Loomer urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to revive her latest racketeering lawsuit alleging Meta and Twitter conspired with the government to censor conservative voices, arguing the lawsuit is distinct from three prior suits in part because this case involves accounts she used as a political candidate.

  • March 19, 2025

    LA City Office Claims Group Ran Illegal STR Scheme

    A group advertised and rented out illegal short-term and long-term rentals in Los Angeles and also illegally jacked up rent prices after the January wildfires occurred in LA, the LA City Attorney's Office alleged in a state court suit.

  • March 19, 2025

    Insurers Say $40M Retirement Row Settlement Not Covered

    Three excess insurers told a California federal court they should owe no coverage toward a $40 million settlement a third-party administrator of a church retirement's plan reached to resolve class action claims that it participated in a self-dealing scheme, arguing the claims predate the period they insured.

  • March 19, 2025

    Alston & Bird Securities Litigator Joins Katten In Calif.

    Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP added a former Alston & Bird LLP securities litigation partner whom one firm leader has hoped to hire after a stint working together decades ago.

  • March 19, 2025

    Robbins Geller Escapes Sanctions In Gas Price-Fixing Suit

    A California federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid to sanction Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP attorneys in a gas price-fixing suit, determining that the firm didn't act in bad faith or unreasonably multiply proceedings in a way that unnecessarily cost Alon USA Energy millions.

  • March 19, 2025

    MLM Cosmetics Co. Doesn't Pay Any Wages, Stylist Says

    A multilevel marketing company illegally classifies stylists as independent contractors, thus forcing them to foot the bill for promoting the company's products, and only pays workers a commission and for recruiting more stylists, a lawsuit filed in California state court said.

  • March 19, 2025

    Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2025 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards.

  • March 19, 2025

    Purdue Pharma Files New $7.4B Ch. 11 Plan Settlement

    Bankrupt OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP filed a new Chapter 11 plan in a New York bankruptcy court, including a $6.5 billion payment from members of the Sackler family who own the company and $900 million from the debtor, that aims to compensate thousands of creditors for damages from opioid sales.

  • March 18, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Nike Bias Suit Docs Can Be Ordered Destroyed

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday ruled that a lower court was allowed to make an Oregon newspaper destroy documents it obtained related to internal workplace complaints at Nike, saying the newspaper became a party to the lawsuit alleging workplace discrimination against female employees when it intervened to get the documents.

  • March 18, 2025

    Feds Say On-Leave Staffers Don't 'Skirt' Alsup's Rehire Order

    The Trump administration Tuesday told Judge William Alsup that fired federal probationary employees are being put on administrative leave as part of the reinstatement process he ordered and not to "skirt" the preliminary injunction, after the judge said Monday putting the workers on leave isn't permissible under his order.

  • March 18, 2025

    Miley Cyrus Must Keep Facing 'Flowers' Song Copyright Suit

    A California federal judge on Tuesday denied singer Miley Cyrus' bid to escape a lawsuit accusing her and her chart-topping "Flowers" co-writers of copying a Bruno Mars hit, rejecting arguments that the music investment company that filed the complaint couldn't sue because it isn't the sole owner of rights to Mars' song.

  • March 18, 2025

    'Game Changer' Or 'Non Issue'?: Panel Talks Rule 702 Change

    A class action law forum panel in San Diego appeared to agree Tuesday that a recent amendment to Federal Rules of Evidence Rule 702 emphasizing the judge's gatekeeping authority in allowing expert testimony is not the "game-changer" some predicted, with one panelist going so far as to say it was "barely a clarification."

  • March 18, 2025

    NBA Asks High Court To Weigh In On VPPA Data Sharing Suit

    The NBA has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a Second Circuit decision that revived a Video Privacy Protection Act suit alleging that the league shared video viewing activities of its website's visitors with Meta, arguing that the plaintiff lacked standing since the information wasn't publicly disseminated or highly personal.

  • March 18, 2025

    Full 9th Circ. Mulls Reviving Workers' LA Schools Vax Fight

    Unvaccinated workers urged an en banc Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday to affirm a split decision reviving their proposed class action challenging a since-rescinded Los Angeles Unified School District's employee COVID-19 vaccine policy, while the district's counsel defended the policy as necessary and prudent, but also argued the case is moot.

  • March 18, 2025

    Drugmaker's $10.5M Deal In Investor FDA Approval Suit OK'd

    A California federal judge has preliminarily approved a $10.5 million settlement between oncology drug company ImmunityBio and investors who claim they were misled over the likelihood the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would approve the company's bladder cancer drug.

  • March 18, 2025

    Music Publishers, Anthropic Fight Over Song Lyric Discovery

    Music publishers urged a California federal magistrate judge Tuesday to order artificial intelligence company Anthropic to produce certain song lyric data from both before and after Anthropic implemented "guardrails" to prevent Anthropic's AI tool "Claude" from outputting copyrighted lyrics, while Anthropic slammed the discovery request as overly broad.

Expert Analysis

  • Unpacking First Consumer Claim Under Wash. Health Data Act

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    The first consumer class action claim filed under Washington's My Health My Data Act, Maxwell v. Amazon.com, may answer questions counsel have been contending with since the law was introduced almost a year ago, if the court takes the opportunity to interpret some of more opaque language, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • A Judge's Pointers For Adding Spice To Dry Legal Writing

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    U.S. District Judge Fred Biery shares a few key lessons about how to go against the grain of the legal writing tradition by adding color to bland judicial opinions, such as by telling a human story and injecting literary devices where possible.

  • Implementation, Constitutional Issues With Birthright Order

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    President Donald Trump's executive order reinterpreting the 14th Amendment's birthright citizenship clause presents unavoidable administrative problems and raises serious constitutional concerns about the validity of many existing federal laws and regulations, says Eric Schnapper at the University of Washington School of Law.

  • A Close-Up Look At DOJ's Challenge To HPE-Juniper Deal

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    The outcome of the Justice Department's challenge to Hewlett Packard Enterprise's proposed $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks will likely hinge on several key issues, including market dynamics and shares, internal documents, and questions about innovation and customer harm, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Justices Likely To Issue Narrow Ruling In $1.3B Award Dispute

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    After last week's argument in Devas v. Antrix, the Supreme Court appears likely to reverse the holding that minimum contacts are required before a federal court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a foreign state and remand the case for further litigation on other important constitutional questions, say attorneys at Cleary. 

  • AG Watch: Texas Is Entering New Privacy Enforcement Era

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    The state of Texas' recent suit against Allstate is the culmination of a long-standing commitment to vigorously enforcing privacy laws in the state, and while still in the early stages, it offers several important insights for companies and privacy practitioners, says Paul Singer at Kelley Drye.

  • IRS Scrutiny May Underlie Move Away From NIL Collectives

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    The University of Colorado's January announcement that it was severing its partnership with a name, image and likeness collective is part of universities' recent push to move NIL activities in-house, seemingly motivated by tax implications and increased scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • 6 Laws Transforming Calif.'s Health Regulatory Framework

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    Attorneys at Hooper Lundy discuss a number of new California laws that raise pressing issues for independent physicians and small practice groups, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence to wage standards for healthcare employees.

  • Opinion

    NCAA Name, Image, Likeness Settlement Is A $2.8B Mistake

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    While the plaintiffs in House v. NCAA might call the proposed settlement on name, image and likeness payments for college athletes a breakthrough, it's a legally dubious Band-Aid that props up a system favoring a select handful of male athletes at the expense of countless others, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

  • Implications Of Kid Privacy Rule Revamp For Parents, Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent amendments to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act will expand protections for children online, meaning parents will have greater control over their children's data and tech companies must potentially change their current privacy practices — or risk noncompliance, say attorneys at Labaton Keller.

  • Copyright Ruling Could Extend US Terminations Worldwide

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    If upheld on appeal, Vetter v. Resnik, a recent ruling from a Louisiana federal court, could extend the geographical scope of U.S. copyright termination rights to foreign territories, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Anticipating Calif. Oversight Of PE Participation In Healthcare

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    A new bill recently introduced in the California Senate revives last year's attempt to increase oversight of healthcare transactions involving private equity groups and hedge funds, meaning that attorneys may soon need to assess the compliance status of existing management relationships and consider modifying contract terms, says Andrew Demetriou at Husch Blackwell.

  • Recent Cases Suggest ESG Means 'Ever-Shifting Guidelines'

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    U.S. courts have recently handed down a number of contradictory decisions on important environmental, social and governance issues, adding to an already complex mix of conflicting political priorities, new laws and changing regulatory guidance — but there are steps that companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Pepperdine Case Highlights Shift In Collegiate IP Landscape

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    A complaint filed by Pepperdine University against Netflix and Warner Bros. two weeks ago alleges that a comedy series unlawfully copies the school's trademarks, and the decision could reshape the portrayal of collegiate athletics on screen and the legal tools schools use to defend their emblems, says Mindy Lewis at Michelman & Robinson.

  • What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Greenwashing

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    As the number of public and private lawsuits relating to greenwashing dramatically grows, risk managers of companies making environmental claims should look to several types of insurance for coverage in the event of a suit, say attorneys at Hunton.

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