California

  • September 04, 2024

    Feds Say Litigation Funding Co. Was A $10M Ponzi Scheme

    A purported investment company's owner faces criminal charges and a suit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after she allegedly made false claims to investors that she would lend their money to personal injury attorneys but instead used the money for a Ponzi-like scheme and personal expenses.

  • September 04, 2024

    Buchalter IP Ace Jumps To Snell & Wilmer In LA

    Snell & Wilmer LLP is growing its California team, announcing Tuesday it is adding a Buchalter PC intellectual property expert as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • September 04, 2024

    Election Year Surprise? GOP Judges Opening Seats For Biden

    Well ahead of fall elections that could flip the White House and U.S. Senate to Republicans, many GOP-appointed judges are retiring and giving Democrats opportunities to fill key seats before Republicans can capitalize on any wins at the polls, and several of the judges discussed the political backdrop with Law360.

  • September 03, 2024

    3rd Trial In T.I.'s IP Fight With MGA Kicks Off In Calif.

    An attorney for hip-hop moguls T.I. and Tiny Harris on Tuesday told a California federal jury during opening statements in a retrial of his clients' intellectual property dispute with MGA Entertainment that the company's line of O.M.G. dolls stole their look and name from the OMG Girlz group.

  • September 03, 2024

    Dave's Killer Bread Judge Rips Attys For 'Flooding' Docket

    A California federal judge admonished attorneys for both parties in a proposed class action alleging Dave's Killer "Good Seed" bread deceptively advertises the loafs as containing 5 grams of protein, slamming counsel for "flooding" the docket with "entirely unnecessary" motions and warning she'll sanction them if their conduct continues.

  • September 03, 2024

    WDTX Judge Agrees To Ship Apple E-Wallet Patent Case To Calif.

    An Austin federal judge sent a patent case against Apple to California, finding "especially weighty" the tech giant's assertion that no employees relevant to the e-wallet infringement case brought by a Canadian company are located in the Western District of Texas and most are in the Golden State.

  • September 03, 2024

    ITC Clears Amazon In Video Processing Patent Case

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has voted to reject infringement claims against Amazon over patents in the field of video processing, affirming a judge's initial finding with some modest adjustments.

  • September 03, 2024

    Alphabet Beats Investor Suit Over Antitrust Issues, For Now

    A California federal judge on Tuesday tossed a proposed securities fraud class action against Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc., saying investors failed to adequately allege that Google intended to deceive them when responding to a congressional query on concerns of anti-competitive ad tech practices.

  • September 03, 2024

    Super Micro Faces Investor Suits Over Short Seller Report

    Artificial intelligence server manufacturer Super Micro Computer Inc. has been hit with at least three investor lawsuits in California federal court over claims its shares fell by about 20% after a short seller report accused it of violating its previous settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over accounting improprieties.

  • September 03, 2024

    Ivy Leaguers Withdraw Opposition To NCAA's $2B NIL Deal

    Two Brown University athletes have withdrawn their opposition to the NCAA's proposed $2.78 billion name, image and likeness settlement, telling a federal judge in California on Tuesday that they've been assured it will not impact their own antitrust case against several Ivy League schools.

  • September 03, 2024

    Pedestrian Hit By Off-Duty Uber Driver Can't Sue Over Injuries

    A California appellate panel held Uber can't be sued for the negligence of a driver who hit a pedestrian just minutes after he switched his status to "offline," saying it was speculative to assume the driver was still on duty due to his alleged manipulation of higher "surge" fares.

  • September 03, 2024

    Union-Backed 'Captive Audience' Bill Heads To Calif. Governor

    The California Senate voted in favor of a union-backed bill that would bar employers from requiring employees to attend meetings related to religious or political matters — including company-organized meetings used to discourage union-formation — sending the so-called captive audience bill to the governor's desk.

  • September 03, 2024

    Calif. Backs EPA's High Court Fight To Keep SF Water Limits

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's water quality standards for San Francisco are legal and should be upheld in the face of a challenge from the city, California and various green groups told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

  • September 03, 2024

    Manhattan DA's Art Seizure Unit Hit With New Calif. Challenge

    A private art collector has filed a California federal lawsuit fighting the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into his ancient Roman statue, joining a small but growing number of legal challenges to the New York prosecution unit that seizes and returns allegedly stolen antiquities.

  • September 03, 2024

    VLSI Asks Fed. Circ. To Nix Intel's Extraterritoriality Patent Win

    Licensing company VLSI has urged the Federal Circuit to overturn a ruling granting Intel Corp. a win in VLSI's $900 million patent fight, arguing that the trial judge wrongly concluded on summary judgment that VLSI hasn't shown that Intel's alleged chip patent infringement occurred in the U.S., among other alleged errors.

  • September 03, 2024

    9th Circ. Rejects Tax Lien Pro Rata Share In Bankruptcy Sale

    The bankruptcy court is not authorized to use the pro rata method to allocate proceeds between the IRS and an estate with a tax lien for unpaid taxes and penalties, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, saying there is nothing in bankruptcy law that explicitly allows this approach.

  • September 03, 2024

    Gov't Backs 9th Circ. Bid To Revive Invisalign Monopoly Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice has told the Ninth Circuit that a lower court applied the wrong standard when tossing a pair of class actions accusing the maker of Invisalign of monopolizing markets for clear dental aligners and teeth scanners.

  • September 03, 2024

    Apartment Co. Asks 9th Circ. To Toss NLRB Wage Talk Ruling

    An Arizona property management company has urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse a National Labor Relations Board decision finding the company unlawfully fired a worker who talked about wages, joining a chorus of employers arguing the labor agency is unconstitutionally structured.

  • September 03, 2024

    Calif. Eyes New Heavy-Duty Autonomous Truck Testing Regs

    California is forging ahead with plans to test and deploy more heavy-duty autonomous trucks, at the same time that state lawmakers are seeking to ban autonomous trucks from operating without a human driver behind the wheel.

  • September 03, 2024

    Ch. 11 Bankruptcy Trustee Says Firm Charged Excessive Fees

    The Chapter 11 trustee overseeing collapsed debt relief law firm Litigation Practice Group has accused a New York law firm of charging excessive fees while defending the California firm from lawsuits from merchant cash advance companies.

  • September 03, 2024

    Duane Morris Wants Bulk Of Atty's Equal Pay Suit Tossed

    Duane Morris LLP is asking a California federal court to toss most of the claims in a proposed class action alleging the firm systemically underpaid female and nonwhite attorneys, saying the attorney who filed the complaint has been fairly treated and compensated and her claims lack validity.

  • September 03, 2024

    $15M Class Atty Fee Sought In Microsoft-Activision Suit

    Attorneys for Sweden's state pension fund manager have proposed a $15 million attorney fee for their investigation and intervention in a suit seeking Delaware Court of Chancery fixes for defects in some terms of Activision Blizzard Inc.'s $68.7 billion acquisition by Microsoft Corp. last year.

  • September 03, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week in Delaware's court of equity, an iconic rock band got a new member, former President Donald Trump's social media company escaped a contempt ruling, and litigation grew over Illumina Inc.'s $8 billion reacquisition of cancer-testing company Grail Inc. New cases touched on intellectual property, mergers, share transfers and dump trucks. In case you missed it, here's the latest from Delaware's Court of Chancery.

  • September 03, 2024

    NFL Sunday Ticket Subscribers Appeal $4.7B Verdict Reversal

    The subscribers to the NFL's Sunday Ticket broadcast package whose $4.7 billion class action jury award was thrown out and antitrust claims erased by a federal judge last month are appealing the rulings to the Ninth Circuit.

  • September 03, 2024

    Pot Co. Stiiizy Hit With New Lawsuit Over High-Potency Wares

    California cannabis giant Stiiizy has been accused again of marketing dangerous, high-potency THC products to young people, allegedly resulting in cannabis-induced psychosis in a user who brought a product liability and fraud suit in Los Angeles state court.

Expert Analysis

  • After Years Of Popularity, PAGA's Fate Is Up In The Air

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    The last two years held important victories for plaintiff-side employment attorneys in California Private Attorneys General Act litigation at the trial and appellate court levels, but this hotbed of activity will quickly lose steam if voters approve a ballot measure in November to enact the California Fair Pay and Employer Accountability Act, says Paul Sherman at Kabat Chapman.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • CFPB's Expanding Scope Evident In Coding Bootcamp Fine

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent penalty against a for-profit coding bootcamp that misrepresented its tuition financing plans is a sign that the bureau is seeking to wield its supervisory and enforcement powers in more industries that offer consumer financing, say Jason McElroy and Brandon Sherman at Saul Ewing.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: Watch The MDL Calendar

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    One of the most fascinating features of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's practice is the regularity of its calendar, which can illuminate important timing considerations, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • How AI Cos. Can Cope With Shifting Copyright Landscape

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    In the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, recent legal disputes have focused on the utilization of copyrighted material to train algorithms, meaning companies should be aware of fair use implications and possible licensing solutions for AI users, say Michael Hobbs and Justin Tilghman at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • The State Of Play In DEI And ESG 1 Year After Harvard Ruling

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    Almost a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, attorney general scrutiny of environmental, social and governance-related efforts indicates a potential path for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be targeted, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Key Lessons From Recent Insurance Policy Reform Litigation

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    A review of recent case law reveals the wide range of misunderstandings that may arise between insurers and policyholders in the purchase and renewal of insurance policies, as well as the utility — and the limits — of reformation and related remedies for these misunderstandings, say Jad Khazem and Seth Tucker at Covington.

  • Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In April

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    Four Federal Circuit decisions in April that reversed or vacated underlying rulings provide a number of takeaways, including that obviousness analysis requires a flexible approach, that an invalidity issue of an expired patent can be moot, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • What The FTC Report On AG Collabs Means For Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's April report on working with state attorneys general shows collaboration can increase efficiency and consistency in how statutes are interpreted and enforced, which can minimize the likelihood of requests for inconsistent injunctive relief that can create operational problems for businesses, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • When Oral Settlements Reached In Mediation Are Enforceable

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    A recent decision by the New Jersey Appellate Division illustrates the difficulties that may arise in trying to enforce an oral settlement agreement reached in mediation, but adherence to certain practices can improve the likelihood that such an agreement will be binding, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

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