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California
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August 22, 2024
Calif. Panel Backs Arbitration Denial In Staffing Co. Wage Suit
A California state appeals court refused to ship to arbitration a worker's lawsuit accusing a staffing agency of unlawfully miscalculating his sick leave wages, saying the arbitration pact he signed promised that all Private Attorneys General Act claims will be litigated in court.
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August 22, 2024
Comedians Duel With Pandora For Joke Copyright Victories
A group of comedians and companies that licensed their routines has urged a California federal judge to grant it partial summary judgment against Pandora Media LLC for copyright infringement on the same day that the company argued it should come out on top because it has implied "pass-through licenses" to broadcast those routines.
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August 22, 2024
California Fires Back At Red State Attacks On Climate Torts
California and a contingent of blue states told the U.S. Supreme Court that their climate change torts against fossil fuel companies are on solid legal ground and that an effort by Alabama and other red states to undercut them must be rejected.
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August 22, 2024
Calif. Atty Can't Beat Sanctions In Geragos Malpractice Suit
A California state appeals court on Wednesday affirmed $23,000 in sanctions for discovery violations on the part of a lawyer representing clients in a malpractice case against Hollywood litigator Mark Geragos.
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August 22, 2024
IT Staffing Co. Can't Push Unpaid OT Suit Into Arbitration
A California federal judge refused to send to arbitration a class action accusing a tech staffing company of underpaying recruiters by misclassifying them as overtime-exempt, saying the company's establishment of the arbitration pact two years into the litigation was misleading and unfair.
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August 22, 2024
Tom Girardi Takes The Stand In His Criminal Fraud Trial
Disbarred attorney Tom Girardi took the stand Thursday in his California federal fraud trial and denied stealing from any of his clients, while also showing a strong grasp of past events and people but claiming to have no memory of the trial's witnesses and key moments, or to even know his own lawyer's name.
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August 22, 2024
Mike Lynch's Path From Tech Founder To DOJ Target
Friends and colleagues paid tribute to Mike Lynch following his death in a yachting accident on Thursday, hailing the British tech entrepreneur for the decades he spent furthering the industry despite the legal troubles that threatened to overshadow his career.
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August 22, 2024
'Beloved By Everyone': Attys Recall Clifford Chance's Morvillo
Clifford Chance LLP partner Christopher Morvillo, who died this week after a luxury yacht he was on sank off the coast of Sicily, is being remembered not only as a lion of the legal community but also as an "extraordinary human being" and a "Renaissance man" who was devoted to his family.
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August 22, 2024
Mike Lynch's Body Recovered From Yacht Wreck
Mike Lynch, founder of technology company Autonomy, died when a yacht he was aboard sank off the Sicilian coast, his family confirmed Friday, after a trip the entrepreneur had reportedly chartered with his legal team to celebrate their victory in a U.S. fraud case.
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August 21, 2024
Hunter Biden Can't Link Trauma, Drug Abuse To Tax Charges
Hunter Biden can't tell jurors in his criminal tax trial that traumatic events like his brother's death caused his addiction, which led to a diminished mental capacity and his failure to pay taxes, a California federal judge said Wednesday, noting the information was irrelevant and not backed by expert opinion.
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August 21, 2024
Girardi Faked Dementia Symptoms, Neurologist Testifies
A neurologist with Vanderbilt University testified Wednesday in Tom Girardi's criminal fraud trial in California federal court that the disbarred attorney was likely exaggerating his cognitive problems in late 2020 just as his law firm imploded into bankruptcy and his legal problems mounted because he believed it would be "beneficial."
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August 21, 2024
Tech Cos. Duck Proposed Calif. Bill Via News Funding Deal
Major tech companies, including Google, agreed Wednesday to pay roughly $250 million into a fund that proponents say would support newsrooms across California in a deal that avoids a proposed regulation that would've forced Big Tech to pay the state's media organizations for distributing news content.
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August 21, 2024
9th Circ. Upholds Toss Of Suit Over Car Insurer's Data Breach
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive a proposed class action accusing auto insurance provider Noblr Reciprocal Exchange of failing to safeguard driver's license numbers exposed in a 2021 data breach, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to credibly allege that their data had actually been stolen.
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August 21, 2024
Union Health Plan Trustees Can't Avoid Fee Claim, Judge Says
Trustees of a UNITE HERE health plan can't topple a group of Southern California workers' claims that they are facing higher administrative expenses compared to another group of workers in Las Vegas, an Illinois federal court ruled Wednesday.
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August 21, 2024
9th Circ. Lets Atty Fight Against $8M Malicious Prosecution
A Nevada attorney may take to the federal court to challenge an Arizona state court's civil judgment finding him liable for malicious prosecution, the Ninth Circuit determined Wednesday, finding the federal district court was wrong to toss his claims on the grounds they were barred by jurisdictional precedent established in the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.
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August 21, 2024
Pornhub Says Data Privacy Suit Must Be Arbitrated
Adult entertainment website Pornhub and its Cyprus-based operator are looking to force a proposed data privacy class action into arbitration, telling a California court on Tuesday that a "strict" state law deadline that they missed to pay certain filing fees is preempted by federal arbitration law.
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August 21, 2024
Insurers Escape Calif. Starbucks Drive-Thru Easement Row
A California appeals court affirmed a lower court decision, finding commercial property insurers didn't have to defend an owner who allegedly tricked one tenant into signing an easement agreement for a parking lot, neglecting to mention it would be used by a Starbucks drive-thru.
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August 21, 2024
High Court Told Nvidia Case Could Damage Crypto Industry
The Digital Chamber is warning that a U.S. Supreme Court dispute between chipmaker Nvidia Corp. and some of its investors poses a "grave risk" to the entire cryptocurrency industry by threatening to expose it to costly litigation should the justices uphold a lower court ruling allowing the lawsuit to move forward.
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August 21, 2024
Western Asset Exec Takes Leave Of Absence Amid SEC Probe
Western Asset Management's co-chief investment officer, Ken Leech, has taken an immediate leave of absence from the global fixed-income manager after receiving a so-called Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and as the company faces parallel government investigations.
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August 21, 2024
USPTO Beats Atty's FOIA Suit Over Ethics Probe
A California trademark lawyer who says he has been facing a disciplinary matter at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over whether his associates let their assistants sign for them on trademark applications could not use a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to get more information from the agency about the origins of that accusation.
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August 21, 2024
NC Biz Court Bulletin: Wrinkle In Textile Family's $17M Fight
The fate of a $17 million trust battled over by its trustees and Atrium Health, as well as attorney fees in a $1.1 million data breach settlement were cemented by the North Carolina Business Court in the first half of August. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.
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August 21, 2024
9th Circ. Doubts Idaho Trans Health Ban Doesn't Discriminate
The Ninth Circuit appeared reluctant Wednesday to give the state of Idaho a green light for a prohibition on gender dysphoria treatment for minors, with judges vocally skeptical of the state's argument that the policy didn't discriminate based on sex.
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August 21, 2024
Justices Urged To Take Up 9th Circ. $1.3B Award Suit
The corporate arm of India's space agency is trying to downplay how big of a circuit split the Ninth Circuit created when it ruled it had no jurisdiction over a $1.3 billion arbitral award, but the company's attempts are "unconvincing," an Indian satellite telecom has told the U.S. Supreme Court.
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August 21, 2024
Tribe Backs $2.8M Casino Debt Suit Against Ex-Studio Mogul
A former Hollywood heavyweight who lost $5 million to a Connecticut casino and failed to make full payments to cover his losses misunderstood the relevant law when he asked a state court to strike a breach of contract claim against him, the tribal gambling authority said.
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August 21, 2024
Car Buyers Say Claims Are Tolled Because GM Hid Defects
A proposed class of car buyers is urging a Michigan federal court not to dismiss their suit claiming General Motors sold vehicles with defective transmissions, saying the automaker hid the defect, so they couldn't have discovered it until recently.
Expert Analysis
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4 Ways Businesses Can Address Threat Of Mass Arbitration
Attorneys at DLA Piper examine the rise of mass arbitration in light of JAMS' new procedures and guidelines, and provide four steps e-commerce businesses can take when revising their dispute resolution provisions to maximize the chances those revisions will be held enforceable.
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What High Court Ruling Means For Sexual Harassment Claims
In its recent Smith v. Spizzirri decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court compelling a case to arbitration is obligated to stay the case rather than dismissing it, but this requirement may result in sexual harassment cases not being heard by appellate courts, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.
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Trademark In Artistic Works 1 Year After Jack Daniel's
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court's Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products ruling, courts have applied Jack Daniel's inconsistently to deny First Amendment protection to artistic works, providing guidance for dismissing trademark claims relating to film and TV titles, say Hardy Ehlers and Neema Sahni at Covington.
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9th Circ. Ruling Broadens Sweep Of Securities 'Solicitation'
The Ninth Circuit's recent revival of a putative securities fraud class action against Genius Brands for hiring a stock promoter to write favorable articles about it shows that companies should view "solicitation" broadly in considering whether they may have paid someone to urge an investor to purchase a security, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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NCAA Settlement May End The NIL Model As We Know It
The recent House v. NCAA settlement in California federal court, in which the NCAA agreed to allow schools to directly pay March Madness television revenue to their athletes, may send outside name, image and likeness collectives in-house, says Mike Ingersoll at Womble Bond.
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Opinion
The FTC And DOJ Should Backtrack On RealPage
The antitrust agencies ought to reverse course on their enforcement actions against RealPage, which are based on a faulty legal premise, risk further property shortages and threaten the use of algorithms that are central to the U.S. economy, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.
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How Federal And State Microfiber Pollution Policy Is Evolving
Growing efforts to address synthetic microfiber pollution may create compliance and litigation issues for businesses in the textile and apparel industries, so companies should track developing federal and state legislation and regulation in this space, and should consider associated greenwashing risks, says Arie Feltman-Frank at Jenner & Block.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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Opinion
It's Time To Defuse The Ticking Time Bomb Of US Landfills
After recent fires at landfills in Alabama and California sent toxic fumes into surrounding communities, it is clear that existing penalties for landfill mismanagement are insufficient — so policymakers must enact major changes to the way we dispose of solid waste, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.
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5th Circ. Venue-Transfer Cases Highlight Mandamus Limits
Three ongoing cases filed within the Fifth Circuit highlight an odd procedural wrinkle that may let district courts defy an appellate writ: orders granting transfer to out-of-circuit districts, but parties opposing intercircuit transfer can work around this hurdle to effective appellate review, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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Calif. Web Tracking Cases Show Courts' Indecision Over CIPA
Several hundred cases filed to date, and two recent conflicting rulings, underscore California courts' uncertainty over whether the use of web analytics tools to track users' website interactions can give rise to a violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, says Patricia Brum at Snell & Wilmer.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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What Junk Fee Law Means For Biz In California And Beyond
Come July 1, companies doing business in California must ensure that the price of any good or service as offered, displayed or advertised is inclusive of all mandatory fees and other charges in compliance with S.B. 478, which may have a far-reaching impact across the country due to wide applicability, say Alexandria Ruiz and Amy Lally at Sidley Austin.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.