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California
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August 16, 2024
TikTok Nonusers Fight Uphill For 100M-Member Privacy Class
A California federal judge on Friday tentatively declined to certify a class of over 100 million nonusers of TikTok over allegations it illegally scraped their personal data from third-party websites, noting the "extraordinary" class size and questioning whether the plaintiffs have shown their injuries are typical of the proposed class.
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August 16, 2024
Intuit Decision Shows 401(k) Forfeiture Suits Gaining Traction
A California federal judge's recent decision refusing to toss a federal benefits lawsuit alleging Intuit misspent 401(k) plan forfeitures shows how a novel pleading under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act has gained a foothold in some district courts, attorneys say. Here's a rundown with attorneys on the Intuit ruling and what to expect as more large employers are being targeted with proposed class action litigation challenging 401(k) forfeiture spending.
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August 16, 2024
PepsiCo Can't Nix Suit Over Gatorade Bars' 'Health Halo'
A California federal judge trimmed but declined to toss a putative consumer class action alleging PepsiCo created a "deceptive health halo" around its Gatorade brand protein bars, ruling that three self-proclaimed fitness enthusiasts plausibly alleged reasonable consumers could be misled by the company's marketing, ads and labels.
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August 16, 2024
Ex-Twitter Workers Seek Conditional Cert. In Age Bias Suit
Counsel for a former Twitter employee urged a California federal judge at a hearing Friday to conditionally certify a proposed age discrimination collective action on behalf of workers 50 and older who were fired after Elon Musk acquired the company, pointing to Musk's remarks as evidence of bias.
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August 16, 2024
Nikola, Romeo Power Targeted In Del. Derivative Complaint
A former Romeo Power Inc. stockholder has launched a double derivative suit seeking derivative damages from nine former Romeo directors and officers in part through derivative claims via Nikola Corp., which acquired Romeo in August 2022 for a fraction of the company's once $1 billion-plus valuation.
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August 16, 2024
Airbnb Says Travel Insurance Fee Fight Must Be Arbitrated
Airbnb and an Italian insurer are urging a California federal court to send a proposed class action over allegedly unfair fees on travel insurance policies to arbitration, arguing Thursday that the plaintiffs are ignoring an arbitration clause they had to sign to use the Airbnb platform.
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August 16, 2024
Calif. State Court Tosses Antitrust Case Against MultiPlan
A California state court has tossed a suit accusing MultiPlan Inc. of violating antitrust law through pricing tools used by health insurance providers, similar to claims being made in multidistrict litigation that were recently centralized in Illinois federal court.
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August 16, 2024
Carpenters Union Healthcare Plan Seeks To Ax Worker's Suit
A Carpenters-represented worker who lost health insurance once the union's healthcare plan stopped working with his employer lacks standing to sue the plan, the plan and its trustees argued in California federal court, suggesting the worker raise the issue with his employer or the union itself.
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August 16, 2024
9th Circ. Upholds Tribe's Win In Washington Dam Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Friday upheld an order requiring that a Washington hydroelectric company alter its rock pile dam on the Puyallup River, handing another win to the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, which says the dam is threatening several species of endangered fish.
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August 16, 2024
Ga. BCBS Fights Hospital Remand Bid In Reimbursement Suit
A Georgia Blue Cross Blue Shield unit is fighting a California hospital's push to have a lawsuit seeking $905,000 in reimbursements sent back to a Georgia state court, arguing the hospital's state law claims are preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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August 16, 2024
Ex-Worker Says Toshiba Unit's Laxity Led To 3-Month Breach
A onetime employee of Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc., a U.S.-based subsidiary of Japanese electronics company Toshiba, has filed a proposed class action against his former employer claiming his personal information was stolen in a data breach made possible by the company's negligence.
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August 16, 2024
9th Circ. Keeps Part Of Block On Calif. Kids' Privacy Law
The Ninth Circuit on Friday refused to completely scrap an injunction halting a groundbreaking new California law requiring social media platforms to bolster privacy protections for children, finding that a tech trade group was "likely to succeed" on its argument that the mandate for companies to identify and address potential risks to minors violates the First Amendment.
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August 16, 2024
Fla. Advertising Co. Says Pot Cos. Didn't Pay Up For Services
A Miami advertising agency is suing the cannabis companies behind the Cookies brand, claiming they failed to pay for months of work worth tens of thousands of dollars.
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August 16, 2024
Ex-Matterport Worker Sues In Del. Over 'Invalid' Trade Block
A shareholder of 3D spatial mapping company Matterport Inc. sued the California company in Delaware's Court of Chancery Friday, alleging that when it went public by merging with a special acquisition company in 2021, the company prevented him from trading his shares for six months through an "invalid transfer restriction."
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August 16, 2024
Anthropic Says IP Suit Doesn't Show AI Users Infringed Lyrics
Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has asked a California federal court to toss the bulk of a copyright suit from several music publishers that allege their song lyrics were ripped off to train Anthropic's chatbot Claude, arguing among other things that the plaintiffs have not shown any infringing acts by Claude users.
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August 16, 2024
$117M Interest Ruled 'Not A Windfall' On $262M Patent Verdict
A California federal judge approved $117 million in prejudgment interest for an Austrian inventor's company on top of the $262 million royalty verdict in its favor against hard drive maker Western Digital Technologies Inc., ruling that the interest "does not amount to a windfall or a punitive award."
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August 16, 2024
Ch. 7 Trustee Can't Recover Tax Payment, States Tell Justices
A group of roughly two dozen states threw their support behind the federal government in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that forced the IRS to return a tax payment after a bankruptcy trustee argued it was a fraudulent transfer and recoverable under state law.
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August 16, 2024
9th Circ. Revives Jamaican Man's Bid To Fight Removal
The Ninth Circuit resuscitated a Jamaican man's case to fight his removal from the country, agreeing with both the man and the government that an immigration appeals board misapplied the law when it dismissed the suit.
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August 16, 2024
PE Firm's SpaceX Suit Belongs In Delaware, HK Co. Says
A Hong Kong company that sued a California-based private equity firm for refusing to invest the company's $50 million into SpaceX says the firm has now sued the company's Chinese parent in California, creating "duplicative proceedings" that ought to be brought in Delaware's Chancery Court.
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August 16, 2024
Psilocybin Right-To-Try Petition To Get 9th Circ. Hearing
A Ninth Circuit panel will hear oral arguments Monday in an appeal brought by a Seattle doctor seeking to administer psilocybin to terminal cancer patients under state and federal right-to-try laws.
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August 15, 2024
CBS, Writer To Resolve Bias Suit Via Summary Judgment
A California federal judge refused to toss a freelance scriptwriter's lawsuit accusing CBS of repeatedly denying him a staff writer position for being a "white, heterosexual male," but said the suit could be resolved without a hearing.
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August 15, 2024
San Francisco Unveils Landmark Suit Over 'Deepfake' Porn
The San Francisco city attorney on Thursday launched a suit against the operators of 16 websites that he claims create and distribute nonconsensual, artificial intelligence-generated pornography, also known as "deepfake pornography" or "deepnudes."
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August 15, 2024
Uber Gets Most Claims Tossed In Driver Assault MDL, For Now
A California federal judge on Thursday threw out the majority of claims from California and Texas Uber riders in multidistrict litigation that aims to hold the ride-hailing company liable for their sexual assaults; however, the judge gave the plaintiffs the opportunity to amend those claims.
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August 15, 2024
Tom Girardi Has Dementia, USC Neurologist Tells Calif. Jury
A University of Southern California neurology professor testified Thursday in Tom Girardi's California federal criminal trial that she diagnosed him with mild-to-moderate dementia months after his law firm collapsed, although the lawyer insisted at the time that his memory was fine and that he was still busily working at his firm.
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August 15, 2024
Honda Slams 'Grossly Excessive' Atty Fee Bid In Defect Deal
Honda urged a California federal judge on Thursday to reject a $10.8 million fee request in a consumer settlement that's paid out just $540,000 to Acura car owners with a purported hands-free calling battery-draining defect, blasting the amount as "grossly excessive" under the Ninth Circuit's recent Lowery decision.
Expert Analysis
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Atmospheric Rivers: Force Majeure Or Just A Rainy Day?
As atmospheric rivers pummel California with intense rainfall, flooding and landslides, agencies and contractors in the state struggling to manage projects may invoke force majeure — but as with all construction risk issues, the terms of the agreement govern, and relief may not always be available, say Kyle Hamilton and Corey Boock at Nossaman.
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Series
Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.
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Best Practices For Chemical Transparency In Supply Chains
A flurry of new and forthcoming regulations in different jurisdictions that require disclosure of potentially hazardous substances used in companies' products and processes will require businesses to take proactive steps to build chemical transparency into their supply chains, and engage robustly and systematically with vendors, says Jillian Stacy at Enhesa.
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Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence
As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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Opinion
Flawed Fintiv Rule Should Be Deemed Overreach In Tech Suit
A pending federal lawsuit over the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's unilateral changes to key elements of the America Invents Act, Apple v. Vidal, could shift the balance of power between Congress and federal agencies, as it could justify future instances of unelected officials unilaterally changing laws, say Patrick Leahy and Bob Goodlatte.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation
Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.
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5 Steps To Navigating State Laws On Healthcare Transactions
As more states pass legislation requiring healthcare-transaction notice, private equity investors and other deal parties should evaluate the new laws and consider ways to mitigate their effects, say Carol Loepere and Nicole Aiken-Shaban at Reed Smith.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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High Court's BofA Ruling Leaves State Preemption Questions
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cantero v. Bank of America sheds light on whether certain state banking regulations apply to federally chartered banks, but a circuit split could still force the Supreme Court to take a more direct position, says Brett Garver at Moritt Hock.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet
A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.
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Rare Robinson-Patman Ruling Exhibits Key Antitrust Risk
A rare federal court decision under the Robinson-Patman Act, which prohibits certain kinds of price discrimination, highlights the antitrust risks faced by certain suppliers and is likely to be cited by future plaintiffs and enforcement officials calling for renewed scrutiny of pricing and discounting practices, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Wiretap Use In Cartel Probes Likely To Remain An Exception
Although the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has recently signaled interest in wiretaps, the use of this technology to capture evidence of antitrust conspiracies and pursue monopolization as a criminal matter has been rare historically, and is likely to remain so, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at DLA Piper.