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California
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June 20, 2024
MoFo Partner, Ex-Kilpatrick Partner Tapped For Calif. Bench
Among California Gov. Gavin Newsom's picks for judgeships around the Golden State are a Morrison Foerster LLP partner, who will serve in the Marin County Superior Court, and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP alumni.
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June 20, 2024
Calif. AG, City Atty Target SpongeBob App Over Kids' Privacy
California's attorney general and the Los Angeles city attorney have teamed up to secure a deal that requires the operator of a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed app to pay $500,000 and overhaul its data-handling practices to resolve claims that the company gathered and shared children's personal information without consent.
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June 20, 2024
Kraken Unlikely To Escape SEC's Crypto Exchange Case
A California federal judge said Thursday that he was not inclined to dismiss a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit claiming that cryptocurrency exchange Kraken illegally operated as an unregistered securities exchange, telling the company's lawyer, "You've got your work cut out for you" to change his mind.
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June 20, 2024
Delta's $16M Pay Stub Deal Stalled On Runway By 'Problems'
A California federal judge said Thursday that he has "problems" giving preliminary approval to Delta Air Lines' $16 million deal in a pay stub class action that went to the Ninth Circuit and the California Supreme Court, saying the settlement's release "seems way overbroad."
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June 20, 2024
Ontrak Founder's Insider Trading Case Goes To Calif. Jury
Federal prosecutors delivered closing arguments Thursday in the insider trading trial of Ontrak's founder, telling jurors that he hurriedly dumped $20 million of shares in the healthcare company after discovering its biggest client was going to terminate their deal, while defense counsel argued he was simply exercising expiring warrants.
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June 20, 2024
GM's Cruise To Pay Calif. $112K Fine Over Robotaxi Crash
Cruise LLC agreed to pay a $112,500 penalty for mishandling its response to an October accident involving a pedestrian and one of its autonomous vehicles, and promised to disclose additional data on any collisions to California regulators under a settlement agreement approved Thursday.
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June 20, 2024
Calif. High Court Strikes Anti-Tax Measure From Nov. Ballot
A ballot measure that would make it more difficult to raise taxes in California would revise the state constitution and cannot be enacted by citizen initiative, the state's highest court held Thursday in an opinion that ordered the measure struck from the ballot.
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June 20, 2024
Sutter Health Wins Trial Over $519M Double-Billing Claims
A California state judge has handed Sutter Health a win following a weeks-long bench trial last year over a whistleblower's claims that the nonprofit hospital network violated the state's insurance fraud prevention statutes and owes $519 million for allegedly double-billing for certain operating-room services without documentation.
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June 20, 2024
Ex-ITT Students Net $12M Win In Predatory Lending Scheme
A California federal judge has ordered loan servicer Vervent Inc. to pay $12 million to ex-students of bankrupt for-profit college ITT Education Services Inc. for Vervent's role in an alleged predatory lending scheme for ITT's benefit, finding it was appropriate to triple a $4 million jury award.
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June 20, 2024
NLRB Attys, Calif. Tribe Settle Casino Subpoena Dispute
A California federal court dismissed on Thursday National Labor Relations Board prosecutors' bids to enforce subpoenas requesting a list of casino employees who could be in a proposed bargaining unit from a tribe and a gambling company, with agency attorneys saying the parties settled the dispute.
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June 20, 2024
Calif. Court, Judge Escape Former Exec's Racial Bias Suit
A California federal judge handed an early win Wednesday to a state court and one of its judges, tossing out a racial discrimination and retaliation suit after finding that a former court executive officer failed to show how the judge who fired her had discriminated against her as a Black woman.
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June 20, 2024
Prosecutors Deny Spoiling Evidence In OneTaste Case
Brooklyn federal prosecutors have denied allegations of misconduct in the forced labor conspiracy case against two executives of sexual wellness company OneTaste, who claim an FBI agent instructed a potential key witness to delete emails.
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June 20, 2024
19 Dem AGs Urge Law Group, Others To Ignore DEI Detractors
A coalition of 19 Democratic state attorneys general issued a letter Thursday rebutting criticism of diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the American Bar Association, Fortune 100 corporations and law firms.
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June 20, 2024
Tesla Let Racism Go Unchecked In Calif. Factories, Suit Says
Harassment ran rampant in two Tesla factories where racist graffiti was commonplace and Black and Hispanic workers were taunted with racial slurs, according to a suit filed in California state court.
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June 20, 2024
ACLU Urges 9th Circ. To Reject Insurer's Trans Health Appeal
The American Civil Liberties Union urged the Ninth Circuit to reject Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' appeal seeking to overturn a lower court ruling that found denying transgender health plan participants gender-affirming care violated the Affordable Care Act, arguing federal healthcare nondiscrimination laws clearly protected against gender identity bias.
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June 20, 2024
Tax Preparer With $38M In Refunds Cops To S-Corp. Scam
The owner of a tax preparation business that secured $38 million in federal refunds for customers pled guilty to helping prepare false returns and admitted he required clients to establish empty corporations to lower their tax bills illegally, according to his plea agreement in a California federal court.
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June 20, 2024
LA Boutique Adds Real Estate Pro As 4th Name Partner
Boutique entertainment and business legal firm Freedman Taitelman & Cooley LLP is rebranding for the second time in less than a year — adding real estate and business attorney Stuart Liner to the front of the masthead.
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June 20, 2024
Snapchat Inks $15M Deal In Calif. Watchdog's Sex Bias Suit
The parent company of Snapchat agreed to pay $15 million to end a California Civil Rights Department suit alleging it discouraged women from applying for promotions and failed to protect them from inappropriate sexual advances, according to a filing in California state court.
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June 20, 2024
Justices Say Experts Can Testify Broadly On Criminal Intent
The U.S. Supreme Court found Thursday that a rule barring expert witnesses from testifying about a defendant's alleged criminal intent does not block testimony about the mental state of people in similar situations.
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June 18, 2024
Qualcomm Investors Ink $75M Deal Over Licensing Practices
Qualcomm Inc. investors asked a California federal judge to greenlight a $75 million settlement that would resolve their claims that the chipmaker misled the market by stating it kept its licensing and chip-supply businesses separate when it regularly bundled the two in negotiations and agreements.
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June 18, 2024
Newsom, Legislators Reach Agreement On PAGA Reform
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders on Tuesday unveiled reforms to California's Private Attorneys General Act, including major changes to the law's penalty structure, changes they say will avoid a "contentious" ballot measure campaign.
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June 18, 2024
Doubt Cast On Free Whole Foods Delivery 'Bait And Switch'
A Washington federal judge appeared skeptical at a hearing Tuesday of claims that Amazon misled Prime members by advertising free Whole Foods grocery deliveries and then later pulling the perk in a "bait and switch," noting the retail giant has reserved the right to change Prime members' benefits.
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June 18, 2024
Tesla Can't Beat 'Right-To-Repair' Monopoly Suit This Time
Tesla must face an amended proposed class action alleging the company runs an unlawful monopoly on parts for its electric vehicles, a California federal judge has ruled, finding that the plaintiffs have addressed issues in their previously dismissed complaint.
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June 18, 2024
Ex-CBS Sports Chair Denies Fixing NFL Sunday Ticket Price
The recently retired chairman of CBS Sports on Tuesday told a California federal jury considering multibillion-dollar antitrust claims against the NFL that his network didn't collude with the league to fix the price of the DirecTV Sunday Ticket television package.
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June 20, 2024
CORRECTED: Drug Cos., PBMs Score Win In Calif. AG's Insulin Price Suit
A Los Angeles judge ruled Tuesday that the statute of limitations bars the California Attorney General's unfair competition law and unjust enrichment claims against drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers over an alleged conspiracy to spike insulin costs, but granted leave to amend the allegations.
Expert Analysis
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Questions Persist After Ruling Skirts $925M TCPA Award Issue
After an Oregon federal court's recent Wakefield v. ViSalus ruling that the doctrine of constitutional avoidance precluded it from deciding whether a $925 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act damages award was constitutionally sound, further guidance is needed on when statutory damages violate due process, says Michael Klotz at O'Melveny.
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Benzene Contamination Concerns: Drugmakers' Next Steps
After a citizen petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a flurry of class actions over benzene contamination in benzoyl peroxide acne products, affected manufacturers should consider a thoughtful approach that includes assembling internal data and possibly contacting the FDA for product-specific discussions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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A Look At Global Employee Disconnect Laws For US Counsel
As countries worldwide adopt employee right to disconnect laws, U.S. in-house counsel at corporations with a global workforce must develop a comprehensive understanding of the laws' legal and cultural implications, ensuring their companies can safeguard employee welfare while maintaining legal compliance, say Emma Corcoran and Ute Krudewagen at DLA Piper.
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How DEI Programs Are Being Challenged In Court And Beyond
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action decision last year declaring the consideration of race in university admissions unconstitutional, employers should keep abreast of recent litigation challenging diversity, equity and inclusion training programs, as well as legislation both supporting and opposing DEI initiatives in the workplace, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Back Labels In False Ad Cases Get Some Clarity In 9th Circ.
Courts in the Ninth Circuit have recently delivered a series of wins to advertisers, making clear that any ambiguity on the front of a product's package can be resolved by reference to the back label — which guarantees defendants a powerful tool to combat deceptive labeling claims, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.
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Why Fed. Circ. Should Resolve District Split On Patent Statute
A split exists among district courts in their analysis of when marking cannot be done on a patented article due to its character, and the Federal Circuit should consider clarifying the analysis of Section 287(a), a consequential statute with important implications for patent damages, say Nicholas Nowak and Jamie Dohopolski at Sterne Kessler.
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Employers Beware Of NLRB Changes On Bad Faith Bargaining
Recent National Labor Relations Board decisions show a trend of the agency imposing harsher remedies on employers for bad faith bargaining over union contracts, a position upheld in the Ninth Circuit's recent NLRB v. Grill Concepts Services decision, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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When Trade Secret Protection And Nat'l Security Converge
The Trump administration's anti-espionage program focused on China is over, but federal enforcement efforts to protect trade secrets and U.S. national security continue, and companies doing business in high-risk jurisdictions need to maintain their compliance programs to avoid the risk of being caught in the crosshairs of an investigation, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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How Banks Should Respond To Calif. AG's Overdraft Warning
Banks and credit unions should heed recent guidance from California’s attorney general, along with warnings by consumer regulators of all stripes, regarding unfair fee practices by properly disclosing their fees and practices, and ensuring the amounts charged mirror federal benchmarks, say Brett D. Watson and Madeline Suchard at Cozen O'Connor.
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Calif. Verdict Showcases SEC's New 'Shadow Trading' Theory
Last week's insider trading verdict, delivered against biopharmaceutical executive Matthew Panuwat by a California federal jury, signals open season on a new area of regulatory enforcement enabled by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's shadow trading theory, say Perrie Weiner and Aaron Goodman at Baker McKenzie.
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Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice
The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Promptu Systems v. Comcast serves as a reminder that while incorporating by reference may seem efficient, it is generally prohibited by courts and can lead to sanctions when used to bypass a word count limit, says Cullen Seltzer at Sands Anderson.
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Climate Disclosure Mandates Demand A Big-Picture Approach
As carbon emissions disclosure requirements from the European Union, California and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission take effect, the best practice for companies is not targeted compliance with a given reporting regime, but rather a comprehensive approach to systems assessment and management, says David Smith at Manatt.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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Considerations For Evaluating IP Risks In Cannabis M&A
Due to the patchwork of state cannabis laws in the U.S., investors and businesses acquiring intellectual property must assess whether a trademark portfolio possesses any vulnerabilities, such as marks that are considered attractive to children or third-party claims of trademark infringement, say Mary Shapiro and Nicole Katsin at Evoke Law.