California

  • March 03, 2025

    Apple Gets ICloud Monopoly Suit Tossed For Now

    Apple has convinced a California federal judge to toss a proposed class action accusing it of flouting federal antitrust laws by blocking third-party cloud storage services from accessing and storing certain files on its smartphones, at least temporarily.

  • March 03, 2025

    Wrongful Death Claims Go Ahead In Social Media MDL

    A California federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation over claims Facebook and other social media companies purposefully addict minors to their platforms has allowed certain allegations, including negligence and wrongful death claims, to go forward in a final ruling.

  • March 03, 2025

    ICE Contractor Loses Immunity Bid In Family Separation Suit

    A California federal judge Monday largely denied a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contractor's attempt to escape litigation that a father and son brought against the transportation company for its role in a policy that separated them and thousands of other immigrant families during the first Trump administration.

  • March 03, 2025

    Credit Bureaus Look To Duck Renewed Medical Debt Claims

    Equifax, Experian and TransUnion asked a California federal judge Monday to toss an updated case accusing the credit reporting agencies of violating antitrust law by agreeing to exclude medical debt under $500 from consumer credit reports.

  • March 03, 2025

    Tobacco, Cannabis Cos. Score Partial Wins In TM Fight

    An Arizona federal court judge has issued a mixed ruling on dueling summary judgment bids in a trademark lawsuit over a tobacco company and a cannabis company's shared use of the word "Raw" in branding.

  • March 03, 2025

    Film Exec Testifies She Felt 'Set Up' By 'Moana' IP Claims

    A movie executive told a California federal jury on Monday that she never shared a distant family member's script with The Walt Disney Co., and that she later felt "set up" and pressured to lie for this relative's copyright suit over the blockbuster animated film "Moana."

  • March 03, 2025

    VLSI Maintains Intel Doesn't Have A Free License To Its IP

    VLSI Technology has urged U.S. District Judge Alan Albright to reinstate his 2022 decision that Intel Corp. doesn't have a license to its patents, saying no facts impacting a potential license have changed in the interim.

  • March 03, 2025

    Insurer Seeks Exit After Doctor Rejects Mistaken Surgery Deal

    An insurer for a doctor accused of performing the wrong surgery should no longer have a duty to indemnify him after his refusal to ink a settlement, the carrier told a California federal court, noting the doctor's underlying counsel already obtained settlement authority from the insurer.

  • March 03, 2025

    Ex-Adecco Worker Can't Protest PAGA Deal, Calif. Panel Rules

    A worker suing a staffing agency under California's Private Attorneys General Act cannot intervene in a settled case lodging similar claims because the challenge is based purely on her private interests, a California panel ruled.

  • March 03, 2025

    NYT Seeks To Ax Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Defamation Suit

    The New York Times urged a New York federal court to toss defamation claims made by Justin Baldoni over the news organization's coverage of the "It Ends With Us" actor-director's legal battle with Blake Lively over the actress's sexual harassment complaints, saying it is legally protected reporting and opinion made without malice.

  • March 03, 2025

    Sutter Settles Years-Old Antitrust Suit On Courthouse Steps

    Attorneys for a class of millions of health insurance premium payors announced an eleventh hour deal staving off a new antitrust trial Monday in California federal court over claims that hospital chain Sutter Health drives up costs by pushing all-or-nothing network deals on insurers.

  • March 03, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Black Ex-Boeing Engineer's Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday backed Boeing's defeat of a former engineer's lawsuit claiming he was disciplined for minor issues and ultimately terminated because he's Black, ruling he hadn't provided evidence that the company's actions were based on his race.

  • March 03, 2025

    Calif. BMO Worker Can Bank On Litigating 401(k) Suit In Ill.

    A proposed class action challenging BMO Financial Corp.'s alleged misuse of forfeited retirement contributions should be litigated in Illinois, where most of the bank's evidence and witnesses are located, a California federal judge said on Friday. 

  • March 03, 2025

    Former X Exec Says Sanctions Not Warranted In Bonus Fight

    A former X Corp. executive urged a California federal court to reject his former employer's bid to sanction him for filing a "frivolous" class certification motion in his unpaid bonuses lawsuit, saying the company refused to let him modify his filing or dismiss his claims.

  • March 03, 2025

    Jones Day Hires Pair Of Weil IP Litigators In California

    Jones Day is expanding its California intellectual property team, announcing Monday that it is bringing in two Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP litigators as partners in the northern part of the state.

  • March 03, 2025

    Kraken Joins Crypto Cos. Announcing SEC Case Dismissals

    Crypto exchange Kraken said Monday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is also walking away from its registration suit amid a bevy of crypto case dismissals and investigation closures that have come as part of a new approach to digital asset policy.

  • March 03, 2025

    Activist Investor Nominates 2 Candidates To Portillo's Board

    Activist investor Engaged Capital LLC on Monday unveiled its slate of directors to stand for election to Portillo's Inc.'s board ahead of the company's annual meeting, saying that the Chicago street food-focused restaurant chain's performance has been suffering due to outdated restaurant operations.

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Deny Google Foe's Bid For Patent Eligibility Clarity

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a patent owner's appeal arguing that the Federal Circuit has a "broken approach to patent eligibility" and that the justices must clarify the law, in a case where advertising patents asserted against Google were found to cover abstract ideas.

  • February 28, 2025

    Align Tech Deal Directs Buyers To A Monopolist, Judge Says

    A California federal judge has soundly rejected Align Technologies Inc.'s proposed $27.5 million antitrust settlement with teeth-aligner buyers, slamming Align as a monopolist and saying that the deal "will direct still more customers to the monopolist."

  • February 28, 2025

    9th Circ. Keeps Mass Starz Privacy Arbitration Consolidated

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday refused to allow a consumer whose video privacy arbitration claims against Starz Entertainment LLC have been merged with more than 7,000 similar allegations to break off from the pack, finding that the television network couldn't be blamed for the current "procedural stalemate" in the consolidated arbitration proceedings. 

  • February 28, 2025

    Trump Still Isn't Obeying Order To Free FEMA Funds, AGs Say

    The Trump administration still has not restored millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds as part of a temporary restraining order barring a freeze on funding for federal grant and aid programs, a coalition of states told a Rhode Island federal judge Friday, asking the court to enforce its order.

  • February 28, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Orders Interest Recalculation In Hardware IP Row

    Halo Electronics' nearly two-decades-old dispute with a rival completed its fifth trip to the Federal Circuit, with the appeals court on Friday ordering a Nevada federal court to recalculate the amount of interest Halo could collect on a jury verdict.

  • February 28, 2025

    Ex-USF Ballplayers In Uphill Battle For Sex Harassment Cert.

    A California federal magistrate judge said Friday she is unlikely to certify a class of potentially hundreds of ex-University of San Francisco baseball players in a case alleging that former coaches created a sexually abusive environment, but agreed to hold her decision to review additional information on the claims.

  • February 28, 2025

    Judge Denies OpenAI's Bid For Discovery In Meta's IP Fight

    A California federal judge rejected OpenAI's request to see discovery produced in Meta Platforms Inc.'s copyright battle with authors over its artificial intelligence tool, writing Thursday that the "broad swath of information" it requested is not proportional to the company's needs in its own case.

  • February 28, 2025

    Calif. Bar Using Forensics To Determine Who Leaked Exam Qs

    The State Bar of California will tap "digital forensic experts" to figure out who's been improperly posting bar exam questions online following the disastrous administration of the Golden State's February exam, according to a notice from the bar.

Expert Analysis

  • Retailers Must Adapt As Courts Shift On False Price Claims

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    The increasing frequency with which courts are denying motions to dismiss false reference price claims signals that these lawsuits are not going away anytime soon, so retailers must be prepared for a more complex and prolonged defense process, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • Health Tech Regulatory Trends To Watch In 2025

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    With an upcoming change in administration and the release of some long-awaited rules, the healthcare industry should prepare for shifting trends, including a growing focus on health data and interest in technology-enabled delivery of healthcare, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

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    As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.

  • The Justices' Securities Rulings, Dismissals That Defined '24

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 securities rulings led to increased success for defendants' price impact arguments, but the justices' decisions not to weigh in on important issues relating to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act's pleading requirements may be just as significant, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Series

    Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • 2024 Has Been A Momentous Year For ESG

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    Significant developments in the environmental, social and governance landscape this year include new legislation, evolving global frameworks, continued litigation and enforcement actions, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that has already affected how lower courts have viewed some ESG challenges, say attorneys at Katten.

  • 2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

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    In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

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    In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

  • Trends In Section 101 Motions 6 Years After Berkheimer

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    A half-dozen years after the Federal Circuit's landmark patent eligibility ruling in Berkheimer, empirical data offers practitioners some noteworthy insights on Section 101 motions, both nationally and across four exemplary jurisdictions, says Alexa Reed at Fisch Sigler.

  • Ledbetter's Legacy Shines In 2024 Equal Pay Law Updates

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    The federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act turned 15 this year, and its namesake's legacy is likely to endure in 2025 and beyond, as demonstrated by 2024's state- and local-level progress on pay equity, as well as several rulings from federal appellate courts, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

  • Opinion

    Justices Rightly Corrected Course In Nvidia And Facebook

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    By dismissing both the Nvidia and Facebook class actions, over investors' ability to hold corporations accountable for fraud, the U.S. Supreme Court was right in refusing to favor corporations over transparency, and reaffirmed its commitment to corporate accountability, investor protection and the rule of law, says Laura Posner at Cohen Milstein.

  • When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

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    As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Notable 2024 Trademark Cases And What To Watch In 2025

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    Emerging disputes between established tech giants and smaller trademark holders promise to test the boundaries of trademark protection in 2025, following a 2024 marked with disputes in areas ranging from cybersquatting to geographic marks, says Danner Kline at Bradley Arant.

  • How A 9th Circ. Identicality Ruling Could Affect AI Cos.

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    If the Ninth Circuit agrees to settle a district court split over whether the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires a copy to be identical to an original to support an actionable claim for removing copyright management information, the decision could have important ramifications for artificial intelligence businesses, says Maria Sinatra at Venable.

  • Why Class Cert. Is Unlikely In Cases Like Mattel 'Wicked' Suit

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    A proposed class action recently filed in California federal court against Mattel over the company's "Wicked" doll boxes accidentally listing a pornographic website illustrates the uphill battle plaintiffs face in certifying a class when many consumers never saw or relied on the representation at issue, says Alex Smith at Jenner & Block.

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