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California
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October 28, 2024
Farm Co. Can't Push Worker's Wage Suit To Arbitration
A California appeals court refused to send to arbitration a farm laborer's suit accusing a farm labor contractor of shorting workers on wages, saying the company can't rely on an arbitration pact that one of its clients signed with the workers.
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October 28, 2024
Cleary Adds Northern Calif. Deputy Criminal Chief As Partner
The deputy chief of the criminal division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California has joined Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP's Bay Area office as a partner in the Americas litigation practice, the firm said Monday.
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October 25, 2024
OpenAI, Authors Battle Over Execs' Texts And Proof Of Harm
California labor law doesn't shield OpenAI from producing CEO Sam Altman's and President Greg Brockman's texts and social media messages relevant to a copyright infringement lawsuit, authors alleging OpenAI and Microsoft illegally used their copyrighted works to train artificial intelligence program ChatGPT have told a New York federal judge.
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October 25, 2024
Real Estate Recap: Campaigning On Housing, '25 Deal Volume
Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including the presidential candidates' stances on housing and Wall Street landlords, and one BigLaw real estate leader's predictions for deal volume in 2025.
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October 25, 2024
Chicago Rapper Lil Durk Accused Of Ordering Rival's Murder
Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Durk was charged with orchestrating the attempted murder of a rival rapper, which led to a shooting near a Los Angeles shopping mall that left one person dead, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
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October 25, 2024
Crypto Rapidly Transforming IRS Criminal Cases, Agent Says
Cryptocurrency is altering the size of many criminal cases that federal law enforcement agencies are handling, an Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator told the UCLA Tax Controversy Conference, commenting that over the past three years the agency broke its record for asset seizures three times.
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October 25, 2024
Apple-Google Pact Plaintiff Stuck With 9th Circ. Appeal
A Ninth Circuit panel has refused to let a training school send its case accusing Google of paying Apple to refrain from developing its own search engine back to district court in light of a recent D.C. federal judge's decision that Google monopolizes the search market.
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October 25, 2024
9th Circ. Backs 7-Year Sentence Over Chip Exports To China
The Ninth Circuit on Friday upheld the seven-year prison sentence imposed on a former University of California, Los Angeles, electrical engineering professor convicted of illegally exporting high-powered semiconductor chips to China, saying the district court did not err in holding that the conduct amounted to an evasion of national security controls.
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October 25, 2024
Social Media MDL Judge Rips Meta, AGs' Agency Doc Fight
A California federal judge Friday slammed counsel for Meta and dozens of state attorneys general during a contentious hearing in multidistrict litigation over claims social media is addictive for not reaching agreements on Meta's demands for documents from 275 state agencies, telling both sides' attorneys, "we should've never gotten here."
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October 25, 2024
'Open AI' TM Owner Asks 9th Circ. To Nix Injunction
A man accused by OpenAI of preventing the ChatGPT-maker from registering its name as a trademark urged the Ninth Circuit on Friday to vacate an injunction blocking him from using the "Open AI" mark while his case is pending, arguing he's the mark's senior holder and calling the injunction "extraordinary and unprecedented."
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October 25, 2024
'Quiet On Set' Free Speech Row Has Judge Reaching For Advil
A California judge was undecided Friday about tossing on free speech grounds a defamation lawsuit from former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider against Warner Brothers Discovery Inc. over its "Quiet on Set" docuseries, remarking during a hearing that such motions are so headache-inducing he must "remember to bring [his] Advil."
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October 25, 2024
Premera Rejection Seems Sparse, 9th Circ. Judges Say
A Ninth Circuit judge pressed Premera Blue Cross on Friday to defend refusing coverage for a Washington teen's lengthy mental health residential treatment, questioning if the insurer engaged in a meaningful dialogue as required with the youth's family in letters explaining why the treatment was medically unnecessary.
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October 25, 2024
Lyft To Pay $2.1M FTC Fine Over Driver Earnings Claims
Lyft Inc. will pay $2.1 million and clarify its claims about driver pay in order to settle allegations from the Federal Trade Commission that the ride-hailing company made deceptive statements about what drivers could expect to earn hourly and through special incentives, according to a Friday announcement from the agency.
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October 25, 2024
Wrongful Firing Suit Alleges Clippers Mishandled Star's Health
A former trainer for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers has filed a wrongful termination suit in California state court against the team, alleging he was fired after raising concerns about the health of star forward Kawhi Leonard.
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October 25, 2024
Off The Bench: Toss-Up For Ohtani Ball, UFC Fighters' Payday
In this week's Off The Bench, the three claimants to a historic baseball now know how much is at stake for the winner, a long fight against wage suppression for mixed martial arts fighters is a step closer to ending, and WNBA players want a bigger piece of a growing revenue pie.
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October 25, 2024
Pink Is Too Close To Purple, National Gypsum Judge Says
Drywall manufacturer National Gypsum has convinced a Chicago federal judge that new shades of pink used by a company that makes shower wall niches broke the terms of an injunction that was issued after a jury sided with National Gypsum in a legal dispute over the use of the color purple in construction materials.
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October 25, 2024
9th Circ. Dubious Of Tesla Investors' Appeal Of $12B Trial Loss
Ninth Circuit judges appeared skeptical Friday of Tesla investors' argument that an erroneous trial instruction improperly led a jury to reject their $12 billion claim over Elon Musk's 2018 tweets that he had "funding secured" to take the electric car giant private.
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October 25, 2024
'Starting Point' Algorithm Enough To Fix Prices, DOJ Says
The Justice Department is using the first algorithmic price-fixing case to reach an appeals court to argue that just because an algorithm only set "starting points" doesn't make its use legal, in a Ninth Circuit amicus brief backing efforts to revive a room rate lawsuit against Las Vegas casino hotels.
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October 25, 2024
Ex-Worker Says Circle K Failed To Provide OT, Breaks
Convenience store company Circle K failed to pay workers overtime wages and provide them with meal and rest periods, the workers alleged Friday in California state court.
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October 25, 2024
Hawkins Delafield Career Atty Moves To Nixon Peabody In SF
Nixon Peabody LLP hired a Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP partner who has spent his entire legal career with that firm working on public finance tax matters and a range of other tax-related matters, the firm has announced.
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October 25, 2024
Masimo Infringed 2 Apple Watch Patents, Jury Finds
Healthcare tech company Masimo Corp. was found to have infringed two of Apple Inc.'s patents Friday at the close of a five-day U.S. District Court jury trial in Delaware that put more future tech prospects than current cash on the line.
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October 25, 2024
Maritime Unions Tell EPA To Reject Calif. Workboat Rule
Three maritime labor unions and a tugboat trade association called on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan to deny California's request for a Clean Air Act waiver to enforce its rule mandating the installation of diesel particulate filter technology on workboats.
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October 25, 2024
UK Antitrust Arm Opens Formal Probe Of $35B Software Deal
United Kingdom antitrust authorities triggered a formal investigation Friday into Synopsys Inc.'s $35 billion acquisition of Ansys Inc., satisfied that the transaction has enough ties to the country to merit greater scrutiny.
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October 25, 2024
Self-Driving Car Co. Waymo Snags $5.6B In Series C Funding
Self-driving car company Waymo on Friday announced that it closed a behemoth investing round, raising $5.6 billion from private equity and venture capital investors.
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October 25, 2024
Polsinelli Real Estate Shareholder Joins Kilpatrick In SF
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP announced on Thursday the hiring of a former principal and shareholder at Polsinelli as a counsel in its San Francisco office.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Opinion
California Has A Duty To Curtail Frivolous CIPA Suits
As plaintiffs increasingly file class actions against companies for their use of website tracking cookies and pixels, the Legislature should consider four options to amend the California Invasion of Privacy Act and restore the balance between consumer privacy and business operational interests, say Steven Stransky and Jennifer Adler at Thompson Hine and Glenn Lammi at the Washington Legal Foundation.
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Playing The Odds: Criminal Charges Related To Sports Betting
In light of recent sports betting scandals involving MLB player Shohei Ohtani and NBA player Jontay Porter, institutions and individuals involved in athletics should be aware of and prepared to address the legal issues, including potential criminal charges, that sports gambling may bring to their door, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses
The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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9th Circ. Clarifies ERISA Preemption For Healthcare Industry
The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Bristol SL Holdings v. Cigna notably clarifies the broad scope of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's preemption of certain state law causes of action, standing to benefit payors and health plan administrators, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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State Procurement Could Be Key For Calif. Offshore Wind
A recent ruling from the California Public Utilities Commission highlights how the state's centralized electricity procurement mechanism could play a critical role in the development of long lead-time resources — in particular, offshore wind — by providing market assurance to developers and reducing utilities' procurement risks, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.
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Calif. Budget Will Likely Have Unexpected Tax Consequences
A temporary suspension of net operating loss deductions and business incentive tax credits, likely to be approved on June 15 as part of California’s next budget, may create unanticipated tax liabilities for businesses that modeled recently completed transactions on current law, says Myra Sutanto Shen at Wilson Sonsini.
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Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In May
A look at recent cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court provide guidance on how to succeed on appeal by clarifying the obviousness analysis of design patents, the finality of a judgment, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Politics In The Workplace: What Employers Need To Know
As the 2024 election approaches and protests continue across the country, employers should be aware of employees' rights — and limits on those rights — related to political speech and activities in the workplace, and be prepared to act proactively to prevent issues before they arise, say attorneys at Littler.