California

  • July 10, 2026

    Visa Must Face Claims Of Monetizing Child Sex Abuse Images

    Visa must still face allegations that the company knew about and profited from child sexual abuse material on Pornhub under a decision by a California federal judge, who in a separate ruling tossed the suit's claims against the hedge fund lenders who backed Pornhub's parent company.

  • July 10, 2026

    WhatsApp Users Must Arbitrate Claims Over Private Messages

    A California federal judge has ordered WhatsApp users suing the messaging platform in a proposed class action over alleged privacy violations to arbitration, rejecting their argument that the underlying arbitration agreements improperly short-circuit certain of state law claims.

  • July 10, 2026

    Meta Secures Toss Of Swedish Soundtrack Co.'s Music IP Suit

    A California federal judge Friday tossed Swedish soundtrack company Epidemic Sound AB's copyright infringement lawsuit that accused Meta of offering its sounds to the social media giant's billions of users without permission, saying Epidemic failed to plausibly allege its sounds were "substantially similar" to those Meta made available.

  • July 10, 2026

    L'Oreal's Baby Products Same As Standard Version, Suit Says

    L'Oréal uses baby imagery and pediatric dermatologist references on certain CeraVe eczema and healing ointment products to mislead customers into believing that they're specifically formulated for infants, despite containing ingredients identical to cheaper versions of the same standard products, alleges a proposed class action filed Thursday in California federal court. 

  • July 10, 2026

    Toyota Industries' $436M Forklift Emissions Deal Gets Signoff

    A California federal court on Friday officially signed off on Toyota Industries Corp.'s approximately $436 million settlement to resolve a proposed class action alleging that it and other entities misled customers about the true emissions levels of Toyota forklift engines.

  • July 10, 2026

    Top 5 Enviro Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2026

    The second half of 2026 could see courts delivering important rulings that will determine whether municipalities can set their own building emissions laws, the extent of California's authority to regulate pollution and citizens' power to enforce the Clean Air Act. Here, Law360 takes a look at five environmental cases that could be resolved before the end of the year.

  • July 10, 2026

    Google Accused Of Plundering Car Photos To Train AI Ad Tool

    Google harvested thousands of copyrighted images of vehicles to train its artificial intelligence image generator and to integrate the tool into its ad business, where it reaps a "substantial amount of revenue," according to a lawsuit filed by automotive photography company Evox Productions in California federal court.

  • July 10, 2026

    Ralphs To Stop Asking Job Seekers About Criminal History

    Ralphs agreed to stop asking job applicants about criminal convictions and will pay $200,000 in compensation to four applicants, to resolve allegations it unjustifiably rejected people based on prior criminal histories that had nothing to do with the job they applied for, the California Civil Rights Department said Thursday.

  • July 10, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Sony's PTAB Win Over Digital Imaging IP

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board stayed in bounds when deciding to invalidate claims of an Intellectual Pixels Ltd. digital image generation patent on remand, the Federal Circuit said Friday.

  • July 10, 2026

    DOJ Appeals Order Shielding Trans Youth Medical Records

    The U.S. Department of Justice asked the Ninth Circuit to review a California federal court's order blocking the government from trying to identify individuals who received gender-affirming care from a Stanford Medicine hospital as minors.

  • July 10, 2026

    DOJ Defends Nurse Wage-Fixing Conviction At 9th Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Justice urged a Ninth Circuit panel to reject a Las Vegas home nursing executive's appeal of its first-ever criminal wage-fixing conviction, defending its trial characterization of a leniency deal with a cooperating company and the inclusion of the executive's statement likening nurses to prostitutes.

  • July 10, 2026

    Calif. Judge Blocks Grant Conditions Over DEI, Immigration

    A California federal judge blocked the Trump administration from imposing grant funding conditions on California and Oregon municipalities concerning immigration enforcement and its opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, finding the conditions likely encroach on Congress' spending powers.

  • July 10, 2026

    The Biggest TM Rulings Of 2026: A Midyear Report

    The Seventh Circuit placed limits on trademark plaintiffs in cases against foreign online sellers accused of counterfeiting, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board issued precedential decisions with fresh guidance on what marks can get on — or stay on — the federal trademark register. Here is Law360's list of the biggest trademark rulings so far this year.

  • July 10, 2026

    Feds Seek $16.2M Restitution In Counterfeit Apple Device Suit

    Prosecutors asked a California federal judge on Friday to order a Chinese national to pay part of the $16.2 million in restitution to Apple Inc. for her role in a scheme in which fraudsters returned counterfeit iPhones, iPads and other Apple products in exchange for genuine Apple devices.

  • July 10, 2026

    Apple Alleges OpenAI, Ex-Employees Took Trade Secrets

    Apple filed a trade secret lawsuit Friday against OpenAI, its acquired hardware startup io Products and two former Apple employees, alleging in California federal court that the defendants engaged in a coordinated scheme to misappropriate Apple's confidential information to accelerate OpenAI's push into consumer hardware.

  • July 10, 2026

    Athletes Look To Rein In Review Of 3rd-Party NIL Deals

    College athletes looking to monetize their name, image and likeness under a historic antitrust settlement have asked a California federal judge to relax oversight of third-party brand deals, arguing that increased scrutiny is undermining the agreement.

  • July 10, 2026

    4 Takeaways From Probe Of Feb. 2025 Calif. Bar Exam Fiasco

    Poor implementation of the February 2025 California Bar Exam resulted in millions of dollars in extra costs and negatively affected "a significant portion" of test-takers, according to a new report by the California State Auditor.

  • July 10, 2026

    Oura Health Swaps In Sidley For Quinn After Ex-CEO's DQ Bid

    A California federal judge granted Oura Health's request to swap in Sidley Austin LLP for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in breach-of-contract litigation by the fitness tracker company's former CEO after the ex-executive sought to disqualify Quinn Emanuel for purportedly having access to his confidential data.

  • July 10, 2026

    AT&T Inks $184M Deal To End Pension Mortality Data Suit

    AT&T has brokered a $184 million deal to close a 300,000-member proposed class action claiming the telecommunications company used outdated mortality data to calculate pension payments, causing some employees to see less in benefits than others.

  • July 09, 2026

    Meta Nears Beating Cert. Bid By Artist Suing Over IP In Ads

    A California federal judge indicated Thursday that she's inclined to deny certification to a putative class of artists who say Meta illegally allowed third parties to use their copyrighted works in advertisements, saying she's concerned about meeting the commonality and typicality requirements for classwide treatment.

  • July 09, 2026

    Accellion Defeats Bid To Expand Classes In Data Breach Suit

    A California federal judge rejected a bid by plaintiffs suing software vendor Accellion over a sprawling data breach to broaden a previous order that limited class certification to allow only for the recovery of nominal damages, finding the introduction of a new damages expert wasn't enough to change the outcome.

  • July 09, 2026

    Promoter Can't Escape Suit Over Drakeo's Backstage Killing

    A Los Angeles judge held Thursday that a promoter who booked some acts for a concert where rapper Drakeo The Ruler was killed cannot escape a consolidated wrongful death suit brought by the artist's family and associates, ruling his insistence he was not responsible for security at the concert is not enough evidence.

  • July 09, 2026

    Cookies Retail Led Dispensary Into $1.9M Tax Crisis, Suit Says

    Six entrepreneurs alleged in a California state court lawsuit that cannabis giant Cookies Retail pushed them out of their dispensary and took control over its bank accounts, leaving the retail shop saddled with nearly $2 million in unpaid taxes.

  • July 09, 2026

    Google Sued Again Over Nest 'Harvesting' Passersby Data

    Google has been sued once again over its Nest security cameras' artificial intelligence-powered "harvesting" of biometric data of millions of passersby without their consent, an "intrusion" that the latest suit says "goes beyond scanning faces."

  • July 09, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Doubts $9M Atty Fees Without Dismissal Attempt

    A Federal Circuit panel didn't seem swayed Thursday that ChromaDex's patent infringement suit against Elysium Health had any merit, but the judges struggled to understand why Elysium never tried to dismiss a case it believed was so weak.

Expert Analysis

  • How A Founder's AI Pitch Deck Can Become A Crime Scene

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    As recent indictments and prosecutions against tech executives illustrate, AI washing is a criminal enforcement priority, not a regulatory formality, highlighting the importance of ensuring that founders don't overstate what their artificial intelligence does, particularly in the initial pitch deck to investors, says attorney Alan N. Walter.

  • SEC Disgorged Fund Distribution Is Next Query After Sripetch

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    Following the Supreme Court's Sripetch v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decision, investor harm isn't required for the SEC to obtain a disgorgement award, but future cases must resolve whether the commission will be freed from a requirement to distribute disgorged funds to the victims of alleged misconduct, says Daniel Walfish at Katsky Korins.

  • New State AI Laws Create Dual Misrepresentation Risk

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    As artificial intelligence transparency laws are enacted across the country and the volume and specificity of compliance records increase, companies will be required to speak more often, more precisely and to more audiences about the same systems, compounding the risk of litigation, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Trump Admin's Agency Records Purge Tests Judicial Notice

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    While courts commonly take judicial notice of data in government websites and reports, the Trump administration's recent modification or wholesale deletion of these sources means that litigants must look elsewhere to support trial admission of this information, says Jon Gryskiewicz at Lewis Baach.

  • Series

    Cow Horse Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Moving an unwilling 800-pound cow while riding a horse at high speed is exhilarating, a little unhinged and, at least for me, a surprisingly effective training ground for litigation — both demand focus, preparation over rigid planning and the willingness to act despite fear, says Ashley Zitrin at Glenn Agre.

  • Vax Ruling Offers Employer Tips For Handling Political Speech

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    A California appeals court's recent decision in Rademacher v. ABC, rejecting a "General Hospital" actor's suit alleging he was terminated for opposing a vaccine policy, demonstrates the importance of the employer's process, including neutral policies, documentation, and evidence of who knew what and when, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • PowerSchool Data Breach Ruling Underscores PE Liability

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    The recent California federal court decision in PowerSchool, where Bain Capital was unable to dismiss claims relating to a data breach based in part on Bain's preinvestment activities, is an important addition to the line of cases addressing investor liability for acts of a portfolio company, says Mark Kelley at MoloLamken.

  • What Prop 65 Listings For Welding Fumes, Drugs Mean For Cos.

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    With California poised to add welding chemicals and three medications to its list of known carcinogens under Proposition 65, businesses must assess risks from nontraditional pharmaceutical dispensing, occupational and environmental exposures to welding operations, and downstream exposures from the manufacture of both types of substances, says Gregory Berlin at Alston & Bird.

  • 3 Disgorgement Questions Linger After Justices' SEC Ruling

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sripetch v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission avoided placing new limits on the SEC’s disgorgement powers, it passed over several questions, including whether the commission can seek disgorgement when returning the money to investors isn't possible, says David Slovick at Kopecky Schumacher.

  • Checking For AI Errors Is Now A Two-Way Street

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    A handful of recent federal and state cases demonstrate the importance of checking for errors generated by artificial intelligence not only in your own court submissions, but also your opponent's, as well as when catching opposing counsel's AI mistakes could result in an award for attorney fees, says Tamara Barago at Hollingsworth.

  • Green Card Memo Warps Long-Standing Adjustment Process

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    A recent policy memorandum that treats a nonimmigrant visa holder’s decision to seek adjustment of status in the U.S., rather than at a U.S. consulate, as an adverse factor reinterprets existing discretionary frameworks, compounds risks for applicants required to apply abroad and changes practitioner approaches to application preparation, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • Celebs May Need Federal Protection To Fight Voice Deepfakes

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    Deepfakes and digital replicas are increasingly misappropriating celebrities' voices for commercial purposes, but unless federal right of publicity protections are developed, celebrities are left to rely on ill-equipped trademark and state law, say attorneys at Brown Rudnick.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Shoring Up Corporate Law In Maryland

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    Launched more than 20 years ago to improve complex corporate adjudication, Maryland's Business and Technology Case Management Program has been a solid success in some areas, but there always is room for improvement, says Bill Krulak at Miles & Stockbridge.

  • State Enviro Agencies Give Cosmetics Regulation A Makeover

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    As state oversight of cosmetics rapidly expands, the new statutes and regulations governing these products are being implemented by environmental agencies rather than consumer product regulators, requiring manufacturers, distributors and retailers to reevaluate their supply chains and procedures, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • How End Of SEC 'Gag Rule' Affects Free Speech Certiorari Bid

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    The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescission of the so-called gag rule, which forbade defendants in settlements from denying the SEC’s allegations, may sway the outcome of a petition to the Supreme Court in a case challenging the rule on First Amendment grounds, say attorneys at Troutman.

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