Where Calif. State Courts Landed On Generative AI Use Rules

By Emily Sawicki

The majority of California's 58 superior courts — together making up the country's largest trial court system — have decided to greenlight the use of generative artificial intelligence in their work this year, a Law360 investigation found.

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Judge Digs Into Counsel Over 'Astronomically High' Fee Bid

By Nadia Dreid

Attorneys who represented classes of people who say they received harassing phone calls from real estate agents in violation of federal telemarketing laws are asking for way too much of the $20 million settlement, according to the California federal judge who tore into them Wednesday.

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Live Nation CEO Says He Can't Recall 'Market Power' Remark

By Pete Brush

Live Nation's longtime CEO sparred Thursday with states that say the $36 billion entertainment giant engages in monopolization, telling a Manhattan federal jury the business is a "better mousetrap" than rivals and saying he couldn't recall telling investors the company has "incredible market power."  

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UC Berkeley To Bolster Antisemitism Protections In Settlement

By Lauren Berg

The University of California, Berkeley, agreed to strengthen its policies against antisemitism to resolve claims that the university was "deliberately indifferent" toward Jews on campus, two Jewish advocacy organizations announced Thursday.

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3M, DuPont Hit With RICO Suit Over PFAS In Firefighter Gear

By Hailey Konnath

San Mateo County has filed a proposed Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act class action against a slew of chemical companies including 3M, Chemours and DuPont de Nemours, claiming that they provided protective gear for firefighters that contained "hazardous levels" of synthetic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

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Calif. Bill Seeks Legal Aid For Residents Facing Deportation

By Craig Clough

California residents facing federal deportation proceedings would receive legal representation under a new bill introduced by state Assemblymember Mia Bonta. 

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Analysis

Feds' Bid To Wipe Calif. Clean Car Regs Spells More Upheaval

By Linda Chiem

The Trump administration's assault on California's more than decade-old clean car regulations deliberately upends the U.S. auto industry's transition toward alternative-powered vehicles, spelling even more regulatory uncertainty as the antagonistic political climate and long legal battles persist, experts say.

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States Join Push To Revive EPA Climate Danger Finding

By Julie Manganis

A coalition of state and local governments on Thursday became the latest group to ask that the D.C. Circuit overrule the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rescission last month of its long-held position on the danger greenhouse gases pose to public health.

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Meta Offers Special Portal For Crime Investigators, Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

Meta's head of child safety policy told a New Mexico jury Thursday about the dedicated website the company maintains for law enforcement to request records, which, if marked as emergency requests, can get a response from the company in an average of 67 minutes.

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Apple Gets Class Claims Axed From Storage False Ad Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has tossed putative class claims from litigation accusing Apple of misrepresenting the storage capacity of certain iPhone and iPad products, finding the consumers' state claims are time-barred and weren't tolled by similar litigation filed over a decade ago, but some consumers can pursue their individual claims.

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Target Hit With False Ad Suit Over 'Sustainably Caught' Tuna

By Gina Kim

Target's representations that its Good & Gather tuna products are "sustainably caught" are nothing but empty promises, as its suppliers use dangerous fishing practices that harm the marine ecosystem and kill endangered sea turtles, whales and dolphins, according to a proposed class action filed Wednesday in California federal court.

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Man Hurt By Broken Glass From Flying Golf Ball Wins $1.4M

By Gina Kim

A Los Angeles jury tasked with determining damages for a man whose eye was permanently damaged from shattered glass after a golf ball launched by a mower flew through a café door at a Long Beach golf course where he was sitting inside awarded him $1.4 million Tuesday.

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Apple Watch Redesign Gets Early OK As Patent Loss Upheld

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed a U.S. International Trade Commission decision that found a previous version of the Apple Watch infringes two Masimo blood oxygen monitor patents, but the ruling came one day after an ITC judge said Apple's redesigned version does not infringe those patents.

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Netflix Sinks Patent Claim In Streaming Tech Dispute

By Elliot Weld

Netflix has scored a win in a suit the streaming giant brought asserting it did not infringe a Broadcom subsidiary's data-caching patents, with a judge finding a patent claim was directed at an ineligible abstract idea.

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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Hit With Gender Bias Action

By Craig Clough

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC run by Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan discriminated against women by routinely paying them less than men and promoting them with less frequency, according to a proposed class and collective action removed Wednesday to California federal court.

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Nomination For New DOJ Fraud Chief Heads To Senate Floor

By Courtney Bublé

The nomination of Colin McDonald for the new position of assistant attorney general for fraud was sent to the full Senate on Thursday, after the Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines to advance his nomination.

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9th Circ. Upholds Gun Ban For Domestic Violence Offenders

By Elizabeth Daley

Three men who were found to have used violence against their female partners in separate incidents were correctly convicted under a federal law prohibiting domestic abusers from possessing guns, the Ninth Circuit said, agreeing with other circuits that such restrictions were legal.

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FTC Official Says 'Reverse Acquihires' Come With 'Risk'

By Bryan Koenig

A senior Federal Trade Commission antitrust staffer said Thursday that nothing about "reverse acquihires" should let companies think they can skirt merger scrutiny, arguing in Washington, D.C., remarks that the deals clearly amount to the acquisition of assets covered under U.S. antitrust law.

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Organizers Of 7-Marathon Event Accuse Rival Of Defamation

By Ganesh Setty

The organizers of an event to run seven marathons across all seven continents in seven days accused two California residents who have organized a similar event of defamation in Florida federal court, alleging they tried to divert participants away via "harassment and intimidation."

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HHS Can't Block Trans Care Under Kennedy Edict, Court Says

By Ben Adlin

A coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia prevailed on Thursday in their challenge to a Trump administration move to cut access to gender-affirming care for minors when an Oregon federal judge agreed to void a policy statement from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Calif. Families Sue Rady Health Over Move To End Trans Care

By Dan McKay

Four families have asked a state judge to prevent California's largest pediatric health system from cutting off gender-affirming care for minors, alleging the move would violate state antidiscrimination laws and leave them scrambling to find new providers, some more than 100 miles away.

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LA Cannabis Shop Fights Shutdown Over $4.9M Tax Bill

By Jonathan Capriel

The new manager of a Los Angeles cannabis dispensary is suing state and city agencies in California state court to stop them from shutting down the business over a $4.9 million unpaid tax bill incurred by old management, arguing the agencies are acting arbitrarily and denying the managerial company due process.

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Stiiiizy Alleges Retailer Owes $1.2M On Contract

By Jonathan Capriel

Cannabis companies behind the Stiiizy brand are suing a San Diego-based retailer seeking $1.26 million, claiming in a state court lawsuit that they gave inventory and payroll funding, but the shop operator never paid it back.

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Brief

Kanye West Home Investor, Facing Foreclosure, Files Ch. 11

By Rick Archer

A California luxury real estate investment company has filed for Chapter 11 protection in California with about $155 million in debt a day ahead of a foreclosure sale of its most prominent property, rapper Kanye West's former beach home.

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Calif. Backs Claims Of 'Intolerable' ICE Detention Center

By Madeline Lyskawa

The state of California on Thursday threw its support behind a group of immigrants held at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement camp in the Mojave Desert who accuse the Trump administration of subjecting them to "dangerous conditions and pervasive abuses."

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States Sue To Block $6.2B Tegna Acquisition Despite Feds' OK

By Matthew Perlman

A coalition of state enforcers on Thursday sued to block Nexstar Media Group Inc.'s planned $6.2 billion purchase of rival broadcast company Tegna Inc., alleging the move would create a "broadcast behemoth" with the ability to raise television prices for consumers and control content.

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Former Calif. Chief Deputy AG Joins Jenner & Block In SF

By James Mills

Jenner & Block LLP is bringing in the former second-highest-ranking member of the California Department of Justice, announcing Thursday that Venus D. Johnson is joining as special counsel in its San Francisco office.

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Meta Coverage Ruling Could Erode Broad Duty To Defend

A Delaware court recently decided that Meta's insurers need not defend the company from lawsuits alleging addictive platform design — a troubling decision for policyholders that, if upheld, warns that insureds' business decisions can be weaponized to deny a duty to defend, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

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5 Gov't Contractor Tips Following Anthropic Risk Designation

The Pentagon's designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk is an unprecedented action that raises significant legal questions, and with government contractors already receiving directives and inquiries concerning their use of Anthropic products and services, there are several strategies contractors can use to manage risk, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

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Series

Coaching Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Coaching youth soccer for my 7-year-old son's team has sharpened how I communicate with clients, prepare witnesses, work within teams and think about leadership, making me a more thoughtful and effective lawyer in many ways, says Joshua Holt at Smith Currie.

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Sitting Judges Take Stand Over Threats Growing 'Ordinary'

By Jake Maher

On the heels of an ethics opinion giving them wider latitude to speak publicly, sitting federal judges brought attention Thursday to the increasing threats against them and their family members, warning about the dangers of such threats becoming "ordinary."

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Anatomy Of A Citation Hallucination: AI Edit, Associate Review

By Rachel Riley

Counsel for consumers in a supplement labeling lawsuit against Amazon responded Wednesday to a Seattle federal judge's order to explain an AI-hallucinated citation, saying the error was introduced by a generative artificial intelligence tool used to "harmonize" drafts of a brief, then missed by a fifth-year Boies Schiller associate tasked with checking the citations.

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Jackson Walker, US Trustee Reach Deal On Fee Settlements

By Vince Sullivan

The Office of the U.S. Trustee and law firm Jackson Walker LLP on Wednesday resolved the bankruptcy watchdog's opposition to a series of settlements tied to a romantic relationship between a former Jackson Walker attorney and a now-retired bankruptcy judge.

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Judge Quashes Subpoena Of 5 Firms That Repped Twitter

By Rae Ann Varona

A Delaware federal court ruled Thursday that six former Twitter employees cannot subpoena five law firms that represented the social media company in connection with its acquisition by Elon Musk, rejecting the employees' "conclusory allegations" that the company and Musk used the firms to make false promises of severance benefits.

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DOJ Antitrust Head Tells Staff: Don't Worry About Criticism

By Bryan Koenig

The acting head of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division said Thursday that he pays no heed to criticism of the agency and tells staff to do the same, while asserting in Washington, D.C., remarks that there's no better time to come work for the DOJ.

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Fired 'Arctic Frost' Agents Accuse FBI Of Political Retribution

By Dorothy Atkins

Two former FBI agents who worked on the "Arctic Frost" investigation into President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss have accused the government of abruptly firing them in an unconstitutional act of "political retribution."

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