California

  • March 06, 2025

    States Say Teacher Training Grants Are Caught In DEI Dragnet

    A group of eight states sued the U.S. Department of Education in Massachusetts federal court Thursday, seeking reinstatement of $600 million in teacher training and placement grants they say were unlawfully targeted by the Trump administration as diversity initiatives.

  • March 06, 2025

    The Antitrust Litigation Surrounding NAR's Industry Rules

    A year and a half after a Missouri federal jury found that the National Association of Realtors inflated fees for home sellers, the Eighth Circuit is evaluating a series of settlements in wake of the decision while the Justice Department pursues its own antitrust investigation with a court's blessing.

  • March 06, 2025

    Dems Intro Their Own Version Of The JUDGES Act

    Top Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee reintroduced a version of the JUDGES Act on Thursday that would not take effect until after the next president is elected, unlike a version from their Republican counterparts that would take effect this year.

  • March 06, 2025

    Trump Administration Ordered To Release Funds To States

    A Rhode Island judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to stop withholding funds from states, saying an executive order freezing federal grants, loans and other payments approved by Congress "fundamentally undermines" the separation of powers and is causing irreparable harm.

  • March 06, 2025

    O'Melveny Antitrust Pro Jumps To Paul Hastings In LA

    Paul Hastings LLP is expanding its West Coast team, announcing Thursday it is bringing in an O'Melveny & Myers LLP antitrust litigator as a partner in a Los Angeles office.

  • March 05, 2025

    Rival Cos. Called 'Empower' Agree To End TM Fight, For Now

    Empower Annuity Insurance Co. of America and Empower Finance Inc. agreed to end, for now, their trademark infringement dispute over the "Empower" mark, over a year after a Colorado federal judge found customer confusion was "unlikely" in the financial services sector and refused to order Empower Finance to change its name.

  • March 05, 2025

    Jury Mulling Judge's Murder Trial Hears More Arguments

    With jury deliberations in the murder trial of a California judge who fatally shot his wife stretching into their sixth day Wednesday, the presiding judge allowed the prosecution and defense to make additional arguments addressing the jury's question about the willfulness requirement for second-degree murder.

  • March 05, 2025

    PTAB Bar Urges Congress, Lutnick To Protect USPTO Workers

    The PTAB Bar Association is calling on intellectual property leaders in Congress, along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, to spare the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from Trump administration initiatives to freeze hiring and require in-person work.

  • March 05, 2025

    Starbucks Let Hot Drink Spill On Driver, Jury Hears

    Starbucks went to trial Wednesday over a delivery window drink pickup gone wrong, as lawyers for a driver who had scalding water spill in his lap told a Los Angeles jury the coffee giant's employee left one of three cups "not safely secured" in a cardboard drink holder.

  • March 05, 2025

    Coinbase Investor Drops Direct Listing Suit After Slack Ruling

    A Coinbase investor Wednesday dropped a proposed class action accusing the cryptocurrency platform and its top brass of offering false and misleading materials that caused its stock price to plummet following the company's debut with an $86 billion valuation, after the Ninth Circuit tossed a similar case against Slack Technologies.

  • March 05, 2025

    Los Angeles County Sues SoCal Edison Over Eaton Fire

    Los Angeles County joined the many dozens suing Southern California Edison over the devastating Eaton Fire on Wednesday, as the most populous county in the United States alleges in its lawsuit that the utility's faulty equipment caused the destructive blaze.

  • March 05, 2025

    US Looks For Pause In PetroSaudi $380M Seizure Suit

    The United States has asked a California federal court to stay its suit to seize part of a $380 million arbitral award issued to a PetroSaudi unit, saying the civil case is up in the air because the oil producer's sole owner was convicted in August in Swiss criminal court.

  • March 05, 2025

    BCBS Hit With New Antitrust Suits By $2.8B Deal Opt-Outs

    Dozens of hospitals and healthcare systems that opted out of a landmark $2.8 billion Blue Cross Blue Shield antitrust settlement filed fresh Sherman Act lawsuits against the insurance entities in Pennsylvania, California and Illinois federal courts Tuesday, accusing them of colluding to restrict competition for the purchase of healthcare services.

  • March 05, 2025

    Justices Asked To Recuse Fitbit Judge Over Google Ties

    A Silicon Valley-based patent-holding company that lost its infringement case against Fitbit is telling the U.S. Supreme Court that a California federal judge and her husband's financial ties to Fitbit parent Google are so strong that "if these circumstances do not warrant recusal ... then nothing does."

  • March 05, 2025

    Igloo Must Pay For Finger-Chopping Coolers, Consumer Says

    A California man is suing beverage storage company Igloo over its popular coolers and ice chests that he says have pinched, broken and even amputated fingertips, saying in a federal suit that the company's remedial efforts haven't been enough.

  • March 05, 2025

    Disney Doesn't Allow IP Theft, 'Moana' Co-Creator Testifies

    One of the creators of "Moana" testified in a California federal copyright trial Wednesday that he "would never" use another writer's idea without permission, noting that one of his projects was killed after The Walt Disney Co. was unable to buy source material.

  • March 05, 2025

    Ex-USF Ballplayers Denied Class Cert. In Sex Harassment Suit

    A group of former University of San Francisco baseball players on Wednesday lost a bid to have their lawsuit alleging that ex-coaches for the Jesuit university created a sexually abusive environment go forward as a class action.

  • March 05, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds Arizona's Wine Retailer Law Challenge

    Arizona isn't being discriminatory by requiring companies that want to ship alcohol to people's homes to have a business location in the state, the Ninth Circuit has declared in a split ruling that upheld the state's win against a challenge to the law laying down that mandate.

  • March 05, 2025

    Parameters Set For Final NIL Deal Approval Hearing

    The California federal judge overseeing the massive $2.78 billion name, image and likeness settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association and former and current student-athletes has released guidelines for the deal's final approval hearing in April.

  • March 05, 2025

    401(k) Forfeiture Suits Are Prompting Plan Changes

    It remains unclear whether a California federal judge keeping alive a proposed class action that challenges the use of forfeited funds in a Clorox employee 401(k) plan means similar cases will gain traction, but experts say plans are already getting tweaked to stave off forfeiture claims.

  • March 05, 2025

    Jay-Z, Buzbee Dispute Threats, Confession In Rape Case

    The monthslong legal feud between Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and prominent plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee has reached a new pitch, as Carter claims to have evidence proving he did not rape a 13-year-old alongside disgraced rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs, while Buzbee claims Carter is trying to menace the victim into silence.

  • March 05, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Keeps Lenovo, Databricks Patent Fights In Texas

    The Federal Circuit has turned down efforts by Lenovo and Databricks to ship separate lawsuits they are facing from patent-holding companies out of the Eastern District of Texas.

  • March 05, 2025

    GSA Publishes, Then Pulls List Of Properties It Could Dispose

    The U.S. General Services Administration on Wednesday removed a list of 440 properties that it considered inessential and said warranted disposal — including several courthouses and buildings used as headquarters for various agencies — the day after announcing it had identified them as "non-core assets."

  • March 05, 2025

    DC Judge Skeptical Of Trump's Power To Oust NLRB Member

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge hearing a former National Labor Relations Board member's challenge to her January removal appeared Wednesday to buy the fired official's side of a closely watched debate over the vitality of foundational U.S. Supreme Court law on the president's power over independent agencies.

  • March 05, 2025

    University Of California Facing Fed Probe Into Antisemitism

    The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday the government has opened a civil investigation into whether the University of California has fostered antisemitism on its campuses following President Donald Trump's January executive order prioritizing federal probes into alleged antisemitic harassment on school grounds.

Expert Analysis

  • Predicting Where State AGs Will Direct Their Attention In 2025

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    In 2025, we expect state attorneys general will navigate a new presidential administration while continuing to further regulate and police financial services, artificial intelligence, junk fees and antitrust, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • A Look At Sweepstakes Casinos' Legal Issues In Fla., Beyond

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    Scheduled for trial in Florida federal court this fall, the VGW sweepstakes case underscores the growing urgency for gambling states to clarify and enforce their laws in response to emerging online gaming models, as the expansion of sweepstakes casinos challenges traditional interpretations of gambling regulations, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • FTC Privacy Enforcement Takeaways From 2024

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    In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission distinguished three prominent trends in its privacy-related enforcement actions: geolocation data protections, data minimization practices, and artificial intelligence use and marketing, say Cobun Zweifel-Keegan at IAPP and James Smith at Dechert.

  • The Fed. Circ. In 2024: 5 Major Rulings To Know

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    In 2024, the Federal Circuit provided a number of important clarifications to distinct areas of patent law – including design patent obviousness, expert testimony admissions and patent term adjustments – all of which are poised to have an influence going forward, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

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    Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.

  • Mass Arbitration Procedures After Faulty Live Nation Ruling

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    Despite the Ninth Circuit's flawed reasoning in Heckman v. Live Nation, the exceptional allegations of collusive conduct shouldn't be read to restrict arbitration providers that have adopted good faith procedures to ensure that consumer mass arbitrations can be efficiently resolved on the merits, says Collin Vierra at Eimer Stahl.

  • Public Corruption Enforcement In 2024 Has Clues For 2025

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    If 2024 activity is any indication, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely continue to rein in expansive prosecutorial theories of fraud in the year to come, but it’s harder to predict what the new administration will mean for public corruption prosecutions in 2025, says Cathy Fleming at Offit Kurman.

  • Roundup

    Banking Brief: State Law Recaps From Each Quarter Of 2024

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    In this Expert Analysis series, throughout 2024 attorneys provided quarterly recaps discussing the biggest developments in banking regulation, litigation and policymaking in various states, including New York, California and Illinois.

  • Calif. Justices' Options In Insurance Exhaustion Case

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    Fox Paine v. Twin City Fire Insurance may serve as the California Supreme Court's opportunity to firmly establish precedent with respect to a strict adherence to excess insurance policies' exhaustion provisions when the language is clear and explicit, says Aiden Spencer at Langsam Stevens.

  • Considering The Status Of The US Doctrine Of Patent Misuse

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    A recent Ninth Circuit decision and a U.K. Court of Appeal decision demonstrate the impact that the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment has had on the principle that post-patent-expiration royalty payments amount to patent misuse, not only in the U.S. but in English courts as well, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Looking Back At 2024's Noteworthy State AG Litigation

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    State attorneys general across the U.S. took bold steps in 2024 to address unlawful activities by corporations in several areas, including privacy and data security, financial transparency, children's internet safety, and other overall consumer protection claims, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    A Federal Insurance Mandate For Private Aviation Is Overdue

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    A recent private plane crash in California that killed two people and injured 19 others spotlights the dangers of such occurrences — and serves as a reminder that because there is no federal requirement for general aviation pilots to carry insurance, the victims of these accidents are often unable to obtain fair compensation, says Timothy Loranger at Wisner Baum.

  • Reviewing 2024's Evolving EdTech Privacy Regulations

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    Lawmakers are trying to keep up with the privacy and security risks of the increasingly prevalent education technology, with last year's developments including the Federal Trade Commission's proposed amendments to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and the U.S. Senate passing two new children's privacy acts, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

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    A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

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