California

  • August 01, 2024

    Calif. AG Says States Opposing 'Clean Fleets' Law Tout EVs

    California's Attorney General Rob Bonta looked to slam the brakes Wednesday on a legal challenge brought by 16 states against the Golden State's Advanced Clean Fleets regulation, saying the complaint must be dismissed for lack of standing because the states themselves are encouraging electric vehicle production.

  • August 01, 2024

    Conservation Groups Take Aim At ESA Regs

    Conservation groups are asking a California federal judge to throw out Endangered Species Act regulations put forward earlier this year, claiming federal agencies shortchanged their environmental review duties and moved ahead with changes that will harm the imperiled plants and animals the statute is supposed to protect.

  • August 01, 2024

    MultiPlan, Insurance Cos. Must Face Collusion MDL In Illinois

    The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Thursday centralized in Chicago six class actions challenging the MultiPlan pricing tools that healthcare providers allege are used by UnitedHealth, Aetna, Cigna and other major insurers to systematically underpay out-of-network providers, with more than a dozen similar lawsuits potentially tagging along.

  • August 01, 2024

    Google Beats RNC's Claims It Censored Fundraising Emails

    A California federal judge on Wednesday tossed the Republican National Committee's lawsuit accusing Google of being politically motivated and violating the state's Unfair Competition Law by sending RNC fundraising emails to Gmail users' spam folders, finding the conduct may be unfair in a "colloquial" sense, but is not illegal.

  • August 01, 2024

    Calif. Jury Clears Bayer In Flea And Tick Med Antitrust Suit

    A California federal jury on Thursday cleared Bayer of allegations that it owes millions for cutting anticompetitive deals with pet product retailers to undermine competition from generics makers of flea and tick treatments for dogs.

  • August 01, 2024

    Boeing, Spirit Aerosystems Escape Calif. Door Blowout Suit

    A California federal judge on Wednesday tossed Boeing and supplier Spirit AeroSystems from a product liability lawsuit brought by passengers aboard the Alaska Airlines flight that experienced a midair door plug blowout in January, finding that the Golden State court lacks jurisdictional authority over two of the three defendants.

  • August 01, 2024

    AI-Focused Chipmaker Cerebras Confidentially Files IPO Plans

    Silicon Valley-based artificial intelligence startup Cerebras Systems Inc. said Thursday it has confidentially filed plans for an initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, joining other AI-linked companies in the IPO pipeline.

  • August 01, 2024

    Duane Morris Atty Says White Men Get Unfair Leg Up On Pay

    A Black attorney sued Duane Morris LLP in California federal court, alleging the firm systemically underpaid female and nonwhite attorneys while also engaging in an employee misclassification scheme that allowed it to offload firm expenses onto nonequity partners.

  • August 01, 2024

    Journalist Don Lemon Hits X, Musk Over Axed Talk Show Deal

    Elon Musk and his social media platform X unlawfully plied former CNN anchor Don Lemon with "false promises and representations" to reel him into a partnership to produce a talk show and other exclusive content, then proceeded to unceremoniously cancel the deal before it could get off the ground, the journalist alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday. 

  • August 01, 2024

    AliveCor Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Apple Watch Antitrust Case

    Medical monitoring startup AliveCor Inc. told the Ninth Circuit that Apple Inc. should not be immunized from antitrust claims over the removal of access to heart rate data on the Apple Watch because the change was intended to block competition and not improve the device.

  • August 01, 2024

    NLRB Prosecutors Make Employee Case For USC Athletes

    National Labor Relations Board prosecutors urged an agency judge to find that players on the University of Southern California's football and basketball teams are employees under federal labor law, arguing their status as students doesn't mean they aren't workers.

  • August 01, 2024

    IAM Local, Car Dealership Settle Secondary Boycott Suit

    An International Association of Machinists local and a Mercedes-Benz dealership told a California federal judge Wednesday that they've reached a deal to end claims that union-represented workers violated federal labor law by blocking a delivery truck from exiting a dealership during a strike.

  • August 01, 2024

    JPML Won't Form MDL Of 35 Acne Product Benzene Suits

    The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Thursday declined to consolidate 35 suits alleging Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., Target Corp. and others sold acne products that could break down into the carcinogen benzene, saying they don't have enough in common to warrant an MDL.

  • August 01, 2024

    Chipotle Bundled 'Service Fee' With Tax To Hide It, Suit Says

    Chipotle customers filed a proposed false advertising class action in California federal court Wednesday accusing the fast-casual Mexican chain of tacking on secret "eye-popping service fees" bundled with a "tax" for online delivery orders at the end of the checkout process that purportedly ends up in Chipotle's own coffers.

  • August 01, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Vegas Casino Pilots Are Exempt From OT

    Five corporate pilots for a Las Vegas casino performed non-manual labor and are therefore exempt from overtime requirements under federal law, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday, upholding a Nevada federal court's decision.

  • August 01, 2024

    Pot Co. Says City Ignored Order To Review App In $14M Suit

    A California cannabis business is suing the city of Chula Vista for nearly $14 million, saying it failed to properly review and score its application for a cannabis license despite orders to do so from a state appeals court.

  • August 01, 2024

    Insurer Wants Quick Win In NBA Team's Virus Coverage Suit

    The Sacramento Kings' insurer said it is entitled to an early win in a coverage dispute over pandemic-related losses that the basketball team and its arena operator incurred, telling a California federal court that the losses don't meet the policy requirement of "physical loss or damage" to property.

  • August 01, 2024

    White House Defends 6th Circ. Nom Against Tenn. Senator

    The Senate Judiciary Committee approved seven judicial nominees on Thursday, including one for the Sixth Circuit under fire from her home-state senators.

  • August 01, 2024

    Calif. Tribe Can't Toss Casino Card Check Award, For Now

    A California tribe's bid to nix an arbitration award over an authorization card check process with UNITE HERE can't proceed for now, a federal judge ruled, saying the tribe's counsel didn't discuss the motion with the union's attorney before submitting it.

  • August 01, 2024

    Senate Passes Bill To 'Systematically' Increase Judgeships

    The Senate passed a bipartisan bill Thursday by voice vote to create 66 new and temporary judgeships to help federal courts handle increasing workloads.

  • August 01, 2024

    Medtronic Still Faces Chancery Claim In Fortis' InPen Suit

    Delaware's Court of Chancery has trimmed a suit that stockholders' representative Fortis Advisors LLC filed against Medtronic Minimed Inc. after its 2020 acquisition of insulin pen manufacturer Companion Medical Inc., tossing claims related to a missed milestone but keeping one about a withheld escrow payment.

  • August 01, 2024

    Meet 3 Legal Industry Pros At The Paris Olympics

    Legal professionals who work or have worked at firms like Mayer Brown, Crowell & Moring and Pinsent Masons are participating in this year's Olympic Games as a runner, a field hockey player and a water polo referee.

  • August 01, 2024

    Calif. Justices Block Drivers From Intervening In PAGA Deal

    The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that ride-hail drivers bringing claims under the state's Private Attorneys General Act lack standing to intervene in a separate case that reached a settlement.

  • August 01, 2024

    Paul Hastings Adds Enviro Atty As Practice Co-Head

    An environmental lawyer from Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP — known for his high-profile work for such clients as BP in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill — has joined Paul Hastings LLP as a partner and to co-lead its environmental litigation practice.

  • July 31, 2024

    IRL App Cofounder Hit With SEC Suit Alleging $170M Fraud

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued the cofounder of media app In Real Life in California federal court on Wednesday, alleging a scheme to sell $170 million in company stock to investors while omitting that the app's growth was fueled by bot-generated traffic, and using company credit cards on personal expenses.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Lessons From Recent Insurance Policy Reform Litigation

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    A review of recent case law reveals the wide range of misunderstandings that may arise between insurers and policyholders in the purchase and renewal of insurance policies, as well as the utility — and the limits — of reformation and related remedies for these misunderstandings, say Jad Khazem and Seth Tucker at Covington.

  • Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In April

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    Four Federal Circuit decisions in April that reversed or vacated underlying rulings provide a number of takeaways, including that obviousness analysis requires a flexible approach, that an invalidity issue of an expired patent can be moot, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • What The FTC Report On AG Collabs Means For Cos.

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    The Federal Trade Commission's April report on working with state attorneys general shows collaboration can increase efficiency and consistency in how statutes are interpreted and enforced, which can minimize the likelihood of requests for inconsistent injunctive relief that can create operational problems for businesses, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • When Oral Settlements Reached In Mediation Are Enforceable

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    A recent decision by the New Jersey Appellate Division illustrates the difficulties that may arise in trying to enforce an oral settlement agreement reached in mediation, but adherence to certain practices can improve the likelihood that such an agreement will be binding, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • 3 Employer Lessons From NLRB's Complaint Against SpaceX

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    Severance agreements traditionally have included nondisparagement and nondisclosure provisions as a matter of course — but a recent National Labor Relations Board complaint against SpaceX underscores the ongoing efforts to narrow severance agreements at the state and federal levels, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony

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    In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Airlines Must Prepare For State AG Investigations

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    A recent agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation and 18 states and territories will allow attorneys general to investigate consumer complaints against commercial passenger airlines — so carriers must be ready for heightened scrutiny and possibly inconsistent enforcement, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • Opinion

    Climate Change Shouldn't Be Litigated Under State Laws

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should reverse the Hawaii Supreme Court's October decision in Honolulu v. Sunoco that Hawaii could apply state law to emissions generated outside the state, because it would lead to a barrage of cases seeking to resolve a worldwide problem according to 50 different variations of state law, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.

  • Measuring Early Impact Of Rule 702 Changes On Patent Cases

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    Since Federal Rule of Evidence 702 was amended to clarify the standards for admitting expert witness testimony five months ago, emerging trends in patent cases suggest that it may be easier to limit or exclude expert testimony, and hold key practice takeaways for attorneys, say Manuel Velez and Nan Zhang at Mayer Brown.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes

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    Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.

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