California

  • August 22, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives Military Bias Claims Against Alaska Airlines

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a class action alleging Alaska Airlines illegally denied accrued vacation and sick time to pilots on military assignments, saying the case now has the benefit of a decision from the court in a similar case involving the airline.

  • August 22, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Force Yellow Corp. Bias Suit Into Arbitration

    The Ninth Circuit refused Thursday to kick a former Yellow Corp. employee's disability discrimination lawsuit to arbitration, ruling the agreement the worker signed was improperly lopsided in favor of his employer and had to be scrapped.

  • August 22, 2024

    Larry Flynt's Widow Asks 9th Circ. To End Calif. Cardroom Law

    The widow of late pornography mogul Larry Flynt and two other cardroom operators urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to invalidate California statutes barring certain out-of-state casino investors from holding a state cardroom license, arguing the law interferes with interstate commerce and that's "a straight-up violation of the Constitution."

  • August 22, 2024

    Williams-Sonoma Infringes Fabric TMs, Michigan Co. Claims

    A supplier of moisture-resistant textiles and fabric treatments sued Williams-Sonoma Inc. in Michigan federal court Thursday, alleging the retailer is infringing three trademarks with its Pottery Barn furniture.

  • August 22, 2024

    Consumers Will Appeal Tossed Apple Web App Antitrust Case

    Consumers have told a California federal court they plan to appeal the dismissal of a case accusing Apple of violating antitrust law by preventing iPhones from running web-based apps, instead of amending the proposed class action.

  • August 22, 2024

    9th Circ. Rebuffs Crypto Law Firm's Bid To Revive SEC Suit

    A Ninth Circuit appeals panel said Thursday that a California federal judge was right to toss a crypto-focused law firm's preemptive challenge to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission since the firm failed to show it faced any "realistic danger" of catching an enforcement case over its use of the ethereum network.

  • August 22, 2024

    Debtors Claim $3M Award Is Tainted By Fraud In China

    Two Chinese debtors said to owe nearly $3 million under an arbitral award issued to an investment company in the People's Republic of China have asked a California federal court to vacate an order enforcing the award earlier this year, saying the company participated in criminal fraud.

  • August 22, 2024

    Calif. Panel Backs Arbitration Denial In Staffing Co. Wage Suit

    A California state appeals court refused to ship to arbitration a worker's lawsuit accusing a staffing agency of unlawfully miscalculating his sick leave wages, saying the arbitration pact he signed promised that all Private Attorneys General Act claims will be litigated in court.

  • August 22, 2024

    Comedians Duel With Pandora For Joke Copyright Victories

    A group of comedians and companies that licensed their routines has urged a California federal judge to grant it partial summary judgment against Pandora Media LLC for copyright infringement on the same day that the company argued it should come out on top because it has implied "pass-through licenses" to broadcast those routines.

  • August 22, 2024

    California Fires Back At Red State Attacks On Climate Torts

    California and a contingent of blue states told the U.S. Supreme Court that their climate change torts against fossil fuel companies are on solid legal ground and that an effort by Alabama and other red states to undercut them must be rejected.

  • August 22, 2024

    Calif. Atty Can't Beat Sanctions In Geragos Malpractice Suit

    A California state appeals court on Wednesday affirmed $23,000 in sanctions for discovery violations on the part of a lawyer representing clients in a malpractice case against Hollywood litigator Mark Geragos.

  • August 22, 2024

    IT Staffing Co. Can't Push Unpaid OT Suit Into Arbitration

    A California federal judge refused to send to arbitration a class action accusing a tech staffing company of underpaying recruiters by misclassifying them as overtime-exempt, saying the company's establishment of the arbitration pact two years into the litigation was misleading and unfair.

  • August 22, 2024

    Tom Girardi Takes The Stand In His Criminal Fraud Trial

    Disbarred attorney Tom Girardi took the stand Thursday in his California federal fraud trial and denied stealing from any of his clients, while also showing a strong grasp of past events and people but claiming to have no memory of the trial's witnesses and key moments, or to even know his own lawyer's name.

  • August 22, 2024

    Mike Lynch's Path From Tech Founder To DOJ Target

    Friends and colleagues paid tribute to Mike Lynch following his death in a yachting accident on Thursday, hailing the British tech entrepreneur for the decades he spent furthering the industry despite the legal troubles that threatened to overshadow his career.

  • August 22, 2024

    'Beloved By Everyone': Attys Recall Clifford Chance's Morvillo

    Clifford Chance LLP partner Christopher Morvillo, who died this week after a luxury yacht he was on sank off the coast of Sicily, is being remembered not only as a lion of the legal community but also as an "extraordinary human being" and a "Renaissance man" who was devoted to his family.

  • August 22, 2024

    Mike Lynch's Body Recovered From Yacht Wreck

    Mike Lynch, founder of technology company Autonomy, died when a yacht he was aboard sank off the Sicilian coast, his family confirmed Friday, after a trip the entrepreneur had reportedly chartered with his legal team to celebrate their victory in a U.S. fraud case.

  • August 21, 2024

    Hunter Biden Can't Link Trauma, Drug Abuse To Tax Charges

    Hunter Biden can't tell jurors in his criminal tax trial that traumatic events like his brother's death caused his addiction, which led to a diminished mental capacity and his failure to pay taxes, a California federal judge said Wednesday, noting the information was irrelevant and not backed by expert opinion.

  • August 21, 2024

    Girardi Faked Dementia Symptoms, Neurologist Testifies

    A neurologist with Vanderbilt University testified Wednesday in Tom Girardi's criminal fraud trial in California federal court that the disbarred attorney was likely exaggerating his cognitive problems in late 2020 just as his law firm imploded into bankruptcy and his legal problems mounted because he believed it would be "beneficial."

  • August 21, 2024

    Tech Cos. Duck Proposed Calif. Bill Via News Funding Deal

    Major tech companies, including Google, agreed Wednesday to pay roughly $250 million into a fund that proponents say would support newsrooms across California in a deal that avoids a proposed regulation that would've forced Big Tech to pay the state's media organizations for distributing news content.

  • August 21, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds Toss Of Suit Over Car Insurer's Data Breach

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive a proposed class action accusing auto insurance provider Noblr Reciprocal Exchange of failing to safeguard driver's license numbers exposed in a 2021 data breach, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to credibly allege that their data had actually been stolen. 

  • August 21, 2024

    Union Health Plan Trustees Can't Avoid Fee Claim, Judge Says

    Trustees of a UNITE HERE health plan can't topple a group of Southern California workers' claims that they are facing higher administrative expenses compared to another group of workers in Las Vegas, an Illinois federal court ruled Wednesday.

  • August 21, 2024

    9th Circ. Lets Atty Fight Against $8M Malicious Prosecution

    A Nevada attorney may take to the federal court to challenge an Arizona state court's civil judgment finding him liable for malicious prosecution, the Ninth Circuit determined Wednesday, finding the federal district court was wrong to toss his claims on the grounds they were barred by jurisdictional precedent established in the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.

  • August 21, 2024

    Pornhub Says Data Privacy Suit Must Be Arbitrated

    Adult entertainment website Pornhub and its Cyprus-based operator are looking to force a proposed data privacy class action into arbitration, telling a California court on Tuesday that a "strict" state law deadline that they missed to pay certain filing fees is preempted by federal arbitration law.

  • August 21, 2024

    Insurers Escape Calif. Starbucks Drive-Thru Easement Row

    A California appeals court affirmed a lower court decision, finding commercial property insurers didn't have to defend an owner who allegedly tricked one tenant into signing an easement agreement for a parking lot, neglecting to mention it would be used by a Starbucks drive-thru.

  • August 21, 2024

    High Court Told Nvidia Case Could Damage Crypto Industry

    The Digital Chamber is warning that a U.S. Supreme Court dispute between chipmaker Nvidia Corp. and some of its investors poses a "grave risk" to the entire cryptocurrency industry by threatening to expose it to costly litigation should the justices uphold a lower court ruling allowing the lawsuit to move forward.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Navigating Scrutiny Of Friendly Professional Corps. In Calif.

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    In light of ongoing scrutiny and challenges to private equity participation in the California healthcare marketplace, particularly surrounding the use of the friendly professional corporation model, management services organizations should consider implementing four best practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 in California, which saw efforts to expand consumer protection legislation and enforcement actions in areas of federal focus like medical debt and student loans, demonstrated that the state's role as a trendsetter in consumer financial protection will continue for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Calif. Long-Tail Ruling Continues Policyholder-Friendly Trend

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    The California Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, rejecting horizontal policy exhaustion, was the latest in a string of its decisions involving insurance coverage for continuous or progressive injury claims that favor policyholders, say Billie Mandelbaum and David Goodwin at Covington.

  • A Case Study For Calif. Cities In Water Utility Takeovers

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    With growing water scarcity and drier weather looming, some local governments in California have sought to acquire investor-owned water utilities by eminent domain — but the 2016 case of Claremont v. Golden State Water is a reminder that such municipalization attempts must meet certain statutory requirements, say attorneys at Nossaman.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Justices' Removal Ruling Presents Hurdles, But Offers Clarity

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Campos-Chaves v. Garland and two other consolidated cases endorses a multistep notice practice that could impair noncitizens' access to adequate judicial notice, but its resolution of a longstanding circuit split also provides much-needed clarity, says Devin Connolly at Reeves Immigration Law Group.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • Justices' 'Blind Mule' Ruling Won't Change Defense Strategy

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Diaz v. U.S., holding that expert witnesses can testify broadly about the mental state of “most people” in a group, simply affirms the status quo for the majority of defendants, and is unlikely to change defense counsel’s strategy at trial, says Walter Gonçalves at the Arizona Federal Public Defender's Office.

  • Compliance Countdown To New Calif. Workplace Safety Rules

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    Nearly all California employers should be taking steps to prepare for the July 1 deadline to comply with a Labor Code update that will introduce the first general industry workplace violence prevention safety requirements in the U.S., say attorneys at Littler.

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