Washington

  • December 17, 2025

    States, Groups Urge DC Circ. To Preserve EPA Soot Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's request that the D.C. Circuit vacate a Biden-era soot rule is legally untenable and should be rejected, Democrat-led states and cities, along with health and environmental groups, told the court.

  • December 17, 2025

    Starbucks Brass Face Derivative Suit Over 'Triple Shot' Plan

    Executives and directors of Starbucks have been hit with a shareholder derivative complaint accusing them of misleading investors about the coffee chain's prospects for its so-called Triple Shot Reinvention strategy, which the suit alleges fell short.

  • December 17, 2025

    Energy Dept. Orders Wash. Coal Plant To Remain Open

    The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered Washington's sole coal-fired power plant to remain open through March 2026, despite a state law that requires utilities to stop using coal-fired electricity by year's end.

  • December 17, 2025

    29 State AGs Want Unified Meta Youth Addiction Trial

    A group of 29 states and their attorneys general is doubling down on a request in California federal court to hold a single, unified trial in their suit claiming Meta Platforms Inc. is designed to addict and harm minors, saying they have now identified another case where such a singular trial was held involving multiple attorneys general's claims.

  • December 17, 2025

    Amazon Charged Too Much Sales Tax, Tenn. Consumer Claims

    Amazon has been hit with a proposed class action in Washington state court by a Tennessee customer who claims the e-commerce giant collected excessive sales tax on his purchases and then refused to refund him, in violation of Volunteer State tax law that holds "marketplace facilitators" responsible for charging the correct rate.

  • December 17, 2025

    Bank Deserves Sanctions In Jail Debit Card Suit, Court Told

    A class of formerly incarcerated people who've accused the Central Bank of Kansas City of charging excessive fees on prepaid debit cards told a Washington federal judge that the bank should face sanctions for failing to sort and hand over documents required for compliance with an August court order.

  • December 17, 2025

    Anker, Ugreen Near Peace In Mobile Power Bank Patent Suit

    Electronics-makers Anker and Ugreen have reached a tentative agreement to end Anker's intellectual property claims accusing its rival of infringing a patent for a mobile power bank and marketing "virtually identical" products to consumers.

  • December 17, 2025

    Korean Food Chain Stole Family Spring Roll Recipe, Suit Says

    Korean food conglomerate CJ Group has been accused of stealing a family spring roll recipe that dates to the 1950s and marketing its versions as knockoff frozen spring roll products in a suit seeking $100 million in damages.

  • December 17, 2025

    Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To 2025's Most Memorable Moments

    Federal circuit courts in 2025 strained under a crush of Trump administration lawsuits, as judges directed animated language at litigants and even their fellow judges. And while the president only added a handful of appellate jurists, they had outsize impacts on circuit benches as they joined the cadre of conservatives seated in his first term.

  • December 17, 2025

    The Top Trademark Decisions Of 2025

    The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a trademark infringement award that reached nearly $47 million and found nonparties couldn't be on the hook for the amount, while the Federal Circuit reproached a trademark tribunal for its handling of a man's attempt to register the F-word. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trademark decisions of 2025.

  • December 17, 2025

    Consulting Co., Ex-Worker Seek OK Of Revised $295K OT Deal

    A consulting company and a former worker who lodged a proposed collective action took a second crack at persuading a Washington federal judge to sign off a $295,000 settlement, saying they now have shown a bona fide dispute over whether the company was required to pay overtime.

  • December 16, 2025

    Surgery Group Owes $52M For Man's Fall, Head Injury, Jury Told

    A lawyer for an Adobe software engineer told a Washington state jury in closing arguments Tuesday that he and his wife are owed up to $52 million from a medical provider, after the man's head slammed onto the floor of an operating room during surgery and causing allegedly permanent brain injuries.

  • December 16, 2025

    States Sue Trump Admin To Restart EV Infrastructure Funds

    Sixteen states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration in Washington federal court on Tuesday in an effort to stop the U.S. government from blocking billions of dollars in congressionally approved funds meant to expand the country's electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

  • December 16, 2025

    American Bridge Hit With $4.8M Sanction For Discovery Abuse

    A Washington state judge has slapped American Bridge Co. with $4.8 million in monetary sanctions and found the steel subcontractor and its counsel at Smith Currie Oles LLP on the hook for additional legal fees for "widespread discovery abuses" throughout a court battle with a general contractor over delays in a Seattle convention center project.

  • December 16, 2025

    Hyundai, Kia Ink $9M Deal With AGs Over Theft-Prone Cars

    Hyundai and Kia have agreed to shell out $9 million and add anti-theft devices to millions of vehicles at no cost to owners as part of a settlement with 36 state attorneys general who accused the carmakers of selling vehicles lacking industry-standard anti-theft technology, according to announcements made Tuesday.

  • December 16, 2025

    Crypto Host Must Pay $1.2M For Breaching Mining Deal

    A federal judge in Washington state ruled Tuesday that a cryptocurrency computer host breached a contract it signed with a bitcoin mining company and unlawfully retained its equipment, awarding the mining firm $1.2 million in damages.

  • December 16, 2025

    Full 9th Circ. To Review Union Work Dispute Precedent

    The full Ninth Circuit is set to rethink precedent on the National Labor Relations Board's power to vet competing claims for work after taking up two challenges Tuesday to a June decision that revived a rival union's pursuit of jobs held by International Association of Machinists members.

  • December 16, 2025

    Wash. AG's Native Cold Case Unit Gets First Conviction

    The Washington State Attorney General's Office has announced that its recently established task force unit to investigate cold case homicides involving Indigenous people has secured its first guilty plea in a previously unsolved criminal case.

  • December 16, 2025

    Bullivant Houser Files For Ch. 11 After November Closure

    The now-shuttered Bullivant Houser Bailey PC has filed for Chapter 11 protection in California, with its chief dissolution officer saying the bankruptcy was filed so the firm can liquidate its assets as it continues "an orderly wind-down" of its operations.

  • December 15, 2025

    'Hardworking' 9th Circ. Senior Judge Sandra Ikuta Dies At 71

    Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta of the Ninth Circuit, who has been semi-retired since early November, died on Dec. 7 at the age of 71, exactly one month after assuming senior status, according to the Federal Judicial Center.

  • December 15, 2025

    Nutrien Ag Says Wash. Farm Owes $5M For Breaking Contract

    Agricultural products supplier Nutrien Ag Solutions Inc. is accusing an Eastern Washington farm of reneging on a $5.4 million debt, claiming the producer has failed to make even partial payments on its credit line since mid-September.

  • December 15, 2025

    Starbucks' 'Patent Troll' Suit Is Unwarranted, Irish Cos. Say

    Two Irish companies that hold and license technology patents on Monday asked a federal court in Seattle to throw out Starbucks' lawsuit accusing them of bringing bad-faith intellectual property claims in violation of Washington state law, arguing that they never actually threatened to bring litigation against the coffee giant.

  • December 15, 2025

    Starbucks Investors Get Claims Against Ex-CFO Revived

    A federal judge in Seattle has reinstated claims against Starbucks' former chief financial officer in a suit accusing the coffee giant's leaders of misleading shareholders about its struggling plan to reinvent itself, saying the investors plausibly allege the ex-executive was a controlling person under the securities laws.

  • December 15, 2025

    Microsoft Seeks To Exit ChatGPT Users' OpenAI Antitrust Suit

    Microsoft has slammed a proposed class action accusing the company of bullying OpenAI into a cloud computing deal as devoid of fact and economic sense in two motions filed in California federal court, saying the plaintiffs, ChatGPT subscribers, are trying to dodge an arbitration clause in the chatbot developer's user terms.

  • December 15, 2025

    States Fight Sandoz Bid To Argue Duplication In Generics Row

    Multiple attorneys general have told a Connecticut federal court that Sandoz Inc. and Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc. can't claim the states' grievances over allegations of price fixing are duplicative of claims that were already settled, since there are some claims and forms of relief that only state plaintiffs can seek.

Expert Analysis

  • Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

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    With the recent rise of securities fraud actions based on external events — like a data breach or environmental disaster — that drive down stock prices, risk disclosures have become more of a sword for the plaintiffs bar than a shield for public companies, now the subject of a growing circuit split, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

  • Series

    Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care

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    Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard​​​​​​​ at MG+M.

  • Birthright Opinions Reveal Views On Rule 23(b)(2) Relief

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    The justices' multiple opinions in the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27 decision in the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. CASA, shed light on whether Rule 23(b)(2) could fill the void created by the court's decision to restrict nationwide injunctions, says Benjamin Johns at Shub Johns.

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Plan For Increased HSR Info Sharing With Wash. Antitrust Law

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    Washington's merger notification requirements, effective later this month, combined with the Federal Trade Commission's new Hart-Scott-Rodino Act rules, will result in greater information sharing among state and federal agencies, making it important for merging parties to consider their transaction's potential state antitrust implications early on, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • How High Court Ruling Can Aid Judgment Enforcement In US

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    In CC/Devas (Mauritius) v. Antrix, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that only two steps are required to keep a foreign sovereign in federal court, making it a little easier for investors to successfully bring foreign states and sovereign-owned and -controlled entities into U.S. courts, says Kristie Blase at Felicello Law.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

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    Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

  • One Year On, Davidson Holds Lessons On 'Health Halo' Claims

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    A year after the Ninth Circuit's Davidson v. Sprout Foods decision — which raised the bar for so-called health halo claims — food and beverage companies can draw insights from its finding, subsequently expanded on by other courts, that plaintiffs must be specific when alleging fraud in healthfulness marketing, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

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    My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.

  • Opinion

    Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

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    The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.

  • Series

    Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

  • Focusing On Fluoride: From FDA To Class Action

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    A class action filed two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to remove ingestible fluoride prescription drug products for children from the market may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the connection between government pronouncements on safety and their immediate use as evidence in lawsuits, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

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