California

Expert Analysis

• Challenging Class Cert. When Plaintiffs Missed 'False' Ad

  

  False advertising class action plaintiffs often target language from a defendant's marketing materials or product label — but a defendant may be able to challenge class certification with evidence that many class members did not see the statement in question, say Michael Schwartz and Maren Messing at Patterson Belknap.

• Uniformity Goal Eludes Defend Trade Secrets Act, 5 Years On

  

  Five years after the enactment of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, work remains to be done on achieving uniformity across jurisdictions, because state law differences being imported into the DTSA are creating the same patchwork of law the act was intended to rectify, say attorneys at MoFo.

• Judge's Rebuke Of Mass. AG Has Lessons For All Attorneys

  

  A Massachusetts federal judge’s recent rebuke of the state Attorney General’s Office for refusing to respond to discovery requests in Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Healey highlights six important considerations for attorneys who want to avoid the dreaded benchslap, say Alison Eggers and Dallin Wilson at Seyfarth.  

• Current Pipelines And Regs Can Support Shift To Hydrogen

  

  The repurposing of America's fossil fuel infrastructure for renewable hydrogen has begun, and existing pipelines, regulations and statutes can provide the regulatory certainty needed to support investment in hydrogen power systems, say William Bolgiano and Matthew Field at Venable.

• How 5-Year-Old Defend Trade Secrets Act Has Met Its Goals

  

  Case law and data reveal that, five years after its enactment, the Defend Trade Secrets Act has opened up federal courts to litigants and has proven effective against extraterritorial misappropriation, while concerns about inconsistency and overuse of ex parte seizures have not borne out, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

• Font Considerations To Give Your Legal Briefs An Edge

  

  Following the D.C. Circuit’s recent notice discouraging use of the font Garamond in legal briefs, Jason Steed at Kilpatrick looks at typeface requirements and preferences in appellate courts across the country, and how practitioners can score a few extra brief-writing points with typography.

• Discerning Need For 2nd COVID Workers' Comp Claim In Calif.

  

  Diana Tsudik at Gilson Daub explains how California employers can determine whether an employee’s second round of industrial COVID-19 leave requires a new workers' compensation claim form, and how a secondary filing could unnecessarily expose the company to double liability for one injury.

• Make Profitability Management Part Of Your Law Firm Culture

  

  As the legal industry continues to change in the post-pandemic world, law firms should adapt to client demands by constantly measuring and managing the profitability of their services, says Joseph Altonji at LawVision.

• Indoor Air Pollution Fix Will Require New Laws, New Tech

  

  The COVID-19 pandemic, an aging population and changing workplace dynamics all foretell more exposure to indoor air pollutants, so a multidisciplinary policy approach combining technology, insurance, funding and regulation will be needed to improve indoor air quality and health, says Ann Al-Bahish at Haynes and Boone.

• Series

  Winner's Playbook: Behind The Scenes Of Lamps Plus

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court issued a major decision on class arbitration in Lamps Plus v. Varela two years ago. Now, attorneys at Lewis Brisbois and Mayer Brown explain how their work for Lamps Plus developed the law on interpreting arbitration agreements that exclude language expressly addressing class arbitration.

• How D&O Coverage Fits Into Diversity Claim Mitigation

  

  As companies face a shift in the directors and officers insurance market following a spate of recent shareholder suits over lack of diversity in corporate leadership, executive teams should review D&O policy coverage while implementing diversity initiatives that will effect meaningful, long-term change, say Natasha Romagnoli and Hannah Ahn at Blank Rome.

• Employer Compliance Tips For Calif. Heat Recovery Breaks

  

  As the weather warms up, California employers can reinforce worker safety and reduce class action risk by managing state requirements for breaks to prevent heat illness, which are significantly different from regulations for meal and rest breaks, says Michael Nader at Ogletree.

• 4 Trends In Discoverability Of Litigation Funding Documents

  

  Recent rulings shed light on how courts and international arbitration tribunals decide if litigation funding materials are discoverable and reaffirm best practices that attorneys should follow when communicating with funders, say Justin Maleson at Longford Capital and Michele Slachetka and Christian Plummer at Jenner & Block.

• Opinion

  SEC Should Drop Litigation Over Ripple's XRP Token

  

  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should settle or withdraw its allegations that Ripple Labs' XRP is an unregistered security, and focus on creating new rules for securities registration that account for the unique dynamics of digital assets, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.

• Bio-Rad Ruling Highlights IP Assignment Clause Limits

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent holding in Bio-Rad v. International Trade Commission, that an assignment clause wasn’t enough to claim patent ownership where the conception date followed former inventors’ employment, shows companies and workers the importance of specificity in drafting contractual limitations, say Bryan Vogel and Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.