California

Expert Analysis

• And Now A Word From The Panel: MDLs Continue To Thrive

  

  The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation created fewer new MDLs last year than the year before, but this belies an overarching storyline of growth — with proceedings encompassing over 130,000 individual actions pending at year's end, says Alan Rothman of Sidley.

• Climate Ruling May Help Future Plaintiffs Establish Causation

  

  The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Juliana v. United States blocked private litigants from using the courts to force climate change action by the federal government, but it may have laid a trail of breadcrumbs for future climate plaintiffs to establish injury in fact and causation, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• 5 Complications That Can Derail A Class Action Settlement

  

  As courts increase scrutiny of class action settlement agreements, approval hinges on avoiding common mistakes, such as inadequate forms of notice, lack of Article III standing and irrelevant cy pres recipients, say attorneys at Troutman Sanders.

• Rebuttal

  AI Can't Accurately Predict Case Length And Cost — Yet

  

  A recent Law360 guest article argued that artificial intelligence can precisely estimate the length and cost of a new case, but several limitations will likely delay truly accurate predictions for years to come, says Andrew Russell at Shaw Keller.

• Opinion

  High Court Should Not Abet Google's Efficient IP Infringement

  

  ​​​​​​​A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of Google in its copyright infringement battle with Oracle would vindicate the search engine’s ruthless economic calculus, encourage IP abuse and dissuade future victims from bringing challenges, says James Skyles of Skyles Law Group.

• EEOC Policy Change Clashes With Challenges To Arbitration

  

  Although the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s recent retraction of a policy that opposed mandatory arbitration agreements for worker discrimination claims aligns with U.S. Supreme Court precedent, it doesn’t address resistance to arbitration in new state laws or in the wake of #MeToo, says Mauro Ramirez at Fisher Phillips.

• Key Trade Secrets Developments Of 2019: Part 2

  

  Last year brought significant news in U.S. trade secret law, including the U.S. Department of Justice’s continued enforcement of its China initiative and further development of the inevitable disclosure doctrine under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

• Prop 65 Chemical Labeling Litigation: Trends And Predictions

  

  Product safety litigation brought under Proposition 65, California's chemical disclosure law, shows no signs of slowing down in the coming year — with short-form labels and manufacturers' responsibility for product warnings likely to be key areas of contention, says Anne Marie Ellis of Buchalter.

• Justices Poised To Reshape Employer Religious Bias Issues

  

  Two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court this term have the potential to transform a doctrine that exempts religious organizations from employment discrimination claims by their ministers, and a case that may be accepted for review could change Title VII’s undue hardship standard for religious accommodations, says Sarah Schanz at McDermott.

• Avenues Of Relief For Cybersecurity Whistleblowers Increase

  

  Successful securities and False Claims Act lawsuits and a spate of state legislation over the past year have legitimized cybersecurity deficiencies as a basis for federal and state liability and strengthened protections for whistleblowers, says Matthew LaGarde of Katz Marshall.

• How Montana Fossil Ruling Could Affect Oil And Gas Cos.

  

  The Montana Supreme Court's forthcoming decision in Murray v. BEJ Minerals will determine whether dinosaur fossils found on a ranch should be legally considered minerals, but could also affect oil and gas producers because of its potential relevance to sand, fracking wastewater and other substances, says A.J. Ferate of Spencer Fane.

• What Health Care FCA Trends Tell Us About The Year Ahead

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice showed more initiative in directly bringing health care-related False Claims Act cases despite a decrease in qui tam filings last year, and as scrutiny of the industry continues to rise, several sectors deserve to be watched carefully this year, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

• Consumer Finance Poised For Greater Scrutiny From States

  

  As state-level regulators step up consumer finance oversight to fill the void created by more restrained federal regulation in this area, financial institutions should keep an eye on developments and agencies in several key states, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

• Lawyers Can Build Trust Through The Spoken Word

  

  As attorneys, we may prefer the precision of written communication, but a phone call or an in-person conversation builds trust by letting others see and hear our authentic selves, rather than something constructed or scripted, says mediator Sidney Kanazawa of ARC.

• Army Copter Case Blurs Jurisdiction For ‘Other Transactions'

  

  An Arizona federal court’s recent decision in MD Helicopters v. U.S. highlights the complexity surrounding contractors’ potential avenues of relief in challenging agencies’ so-called other transaction award decisions, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.