California

  • March 18, 2026

    FTC, Fitness Giant Xponential Strike $17M Franchise Rule Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that the franchise group behind Club Pilates, Pure Barre and other boutique fitness brands agreed to pay $17 million to resolve claims that it previously misled franchisees about the costs, risks and other key details about operating one of its studios.

  • March 18, 2026

    Bobsledder Says Olympic Committee Hid Brain Injury Risk

    A former U.S. bobsled team member accused the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee of intentionally concealing the sport's brain injury risk, telling a California state court he wouldn't have taken part if he had known.

  • March 18, 2026

    DOJ Defends Labeling Anthropic A Security Risk

    The Trump administration told a California federal judge it lawfully labeled Anthropic PBC a supply chain risk to national security after the company tried to "strong-arm" the U.S. Department of Defense into usage restrictions for its artificial intelligence tools.

  • March 18, 2026

    What Happens In Vegas: LA Official Sues Over Ethics Fine

    Los Angeles City Councilman John Lee sued the city's ethics commission Tuesday in a California court, saying it wrongly levied a fine of over $138,000 against him on allegations that he participated in a debaucherous Las Vegas trip nine years ago that landed Mitch Englander, Lee's City Council predecessor and his boss at the time, in federal prison.

  • March 18, 2026

    IRS Summons For Man's Coinbase Info Cleared To Go Ahead

    A man who alleged that the IRS violated his privacy rights in its summons of personal financial documents from Coinbase failed to properly serve the U.S. in his attempt to block the summons, a California federal judge said Wednesday, dismissing the case.

  • March 18, 2026

    Pillsbury Brings On Latham Insurance Recovery Pro In LA

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is growing its insurance recovery team with a Latham & Watkins LLP attorney brought on as a partner in the firm's Los Angeles office, the city announced Wednesday.

  • March 18, 2026

    Coke Bottler 401(k) Suit Put On Ice For High Court Ruling

    A Coca-Cola bottler can't dodge a proposed class action claiming its 401(k) plan was loaded with lackluster options, a Texas federal judge ruled, saying the company's dismissal bid must wait until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the standards for claims of retirement investment underperformance.

  • March 18, 2026

    9th Circ. Urged To Rehear Cannabis Dormant Commerce Case

    A California attorney who has challenged cannabis social equity programs in numerous jurisdictions asked the entire Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to reconsider whether the U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause applies to federally illegal marijuana.

  • March 18, 2026

    Tax Prep Firm Can't Challenge Bulk Denial Of Tax Credits

    Two tax preparation companies don't have enough interest in their clients' refunds to stop the IRS from issuing batch denials of thousands of pandemic-era worker credit claims, the Ninth Circuit found, affirming an Arizona district court's ruling.

  • March 18, 2026

    Google Wins Dismissal Of Tech Patent Fight In Calif.

    A California federal judge has thrown out litigation accusing Google of infringing search and computer processing patents, finding the Irish company that sued it didn't have standing in one case and that a second case was duplicative of the first.

  • March 18, 2026

    Calif. Bills Would Reform Litigation Funding, Client Recruiting

    Two new bills introduced to the California Assembly this week seek to impose reforms on the state's legal industry, including adding mandatory disbarment for attorneys convicted of felony "capping" — or illegally paying for client recruitment — and blocking corporate litigation funders from influencing cases.

  • March 18, 2026

    Toy Co. Not Covered In Unpaid Judgment Fight, 8th Circ. Says

    An insurer needn't defend a toy company accused by a competitor of using legal proceedings to evade payment of an $8.5 million default judgment for false advertising, the Eighth Circuit has ruled, holding that the policy's malicious prosecution coverage doesn't extend to abuse of process claims.

  • March 17, 2026

    King & Spalding Adds Winston & Strawn IP Litigator In SF

    The parade of Winston & Strawn LLP litigators moving to King & Spalding LLP continues with a patent litigator being the latest to make the move, becoming a partner in the San Francisco office.

  • March 17, 2026

    Instagram Layers Backups To Catch Bad Content, Jury Told

    Instagram's algorithm data head told a New Mexico jury Tuesday that Meta layers processes to ward against harmful content, so if a violating post is missed and starts going viral, it can be caught by a backstop.

  • March 17, 2026

    Were Musk's Tweets 'Deliberate' Or 'Stupid'? Jury To Decide

    Elon Musk made "deliberate and carefully devised" statements to drive down Twitter's stock price after offering $44 billion for the company, Twitter investors' counsel told a California federal jury during closing arguments Tuesday, while Musk's lawyer insisted that there's no evidence of securities fraud and that it's not a crime to "tweet stupid things."

  • March 17, 2026

    Squires Will Mull Ending AMD Reviews For Sotera Violations

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has allowed XtreamEdge Inc. to ask to terminate reviews of three data processing patents challenged by Advanced Micro Devices Inc., saying there are "serious concerns" about whether AMD violated a stipulation to limit its invalidity arguments in court.

  • March 17, 2026

    FPI, Apartment Owners Reach $7M Deal In Wash. AG's Tenant Suit

    California-based property manager FPI and owners of five low-income apartment complexes have agreed to pay $7 million to end the Washington attorney general's lawsuit accusing them of exploiting senior tenants by overstating property qualities and withholding information about future rent rises, according to an agreed order finalized Monday.

  • March 17, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs Rare FCA Theory In Huge Drug Prices Program

    In a novel and potentially far-reaching decision, the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday revived a major hospital chain's False Claims Act suit accusing large pharmaceutical companies of massive overcharges in a prominent drug discount program where pricing disputes are common.

  • March 17, 2026

    K&L Gates Adds Ex-Protection Law, Littler Labor Atty In LA

    K&L Gates LLP has added a labor and employment partner with experience at Protection Law Group and Littler Mendelson to its Labor, Employment and Workplace Safety practice in Los Angeles, according to an announcement Tuesday.

  • March 17, 2026

    OpenAI, Musk Can't Argue Over Wealth In $38M Fraud Trial

    A California federal judge laid out the ground rules for an upcoming April jury trial on Elon Musk's claims OpenAI duped him into donating $38 million, barring evidence regarding the "wealth or lack thereof of any party," unless the dispute reaches the punitive damages stage, which the judge called "unlikely."

  • March 17, 2026

    Trump's Pipeline Order Stokes Turf War Over Energy Permits

    The Trump administration is taking executive power into uncharted territory by asserting it can override state law to restart a California oil pipeline, but such an expansion of presidential authority over energy infrastructure may invite skepticism from courts.

  • March 17, 2026

    Grocery Chain Faces Investor Suit Over Shuttered Stores

    Investors of Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. filed suit against the discount supermarket company in California federal court, alleging the company and its executives failed to disclose that its rapid financial growth was caused by expanding too quickly, which came to light earlier this year when it announced that 36 of its stores would close, sending its share price lower.

  • March 17, 2026

    Dr. Oz Claims Florida Also Has Healthcare Fraud Problem

    Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, announced Tuesday that he is taking his efforts to combat healthcare-related fraud to Florida, where he says millions of dollars have been wasted on schemes involving durable medical equipment.

  • March 17, 2026

    Willkie Adds Ex-O'Melveny Atty As Energy Partner In LA

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP continues to beef up its Los Angeles presence, most recently with the addition of an attorney from O'Melveny & Myers LLP who brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in the infrastructure and energy sectors, the firm announced on Tuesday. 

  • March 17, 2026

    Mich. AG Joins Fair Housing Laws Fight Against HUD Guidance

    Michigan's attorney general spoke Tuesday about joining 15 states and the District of Columbia in a California federal suit claiming the Trump administration undermines enforcement of fair housing laws by threatening to halt funding for local government programs protecting people discriminated against for gender and sexual orientation, among other things.

Expert Analysis

  • 2025 State AI Laws Expand Liability, Raise Insurance Risks

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    As 2025 nears its end, claims professionals should be aware of trends in state legislation addressing artificial intelligence use, as insurance claims based on some of these liability-expanding statutes are a certainty, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

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    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • Crypto In 2025: From Federal Deregulation To State Action

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    The cryptocurrency enforcement landscape evolved in 2025, marked by federal deregulatory trends and active state attorney general enforcement, creating both opportunity and risk for businesses navigating the digital asset market, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Reel Justice: 'The Mastermind' And Juror Decision-Making

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    The recent art heist film “The Mastermind” forces viewers to discern the protagonist’s ambiguous motives and reconcile contradictions, offering lessons for attorneys about how a well-crafted trial narrative can tap into the psychological phenomena underlying juror decision-making, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.

  • Learning From 2025 FCA Trends Targeting PE In Healthcare

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    False Claims Act enforcement trends and legislative developments from this year signal intensifying state and federal scrutiny of private equity's growing footprint in healthcare, and the urgency of compliance, says Lisa Re at Arnold & Porter.

  • Reviewing 2025's State And Federal AI Regulations

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    In light of increasing state and federal action to oversee the use of artificial intelligence, companies that develop or deploy the technology should keep abreast of current and forthcoming AI laws and consider their applicability to their business activities, says Jessica Brigman at Spencer Fane.

  • What Trump Order Limiting State AI Regs Means For Insurers

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    Last week's executive order seeking to preclude states from regulating artificial intelligence will likely have minimal impact on insurers, but the order and related congressional activities may portend a federal expectation of consistent state oversight of insurers' AI use, says Kathleen Birrane at DLA Piper.

  • 4 Privacy Trends This Year With Lessons For Companies

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    As organizations plan for ongoing privacy law changes, 2025 trends that include a shift of activity from the federal to the state level mean companies should take an adaptive and principle-based approach to privacy programs rather than trying to memorize constantly changing laws, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Clarifies Auditor Liability For IPO Errors

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Hunt v. PricewaterhouseCoopers elucidates the legal standard for claims against auditors in connection with a company's initial public offering, confirming that audit opinions are subjective and becoming the first circuit to review this precise question since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 Omnicare ruling, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • AG Watch: Texas Junk Fee Deal Shows Enforcement Priorities

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    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent $9.5 million settlement with online travel agency website Booking Holdings for so-called junk fee practices follows a larger trend of state attorneys general who have taken similar action and demonstrates the significant penalties that can follow such allegations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Calif. AG's No-Poach Case Reflects Tougher Antitrust Stance

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    This month, California’s attorney general resolved the latest enforcement action barring the use of no-poach agreements, underscoring an aggressive antitrust enforcement trend with significant increases in criminal and civil penalties, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • 2025 Noncompete Developments That Led To Inflection Point

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    Employers must reshape their approaches to noncompete agreements following key 2025 developments, including Delaware's rejection of blue-penciling and the proliferation of state wage thresholds, say attorneys at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

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    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

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    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

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