California

  • July 25, 2025

    Sports & Betting Cases To Watch In The Second Half Of 2025

    Certain court cases have become staples on both the midyear and end-of-year must-watch lists in sports and betting at Law360. One that seemed best positioned to finally fall off the list, as it turns out, is far from over: the multibillion-dollar NCAA settlement regarding name, image and likeness payments and revenue sharing with hundreds of thousands of college athletes. A handful of other suits from past years will also continue to bear watching through the end of 2025.

  • July 25, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects Suit Against Wash. Youth Gender Care Laws

    A Ninth Circuit panel has unanimously declined to revive a challenge to a Washington state law allowing shelters to help runaway teens seek gender-affirming treatment without notifying their parents, ruling on Friday that the plaintiff parents and anti-trans advocacy groups haven't shown actual or imminent harm from the statute.

  • July 25, 2025

    9th Circ.: Gila River Tribe-Farmer Water Fight Not Over

    The Ninth Circuit has ruled a federal judge prematurely sided with the Gila River Indian Community in a water rights dispute, finding future fact-finding is needed before ordering Arizona farmers to shut off wells that allegedly draw water from the river.

  • July 25, 2025

    Helicopter Crash Suit Belongs In New Zealand, Calif. Court Says

    Survivors of a helicopter crash cannot sue the U.S.-based companies that manufactured the aircraft in Los Angeles County, a California appeals court said Thursday, affirming a trial court's finding that it makes more sense for New Zealand courts to handle the case because that's where the crash happened and where the passengers live.

  • July 25, 2025

    Fluoride Fans Tell 9th Circ. To Preserve Drinking Water Use

    A pro-fluoride group is supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's fight to overturn a California federal judge's ruling that current limits on the chemical in drinking water aren't protective enough.

  • July 25, 2025

    Anthropic Asks To Stay Copyright Suit To Appeal Class Cert.

    Anthropic PBC has said it will seek a quick appeal to the Ninth Circuit of a California federal judge's decision last week to certify a class of owners of copyrights for books included in pirate websites that were downloaded by the AI developer to train its Claude generative text model.

  • July 25, 2025

    Feds Ordered To Renew Contract For Family Separation Deal

    A California federal judge late Thursday ordered the federal government to re-enter a contract for behavioral health services and housing support for migrant families separated under the first Trump administration, saying the administration breached a settlement and had to comply with its obligations "now."

  • July 25, 2025

    Tesla Expert Says Autopilot Was Overridden Before Fatal Crash

    An accident reconstruction expert told jurors in Florida federal court Friday that the driver of the Tesla that caused a fatal crash in the Florida Keys had overridden the autopilot and was in control of the vehicle for the 75 seconds before the crash.

  • July 25, 2025

    Epic Defends Apple Antitrust Injunction After Birthright Ruling

    Epic Games has told the Ninth Circuit the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in litigation challenging President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order should not affect a nationwide injunction and civil contempt order issued in its antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies, arguing Apple misread the high court's precedent.

  • July 25, 2025

    Los Angeles Seeks Early Win In Military Leave Bias Suit

    The city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department urged a California federal court Friday to grant them an early win in a proposed class action alleging the city didn't grant equal sick and vacation time to service members and wouldn't promote them because of their service obligations.

  • July 25, 2025

    Calif. County Denied Rehearing Over Timeshare Fee

    A California county will not get a rehearing over a judgment that an annual fee the county charges to timeshare resort owners to give them each a value of their own properties for property tax purposes was excessive and, in fact, acted as a tax, an appellate panel ruled.

  • July 25, 2025

    Coinbase Accuses German Of Illegally Squatting On URL

    A German man is wrongfully using an online URL to pose as the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and leveraging his ownership to get the company to buy the domain name at a high price, a new lawsuit in California federal court has alleged.

  • July 25, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Disturb Class Cert. In 'Oil-Free' J&J Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday backed class certification in a suit alleging Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. misled consumers by advertising its Neutrogena face washes are "oil-free," rejecting its argument that the class's expert's damage calculation was faulty and underdeveloped.

  • July 25, 2025

    Calif. Landlord Files Ch. 11 With Over $50M In Debt

    A company that owns an apartment building in California's Central Coast region has launched a Chapter 11 case with between $50 million and $100 million each in assets and liabilities. 

  • July 25, 2025

    Hospital Giant To Pay $3.5M Over Nurse Training Repayments

    HCA Healthcare Inc., a major U.S. hospital operator, has agreed to pay roughly $3.5 million to settle claims that it unlawfully trapped new nurses in agreements requiring them to repay training costs if they left their jobs within two years, according to a trio of state attorneys general.

  • July 25, 2025

    Will Tom Girardi's Wardrobe Mishap Help His Appeal?

    When legendary attorney Tom Girardi's pants fell down as he finished testifying in his defense, the judge had to decide: Was this a desperate bid to feign incompetence and avoid prison for stealing client funds, or just an accident by an 86-year-old man with dementia? And if it really was an accident, does it now give Girardi a shot at winning his appeal and overturning his sentence?

  • July 25, 2025

    Producer Ordered To Pay Union $163K After Romania Shoot

    A production company must pay SAG-AFTRA about $163,000 on behalf of actors who worked on a 2019 action film, a California federal judge ruled, finding the company violated the terms of a labor agreement because scenes were shot in Romania.

  • July 25, 2025

    Calif. Court Axes Deported Man's Drug Plea Over Atty Advice

    A California appeals court has vacated the drug conviction of a Mexican national and U.S. resident and has told the lower court to set a trial on the charge, finding he wasn't properly told by his lawyer that pleading guilty would lead to deportation.

  • July 24, 2025

    Trump Admin Asks Justices To Stay Block On NIH Grant Cuts

    The Trump administration on Thursday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to stay a district court's preliminary injunction so that the National Institutes of Health can resume terminating $783 million in grants, saying the lower court, under a recent high court ruling, lacked jurisdiction to make the government pay the grants.

  • July 24, 2025

    Will 9th Circ. Take 'Rare' Step Of Nixing Kat Von D's IP Win?

    A Ninth Circuit panel openly struggled this month with a jury's verdict clearing tattoo artist Kat Von D of infringing a photographer's copyrighted photo of Miles Davis, and is now facing the rare proposition of nullifying the verdict based on its own interpretation of the images.

  • July 24, 2025

    'May The Flow Be With You': Meta Team Made Menstrual Jokes

    A Meta legal vice president defending the company in a California federal trial over allegations it illegally gathers users' data from menstrual-tracking app Flo acknowledged Thursday that members of Meta's communications team made "inappropriate" menstruation-related jokes while discussing the issue, with one employee telling another: "May the flow be with you."

  • July 24, 2025

    NJ Atty To Pay SEC Fine Over Alleged Prime Bank Fraud Role

    A New Jersey attorney and a California man will pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a total of $134,000 as part of agreements to resolve the regulator's allegations they helped bilk an older couple out of over $150,000 through a so-called prime bank scheme. 

  • July 24, 2025

    Phillips 66's $12.5M Class Wage Deal Gets 1st OK In Calif.

    A class of about 1,750 current and former Phillips 66 employees working at its San Francisco and Los Angeles refineries received preliminary approval by a California federal judge Thursday of a $12.5 million settlement resolving allegations they weren't given breaks or compensated for donning and doffing personal protective equipment off-the-clock.

  • July 24, 2025

    Genentech Seeks Win After $122M Biogen Royalties Mistrial

    Genentech Inc. urged a California federal court Wednesday to rule that Biogen MA Inc. owes $122 million in patent royalties and interest under the "only coherent construction" of their licensing deal, in a rare post-mistrial arrangement that will see the judge step in to deliver the verdict.

  • July 24, 2025

    Split 9th Circ. Affirms Block Of Calif. Ammunition Regulation

    A split Ninth Circuit panel Thursday affirmed a lower court's finding that California can't require gun owners to undergo background checks before buying ammunition, ruling that the law runs afoul of the Second Amendment in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in Bruen.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    The BigLaw Settlements Are About Risk, Not Profit

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    The nine Am Law 100 firms that settled with the Trump administration likely did so because of the personal risk faced by equity partners in today's billion‑dollar national practices, enabled by an ethics rule primed for modernization, says Adam Forest at Scale.

  • What Gene Findings Mean For Asbestos Mesothelioma Claims

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    Recent advances in genetic research have provided substantial evidence that significant numbers of malignant mesothelioma cases may be caused by inherited mutations rather than asbestos exposure — a finding that could fundamentally change how defendants approach personal injury litigation over mesothelioma, say David Schwartz at Lumanity and Kirk Hartley at LSP Group.

  • State Tort Claims May Help Deter Bribes During FCPA Pause

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    As the U.S. pauses Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, companies that lose business due to competitors' bribery should consider using state tortious interference suits to expose corruption, deter illegal practices and obtain compensation for commercial losses, says Jason Manning at Levy Firestone.

  • 4 States' Enforcement Actions Illustrate Data Privacy Priorities

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    Attorneys at Wilson Elser examine recent enforcement actions based on new consumer data privacy laws by regulators in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Texas, centered around key themes, including crackdowns on dark patterns, misuse of sensitive data and failure to honor consumer rights.

  • Series

    Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Birthright Ruling Could Alter Consumer Financial Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision about the validity of the nationwide injunctions in the birthright citizenship cases, argued on May 15, could make it much harder for trade associations to obtain nationwide relief from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's enforcement of invalid regulations, says Alan Kaplinsky at Ballard Spahr.

  • Signed, Sealed, Deleted: A Look At The California Delete Act

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    The California Delete Act, proposed Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform regulations, and California Privacy Protection Agency enforcement raise a number of compliance considerations — even for data brokers that have existing deletion processes in place, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: A Rare MDL Petition Off-Day

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    In an unusual occurrence in the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's history, there are zero new MDL petitions scheduled for Thursday's hearing session, but the panel will be busy considering a host of motions regarding whether to transfer cases to eight existing MDL proceedings, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

  • Energy Order Brings Risks For Lenders And Borrowers Alike

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    A recent executive order directing the attorney general to submit a report next month with recommendations for halting enforcement of state laws the administration says are hampering energy resources presents risks for lenders and borrowers using state-generated carbon credits, but proactive steps now can help insulate against adverse consequences, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Customs Fraud Enforcement In The Age Of Tariffs

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    In the wake of the Trump administration’s new approach toward tariffs, two recent Justice Department developments demonstrate aggressive customs fraud enforcement, with the DOJ emphasizing competitive harm to American businesses, and signaling that investigations will likely involve both civil and criminal enforcement tools, say attorneys at Bernstein Litowitz and London & Naor.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: An Untapped Source For Biz Roles

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    Law firms looking to recruit legal business talent should consider turning to paralegals, who practice several key skills every day that prepare them to thrive in marketing and client development roles, says Vanessa Torres at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Collective Cert. In Age Bias Suit Shows AI Hiring Tool Scrutiny

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    Following a California federal court's ruling in Mobley v. Workday, which appears to be the first in the country to preliminarily certify a collective action based on alleged age discrimination from artificial intelligence tools used for hiring, employers should move quickly to audit these technologies, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Using Federal Forum Provisions To Nix State Securities Cases

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    A California appeals court's recent decision in Bullock v. Rivian clarifies that underwriters may enforce federal forum provisions to escape state court Securities Act claims, marking progress in restoring such lawsuits to federal court and reducing the litigation costs arising from duplicative state court litigation, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Series

    Playing Poker Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Poker is a master class in psychology, risk management and strategic thinking, and I’m a better attorney because it has taught me to read my opponents, adapt when I’m dealt the unexpected and stay patient until I'm ready to reveal my hand, says Casey Kingsley at McCreadyLaw.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Becoming A Firmwide MVP

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    Though lawyers don't have a neat metric like baseball players for measuring the value they contribute to their organizations, the sooner new attorneys learn skills frequently skipped in law school — like networking, marketing, client development and case evaluation — the more valuable, and less replaceable, they will be, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.

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