California

  • August 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Attys Can't Get $920K Fees For $8K Trial Win

    The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision Thursday to deny a request of over $920,000 in attorney fees from the creator of two strategic problem-solving charts following her jury trial win of $8,000 in a copyright infringement case, saying the district court property articulated the reasons for the denial.

  • August 07, 2025

    Google Wants Epic's Claims Tossed After Samsung Deal

    Google urged a California federal court to toss the remaining claims in a case from Epic Games that initially accused the tech giant of colluding with Samsung to block app store competition, but now centers on a security feature Google said the court has already addressed.

  • August 07, 2025

    Music Publishers Denied Anthropic User Info In AI Case

    A California federal judge on Thursday denied a request from music publishers for the names of people who used Anthropic PBC's generative text tool Claude to get copyrighted lyrics, saying she was not persuaded that production of personal third-party user information was needed for the infringement litigation.

  • August 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Seattle's Win In Housing Ordinance Suit

    The Ninth Circuit affirmed Seattle's lower court victory against a suit filed by landlords challenging a 2017 city housing law that, among other restrictions, prevents landlords from requiring prospective tenants to disclose whether or not they have criminal records.

  • August 07, 2025

    'Breakdown In Civility' Gets Boies Schiller Sanctioned

    A California federal judge slapped Boies Schiller Flexner LLP with a $15,000 sanction Thursday in a former worker's suit claiming Levi Strauss & Co. declined to promote her out of sex bias, faulting the firm for a "uniquely eye-opening breakdown in civility and professionalism."

  • August 07, 2025

    HPE-Juniper Judge Shuns More Direct Comment On DOJ Deal

    Comments, or complaints, about the controversial U.S. Department of Justice deal permitting Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks must go through the DOJ and will no longer be accepted if submitted directly to the court, the reviewing California federal judge said Wednesday.

  • August 07, 2025

    Calif. Ethics Panel Clarifies Judge DQs In Racial Justice Cases

    A California judicial ethics committee has issued a formal opinion advising a judge who is a former prosecutor that a pending case involving a discovery motion under the state's Racial Justice Act does not require the judge's recusal.

  • August 07, 2025

    Kids Cartoon Co. Gets Investor Suit Trimmed

    A California federal judge issued a mixed ruling in a securities class action alleging that kids cartoon company Genius Brands International Inc. and its CEO engaged in a pump-and-dump scheme, finding that the third version of the complaint only plausibly pleads that investors relied on misstatements related to the airing frequency of the show "Rainbow Rangers."

  • August 07, 2025

    CoStar Asks Full 9th Circ. To Revisit Antitrust Ruling For Rival

    Commercial real estate information company CoStar Group Inc. and a subsidiary are urging the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its ruling reviving antitrust counterclaims lodged by rival Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc., which CoStar has accused in a suit of stealing property listing data and copyrighted photos.

  • August 07, 2025

    Ex-Data Co. Execs Charged With $25M 'Round Tripping' Scam

    Two executives from bankrupt California data company Near Intelligence Inc. fraudulently inflated the company's revenues by $25 million in a conspiracy that involved a third executive from advertising company MobileFuse LLC, according to a Manhattan federal court indictment unsealed Thursday.

  • August 07, 2025

    California Anti-Deepfake Law Struck Down By Judge

    A California federal judge has agreed to block a California anti-deepfake law as constitutionally and legally invalid, siding with conservative media companies and content creators who argued that the law infringes platforms' First Amendment rights to moderate content on their own and pressures them to censor speech.

  • August 07, 2025

    Insurer Says Conviction Bars Coverage For Police Injury Suit

    An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a man facing a civil claim of negligently blinding a Los Angeles police officer with a laser, it told a California federal court, saying the man's criminal conviction for assault means his conduct was intentional and therefore not covered.

  • August 07, 2025

    Calif. Sheriff Says Criminal Law Enforceable On Tribal Land

    A California sheriff is asking a federal judge to dismiss the latest complaint from the Round Valley Indian Tribes and three members alleging law enforcement illegally raided cannabis growers, saying criminal laws can still be enforced on tribal land.

  • August 07, 2025

    Kratom Buyers Take Addictiveness Suit To 9th Circ.

    A proposed class of kratom buyers is appealing to the Ninth Circuit after their claims that Thang Botanicals and FTLS Holdings LLC misled them about the addictive qualities of kratom products were dismissed with prejudice.

  • August 06, 2025

    Stanford Daily Sues Trump Admin Over Deportation Threats

    Stanford University's student newspaper, The Stanford Daily, sued the Trump administration in California federal court on Wednesday, claiming that the threat of immigration law enforcement against lawfully present noncitizen students expressing pro-Palestinian views is unconstitutional and has students self-censoring out of fears of being deported.

  • August 06, 2025

    Calif. Water Toxicity Test Flouts Federal Law, Court Rules

    A California state appeals court has barred state regulators from requiring wastewater entities to use a new water pollution test for discharge permits, but said the Golden State's adoption of new toxicity provisions was proper under state law.

  • August 06, 2025

    Calif. Privacy Agency Takes Retailer To Court Over Subpoena

    The California Privacy Protection Agency initiated a legal action Wednesday to force Tractor Supply Co. to comply with an investigative subpoena seeking information about the retailer's compliance with the state's data privacy regime dating back to 2020, a demand that the company has contended sweeps too broadly.

  • August 06, 2025

    Calif. Cow-Treatment Suit Covered By Ill. Deal, Farm Co. Says

    A Fairlife milk supplier that participated in a $21 million settlement of cow-mistreatment false advertising claims asked the Chicago federal judge overseeing that multidistrict litigation to halt a similar lawsuit in California, saying the Chicago deal already outlines a process for addressing the Golden State case's claims.

  • August 06, 2025

    Compelling ERISA Arbitration No Sure Thing, 9th Circ. Shows

    The Ninth Circuit aligned with several other federal appeals courts when it recently struck down a clause in a food service company's employee health plan that barred class or representative actions, marking the latest in a series of setbacks for employers looking to push federal benefits suits into solo arbitration.

  • August 06, 2025

    Masimo Drops Founder Joe Kiani From 'Empty Voting' Suit

    Masimo Corp. has agreed to free its founder, Joe Kiani, from the medical technology company's suit alleging he manipulated a shareholder vote through an "empty voting" scheme, pointing to "the interest of judicial efficiency and economy."

  • August 06, 2025

    Ex-WBZ Anchor Files $4M Race Suit Against CBS, Paramount

    Paramount, CBS and its Boston affiliate station WBZ-TV face a $4 million lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court from a former WBZ morning anchor who alleges the defendants discriminated against her as a white woman and demoted her following an inadequate investigation into complaints by colleagues who accused her of racism. 

  • August 06, 2025

    Judge Says No New Trial In Fleet Monitoring Patent Fight

    A California federal judge said Tuesday there is no basis for a new trial after a jury in April cleared Motive Technologies of allegations that it infringed a series of fleet monitoring patents, but ruled that claims in two of the patents were ineligible for patent protection to begin with.

  • August 06, 2025

    Ye Fights Sanctions Bid In IP Suit Involving DJ Khalil Music

    The artist once known as Kanye West, Ye, and his associated companies have asked a California federal court to reject a request for case-terminating sanctions in a lawsuit accusing him of ripping off copyrighted music for his 2021 "Donda" album, saying the defendants are trying to comply with discovery obligations.

  • August 06, 2025

    Feds Give Amazon's Zoox Robotaxis Green Light

    Amazon's self-driving car unit, Zoox Inc., has received federal approval to deploy fleets of robotaxis, making the company the first to receive an exemption from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for U.S.-built autonomous vehicles under a newly expanded program, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday.

  • August 06, 2025

    WilmerHale Beats Fired Associate's Racial Bias Claims

    A Manhattan judge Wednesday threw out a former WilmerHale senior associate's lawsuit alleging he was unfairly evaluated and eventually fired because he is Black, finding that the complaint doesn't plausibly allege discriminatory comments were made about his race or that employees of other races were treated better.

Expert Analysis

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Tips For Cos. From California Climate Reporting FAQ

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    New guidance from the California Air Resources Board on how businesses must implement the state's sweeping climate reporting requirements should help companies assess their exposure, understand their disclosure obligations and begin documenting good-faith compliance efforts, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.

  • What Calif. Insurance Ruling Means For Smoke Damage Limits

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    As California continues to grapple with an increasing number of wildfire claims, a state court's recent Aliff v. California FAIR Plan decision serves as a clear directive to insurers that policy language that narrows the scope of fire coverage below the California Insurance Code's minimum standards is impermissible, say attorneys at Wood Smith.

  • How NJ's Proposed Privacy Rules Could Reshape AI Data Use

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    Although not revolutionary, New Jersey's proposed privacy rules would create obligations around the management and processing of consumer personal data that will require careful planning before they can be successfully implemented, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What 9th Circ. Ruling Shows About Rebutting SEC Comments

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    The Ninth Circuit's June opinion in Pino v. Cardone Capital suggests that a company's lack of pushback to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission comment may be evidence of its state of mind for evaluating potential liability, meaning companies should consider including additional disclosure in SEC response letters, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Business Takeaways Following CCPA Enforcement Actions

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    Advisories and recent enforcement activity by the California Privacy Protection Agency against Honda and Todd Snyder underscore the agency's enforcement interest in the intersection of data minimization and consumer rights, and could make it more challenging for a business to provide a streamlined consumer rights process, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Compliance Lessons From 1st-Ever Product Safety Sentences

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    A California federal judge’s recent sentencing of two former Gree USA executives in a landmark Consumer Product Safety Act case serves as a reminder of the federal government’s willingness to pursue criminal prosecution of individuals who fail to report safety hazards, as well as companies’ need to strengthen their reporting and compliance programs, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • 9th Circ. Decisions Help Clarify Scope Of Legal Lab Marketing

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    Two Ninth Circuit decisions last week provide a welcome development in clarifying the line between laboratories' legal marketing efforts and undue influence that violates the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act, and offer useful guidance for labs seeking to mitigate enforcement risk, says Joshua Robbins at Buchalter.

  • Feds' Shift On Reputational Risk Raises Questions For Banks

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    While banking regulators' recent retreat from reputational risk narrows the scope of federal oversight in some respects, it also raises practical questions about consistency, reputational management and the evolving political landscape surrounding financial services, say attorneys at Smith Anderson.

  • What 9th Circ. Cracker Barrel Ruling Means For FLSA Cert.

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    The Ninth Circuit's decision in Harrington v. Cracker Barrel suggests a settling of two procedural trends in Fair Labor Standards Act jurisprudence — when to issue notice and where nationwide collectives can be filed — rather than deepening circuit splits, says Rebecca Ojserkis at Cohen Milstein.

  • Defense Lessons From Freshworks' Win In Post-IPO Case

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    A California federal court’s recent decision to grant Freshworks’ summary judgment bid in a proposed investor class action helpfully clarifies two important points for defendants facing postoffering securities claims under Section 11 of the Securities Act, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • 'Loss' Policy Definition Is Key For Noncash Settlements

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    A recent Delaware decision in AMC Entertainment v. XL Specialty Insurance, holding that the definition of loss includes noncash settlement payments, is important to note for policyholders considering other settlement options — like two other class actions that recently settled for vouchers, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

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    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

  • Tips For Business Users After 2 Key AI Copyright Decisions

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    Because two recent artificial intelligence copyright decisions from the Northern District of California — Bartz v. Anthropic and Kadrey v. Meta — came out mostly in favor of the developers using the plaintiffs' works to train large language models, business users should proceed with care, says Chris Wlach at Acxiom.

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