California

  • September 09, 2026

    Chevron, Insurers Settle $52M Iran Oil Seizure Dispute

    Three insurers have reached a settlement with Chevron over whether their separate marine cargo and war risk policies covered nearly $52 million worth of crude oil the Iranian military seized in retaliation for U.S. economic sanctions.

  • September 09, 2026

    9th Circ. Says Duress Is No Defense For Persecution

    A Ninth Circuit panel denied an El Salvador man's appeal contesting the rejection of his bid for deportation relief, ruling there is no implied duress defense to a statutory bar that withholds such relief from people who assisted in the persecution of others.

  • September 09, 2026

    Williams-Sonoma Loses Bid To Arbitrate 'Drip Pricing' Suit

    A California federal judge has allowed a pair of customers to proceed with their lawsuit claiming that Williams-Sonoma advertised low prices then tacked on extra fees at checkout, ruling a mass arbitration provision in the retailer's terms "unconscionably chills" consumers from making claims.

  • September 09, 2026

    States Say DOT's Driver Data Demand Is Immigration Pretext

    The Democratic-led states asking a Virginia federal judge to stop the Trump administration from accessing the Social Security numbers of commercial drivers nationwide for immigration enforcement backed up their request for an injunction Wednesday, saying the federal government is using post hoc rationalizations to defend its data demands.

  • September 09, 2026

    DOJ Says Berkeley Law Is Racially Biased In Admissions

    The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday that the University of California, Berkeley School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants in its 2024 and 2025 admissions cycles by preferring Black applicants because of their race, violating federal civil rights law and recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • September 09, 2026

    Wells Fargo Beats Cert. Bid In Rate-Lock Extension Fee Suit

    A California federal judge declined on Wednesday to certify a proposed class of Wells Fargo customers alleging it wrongly charged certain mortgage fees due to closing delays, ruling that liability cannot be determined without an individual file-by-file analysis to see whether the borrower or the bank was responsible for the delays.

  • September 09, 2026

    2nd Circ. Says FDIC Need Not File Claim To Save SVB Setoff

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is not required to file a claim in the bankruptcy case of Silicon Valley Bank's former parent to preserve its defensive setoff rights, the Second Circuit found Wednesday, delivering another blow to the company in its legal battle with the regulator.

  • September 09, 2026

    Wine Label Makers Spar Over Injunction In Trade Secret Fight

    A California federal judge on Wednesday weighed whether to grant a wine label company's motion for a preliminary injunction against rivals in a case accusing them of using trade secrets allegedly brought over by a former employee.

  • September 09, 2026

    States, Amici Ask Justices To Keep Mail Ballot Rules On Ice

    Nearly half of the states and the District of Columbia urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to leave in place a federal judge's order blocking the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing new mail-in ballot regulations in this year's midterms, arguing the changes are a major political decision USPS had no authority to make. 

  • September 09, 2026

    Justices Call For Early Response Over Paramount Merger

    The U.S. Supreme Court is giving California and other state enforcers that are challenging Paramount Skydance Corp.'s planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. until later this month to respond to Iowa and Montana's bid to block the merger challenge.

  • September 09, 2026

    Biz Group Says Centene 401(k) Suit Threatens Investor Choice

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported Centene Corp.'s effort to toss a suit claiming it mismanaged its $4.7 billion retirement plan through excessive management fees and opaque trusts, arguing the suit is improperly attempting to cast certain investment vehicles as inherently untrustworthy.

  • September 09, 2026

    Disney Gets Fubo Streaming Rate Claims Sent To Arbitration

    A California federal court ordered Fubo subscribers to arbitrate their antitrust claims in a case accusing Disney of driving up the cost of subscriptions by forcing the streaming platform to carry a package of channels instead of just ESPN.

  • September 09, 2026

    Unions, Feds Reach Deal In Gov't Shutdown Layoffs Suit

    A coalition of unions has reached a settlement in principle with the Trump administration resolving litigation in California federal court challenging layoffs at federal agencies during the 2025 government shutdown, pending approval from the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • September 09, 2026

    Calif. Judge Hands Eli Lilly Mixed Bag In Compound Drug Suit

    Eli Lilly failed to plausibly allege that a physician group and pharmacy conspired to falsely advertise compounded versions of its diabetes and weight loss drugs, but can continue with allegations they conspired to unfairly compete with Lilly, a California federal judge held.

  • September 09, 2026

    California Judge Ends Tribe's Challenge Over Village Site

    A federal magistrate judge has ended a dispute between two California tribes over the management of an Indigenous coastal village site, determining that the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria is an indispensable party in the litigation that is protected by sovereign immunity.

  • September 09, 2026

    Munger Tolles Adds Paul Hastings IP Pro In San Francisco

    Munger Tolles & Olson LLP has added to its growing San Francisco intellectual property practice with a partner from Paul Hastings LLP, whose high-profile clients include Meta, Google, Comcast and Netflix, the firm announced Tuesday. 

  • September 09, 2026

    Paramount Doubles Down On $1.9B Bond Bid In Merger Suit

    Paramount has insisted the Writers Guild of America and state attorneys general cannot avoid putting up a roughly $1.9 billion bond as they challenge the media company's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying their arguments against its bond bid fail under the Clayton Act.

  • September 09, 2026

    Womble Bond Adds 15 Lewis Brisbois Auto Defense Attys

    Womble Bond Dickinson has added a 29-person consumer warranty and product liability litigation group from Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP that specializes in defending automobile manufacturers, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • September 09, 2026

    Calif. Judge Seeks Clearer Limits On ICE Use Of Medicaid Data

    A California federal judge ordered 22 states and the Trump administration to reach an agreement on the proper scope of his injunction limiting Medicaid data use for immigration enforcement, saying he's unsure how it should apply to people with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status.

  • September 09, 2026

    AMC Settles 'Walking Dead' Suit With Creator, Producers

    Television studio AMC has reached a deal to pay the creator of its hit show "The Walking Dead" and some of its producers $120 million to settle claims that they were not paid the correct amount under their contracts and left out of a previous settlement with the show's former executive producer.

  • September 09, 2026

    Analog, Alif Ink $1.4B Deal Steered By Wachtell And DLA Piper

    Analog Devices said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire Alif Semiconductor for $1.35 billion in cash, with Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and DLA Piper advising on the transaction. 

  • September 09, 2026

    Katten Adds Kasowitz Data Strategy Team Leader In LA

    Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has bolstered its offerings in Los Angeles with the addition of the chair of Kasowitz LLP's data strategy, privacy and security team and co-chair of its artificial intelligence industry group.

  • September 08, 2026

    Eli Lilly 'Sabotaged' Rezpeg's Development, Nektar Tells Jury

    Eli Lilly & Co. breached its deal with Nektar Therapeutics to co-develop the autoimmune-disease drug Rezpeg and instead "sabotaged" its development in favor of a different Eli Lilly drug, a Nektar lawyer told a California federal jury during opening statements Tuesday, while Lilly's counsel countered that Nektar was unharmed by the deal's termination.

  • September 08, 2026

    Certain Apple Devices Infringe Touch Screen IP, Judge Says

    A California federal judge has held that some functions of certain Apple iPhones and iPads infringe some claims of a touch screen patent owned by Smith Interface Technologies LLC, though he also ruled that the functions don't infringe other claims and that other disputes belong before a jury.

  • September 08, 2026

    9th Circ. Upholds Former Atty's Murder-For-Hire Conviction

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday refused to disturb the conviction of a former New York attorney accused of arranging to pay a hitman to kill the mother of his two young children in the midst of a custody battle, ruling that it doesn't matter that his payment was made to an undercover agent rather than a person who really intended to arrange for murder.

Expert Analysis

  • Mass. UHC Fraud Suit Signals States' Medicaid FCA Push

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    Massachusetts' recently filed False Claims Act suit alleging UnitedHealthcare misrepresented the health status of enrollees in a Medicaid senior care organization plan it managed pushes forward a new phase of state-level scrutiny of managed care data and Medicaid payment mechanisms, say Li Yu at Bernstein Litowitz, Ellen London at London & Naor and Gwendolyn Stamper at Vogel Slade.

  • The Growing Antitrust Risks Of AI Pricing For Health Insurers

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    Attorneys at Patterson Belknap provide an overview of the increased risk of antitrust enforcement for health insurance companies using algorithmic price models, including in the form of multidistrict private litigation, new state and federal bills, and potential federal enforcement.

  • Trade Secret Practice Tips From The 1st Half Of 2026

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    Intellectual property attorneys should consider what several significant developments in 2026 thus far mean for how they protect, litigate and value trade secrets, focusing on new state noncompete bans, cases scrutinizing how plaintiffs identify trade secrets and federal rulings on damages doctrines, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • 2 Microsoft Matters Could Help Shape AI Antitrust Outlook

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    A pending federal court case and investigation focusing on Microsoft's allegedly anticompetitive conduct in the deployment of artificial intelligence tools are testing whether antitrust law can distinguish ordinary competition to supply the AI ecosystem from conduct that distorts how that competition unfolds, says Kylie Kim at Massey & Gail.

  • Fed. Circ. Licensing Rulings Shed Light On Patentee Standing

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    Two recent decisions from the Federal Circuit provide a useful framework for evaluating whether a patent license agreement preserves a sufficient exclusionary interest to support future patent infringement claims, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Asylum Ruling Signals Larger Separation Of Powers Battle

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado that border officials may turn away asylum-seekers without inspection is part of a broader conversation about the reach of institutional safeguards that subject governmental authority to legal constraint, says Dree Collopy at American University's Washington College of Law.

  • Solar's Momentum At Mid-2026 Will Help It Overcome Snags

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    The rapid expansion of U.S. solar development in the first half of 2026 is likely to continue its pace, even amid ongoing shifts in federal trade policy and supply chain regulations, obstacles to permitting reform, and an increasing divide between states enacting policies to encourage or stymie project development, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • Carbon Health Settlement Highlights Why Evidence Is Key

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    The California Attorney General's Office's first-of-its-kind settlement with Carbon Health, imposing penalties for alleged corporate practice of medicine violations, shows that friendly professional corporation challenges usually hinge not on the parties' management services agreement, but on whether the operational record matches it, says Ben Dubin at VC Expert Services.

  • Series

    Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

  • How Litigants Are Testing Conversion Therapy Ruling's Scope

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    Litigants are already using the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Chiles v. Salazar ruling, which applied strict scrutiny to Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, to challenge laws limiting algorithmic rental pricing, artificial intelligence-based discrimination and anti-union employer speech, and courts must soon decide Chiles’ First Amendment limits, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Illinois Audit Law Will Make AI Clauses Actually Enforceable

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    A law recently enacted in Illinois creates a first-in-the-nation requirement for artificial intelligence developers to undergo annual audits, providing objective standards that can be incorporated into private contracts and addressing the problem of defining responsible AI use, says William Tanenbaum at Moses & Singer.

  • Opinion

    Shareholder Derivative Litigation Needs A Better Framework

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    Uncoordinated, multiforum shareholder derivative litigation is a growing issue for corporate defendants that have little to no recourse for organizing and consolidating actions, but several commonsense steps should be utilized to preempt such disputes, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Occupier Contract Strategies For Locking In Expansion Rights

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    In a market defined by record-setting demand, shrinking availability and rising rents, large commercial office occupiers must treat expansion space planning as a strategic priority, including by auditing existing rights, understanding the competitive landscape within their buildings and exploring creative lease provisions, says Josh Winefsky at HSF Kramer.

  • How State, Local Rules Are Expanding Debt Collection Reach

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    Consumer protection rules recently enacted by several states signal that the rules of debt collection are being rewritten at a pace that should command the attention of every creditor, servicer, debt buyer, collection agency and collection law firm operating across state lines, says Weldianne Scales at Reed Smith.

  • 2 AI Washing Rulings Apply Familiar Securities Fraud Rules

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    Two recent federal court decisions to allow AI washing complaints to proceed begin to clarify the line between nonactionable optimism and actionable misstatements by framing the core issue as not overstating the promise of artificial intelligence, but misrepresenting the current state of a company's products, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

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