California

  • July 21, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Motorola Win In Camera Patent Suit

    A prominent Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphone camera lenses has failed to convince the Federal Circuit that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly found one of its patents challenged by Motorola to be invalid.

  • July 21, 2025

    Judge Won't Recuse Over Past Work With DraftKings Counsel

    A California federal judge presiding over a proposed class action against DraftKings regarding its fantasy sports games offerings rejected a request from the plaintiffs to recuse himself over concerns that an attorney for the defense has ties to the court.

  • July 21, 2025

    Web Design Giant Figma Launches Plans For $979M IPO

    Venture-backed web-design software maker Figma on Monday outlined plans for an estimated $979 million initial public offering, a move that comes after the company's failed $20 billion merger with Adobe Inc.

  • July 21, 2025

    States Embrace Second Look Laws To Reward Rehabilitation

    Criminal justice reform advocates have in recent years found an effective weapon against the effects of lengthy mandatory minimum sentences, convincing states to enact "Second Look" laws that enable judges to reward people in prison who show rehabilitation by shortening their original sentence.

  • July 21, 2025

    Pot Drink Co.'s Case Belongs In Arbitration, Stoel Rives Says

    Stoel Rives LLP and a group of its clients are urging a California federal court to send a fraud suit brought by a maker of nonalcoholic cannabis drinks back to arbitration, arguing all the claims are subject to a valid arbitration agreement.

  • July 18, 2025

    Law360 Names 2025's Top Attorneys Under 40

    Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2025, our list of more than 150 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.

  • July 18, 2025

    Judge Demands Layoff Plans From Trump Administration

    A California federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to hand over reorganization and reduction-in-force plans linked to an executive order directing layoffs at federal agencies, finding that the government's privilege claim was outweighed by the plaintiffs' need for the information to pursue their claims under the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • July 18, 2025

    Calif. Sues Trump Admin Over $4B High-Speed Rail Fund Cuts

    California's High-Speed Rail Authority hit the Trump administration with an Administrative Procedure Act lawsuit in California federal court Friday, claiming the Federal Railroad Administration's abrupt termination of $4 billion in grants to the electric rail project was arbitrary, politically motivated and based on Trump's "extreme antipathy toward California."

  • July 18, 2025

    Geragos Owes $100K For Role In Nike Extortion, Jury Says

    Celebrity attorney Mark Geragos was ordered to pay $100,000 to a youth basketball coach by a Los Angeles jury that found he aided and abetted disbarred lawyer Michael Avenatti in a failed attempt to extort Nike that landed Avenatti with a 2½ year prison sentence.

  • July 18, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: Budget, 2025 Deals, Coney Island Gamble

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including real estate attorney perspectives on the new federal budget, the law firms that guided the biggest deals of 2025's first half and why one BigLaw attorney is betting on a Coney Island development.

  • July 18, 2025

    Competence Questions Prompt New Calif. Murder Trial

    A potentially intellectually disabled man who was found guilty of killing a woman and burying her body in his backyard is entitled to a new trial, a California state appeals court has ruled, finding that the lower court didn't properly determine his competency.

  • July 18, 2025

    California Courts Set AI Rules Allowing Flexibility For Judges

    The Judicial Council of California approved a policy Friday for rules and standards on the use of generative artificial intelligence for judges and court staff, with the chair of the council's AI task force saying the policy provides flexibility by allowing courts to either adopt the technology or ban it.

  • July 18, 2025

    Investor Sues Biotech Capricor After Product's FDA Denial

    Biotechnology company Capricor Therapeutics Inc. faces a proposed investor class action alleging it misrepresented its lead product candidate's approval prospects before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

  • July 18, 2025

    Judge Advised Against State AG Intervention In Sandoz Deal

    A special master on Friday advised a Pennsylvania federal court to deny a bid by California and other state attorneys general to intervene in a $275 million settlement resolving generic-drug price-fixing claims against Sandoz, finding they lacked standing to represent the interests of consumers.

  • July 18, 2025

    Stewart Issues Discretion Decisions For 56 More Petitions

    Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart issued 25 more orders on requests for discretionary denial, deciding a total of 56 cases, while the results of earlier proceedings she let move forward have started to roll out.

  • July 18, 2025

    Ex-Warehouse Mgr. Says Firing Followed 'Outrageous' Racism

    A former Georgia-based warehouse manager for a logistics company alleged in a new lawsuit Thursday that he was forced out of the company after reporting "outrageous" anti-Asian discrimination from a human resources manager.

  • July 18, 2025

    Hyatt, Hilton Beat Room Price-Fixing Antitrust Suit, For Now

    Hyatt, Hilton, Wyndham and other hotels beat a proposed antitrust class action, for now, alleging that they shared confidential occupancy data and prices through IDeaS's revenue management software to inflate room rates, after a California federal judge said Friday the suit doesn't plausibly allege a horizontal agreement or parallel conduct among them.

  • July 18, 2025

    Plaintiffs' Expert Says Tesla Deleted Data From Crashed Car

    A vehicle accident reconstruction expert told jurors Thursday that data from the Tesla Model S involved in a fatal Florida Keys crash had been deleted after the crash by the automaker, which is defending its autopilot system at a trial in Miami.

  • July 18, 2025

    Social Media MDL Judge Could Bifurcate Bellwether Trials

    A California federal judge presiding over multidistrict litigation by school districts and personal injury plaintiffs claiming social media is addictive said Friday she'll likely bifurcate bellwether trials into two phases, with the judge presiding over the second phase, if plaintiffs seek any relief "that may be injunctive in nature."

  • July 18, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Frees Medtronic From $125M Patent Judgment

    The Federal Circuit on Friday overturned a more than $125 million judgment against Medtronic's CoreValve unit for infringing a Colibri Heart Valve LLC patent, saying changes made to the patent during examination mean that Medtronic should not have been found to infringe.

  • July 18, 2025

    Safeway Can't Arbitrate False Ad Wine Discount Suit

    Safeway can't force customers to arbitrate their proposed false advertising class action alleging it markets bogus, limited-time offers of discounts on wine for its rewards members, after a California federal judge ruled that there's no evidence they agreed to arbitrate their disputes or had notice of Safeway's arbitration terms. 

  • July 18, 2025

    Mattel Says Overseas Counterfeiters Ripping Off Uno Game

    Barbie and Hot Wheels maker Mattel Inc. has filed counterfeiting claims in Illinois federal court against foreign retailers that the company says are selling knockoff versions of its popular Uno card game.

  • July 18, 2025

    Sony Judge Finds 'Glaring' Issues In PlayStation Deal, Motion

    A California federal judge found "glaring shortcomings" in a $7.85 million deal Sony Interactive Entertainment struck to resolve antitrust claims over downloadable game card prices, saying that settlement credits are "generally disfavored," and the preliminary approval motion lacked information on what might have been won at trial.

  • July 18, 2025

    Franchisee Stole Biz Model, College Advising Co. Says

    A college consulting company accused a former franchisee of doing business under false pretenses, poaching the company's proprietary methods and walking away to start a new venture, according to a complaint filed in North Carolina federal court.

  • July 18, 2025

    Cannabis Edibles Maker Accused Of Hiding Prop. 65 Warnings

    A California resident is suing a Los Angeles cannabis-infused edibles maker, claiming its peel-back product labels deliberately hide the state-required Proposition 65 warning at the time of purchase, in the second private enforcement action filed by the plaintiff this year.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing

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    Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.

  • AI Use In Class Actions Comes With Risks And Rewards

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    The use of artificial intelligence in class actions holds promise for helping to analyze complex evidence, but attorneys and experts must understand how to use it correctly, and how to explain it clearly, say Simone Jones and Eric Mattson at Sidley and Anna Shakotko at Cornerstone Research.

  • 10 Soft Skills Every GC Should Master

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    As businesses face shifting regulatory and technological uncertainty, general counsel will need to strengthen certain soft skills to succeed, from admitting when they make a mistake to maintaining a healthy dose of dispassion, says Douglas Brown at Manatt.

  • 6 Criteria Can Help Assess Executive Branch Actions

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    With new executive policy changes announced seemingly every day, several questions can help courts, policymakers and businesses determine whether such actions are proper, effective and in keeping with our democratic norms, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Learning From COVID-19 Enforcement Against Nursing Homes

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    Five years after the COVID-19 outbreak caused a high number of deaths in nursing homes, an examination of enforcement actions against nursing homes in New York and elsewhere in the country highlights obstacles that may arise when bringing cases of this type, and ways to overcome them, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.

  • 5 Key Issues For Multinational Cos. Mulling Return To Office

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    As companies increasingly revisit return-to-office mandates, multinational employers may face challenges in enforcing uniform RTO practices globally, but several key considerations and practical solutions can help avoid roadblocks, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • An Unrestrained, Bright-Eyed View Of Legal AI's Future

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    Todd Itami at Covington offers a bright-eyed, laughing-all-the-way, skydive look at what the legal industry could look like after an artificial intelligence revolution, which he believes may happen much sooner and more dramatically than we expect.

  • Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance

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    Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • How Courts Weigh Section 1782 Discovery For UPC Cases

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    A look at cases from six different federal district courts reveals a number of discretionary factors that influence how courts consider Section 1782 discovery applications in connection with Unified Patent Court proceedings, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • How Calif., NY Could Fill Consumer Finance Regulatory Void

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    California and New York have historically taken the lead in consumer financial protection, and both show signs of becoming even more active in this area during the second Trump administration amid an enforcement pullback at the federal level, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    Volunteer Firefighting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While practicing corporate law and firefighting may appear incongruous, the latter benefits my legal career by reminding me of the importance of humility, perspective and education, says Nicholas Passaro at Ford.

  • Influencer Campaign Lawsuits Signal New Endorsement Risks

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    Recent class actions allege that companies' influencer campaigns violate the Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides and various state laws, but it's not clear whether the failure to comply can sustain these lawsuits, or whether the plaintiffs' creative theory of damages will hold up to scrutiny, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

  • Calif. Antitrust Laws May Turn More Zealous Than US Regs

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    California is poised in the next 18 months to significantly expand its antitrust laws, broadening the scope of liability and creating a premerger review process that could be more expansive than review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, say attorneys at Munger Tolles.

  • The Repercussions Of FEMA's Wildfire Cleanup Policy Cuts

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    The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently announced a decision to cease conducting additional soil tests to confirm that the land is safe and free of toxins after wildfires, meaning people could be moving back into houses unfit for human habitation, potentially leading to years of lawsuits, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • What's At Stake As 9th Circ. Eyes Cultural Resource Damages

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    In Pakootas v. Teck Cominco, the Ninth Circuit is faced with the long-unresolved question of whether cultural resource damages are recoverable as part of natural resource damages under the Superfund law — and the answer will have enormous implications for companies, natural resource trustees and Native American tribes, says Sarah Bell at Farella Braun.

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