California

  • February 04, 2026

    Stem-Cell Drug Developer PrimeGen Inks $1.5B SPAC Merger

    Regenerative medicine developer PrimeGen US said Wednesday it has agreed to go public through a merger with blank check company DT Cloud Star Acquisition Corp., in a deal that values the company at about $1.5 billion.

  • February 04, 2026

    Seidler Family Resolves Most Of Padres Ownership Dispute

    A dispute over control of the San Diego Padres appears to be over, as the widow of the team's late owner has dropped several claims against his brothers just months after the Major League Baseball team announced it was putting itself up for sale.

  • February 04, 2026

    Carnegie Mellon Avoids Alice Ax Of Patents In Calif. Suit

    A California federal judge has shot down a bid by an indirect Broadcom Inc. subsidiary to invalidate claims in a pair of Carnegie Mellon University patents the company has been accused of infringing, saying they passed muster under the U.S. Supreme Court's Alice test.

  • February 04, 2026

    O'Melveny Supreme Court Ace Joins Hecker Fink

    Litigation firm Hecker Fink LLP is expanding its appellate team, announcing Wednesday that an O'Melveny & Myers LLP Supreme Court expert is joining as of counsel.

  • February 04, 2026

    Donahue Fitzgerald Adds Fennemore Craig Real Estate Atty

    East Bay law firm Donahue Fitzgerald LLP said it has hired an Oakland, California-based Fennemore Craig PC attorney as a partner in its real estate group.

  • February 04, 2026

    Cooley, Ropes & Gray Transactional Attys Move To Latham

    Latham & Watkins LLP announced Tuesday that it has hired two partners to help the firm meet evolving capital and growth demands — a Los Angeles-based emerging companies attorney from Cooley LLP and a New York-based capital markets attorney from Ropes & Gray LLP.

  • February 04, 2026

    2 Killings Are Reshaping ICE Strategy. States Also Have Plans.

    The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in separate immigration enforcement episodes have become a fresh catalyst for state lawmakers who are moving on legislation to limit federal agents' tactics or deepen cooperation with them, despite looming constitutional fights over how far states can go.

  • February 04, 2026

    Calif. Panel Won't Publish Amazon Drivers Arbitration Ruling

    A California appeals court will not publish its decision that last-mile deliveries Amazon workers performed represented interstate commerce exempt from federal arbitration, turning down requests to publish the opinion.

  • February 03, 2026

    OCC Urged To Scrap Escrow 'Giveaway' To Banks

    Consumer advocates are urging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to abandon proposals they say would let national banks unfairly profit off homeowners' escrowed money, warning the plan unlawfully revives a rejected deregulatory playbook.

  • February 03, 2026

    XAI Fights Uphill To Keep Alive OpenAI IP Theft Suit

    Elon Musk's xAI urged a California federal judge Tuesday to change her tentative decision to toss its suit accusing OpenAI of poaching its workers to steal trade secrets, arguing that when considered together, the "whole gestalt" of xAI's allegations against individual employees is enough to state viable claims against OpenAI.

  • February 03, 2026

    Calif. Privacy Agency Taps Meta Alum To Head New Audits Unit

    The California Privacy Protection Agency on Tuesday announced the creation of a new Audits Division to assess companies' compliance with the state's consumer data privacy framework and named the most recent director of public policy at social media giant Meta Platforms Inc. to lead the unit.

  • February 03, 2026

    Calif. Cardholders Ask 2nd Circ. To Revive Swipe Fee Suit

    California cardholders accusing Visa, Mastercard and other major banks of conspiring to fix interchange fees have asked the Second Circuit to revive their claims after a district court judge denied their motion for reconsideration in a long-running multidistrict litigation.

  • February 03, 2026

    Uber Should Pay $144M For Sex Assault By Driver, Jury Told

    Uber should pay more than $144 million in compensatory and punitive damages for choosing "profit over safety," leading to the rape of a 19-year-old woman by a rideshare driver, her lawyer told an Arizona federal jury at the close of a landmark bellwether trial on Tuesday.

  • February 03, 2026

    Medtronic's Bundling Isn't Anticompetitive, Prof Tells Jury

    A University of Chicago economics professor testified Tuesday in a California federal trial over antitrust claims against Medtronic, saying its practice of bundling its advanced bipolar devices for sales with other products isn't anticompetitive but is actually a very common American practice used by the likes of McDonald's and Costco. 

  • February 03, 2026

    Pretti Killing Highlights Free Speech And Gun Rights Tension

    The killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and lawful gun owner, by federal immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis last month brought to the fore a long-standing tension between two constitutional rights that the U.S. Supreme Court has never resolved, legal experts say.

  • February 03, 2026

    5-Hour Energy Maker Tells 9th Circ. Not To Revive Pricing Suit

    The maker of 5-Hour Energy has urged the Ninth Circuit not to revisit a lower court ruling tossing claims from family-owned wholesalers that the energy drink company violated price discrimination law by providing Costco with disproportionate promotional support.

  • February 03, 2026

    Masimo Investors' $34M Deal In Revenue Suit Gets Initial OK

    Masimo Corp. and its investors have received initial approval of a $33.8 million deal to settle claims that the medical and audio device company based its sales and revenue projections on unrealistic expectations for demand.

  • February 03, 2026

    FCC Says 8th Circ. Media Ruling Clears Path For Deals

    The Federal Communications Commission made it clear Tuesday that broadcasters have more leeway to own two leading stations in a local market following the Eighth Circuit's toss last year of the agency's long-standing bar on owning more than one major network affiliate in a single market.

  • February 03, 2026

    Tobacco Co. Says 'Time Bubble' Robbed It Of Fair TM Trial

    BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP is asking an Arizona federal court for a new trial on its trademark infringement claims against Central Coast Agriculture Inc., saying the court wrongly created a "time bubble" that excluded all evidence from May 2021 on.

  • February 03, 2026

    Novartis, Sandoz Face New Generic-Drug Price-Fixing Suit

    Adding to sprawling antitrust litigation against pharmaceutical giants, 42 states and territories sued Novartis AG, Sandoz AG and other drug companies in Connecticut federal court Monday, alleging that the companies colluded for years to fix prices and control markets for generic drugs.

  • February 03, 2026

    Jim Henson Co. Accused Of Costing Exec A 'Pinocchio' Oscar

    A Jim Henson Co. former employee filed a $7.5 million suit in California state court alleging the entertainment giant wrongfully diminished his executive producer credit and deprived him of an Oscar at the Academy Awards in connection with Guillermo Del Toro's "Pinocchio," despite his significant contributions to the film's "undeniable success."

  • February 03, 2026

    Willkie Adds Paul Hastings Entertainment Litigator In LA

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is expanding its litigation team, bringing in a Paul Hastings LLP entertainment litigator as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • February 03, 2026

    Clorox Settles Male Worker's Gender Bias Suit On Eve Of Trial

    Clorox has settled a gender discrimination suit from a former employee who claimed he was fired because the company wanted more women managers, right before the case was set to go to trial and just under a year after it was revived by the Ninth Circuit.

  • February 03, 2026

    Dem Lawmakers Win Block On New ICE Detention Visit Policy

    A D.C. federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration policy that had required Congress members to provide a week's notice before making oversight visits to immigrant detention facilities, ruling the policy will likely be found unlawful.

  • February 03, 2026

    Insurance Claims Data Fair Game In Instagram Addiction Suit

    A Massachusetts judge said the state's attorney general may continue reviewing health insurance claims data from two agencies it subpoenaed months after the close of discovery in its social media addiction lawsuit against Instagram.

Expert Analysis

  • Insights From Recent Cases On Navigating Snap Removal

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    Snap removal, which allows defendants to transfer state court cases to federal court before a forum defendant is properly joined and served, is viewed differently across federal circuits — but keys to making it work can be drawn from recent decisions critiquing the practice, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Workday Case Shows Auditing AI Hiring Tools Is Crucial

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    Following a California federal court's recent decisions in Mobley v. Workday signaling that both employers and vendors could be held liable for discriminatory outcomes from artificial intelligence hiring tools, companies should consider two rigorous auditing methods to detect and mitigate bias, says Hossein Borhani at Charles River Associates.

  • Tips For Cos. Crafting Enforceable Online Arbitration Clauses

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    Recent rulings from the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicate that courts are carefully examining the enforceability of online arbitration clauses, so businesses should review the design of their websites and consider specific language next to the "purchase" button, say attorneys at DTO Law.

  • 7 Lessons From The Tractor Supply CCPA Enforcement Action

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    The California Privacy Protection Agency's recent enforcement action targeting Tractor Supply for alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act provides critical insights into the compliance areas that remain a priority for the California regulator, including businesses with significant consumer interactions, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Parody Defendants Are Finding Success Post-Jack Daniel's

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    Recent decisions demonstrate that, although the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products did benefit trademark plaintiffs by significantly limiting the First Amendment expressive use defense, courts also now appear to be less likely to find a parodic work likely to cause confusion, says Andrew Michaels at University of Houston Law Center.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • Trader Joe's Ruling Highlights Trademark Infringement Trends

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Trader Joe's Co. v. Trader Joe's United explores the legal boundaries between a union's right to advocate for workers and the protection of a brand's intellectual property, and illustrates a growing trend of courts disfavoring early dismissal of trademark infringement claims in the context of expressive speech, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • What 9th Circ.'s Rosenwald Ruling Means For Class Actions

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Rosenwald v. Kimberly-Clark has important implications around the Class Action Fairness Act and traditional diversity jurisdiction — both for plaintiff-side and defense-side class action litigators — and deepens the circuit split concerning the use of judicial notice to establish diversity, says Grace Schmidt at DTO Law.

  • Compliance Steps To Take As FCRA Enforcement Widens

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    As the Fair Credit Reporting Act receives renewed focus from both federal and state enforcers, regulatory and litigation risk is most acute in several core areas, which companies can address by implementing purpose processes and quick remediation of consumer complaints, among other steps, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • How Calif. Law Cracks Down On Algorithmic Price-Fixing

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    Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws this month significantly expanding state antitrust enforcement and civil and criminal penalties for the use or distribution of shared pricing algorithms, as the U.S. Department of Justice has recently wielded the Sherman Act to challenge algorithmic pricing, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Opinion

    Expert Reports Can't Replace Facts In Securities Fraud Cases

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    The Ninth Circuit's 2023 decision in Nvidia v. Ohman Fonder — and the U.S. Supreme Court's punt on the case in 2024 — could invite the meritless securities litigation the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act was designed to prevent by substituting expert opinions for facts to substantiate complaint assertions, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

  • Hermes Bags Antitrust Win That Clarifies Luxury Tying Claims

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    A California federal court recently found that absent actual harm to competition in the market for ancillary products, Hermes may make access to the Birkin bag contingent on other purchases, establishing that selective sales tactics and scarcity do not automatically violate U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

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