California

  • July 02, 2026

    Transportation Regulation To Watch: Midyear Report 2026

    Revised vehicle fuel economy standards, negotiations on a new infrastructure and transportation funding package and the next iteration of a North American trade deal are some of the transportation industry's top regulatory developments to watch in the latter half of 2026.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Man Says ChatGPT Fueled Bipolar Delusion, Self-Harm

    When a California man with bipolar disorder shared his intense delusions with ChatGPT, a lack of safeguards caused OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot to drive him deeper into those delusions and encourage him to attempt to take his own life, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Francisco.

  • July 01, 2026

    'I Would've Been Fired': FDIC Expert Pans SVB's Risk-Taking

    The FDIC's banking expert testified in a California federal bench trial Wednesday that Silicon Valley Bank violated prudent banking standards by mismanaging assets before it collapsed, saying officers knew SVB was taking excessive risks but did not stop, adding that "I would've been fired" if he had managed his bank's assets the same way.

  • July 01, 2026

    Big Pharma Cos. Want 340B Drug Price FCA Suit Tossed

    Four major pharmaceutical companies Wednesday urged a California federal court to toss False Claims Act allegations revived by the Ninth Circuit claiming they filed false ceiling prices for drugs and overcharged entities covered by a federal discount program, saying the suit is precluded by the FCA's public disclosure bar.

  • July 01, 2026

    California Court Trims State Charges In Pelosi Hammer Attack

    A split California appeals court has ruled that the man who attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, correctly obtained dismissal of several charges from his state court indictment.

  • July 01, 2026

    LinkedIn Says Users Agreed To Browser Extension Scans

    LinkedIn told a California federal judge that two proposed class actions alleging the website unlawfully accesses users' browser extensions are part of an "international retaliation campaign" over routine security methods that users agreed to.

  • July 01, 2026

    Bankrupt EV Co.'s Execs Reach $20M Investor Deal

    Executives of bankrupt electric vehicle startup Canoo Inc. have reached a $20 million deal with the company's shareholders to end claims that they misled investors about its go-to-market strategy ahead of its merger with a special purpose acquisition company in 2021.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Judge Sends $2M Cannabis Land Dispute To Arbitration

    A Los Angeles County judge has hit pause on a $2.2 million lawsuit accusing a cannabis company of misappropriating an investor's contribution after both sides agreed to take the case to arbitration.

  • July 01, 2026

    Latham-Led Bending Spoons Leads Trio Of IPOs Topping $2B

    Italian mobile app developer Bending Spoons hit the public markets after raising $1.7 billion in its initial public offering, marking the largest of three IPOs to begin trading on Wednesday, exceeding $2.1 billion in total deal volume.

  • July 01, 2026

    MGA Beats Rapper T.I.'s Bid For $125M In Punitive Damages

    A California federal jury found Wednesday that MGA Entertainment owes no punitive damages for misappropriating looks from the OMG Girlz singing group created by rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka Harris, wrapping another chapter in a six-year legal battle in which the couple sought up to $125 million in punitive damages. 

  • July 01, 2026

    Yelp Gets To Lock In Part Of DOJ's Search Win Over Google

    A California federal judge Wednesday partially granted Yelp Inc.'s request to lock in liability findings from the U.S. Department of Justice's landmark antitrust win over Google LLC for its own case against the company, thereby precluding Google from arguing it didn't monopolize the market for general search services.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Man Gets 21 Months For Sports Memorabilia Fraud

    A California resident has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty in December to one count of wire fraud for knowingly selling counterfeit baseball memorabilia he claimed was from MLB Hall of Famer Willie Mays.

  • July 01, 2026

    TikTok Nears Deal Ahead Of 2nd Social Media Addiction Trial

    A plaintiff who alleges he became harmfully addicted to major social media platforms as a child and whose case is set to be the second bellwether trial later this month out of thousands of similar cases pending in Los Angeles court has reached a settlement in principle with TikTok, his counsel told Law360 on Wednesday.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. City Looks To Escape Tribe's Land Advisory Suit

    A California city is asking a district court to dismiss a challenge by the Yurok Tribe that looks to block the municipality from asserting jurisdiction over an Indigenous village site, saying it's well within its authority to appoint another tribe regarding management of the city-owned real property.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Court Rejects Challenge To FAIR Plan Fee Pass-Through

    California's top insurance regulator has the authority to allow the private insurance companies that make up the state's FAIR Plan to recoup from policyholders payments the companies make to support the last-resort insurer when its claim-paying ability is tested.

  • July 01, 2026

    Littler Adds Ex-Morgan Lewis Labor Litigator In California

    Littler Mendelson PC, which primarily deals in employment and labor law practice representing management, announced on Tuesday the hiring of a former Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP attorney as a shareholder in its Walnut Creek, California, office.

  • July 01, 2026

    WilmerHale Trade Secrets Litigation Co-Lead Joins Debevoise

    San Francisco-based litigator Joshua H. Lerner has left his job as co-chair of WilmerHale's trade secrets litigation practice to join Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as a partner, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • July 01, 2026

    Withers Promotes 12 Partners In US, UK, Singapore

    International law firm Withers has appointed a dozen new partners across three countries, nearly half of whom are based in the United States.

  • July 01, 2026

    DC Judge Blocks More USDA Grant Terminations

    A D.C. federal court has preliminarily reinstated U.S. Department of Agriculture grants totaling roughly $127 million under a program aimed at helping underserved farmers, finding the department's grant terminations likely flouted Congress' priorities under two Biden-era laws.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Tribe Seeks To Block July 8 Wild Horse Roundup

    A California tribe is looking to block the U.S. Department of the Interior from removing more than 600 wild horses via helicopter from a protected habitat starting July 8, arguing that the federal government has been on notice for nearly four decades that aboriginal interests are implicated by the territory's management activities.

  • June 30, 2026

    MGA Asks Trial Judge To End TI's Punitive Damages Claim

    MGA urged a California federal judge Tuesday to end the punitive damages trial in its intellectual property dispute with Tameka Harris and rapper T.I., arguing ahead of closing arguments the Harrises presented no evidence that MGA or its CEO intentionally misappropriated the looks of their girl group when designing dolls.

  • June 30, 2026

    Meta Social Media Addiction MDL Headed For August Trial

    A California federal judge has mostly denied dueling motions for summary judgment in litigation brought by multiple states claiming Meta intentionally designed its products to be addictive, rejecting Meta's attempts to ditch the case and teeing it up for an August advisory jury trial.

  • June 30, 2026

    Trump Public Loan Forgiveness Rule Is Unlawful, Judges Find

    Federal judges in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday struck down a U.S. Department of Education rule that effectively narrowed which public service workers could receive student loan forgiveness, saying the department had issued limitations on qualifying employers outside its rulemaking authority.

  • June 30, 2026

    Ex-SVB Exec Defends Bank's Risk Appetite In FDIC Trial

    Silicon Valley Bank's ex-chief financial officer defended SVB's risk appetite during a California federal bench trial Tuesday over the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s claims the bank's brass mismanaged its assets, testifying SVB consistently received satisfactory regulatory ratings, took action to mitigate risks and received expert advice before SVB collapsed.

  • June 30, 2026

    Justices' Birthright Ruling Leaves Little Room For Congress

    The U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 holding Tuesday that President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship is unconstitutional did more than invalidate the policy, it effectively foreclosed Congress from trying to implement the executive order through legislation, experts told Law360.

Expert Analysis

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Opinion

    FTC Case Risks Redefining Price Discrimination

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    Federal Trade Commission v. Southern Glazer puts a spotlight on the blurry line between illegal price discrimination and ordinary competition, and could potentially set a precedent that puts nearly any manufacturer at risk of Robinson-Patman Act enforcement, says Jeremy Sandford at Econic Partners.

  • Parsing Rule 12(c) Motion Overuse In Securities Class Actions

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    Defendants in securities class actions have more frequently been filing motions for judgment on the pleadings following the denial of motions to dismiss, but courts have recently demonstrated an increasing willingness to reject these previously rare motions, finding them transparent attempts to relitigate already-decided issues, say attorneys at Labaton Keller.

  • Preparing For New Calif. Pay Data Reporting Requirements

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    California's S.B. 464 overhauls the state's pay data reporting framework by requiring employers to use job categories that are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, increasing both the potential visibility of pay disparities and the complexity of compliance, say attorneys at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Pension Case Offers Entertainment Work Exception Insights

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    A recent Ninth Circuit decision clarified that any amount of entertainment work can satisfy the entertainment industry exception under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act, reinforcing that statutory language, rather than evolving business models, dictates withdrawal liability outcomes, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Justices' Ruling Stresses Quick Action Against Absconders

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in Rico v. U.S. that a supervised release term is not automatically extended when a defendant absconds, probation officers and prosecutors risk being unable to address later violations if they don't act promptly to secure warrants, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • How Cos. Can Navigate The Patchwork Of AI Safety Bills

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    In the first few months of 2026, state and federal lawmakers introduced hundreds of bills to address the perceived safety risks of artificial intelligence, so companies should assess whether existing or planned services could be scoped into AI safety legislation across jurisdictions, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    As usual, California remained a hub for financial services activity in the first quarter of 2026, with key developments including the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation's eye on consumer issues, a bill targeting "pig butchering" schemes, and jam-packed courts, say attorneys at Joseph Cohen.

  • Series

    Ultramarathons Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Completing a 100-mile ultramarathon was tougher, more humbling and more rewarding than I ever imagined, and the experience highlighted how long-distance running has sharpened my ability to adapt to the evolving nature of antitrust law and strengthened my resolve to handle demanding, unforeseen challenges, says Dan Oakes at Axinn.

  • When AI Puffery Becomes Actionable Securities Fraud

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    Though courts usually hold that vague but optimistic corporate statements don’t constitute securities fraud, signs suggest that investors may give enough economic weight to references to artificial intelligence in public company disclosures that broad feel-good statements could cross into actionable misrepresentation, says Christine Polek at Keystone Strategy.

  • State FARA Laws Pose Unique Constitutional Challenges

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    Several states have recently enacted foreign agent registration and disclosure regimes that were modeled after the Foreign Agents Registration Act, but these state laws raise several constitutional questions, including concerns about preemption, speech and petition, and vagueness, says Alexandra Langton at Covington.

  • In First For DOJ, Action Signals New CFIUS Enforcement Era

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    The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking judicial enforcement of a divestment order, an unprecedented action for the agency that ushers in a new phase for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, one in which judicial proceedings complement administrative oversight and presidential divestment orders may be enforced through litigation, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

  • 6th Circ. Can Extend Insurance Valuation Clarity Beyond Auto

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    In rehearing Clippinger v. State Farm, the Sixth Circuit can align itself with the recent drumbeat of other circuits rejecting class certification of auto total loss claims and set standards that apply to similar claims brought under homeowners and other types of insurance policies, say attorneys at Jackson Walker.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Clarifies Doc Protection Limits In Gov't Probes

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Kalbers v. U.S. Department of Justice confirms that Rule 6(e) provides robust protections when documents are in the government's possession only through a grand jury subpoena, emphasizing for companies the importance of careful labeling from the outset of an investigation, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Spotlight On Legal Battles Over EEOC Subpoena Powers

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    Attorneys at Wilson Elser consider the spate of litigation over the past year, spurred by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s focus on alleged religious discrimination at universities, and corporate diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and how it may affect the attempts to assert privacy rights against the agency's broad subpoena powers.

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