California

  • May 07, 2025

    NexStep Wants High Court To Look At Comcast Patent Fight

    NexStep Inc. has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the standard for an expert's testimony under a doctrine allowing patent holders to claim infringement if an accused product is similar enough to the patented invention, the latest move in a dispute with Comcast.

  • May 07, 2025

    Girardi Keese Ex-CFO Will Cop To Client Theft In Chicago

    Girardi Keese's former chief financial officer will plead guilty in federal prosecutors' Chicago case alleging he and a relative of now-disbarred Tom Girardi helped the disgraced former legal titan steal millions from clients, according to his Wednesday request that the judge handling the case accept his anticipated plea remotely.

  • May 07, 2025

    Upstart Says SEC Has Ended Probe Into AI, Loan Disclosures

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has closed an investigation into online lender Upstart's disclosures around the use of artificial intelligence for underwriting and loans, according to the firm's latest agency filing.

  • May 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Axes Fired University Worker's 1st Amendment Fight

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive a lawsuit claiming two former University of Arizona officials fired a health sciences employee because of his husband's criticisms of a hiring process, saying the administrators are immune from the worker's free speech claim.

  • May 07, 2025

    16 States Sue DOT Over EV Charging Infrastructure Funds

    The Trump administration has illegally cut off congressionally approved funding for electric-vehicle charging infrastructure projects, a group of states alleged in a federal lawsuit filed on Wednesday.

  • May 07, 2025

    Wells Fargo Forced Short Sales Despite CARES Act, Suit Says

    Wells Fargo forced the short sale of a North Carolina woman's home by denying her forbearance on her mortgage as mandated under federal law at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she alleged in a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

  • May 07, 2025

    Polsinelli Lands Energy Vet From Pillsbury In San Francisco

    Polsinelli PC said Wednesday it is boosting its new project finance group by bringing in a Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP energy and infrastructure project expert as a principal in its San Francisco office.

  • May 07, 2025

    LA Firm Sues Fisher Phillips Over 'Ridiculous' SLAPP Suit

    A Los Angeles employment lawyer has sued Fisher Phillips for malicious prosecution, alleging the international labor firm targeted him with a "frivolous Rube Goldberg-esque legal argument" in an attempt to block him from representing workers at a Southern California diner chain in claims against their employer.

  • May 07, 2025

    Feds Seek 13 Years In Avenatti's California Resentencing

    California federal prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to sentence Michael Avenatti to 160 months in prison for tax fraud and stealing from clients, to be served atop the five-year term imposed in a pair of New York cases where Avenatti was convicted of trying to extort Nike Inc. and defrauding former client Stormy Daniels.

  • May 07, 2025

    Edward Jones' Arbitration Delay Lets Worker Return To Court

    Edward Jones' delay in paying the required fees to arbitrate a former employee's wage and hour claims allows the worker to take her claims back to court, a California appeals court ruled.

  • May 07, 2025

    Masimo Unloads Embattled Audio Unit In $350M Sale

    Samsung Electronics subsidiary Harman International has agreed to acquire Masimo Corp.'s consumer audio division, Sound United, for $350 million in cash, with Masimo taking a financial hit on the business it acquired three years ago for about $1 billion. 

  • May 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms FTC Loss In Microsoft-Activision Case

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a lower court's ruling in a Federal Trade Commission case that refused to block Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc.

  • May 06, 2025

    CO2 Conversion Co. Sues Wash. Neighbor Over Toxic Fumes

    A carbon conversion technology firm has launched a lawsuit in Washington federal court over noxious gases that have allegedly drifted onto its state project site from a neighboring chemical storage facility, making conditions "unbearable" for workers building a new sustainable aviation fuel plant.

  • May 06, 2025

    HUD Says Suit To Block Fund Cuts Belongs In Claims Court

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development urged a Washington federal judge on Tuesday to reject emergency relief sought by San Francisco, Boston, New York and King County, Washington, to block the Trump administration from slashing millions of dollars of homelessness assistance grants, saying federal court lacks jurisdiction. 

  • May 06, 2025

    PennyMac Wins Quick 9th Circ. Appeal Of Libor-Rate Ruling

    A California federal judge on Monday allowed PennyMac entities to pursue their quick appeal in a proposed class action alleging they illegally imposed a lower fixed interest rate instead of a variable rate on preferred-stock dividends, asking the Ninth Circuit to clarify whether the Libor Act bars such fixed rates.

  • May 06, 2025

    Whole Foods Beef Buyers Urge Judge Not To Wait On Justices

    An attorney for a group of consumers alleging Whole Foods falsely advertises its beef as free from antibiotics urged a California federal judge Tuesday not to wait for a pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling about class certification standards for uninjured members, saying that all the purchasers were injured because they paid inflated prices. 

  • May 06, 2025

    Judge Scolds US Over 'Vague' Bid To Stay $380M Award Row

    A California federal judge has scolded the Trump administration as it tries to seize part of a $380 million arbitral award purportedly tied to embezzled Malaysian funds, saying it has not constructively engaged in the discovery process while seeking a stay during related criminal proceedings.

  • May 06, 2025

    OneTaste Execs Used Sexual Meditation For Abuse, Jury Told

    A prosecutor on Tuesday told a New York federal jury that OneTaste Inc. founder Nicole Daedone and her top deputy used the company's "orgasmic meditation" practice to manipulate vulnerable women for the leaders' own financial gain, including through coerced sex work, while defense lawyers argued that patrons of the sexual wellness startup were consenting adults who could have left at any time.

  • May 06, 2025

    Apple Seeks Sanctions Against Winston & Strawn In App Suit

    Apple has asked a California federal judge to sanction Winston & Strawn LLP and its client Musi Inc., arguing Monday they made "false and misleading allegations" in a lawsuit over Apple's decision to boot the music streaming service from the App Store for intellectual property infringement.

  • May 06, 2025

    Calif. Senate Committee Demands Audit After Bar Exam Errors

    The California Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday moved a bill forward calling for a full audit of the February bar exam, which was marred by technical glitches, after holding a hearing where the committee's chair said he's "incredulous" that some of the questions were filled with errors and typos.

  • May 06, 2025

    Experian Trims But Can't Ditch CFPB's Credit Reporting Suit

    Experian must continue facing the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's lawsuit accusing it of mishandling consumer credit reporting disputes as a California federal judge on Monday tossed some but not all of the bureau's claims against the credit reporting agency.

  • May 06, 2025

    Autonomous Cars Get Regs Jumpstart, But Long Road Ahead

    Federal and California regulators recently proposed new rules carrying the promise of boosting development of the next generation of cars that can drive themselves, but the U.S. is still a ways from seeing wide-scale commercial deployment, despite a growing number of robotaxis and autonomous trucks popping up in cities, experts say.

  • May 06, 2025

    Actor Voight, Film Biz Adviser To Trump, Floats Tax Incentives

    Actor Jon Voight, whom President Donald Trump tapped as an adviser on the Hollywood film industry, told Trump that tax incentives, international treaties and limited tariffs could revitalize production, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom separately floated a $7.5 billion federal film tax credit, according to statements shared Tuesday with Law360.

  • May 06, 2025

    State Officials Say CFPB Is Holding Up $4.2M Redress Checks

    Officials from a dozen states have accused the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of ghosting them on a $4.2 million redress plan for former students of a shuttered sales-training firm, saying the agency has not cut any checks and is not answering them.

  • May 06, 2025

    TV Producer Gets 18 Months For Embezzlement, Fraud

    The producer of a yet-to-be-released thriller television series was sentenced to 18 months in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to defrauding the show's main financial backer.

Expert Analysis

  • UK Lawyers Can Access Broad US Discovery To Win Cases

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    Given its breadth, U.S. discovery can be a powerful tool in litigation in the U.K. and other jurisdictions outside the U.S., and a survey of recent cases indicates that discovery requests made in the U.S. are likely to be granted — with many applications even proceeding without contest, say lawyers at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Courts Must Stick To The Science On Digital Addiction Claims

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    A number of pending personal injury and product liability lawsuits allege that plaintiffs have developed behavioral addictions to the use of social media and video games — but this is not yet recognized by relevant authorities as an addiction, so courts must carefully scrutinize such claims, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

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    Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • 4 Property Insurance Action Steps For LA Policyholders

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    Property insurance will play a vital role in rebuilding the areas affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, and policyholders should be aware of key aspects of that coverage in order to maximize their insurance recovery, say attorneys at Cohen Ziffer.

  • Predicting Where State AGs Will Direct Their Attention In 2025

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    In 2025, we expect state attorneys general will navigate a new presidential administration while continuing to further regulate and police financial services, artificial intelligence, junk fees and antitrust, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • A Look At Sweepstakes Casinos' Legal Issues In Fla., Beyond

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    Scheduled for trial in Florida federal court this fall, the VGW sweepstakes case underscores the growing urgency for gambling states to clarify and enforce their laws in response to emerging online gaming models, as the expansion of sweepstakes casinos challenges traditional interpretations of gambling regulations, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • FTC Privacy Enforcement Takeaways From 2024

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    In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission distinguished three prominent trends in its privacy-related enforcement actions: geolocation data protections, data minimization practices, and artificial intelligence use and marketing, say Cobun Zweifel-Keegan at IAPP and James Smith at Dechert.

  • The Fed. Circ. In 2024: 5 Major Rulings To Know

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    In 2024, the Federal Circuit provided a number of important clarifications to distinct areas of patent law – including design patent obviousness, expert testimony admissions and patent term adjustments – all of which are poised to have an influence going forward, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

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    Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.

  • Mass Arbitration Procedures After Faulty Live Nation Ruling

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    Despite the Ninth Circuit's flawed reasoning in Heckman v. Live Nation, the exceptional allegations of collusive conduct shouldn't be read to restrict arbitration providers that have adopted good faith procedures to ensure that consumer mass arbitrations can be efficiently resolved on the merits, says Collin Vierra at Eimer Stahl.

  • Public Corruption Enforcement In 2024 Has Clues For 2025

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    If 2024 activity is any indication, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely continue to rein in expansive prosecutorial theories of fraud in the year to come, but it’s harder to predict what the new administration will mean for public corruption prosecutions in 2025, says Cathy Fleming at Offit Kurman.

  • Roundup

    Banking Brief: State Law Recaps From Each Quarter Of 2024

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    In this Expert Analysis series, throughout 2024 attorneys provided quarterly recaps discussing the biggest developments in banking regulation, litigation and policymaking in various states, including New York, California and Illinois.

  • Calif. Justices' Options In Insurance Exhaustion Case

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    Fox Paine v. Twin City Fire Insurance may serve as the California Supreme Court's opportunity to firmly establish precedent with respect to a strict adherence to excess insurance policies' exhaustion provisions when the language is clear and explicit, says Aiden Spencer at Langsam Stevens.

  • Considering The Status Of The US Doctrine Of Patent Misuse

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    A recent Ninth Circuit decision and a U.K. Court of Appeal decision demonstrate the impact that the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment has had on the principle that post-patent-expiration royalty payments amount to patent misuse, not only in the U.S. but in English courts as well, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.

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