California

  • June 23, 2025

    Deep-Sea Mining Co. Beats Investors' Accounting Fraud Suit

    A California federal judge has tossed an investor suit accusing deep sea miner The Metals Co. Inc. and its top brass of flawed accounting related to a strategic partnership, saying the plaintiffs failed to adequately plead the challenged statements were false or that the defendants acted with knowledge of wrongdoing.

  • June 23, 2025

    Judge Lets Trimmed Crocs Shrinkage Suit Proceed

    Consumers who sued Crocs Inc. claiming their shoes shrank under normal heat and exposure to the sun saw their claims partially trimmed by a California federal judge, who said the buyers haven't pointed to specific ads that say the footwear is made for sunny days.

  • June 23, 2025

    Ex-CEO Of CBD Water Co. Must Face Pump-And-Dump Case

    The former CEO of a cannabis-infused water company and a stockholder must face all claims made in a federal indictment accusing them of artificially inflating company shares so they could sell them for a profit, an Ohio federal judge ruled, saying the government has properly alleged a single conspiracy.

  • June 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives Antitrust Counterclaims Against CoStar

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday revived counterclaims accusing CoStar of monopolizing commercial real estate information markets in the company's case accusing a rival of engaging in "industrial-scale" copyright infringement.

  • June 23, 2025

    Olaplex Cites Slack Ruling In Attempt To Curtail Investor Suit

    Hair care brand Olaplex is urging a California federal judge not to certify a class of investors who allege the company failed to flag a regulatory risk ahead of its initial public offering, arguing that "at a minimum" the proposed class should be narrowed under the rubric of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Slack decision.

  • June 23, 2025

    X Nears Deal In Contract, Antitrust Fight With Data Scraper

    A California federal judge overseeing litigation launched by X Corp. accusing data scraper Bright Data Ltd. of improperly accessing its servers granted the parties' request to stay the case after receiving a joint stipulation stating they'd reached a settlement in principle and were "working diligently" to finalize the deal.

  • June 23, 2025

    Mullen Auto Investors' $7.25M Settlement Gets Final OK

    A California federal judge has granted final approval to a $7.3 million settlement between Mullen Automotive Inc. and a class of its investors that alleged the company made misrepresentations about its revenues and order volumes to inflate share prices ahead of a merger.

  • June 23, 2025

    Ontrak Founder Gets 3½ Years In Novel Insider Trading Case

    A California federal judge sentenced Ontrak Inc. founder Terren Peizer to 3½ years in prison Monday, following a first-of-its-kind insider trading conviction on accusations that he based a $20 million share sale on material nonpublic information that his health technology company was about to lose its biggest client, Cigna. 

  • June 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs $26M Fraud Penalty Against Importer

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday upheld a $26 million tripled fraud verdict against a pipe importer over allegations it made false statements on customs forms to avoid paying tariffs on some imports from China, rejecting the company's argument that the Tariff Act leaves no room to invoke the False Claims Act.

  • June 23, 2025

    Calif. Property Co. Denied Early Win In Defect Coverage Suit

    A California federal court refused to hand a partial win to the owner of a Brentwood retirement community seeking excess coverage for an underlying settlement stemming from homeowners' construction defect claims, saying genuine issues of fact exist as to whether the claims constitute "suits" under the policy.

  • June 23, 2025

    Western Digital Gets $553M Patent Judgment Slashed To $1

    A California federal judge has agreed to wipe out a $553 million verdict against Western Digital for infringing a SPEX Technologies Inc. data security patent, instead finding that Western Digital owes just $1, according to an order docketed Monday.

  • June 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives False Ad Suit Over 'Zero Calorie' Supplement

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday reinstated a proposed class action claiming that ProSupps' dietary supplement powder products are mislabeled as containing zero calories and zero carbohydrates, in violation of California consumer protection laws, after ruling that the suit alleges enough facts to avoid preemption by the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. 

  • June 23, 2025

    Fubo Streamers Demand Own Attys In Disney Suit Settlement

    Subscribers to the Fubo streaming service asked a California federal judge to name them and their attorney the leads in the recent proposed settlement with Disney over the carriage fees for its sports streaming service, and to be "wary" of a motion to appoint the attorney for the two other classes of streaming customers as lead counsel.

  • June 23, 2025

    SAP Unlikely To Get Celonis Suit Nixed, But Antitrust Claims Iffy

    A California federal judge indicated Monday that he wasn't ready to completely toss technology company Celonis' suit alleging that software giant SAP is pushing it out of a market for business process analysis services but said he was having a "hard time wrapping my brain around your antitrust allegations."

  • June 23, 2025

    Illinois Judge OKs CalTech Aid-Fixing Deal Amid Ethics Claim

    An Illinois federal judge gave his final blessing Monday to a $16 million settlement between California Institute of Technology and students who claimed the university conspired to limit financial aid offerings, telling a class counsel associate to bring his free allocation concerns in a motion rather than a letter.

  • June 23, 2025

    Kardashian Chef Offered Adderall Instead Of Breaks, Suit Says

    A chef who works with celebrities including the Kardashian family refused to pay overtime despite requiring employees to work 12-hour days and offered Adderall instead of breaks if workers complained they were tired, a former assistant told a California state court.

  • June 23, 2025

    Buchalter Adds Trademark Pro From Hanson Bridgett In SF

    Buchalter PC is expanding its intellectual property team, bringing in a Hanson Bridgett LLP trademark and copyright specialist as shareholder in its San Francisco office.

  • June 23, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    The Delaware Supreme Court reversed a year-old $199 million judgment against TransCanada in a suit challenging a merger that occurred nearly a decade ago, Aspen Technology Inc. was hit with another suit over its pending $7.2 billion merger with Emerson Electric, and Nielson Holdings Ltd. secured a temporary restraining order against its spinoff. In case you missed it, here's the latest from the Delaware Chancery Court.

  • June 23, 2025

    Asus Beats Lenovo's Patent-Based Bid To Bar Laptop Imports

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has terminated a case related to Chinese computer firm Lenovo's efforts to use patent laws to block Taiwanese electronics-maker Asus from importing some of its Zenbook laptops.

  • June 23, 2025

    Wealthfront Joins IPO Pipeline With Confidential Filing

    Digital wealth management firm Wealthfront Corp. said Monday that it confidentially filed for an initial public offering, marking a first step toward going public as more technology firms join a recovering IPO pipeline.

  • June 23, 2025

    States Back PBS, NPR In Fight Against Trump Broadcast Cuts

    A coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia backed a pair of motions from the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio Inc. seeking pretrial wins in their challenges to President Donald Trump's executive order that purports to revoke their funding, arguing that only Congress can pull that money.

  • June 23, 2025

    Medical AI Co. Says Rival Targeted 'Crown Jewel' Source Code

    OpenEvidence, a Massachusetts artificial intelligence company focusing on medical information, has filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing a competitor of using misappropriated personal information and sophisticated prompts in an attempt to pry trade secrets from the startup's platform.

  • June 23, 2025

    OpenAI Temporarily Blocked From Using IO Co. Trademark

    OpenAI was temporarily blocked from using the trademark associated with acquired competitor IO Products Inc. by a California federal judge who said the mark poses a risk of confusion for technology company IYO Inc.

  • June 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Revisit Opinion In Sam Smith Copyright Case

    The full Ninth Circuit will not revisit a three-judge panel's decision to revive a lawsuit over pop stars Sam Smith and Normani's 2019 hit "Dancing With a Stranger."

  • June 23, 2025

    Justices Won't Hear Kosher Worker's OT Exemption Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a ruling that an Orthodox Jewish organization is immune from a worker's overtime claims because he falls under the First Amendment's ministerial exception.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Calif. May Pick Up The Slack On Foreign Bribery Enforcement

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    The California attorney general recently expressed an interest in targeting foreign bribery amid a federal pause in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, so companies should calibrate their compliance programs to mitigate against changing risks, especially as other states could follow California’s lead, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: The Perils Of Digital Data Protocols

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    Though stipulated protocols governing the treatment of electronically stored information in litigation are meant to streamline discovery, recent disputes demonstrate that certain missteps in the process can lead to significant inefficiencies, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Preparing For Corporate Work

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    Law school often doesn't cover the business strategy, financial fluency and negotiation skills needed for a successful corporate or transactional law practice, but there are practical ways to gain relevant experience and achieve the mindset shifts critical to a thriving career in this space, says Dakota Forsyth at Olshan Frome.

  • Meta Case Brings Customer-Facing Statements Issue To Fore

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    Now that Facebook v. Amalgamated Bank has returned to California federal court after the U.S. Supreme Court in November found it improvidently granted certiorari, it will be worth watching whether customer-facing communications, such as Facebook's privacy policies, are found to be made in connection with the sale of a security, says Samuel Groner at Fried Frank.

  • A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process

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    The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.

  • Series

    Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

  • TikTok Bias Suit Ruling Reflects New Landscape Under EFAA

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    In Puris v. Tiktok, a New York federal court found an arbitration agreement unenforceable in a former executive's bias suit, underscoring an evolving trend of broad, but inconsistent, interpretation of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • Avoiding Pitfalls Around New Calif. Commercial Lease Law

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    A California law that became effective this year requires commercial landlords to extend certain protections previously afforded to residential tenancies, and a few key provisions of the law especially warrant reexamination of leasing and operational processes, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Opinion

    Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Be An Indispensable Associate

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    While law school teaches you to research, write and think critically, it often overlooks the professional skills you will need to make yourself an essential team player when transitioning from a summer to full-time associate, say attorneys at Stinson.

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