California

  • July 18, 2025

    Judge Unsure Of Alternatives To Nationwide Birthright Ruling

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday wrestled with how the government would implement any alternatives to a nationwide block on President Donald Trump's order limiting birthright citizenship and what type of decision would comply with recent high court precedent.

  • July 18, 2025

    Manaflex Loses Bid To Trim Competitor's Trade Secrets Suit

    A California federal judge has refused to trim circuit technology company CelLink Corp.'s lawsuit alleging that former Tesla employees stole CelLink's trade secrets for the benefit of a competitor one of them founded.

  • July 18, 2025

    Top 5 Energy Decisions Of 2025: A Midyear Report

    A game-changing U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could significantly narrow federal environmental reviews of energy projects punctuated a busy first half of 2025 for the industry in the courts. Here are several court decisions that stood out for energy attorneys in the first half of this year.

  • July 18, 2025

    Seven Months In, Race-Blind Charging Faces Test In Calif.

    In January, California adopted race-blind charging as a statewide policy, after a law passed in 2022 went into effect. Now, seven months into the program's statewide rollout, race-blind charging is showing both promise and limitations.

  • July 18, 2025

    Snake Spotting Voids OK Of Sprawling Calif. Housing Plan

    A federal judge has halted a 314-acre master-planned development in Chico, California, after finding federal officials wrongly concluded in 2020 that the endangered giant garter snake had not been observed on the site despite a sighting of the animal in the area a dozen years prior.

  • July 18, 2025

    9th Circ. Turns Away Wells Fargo's 'Sham' Hiring Appeal

    The Ninth Circuit has said it will not hear Wells Fargo's appeal of an investor lawsuit accusing the company of conducting "sham" job interviews to meet a diversity quota, allowing thousands of shareholders to move forward with their claims as a class.

  • July 18, 2025

    Venture-Backed Medical Tech Biz Heartflow Plans $100M IPO

    Private equity and venture-backed medical technology company Heartflow has unveiled plans to raise up to $100 million in its initial public offering, with law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP advising the company and Cooley LLP advising the underwriters.

  • July 18, 2025

    Calif. Pot Workers Sue Farm For $1.25M Over Wage Theft

    A group of cannabis trimmers who are citizens of Colombia, Argentina and Spain have sued cultivator Honeydew Farms LLC and its owners in federal court on Thursday, alleging they were not paid the wages promised because the owners believe the foreign-born workers would not be protected by state or federal law.

  • July 17, 2025

    21 States Fight ACA Rule They Say Guts Health Coverage

    A 21-state coalition led by the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts and New Jersey sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Thursday, challenging a new Trump administration rule they say unlawfully undermines access to healthcare under the Affordable Care Act.

  • July 17, 2025

    Facebook Whistleblower Calls Meta Discovery A Smear Job

    Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen on Thursday urged a California federal magistrate judge to limit Meta's discovery in multidistrict litigation over claims that social media is addictive and harmful to children's mental health, saying many of their requests are irrelevant and merely seek to smear her name.

  • July 17, 2025

    LA Ex-Judge Admonished For 'Discourteous,' 'Demeaning' Talk

    California's Commission on Judicial Performance has publicly admonished a retired Los Angeles state judge for a pattern of "discourteous, undignified and impatient" behavior that also involved "demeaning" remarks toward women, findings that the judge said don't reflect "the full complexity of the circumstances."

  • July 17, 2025

    Calif. Tribe Renews $700M Casino Suit With Lobbying Claim

    A D.C. federal judge will let a California tribe amend its suit against the U.S. Department of the Interior for axing its eligibility to run a proposed $700 million casino on new claims that a competing tribe successfully orchestrated a politically influential lobbying campaign.

  • July 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Panel Appears Split On Trump Order Curbing Unions

    A three-judge Ninth Circuit panel appeared divided Thursday on a lower court's ruling that halted enforcement of President Donald Trump's executive order axing labor contracts covering agencies that have "national security" aims, with one judge expressing concern over the order's implications while two questioned if they can second-guess the president's determination.

  • July 17, 2025

    Tesla Driver In Fatal Crash Regularly Ignored Autopilot Alerts

    The Tesla driver who killed a woman in a crash in Florida Keys had regularly ignored warnings from the autopilot software to engage with the vehicle and would stop the car to reset the autopilot rather than drive without, a vehicle accident reconstruction expert told jurors Thursday.

  • July 17, 2025

    Judge Won't Grant Fees In Temporary Protected Status Suit

    A California federal judge rejected a bid by immigrant rights advocates for $3.6 million in attorney fees, saying their preliminary injunction blocking temporary protected status terminations during Trump's first term did not make them the prevailing party because the case ended without a final judgment.

  • July 17, 2025

    'Yellowjackets' Makers Get $108K In Fees In Copyright Suit

    Showtime, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and the makers of the TV show "Yellowjackets" won $108,000 in attorney fees after earlier this year defeating a copyright suit alleging the program ripped off the 2015 film "Eden."

  • July 17, 2025

    Hitachi Seeks FCC OK For Bay Area Rail Control System

    Hitachi Rail is contracted to update the digital train control system in the Bay Area, but it says that in order to do so it needs the FCC's permission to operate in a slice of spectrum that it normally would not be allowed to. Now the agency is asking how people feel about the request.

  • July 17, 2025

    Stanford Trims Roche IP Suit, But Others Face Most Claims

    Stanford University was let out of all but one claim brought by subsidiaries of F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG over alleged trade secret theft, but a California federal judge allowed most claims to move forward against several Stanford professors and a startup they founded.

  • July 17, 2025

    Calif. Accuses Airbnb Of Price-Gouging During Wildfires

    California accused Airbnb in a state court lawsuit of price-gouging residents of Los Angeles and Ventura counties as the Palisades and Eaton fires raged and in the weeks that followed, despite warnings from the state's attorney general.

  • July 17, 2025

    6 Cases For Patent Attys To Watch In The Second Half Of 2025

    The Federal Circuit is considering major questions about when delays in prosecuting patents become bad faith and whether the acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director is legally allowed to apply new rules retroactively. Here's what you need to know about these cases and others that attorneys are keeping an eye on for the rest of the year.

  • July 17, 2025

    Authors Win Cert. In Copyright Suit Against Anthropic

    A California federal judge on Thursday certified a class of copyright owners of books in the online pirate libraries Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror that were downloaded by artificial intelligence firm Anthropic for training its Claude generative text model.

  • July 17, 2025

    5 Things To Know As California Courts Decide On AI Rule

    Fourteen months after California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero first convened a task force to study potential benefits and risks of using artificial intelligence in the court system, the Judicial Council of California is poised Friday to consider the proposed rules and standards the task force developed.

  • July 17, 2025

    Ex-Burning Man, MAPS GC Joins Psychedelics Boutique

    The former general counsel to both the organization behind the annual Burning Man festival and to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies has joined the recently launched psychedelics firm Antithesis Law as of counsel, the firm announced Thursday.

  • July 17, 2025

    UCLA Football Player Latest To Sue NCAA For Eligibility

    A football player hoping to play at the University of California, Los Angeles, next season is the latest to join the ranks of athletes challenging the NCAA over its eligibility rules, claiming they restrict competition and impact players' ability to profit off their talent.

  • July 17, 2025

    Amazon Attys Jump To Crowell & Moring In San Francisco

    Crowell & Moring LLP has expanded its litigation resources in its San Francisco office with the addition of two former in-house attorneys for Amazon, who bring more than 30 years of combined experience to advise clients on product liability claims.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • The Path Forward For Construction Cos. After Calif. Wildfires

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    The increasing frequency of disastrous wildfires, like those that recently occurred in California, presents a set of complex challenges for the construction industry, including regulatory hurdles and supply chain disruptions that can complicate rebuilding efforts, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    Birding Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Observing and documenting birds in their natural habitats fosters patience, sharpens observational skills and provides moments of pure wonder — qualities that foster personal growth and enrich my legal career, says Allison Raley at Arnall Golden.

  • What Pending FCPA Trials Suggest About DOJ Priorities

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    Following President Donald Trump's executive order in February instructing the U.S. Department of Justice to temporarily pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, developments surrounding five FCPA cases already set for trial provide a glimpse into how the DOJ is attempting to navigate the situation at hand, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

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

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    Among the most notable developments in California banking in the first quarter of the year, regulators and legislators issued regulations interpreting debt collection laws, stepped up enforcement actions, and expanded consumer protections for those affected by wildfires, says Stephen Britt at Severson & Werson.

  • Inside State AGs' Arguments Defending The CFPB

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    Recent amicus briefs filed by a coalition of 23 attorneys general argue that the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will irreparably harm consumers in several key areas, making clear that states are preparing to fill in any enforcement gaps, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Leadership To BigLaw

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    The move from government service to private practice can feel like changing one’s identity, but as someone who has left the U.S. Department of Justice twice, I’ve learned that a successful transition requires patience, effort and the realization that the rewards of practicing law don’t come from one particular position, says Richard Donoghue at Pillsbury.

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