California

  • January 02, 2026

    California Cases To Watch In 2026

    Legal experts following California courts in 2026 are tracking high-stakes personal injury, antitrust and copyright battles against giants in the social media, artificial intelligence and entertainment industries, as well as wide-ranging legal disputes arising from Los Angeles wildfires and high-profile appeals pending before the California Supreme Court.

  • January 02, 2026

    Food & Beverage Cases To Watch In 2026

    There are several issues food and beverage attorneys will want to keep an eye on in 2026, from litigation challenging the marketing of ultra-processed foods, to false advertising claims over the presence of "forever chemicals" and microplastics, to the federal government's efforts to regulate additives. Here, Law360 has rounded up a number of matters that attorneys should be watching.

  • January 02, 2026

    Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice Cases To Watch In 2026

    Multidistrict litigation against the biggest tech companies over purported social media addiction and a U.S. Supreme Court case regarding state medical malpractice lawsuit requirements are among those that injury and malpractice attorneys will be following closely in 2026.

  • January 02, 2026

    Privacy & Cybersecurity Policy To Watch In 2026

    States are expected to continue their aggressive push to ensure that companies aren't misusing consumers' personal information in 2026, even as they face growing pressure from the federal government to curtail these efforts, particularly when it comes to the regulation of emerging artificial intelligence technologies. 

  • January 02, 2026

    California Legislation And Regulations To Watch In 2026

    Legal experts expect California lawmakers and regulators to continue to grapple with the artificial intelligence boom, various battles with the Trump administration and new climate disclosure requirements in 2026. Here's a short list of the major developments that Golden State attorneys will be watching.

  • January 02, 2026

    Celebrity Rows, D&O Woes Top '26 Specialty Insurance Cases

    From high-profile celebrity coverage battles to high-stakes state supreme court rulings, the new year brings with it the promise of litigation developments that will reshape specialty line insurance policy disputes. Here, Law360 looks at a few of the top specialty line insurance cases to watch in 2026.

  • January 02, 2026

    SnapChat, Pork And Big Prosecutions: Trials To Watch In 2026

    The coming year is set to bring high-profile trials, including in the criminal case against SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein, as well as bellwether trials in multidistrict litigation concerning social media's effects on mental health and allegations of price-fixing in the generic-drug industry.

  • January 02, 2026

    Patent Cases To Watch In 2026

    The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to weigh in on generic-drug skinny labels, while the Federal Circuit is examining an effort by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to shield decisions from review. Here's a look at those cases and others that attorneys will be tracking in 2026.

  • January 02, 2026

    Biggest W&H Issues To Watch In 2026

    In 2026, states and cities will continue to be the centers of experimentation and ever-expanding workers’ rights in higher minimum wages, paid leave reforms and other changes. Here, Law360 explores the trends and policies that will shape the coming year.

  • January 01, 2026

    Blue Slip Fight Looms Over Trump's 2026 Judicial Outlook

    In 2025, President Donald Trump put 20 district and six circuit judges on the federal bench. In the year ahead, a fight over home state senators' ability to block district court picks could make it more difficult for him to match that record.

  • January 01, 2026

    4 High Court Cases To Watch This Spring

    The U.S. Supreme Court justices will return from the winter holidays to tackle several constitutional disputes that range from who is entitled to birthright citizenship to whether transgender individuals are entitled to heightened levels of protection from discrimination. 

  • January 01, 2026

    BigLaw Leaders Tackle Growth, AI, Remote Work In New Year

    Rapid business growth, cultural changes caused by remote work and generative AI are creating challenges and opportunities for law firm leaders going into the New Year. Here, seven top firm leaders share what’s running through their minds as they lie awake at night.

  • December 23, 2025

    Trump Admin Beats Chamber Suit Over $100K H-1B Visa Fee

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Tuesday refused to block the Trump administration's new $100,000 H-1B visa fee, ruling in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's lawsuit challenging the fee that President Donald Trump has "broad authority" to restrict noncitizens' entry.

  • December 23, 2025

    Walmart Gets $623K As Sanction Award In Avocado Oil Suit

    A California federal judge has ordered two attorneys from a Santa Monica-based law firm to pay Walmart $623,000 in attorney fees as a sanction in their client's decertified class action that accused Walmart of falsely labeling its avocado oil as containing only avocado oil despite allegedly containing other oils.

  • December 23, 2025

    SEC, FAT Brands Near Deal In Suit On CEO's $27M Loan Scam

    Restaurant franchiser FAT Brands, its former CEO and other executives told a California federal judge on Tuesday that they reached a deal to resolve the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's civil claims that they ran an illegal $27 million personal-loan scheme to fuel the former CEO's lavish lifestyle as the public company floundered.

  • December 23, 2025

    Intent Not Needed To Boost ID Theft Sentence, 9th Circ. Says

    Federal prosecutors need not show that a defendant intended to commit fraud with stolen materials that have authentication features, such as driver's licenses, for courts to apply a sentencing enhancement for possessing those materials, the Ninth Circuit has held.

  • December 23, 2025

    3 Federal Circuit Clashes To Watch In January

    The Federal Circuit is set to hear several intellectual property cases in January, including one over a nine-figure patent judgment against cybersecurity company Gen Digital tied to a contempt finding against a major law firm that represented it, and another over the tech industry's long-running crusade against patent review denials based on related litigation.

  • December 23, 2025

    Full 9th Circ. Won't Hear Ex-Theranos Exec Balwani's Appeal

    A Ninth Circuit panel rejected ex-Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani's en banc hearing request to reconsider his 12-count conviction and nearly 13-year prison sentence, while also amending its opinion to clarify that there was "ample evidence" to convict Balwani, even if prosecutors failed to correct a witness's testimony.

  • December 23, 2025

    OCC Wants To Preempt State Mortgage Escrow Interest Laws

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has unveiled a pair of proposals aiming to, among other things, preempt state laws requiring banks it regulates to make interest payments for escrow accounts connected to certain types of residential mortgage loans, calling it a "critical tool for reducing unnecessary burden."

  • December 23, 2025

    Estate Of 1970s Cannabis Pioneer Sues Publisher Over IP Use

    The family of cannabis legalization activist and author Jack Herer is seeking to wrestle back control of his IP, filing a lawsuit in California state court which claims the patriarch's name, image and likeness have been "fraudulently" taken.

  • December 23, 2025

    Dem Sens. Blast Idea Of Charging Value-Based Patent Fees

    A group of Democratic U.S. senators has asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick not to move forward with a proposed overhaul of the U.S. patent fee system that reportedly would implement fees based on a patent's value, saying such changes would create a "prohibitive bar to innovation for start-ups and other small-to-mid-size businesses."

  • December 23, 2025

    Justices Urged To Review 'Bike+' TM Suit Against Peloton

    A fitness company with a cycling app called Bike+ has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision dismissing its trademark infringement claims against Peloton, saying the appeals court erred in assessing the likelihood of confusion and should have let a jury decide the matter.

  • December 23, 2025

    Squires Will Review If Hydrafacial's ITC Win Should End IPR

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has paused the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's review of a Hydrafacial LLC skin treatment patent to consider the effect of a related U.S. International Trade Commission decision.

  • December 23, 2025

    Telcoin Sues To Freeze $1.5M In Stolen Crypto-Assets

    Cryptocurrency platform Telcoin LLC has gone to California federal court seeking an emergency injunction and damages against unknown hackers who allegedly siphoned millions in digital assets from customer wallets on Christmas Day 2023.

  • December 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Claims In Internet Voice Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision in a reexamination requested by Cisco Systems Inc. that claims in a widely asserted Estech Systems IP LLC patent on voice over internet protocol telephone systems are invalid.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Resolve PSLRA Issue For Section 11 Litigants

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    By establishing a uniform judgment reduction credit for all defendants in cases involving Section 11 of the Securities Act, Congress could remove unnecessary statutory ambiguity from the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act and enable litigants to price potential settlements with greater certainty, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • FTC's Reseller Suit Highlights Larger Ticket Platform Issues

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    Taken together, the recent Federal Trade Commission lawsuit and Ticketmaster's recent antitrust woes demonstrate that federal enforcers are testing the resilience of antitrust and consumer-protection frameworks in an evolving, tech-driven marketplace, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.

  • Agentic AI Puts A New Twist On Attorney Ethics Obligations

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    As lawyers increasingly use autonomous artificial intelligence agents, disciplinary authorities must decide whether attorney responsibility for an AI-caused legal ethics violation is personal or supervisory, and firms must enact strong policies regarding agentic AI use and supervision, says Grace Wynn at HWG.

  • Health Insurance Kickback Cases Signal Greater Gov't Focus

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    A series of recent indictments by federal prosecutors in California suggests that the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act is gaining momentum as an enforcement tool against illegal inducement of patient referrals in the realm of commercial health insurance, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Cos. Face EU, US Regulatory Tension On Many Fronts

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    When the European Union sets stringent standards, companies seeking to operate in the international marketplace must conform to them, or else concede opportunities — but with the current U.S. administration pushing hard to roll back regulations, global companies face an increasing tension over which standards to follow, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Being A Professional Wrestler Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pursuing my childhood dream of being a professional wrestler has taught me important legal career lessons about communication, adaptability, oral advocacy and professionalism, says Christopher Freiberg at Midwest Disability.

  • 2 Calif. Cases Could Reshape Future Of Trap-And-Trace Suits

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    A California federal judge's recent dismissal of two California Invasion of Privacy Act cases demonstrates an inherent contradiction in pen register and trap-and-trace claims, teeing up a Ninth Circuit appeal that could either breathe new life into such claims or put an end to them outright, says Matthew Pearson at Womble Bond.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Adapting To The Age Of AI

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    Though law school may not have specifically taught us how to use generative artificial intelligence to help with our daily legal tasks, it did provide us the mental building blocks necessary for adapting to this new technology — and the judgment to discern what shouldn’t be automated, says Pamela Dorian at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Ch. 11 Ruling Voiding $2M Litigation Funding Sends A Warning

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    A recent Texas bankruptcy court decision that a postconfirmation litigation trust has no obligations to repay a completely drawn down $2 million litigation funding agreement serves as a warning for estate administrators and funders to properly disclose the intended financing, say attorneys at Kleinberg Kaplan.

  • Tesla Verdict May Set New Liability Benchmarks For AV Suits

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    The recent jury verdict in Benavides v. Tesla is notable not only for a massive payout — including $200 million in punitive damages — but because it apportions fault between the company's self-driving technology and the driver, inviting more scrutiny of automated vehicle marketing and technology, says Michael Avanesian at Avian Law Group.

  • Demystifying The Civil Procedure Rules Amendment Process

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    Every year, an advisory committee receives dozens of proposals to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, most of which are never adopted — but a few pointers can help maximize the likelihood that an amendment will be adopted, says Josh Gardner at DLA Piper.

  • RI Menopause Law Brings New Considerations For Employers

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    Rhode Island becoming the first state to provide express antidiscrimination and accommodation protections for employees' menopause-related conditions may be a bellwether for similar protections in other jurisdictions, so employers should consider that while such benefits may improve recruitment and retention, complications may arise from voluntarily adding them, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • FTC, CoStar Cases Against Zillow May Have Broad Impact

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    Zillow's partnerships with Redfin and Realtor.com have recently triggered dual fronts of legal scrutiny — an antitrust inquiry from the Federal Trade Commission and a mass copyright infringement suit from CoStar — raising complex questions that reach beyond real estate, says Shubha Ghosh at Syracuse University College of Law.

  • State Crypto Regs Diverge As Federal Framework Dawns

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    Following the Genius Act's passage, states like California, New York and Wyoming are racing to set new standards for crypto governance, creating both opportunity and risk for digital asset firms as innovation flourishes in some jurisdictions while costly friction emerges in others, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How 2nd Circ. Cannabis Ruling Upends NY Licensing

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    A recent Second Circuit decision in Variscite NY Four v. New York, holding that New York's extra-priority cannabis licensing preference for applicants with in-state marijuana convictions violates the dormant commerce clause, underscores that state-legal cannabis markets remain subject to the same constitutional constraints as other economic markets, say attorneys at Harris Beach.

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