California

  • February 17, 2026

    Musk Can't Be 'Tried On His Political Beliefs,' Judge Says

    A certified class of former Twitter investors accusing Elon Musk of tanking the social media platform's stock during acquisition negotiations can't bring up the billionaire's political beliefs during the trial scheduled to start next month if it's outside the 2022 time period at issue, a California federal judge ruled Tuesday.

  • February 17, 2026

    FTC, States Urged To Halt Meta's Plan For Face ID In Glasses

    A consumer advocacy group is pushing the Federal Trade Commission and nearly a dozen state enforcers to shut down Meta's reported plans to add facial recognition capabilities to its smart glasses, arguing that the feature would pose "a grave risk to privacy, safety and civil liberties."

  • February 17, 2026

    States Hit Discovery Roadblocks In HPE Merger Fight With DOJ

    A California federal judge mostly sided with the Justice Department on Tuesday on the latest discovery disputes in state attorneys general's challenge to a DOJ settlement greenlighting Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion Juniper acquisition, ruling that HPE doesn’t need to reveal who's bidding for divested assets, and refusing to delay deadlines.

  • February 17, 2026

    CFTC Backs Prediction Markets In 9th Circ. Fight With Nevada

    U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig told state gaming regulators Tuesday that he intends to defend his agency's "exclusive jurisdiction" over prediction markets, starting with a brief to the Ninth Circuit backing Crypto.com in an ongoing brawl with Nevada regulators over its sports wagers.

  • February 17, 2026

    FCC Investigating Possible Lifeline Fraud In Calif., Beyond

    Lifeline providers in states that were allowed to opt out of the federal verification process might soon find themselves in the hot seat, as the Federal Communications Commission revealed Tuesday it has launched investigations into certain providers from three states.

  • February 17, 2026

    No Need To Reopen Asbestos Suit, Insurance Exchange Says

    An insurance exchange for the trucking industry has told a California federal judge he does not need to reopen its case against a group of reinsurers as the parties battle whether to remove a "side-switching" arbitrator, explaining that a New York state court will likely rule soon on the issue.

  • February 17, 2026

    Reddit Fights Investor Suit Over Google AI Impact

    Reddit wants out of a proposed investor class action accusing it of downplaying the impact that Google's artificial intelligence-generated search results have had on the forum website's traffic and ad revenues, arguing it has always been up-front with the public about the potential competition from Google.

  • February 17, 2026

    Judge Rips Drugmakers' Borderline 'Disingenuous' Appeal Bid

    A Connecticut federal judge has rejected generic-drug makers' request for a quick appeal of his ruling denying them summary judgment on states' claims they engaged in an "overarching conspiracy" to fix prices, slamming the request for being borderline "disingenuous," mischaracterizing his reasoning and ignoring direct evidence of alleged wrongdoing.

  • February 17, 2026

    Post U May Be Owed Billions In IP Damages, Jury Told

    The company behind academic file sharing website Course Hero could owe Post University billions of dollars in damages for infringing the copyrights of nearly 2,200 learning documents, a federal jury in Hartford, Connecticut, heard Tuesday during opening statements in a trial five years in the making.

  • February 17, 2026

    Airbnb Beats Suit Over Baby's Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

    A California federal judge on Tuesday gave Airbnb Inc. a win in a suit brought by a Montana family who claimed their baby suffered permanent brain damage from carbon monoxide exposure at a vacation rental, finding their allegations were speculative and lacked sufficient evidence.

  • February 17, 2026

    States Say FEMA Ignoring Disaster Mitigation Funding Order

    Two months after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's cancellation of a federal disaster mitigation program was illegal, the government has not shown any signs of restoring it, a coalition of states said Tuesday.

  • February 17, 2026

    DC Judge Won't Halt Bidding Process For New Dulles Terminal

    A D.C. federal judge refused to stop the bidding process for a private luxury terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport, finding that a company in the running can't show that it was injured if the contract hasn't been awarded yet, undercutting its injunction request.

  • February 17, 2026

    OpenAI's Video App Can't Use 'Cameo' As TM Case Proceeds

    A California federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking OpenAI from using the word "Cameo" to refer to a component of its Sora AI video generator app in litigation brought by a personalized video provider of the same name, which argued that its consumer reputation was threatened by the artificial intelligence company.

  • February 17, 2026

    Squires Ends IPR After ITC Judge Rejects Validity Challenge

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires ended a Patent Trial and Appeal Board review of a Hydrafacial LLC skin treatment patent since the same issue had already been adjudicated in the U.S. International Trade Commission.

  • February 17, 2026

    McGuireWoods Adds Sidley Private Equity Pro In Los Angeles

    McGuireWoods LLP is expanding its transactional team, announcing Tuesday that it is bringing in a Sidley Austin LLP private equity expert as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • February 17, 2026

    Packaging Co. Says Stiiizy Owes $7M On Breached Contracts

    All Packaging Co. LLC is suing Stiiizy Inc., alleging in California federal court that the cannabis company is in breach of a pair of contracts and has failed to pay around $7 million under those agreements.

  • February 17, 2026

    3 Firms Advise On $9.9B Danaher, Masimo Diagnostics Deal

    Danaher Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Masimo Corp. in a deal valued at about $9.9 billion, including debt, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP advising Danaher and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and White & Case LLP representing Masimo. 

  • February 17, 2026

    J&J Fights Beasley Allen's Bid To Pause Talc DQ Ruling

    A New Jersey state court lacks standing to block an appellate panel's removal of Beasley Allen from representing hundreds of women with ovarian cancer pursuing claims against Johnson & Johnson over talcum powder, the pharmaceutical company has argued in an opposition brief.

  • February 17, 2026

    Sick Juror Delays Meta Trial Ahead Of Zuckerberg Testimony

    The first bellwether trial over thousands of claims that social media companies harm young people's mental health was delayed Tuesday due to a juror being hospitalized with an illness, although the California state judge in the case said the trial will resume one way or another on Wednesday, when Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify. 

  • February 17, 2026

    Battery Co. Calls Energizer's Trade Secret Claims 'Meritless'

    A California battery company accusing Energizer and Walmart of colluding to fix retail battery prices said Energizer's counterclaims of inducing an account manager to steal trade secrets were "tactical and meritless" and has asked a federal judge to dismiss them.

  • February 17, 2026

    Bayer AG Unveils $7.3B Deal For Roundup Users

    Bayer AG unit Monsanto has agreed to pay up to $7.25 billion over as many as 21 years to resolve current and future claims that exposure to the weed killer Roundup caused non‑Hodgkin lymphoma, under a proposed nationwide class settlement filed Tuesday in Missouri state court in St. Louis.

  • February 13, 2026

    Stanford Prof Tells Jury Studies Confirm Social Media Addiction

    A Stanford University professor of psychiatry and addiction returned to the witness stand Friday in a California bellwether trial over claims that social media companies harm young people's mental health, saying studies have concluded that addiction to platforms such as YouTube and Instagram is real and can hurt mental health.

  • February 13, 2026

    Novel Calif. Data Deletion Tool Off To Hot Start, Director Says

    Despite a relatively quiet rollout, more than 170,000 California residents have signed up for a first-of-its-kind system that allows them to ask all registered data brokers to delete their personal information in a single request, positioning the tool as a strong model for other states similarly looking to boost consumer protections, the executive director of the state's privacy regulator told Law360.  

  • February 13, 2026

    States' Generic Drugs Antitrust Case Headed Toward Trial

    A Connecticut federal judge has mostly refused to side with pharmaceutical companies facing states' generic drug price-fixing litigation against them, ruling that there are genuine disputes of material fact as to drug distribution chains and the states' antitrust standing and teeing up the case for trial.

  • February 13, 2026

    'Acqui-Hires' In AI Drawing Antitrust Scrutiny, Tech Attys Say

    Attorneys with Nvidia, Google and Uber took the stage at a conference hosted by Baker McKenzie to discuss emerging trends in antitrust enforcement, including how booming AI investment has produced new regulatory scrutiny of "acqui-hires," in which large companies acquire startups primarily to hire their teams.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • AG Watch: Illinois A Key Player In State-Level Enforcement

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    Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has systematically strengthened his office to fill federal enforcement gaps, oppose Trump administration mandates and advance state policy objectives, particularly by aggressively pursuing labor-related issues, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • How A 9th Circ. False Ad Ruling Could Shift Class Certification

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    The Ninth Circuit's July decision in Noohi v. Johnson & Johnson, holding that unexecuted damages models may suffice for purposes of class certification, has the potential to create judicial inefficiencies and crippling uncertainties for class action defendants, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Know About Interim Licenses In Global FRAND Cases

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    Recent U.K. court decisions have shaped a framework for interim licenses in global standard-essential patent disputes, under which parties can benefit from operating on temporary terms while a court determines the final fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms — but the future of this developing remedy is in doubt, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Compliance Tips Amid Rising FTC Scrutiny Of Minors' Privacy

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    The Federal Trade Commission has recently rolled out multiple enforcement actions related to children's privacy, highlighting a renewed focus on federal regulation of minors' personal information and the evolving challenges of establishing effective, privacy-protective age assurance solutions, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Insights From Recent Cases On Navigating Snap Removal

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    Snap removal, which allows defendants to transfer state court cases to federal court before a forum defendant is properly joined and served, is viewed differently across federal circuits — but keys to making it work can be drawn from recent decisions critiquing the practice, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Workday Case Shows Auditing AI Hiring Tools Is Crucial

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    Following a California federal court's recent decisions in Mobley v. Workday signaling that both employers and vendors could be held liable for discriminatory outcomes from artificial intelligence hiring tools, companies should consider two rigorous auditing methods to detect and mitigate bias, says Hossein Borhani at Charles River Associates.

  • Tips For Cos. Crafting Enforceable Online Arbitration Clauses

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    Recent rulings from the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicate that courts are carefully examining the enforceability of online arbitration clauses, so businesses should review the design of their websites and consider specific language next to the "purchase" button, say attorneys at DTO Law.

  • 7 Lessons From The Tractor Supply CCPA Enforcement Action

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    The California Privacy Protection Agency's recent enforcement action targeting Tractor Supply for alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act provides critical insights into the compliance areas that remain a priority for the California regulator, including businesses with significant consumer interactions, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Parody Defendants Are Finding Success Post-Jack Daniel's

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    Recent decisions demonstrate that, although the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products did benefit trademark plaintiffs by significantly limiting the First Amendment expressive use defense, courts also now appear to be less likely to find a parodic work likely to cause confusion, says Andrew Michaels at University of Houston Law Center.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • Trader Joe's Ruling Highlights Trademark Infringement Trends

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Trader Joe's Co. v. Trader Joe's United explores the legal boundaries between a union's right to advocate for workers and the protection of a brand's intellectual property, and illustrates a growing trend of courts disfavoring early dismissal of trademark infringement claims in the context of expressive speech, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

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