California

  • May 06, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Atty Fees In Bicycle Design Patent Case

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday agreed with a Massachusetts federal judge that a case related to a set of design patents for a bicycle warranted attorney fees being awarded to Hyper Bicycles Inc., saying the judge's finding that the case was weak and unnecessarily dragged out was supported by the evidence.

  • May 06, 2026

    Feds Say Stolen BigLaw Deal Info Aided Huge Trading Scheme

    Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unveiled indictments outlining a massive insider trading scheme that allegedly netted tens of millions of dollars using nonpublic information about mergers and acquisitions worked on by some of the nation's biggest law firms.

  • May 06, 2026

    IRS Gets Protest Of Wedding Gift Penalties Narrowed

    A Chinese citizen seeking a refund of penalties imposed by the IRS over a failure to report wedding gifts she received from abroad cannot argue the agency must collect the penalties through a civil action, a California federal court said, partially dismissing her suit.

  • May 06, 2026

    Judge Tells FEMA Officials To Preserve Signal Chats

    A California federal judge has ordered Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials to preserve Signal messages tied to FEMA operations in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's restructuring efforts, citing concerns that officials used disappearing-message settings while discussing matters relevant to the case.

  • May 06, 2026

    'Varsity Blues' Coach 'Not Close' In New Trial Bid, Judge Says

    A former University of Southern California water polo coach convicted in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions case missed the goal by a wide margin in his bid to secure a new trial, a Massachusetts federal judge said.

  • May 05, 2026

    DJ Khalil Hit 'Dead End' With Ye Over Song Use, LA Jury Told

    DJ Khalil testified Tuesday in a California copyright infringement suit that he was initially excited Ye was using his instrumental track for what became the rapper's Grammy-winning song "Hurricane," but ultimately sought help from an artists rights company when he hit a "dead end" seeking payment from the rapper.

  • May 05, 2026

    Musk Sought Control Of OpenAI To Fund Mars City, Jury Told

    OpenAI President Greg Brockman defended OpenAI's for-profit conversion during a California federal jury trial Tuesday and accused Elon Musk of demanding "unilateral absolute control" over OpenAI to fund his plans for a city on Mars, while acknowledging under examination that Musk proposed his stake would "change quickly" with additional investors.

  • May 05, 2026

    Ex-FDA Chief Testifies 100s Of J&J Docs Tie Asbestos To Talc

    A former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner on Tuesday testified in a Los Angeles bellwether trial over claims Johnson & Johnson's talc products caused deadly ovarian cancer in three women, saying hundreds of internal company documents reveal the company knew for decades that its talc contained asbestos.

  • May 05, 2026

    Meta Should Have Warning Label, NM Witness Says

    New Mexico unveiled further details of safeguards it says a court should impose on Meta in a $3.7 billion bench trial, calling an expert witness Tuesday who said displaying a warning pop-up to minors is an idea that's backed by the former surgeon general and desperately needed.

  • May 05, 2026

    Apple Reaches $250M Deal Over Claims It Overhyped IPhone AI

    Apple customers asked a California federal judge Tuesday to greenlight a $250 million settlement resolving claims that the tech giant falsely promised the iPhone 16 would include new artificial intelligence Siri features, saying the "exceptional" deal will put cash in class members' hands and provide free future AI software updates.

  • May 05, 2026

    Worker Fights 2nd Circ.'s Toss Of Teamsters Fund ERISA Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court should revive claims that the New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund was mismanaged, a Teamsters-represented worker argued, asking the justices to breathe new life into his twice-dismissed Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit.

  • May 05, 2026

    Apple Urges Full Fed. Circ. To Undo Original Watch Import Ban

    A Federal Circuit panel erred when finding the U.S. International Trade Commission properly banned imports of Apple Watches with blood oxygen-monitoring features, the tech giant behind the devices said in a plea for rehearing by the full court.

  • May 05, 2026

    Calif. Panel Won't Undo $3M SoCal Edison Verdict

    A California state appeals court has affirmed a more than $3.3 million jury verdict against Southern California Edison over a worker's fall at a shuttered San Diego nuclear plant, saying certain safety evidence was wrongly excluded by the trial court but the mistake did not warrant a retrial.

  • May 05, 2026

    9th Circ. Renews Biz Nuisance Claim Over Seattle BLM Protest

    A Ninth Circuit panel partly revived a Korean restaurant and apartment complex owner's lawsuit accusing Seattle of abandoning several city blocks during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, ruling Tuesday that the businesses can potentially advance nuisance claims by arguing for the suspension of the statute of limitations.

  • May 05, 2026

    Hemp Powder Buyer Says Amazon Images Don't End Claims

    A woman leading a proposed class action alleging Tilray Brands Inc. misleads consumers about the protein content of its hemp powders is pushing back against the company's dismissal bid, saying its latest motion is based on inadmissible evidence in the form of website printouts and other outside materials.

  • May 05, 2026

    Home Depot Accused Of Helping Police Spy On Customers

    Home Depot is running a covert surveillance system using automated license plate recognition technology and feeding that information to a database accessed by law enforcement, a proposed class action filed in California federal court has alleged.

  • May 05, 2026

    Womble Bond Picks Veteran Real Estate Atty As Partner In SF

    Womble Bond Dickinson has hired a real estate and land use attorney with more than 50 years of experience as a partner for its real estate team in San Francisco, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • May 05, 2026

    OpenAI Accused Of Giving ChatGPT User Info To Meta, Google

    A ChatGPT user Tuesday filed a proposed class action against OpenAI in California federal court, claiming the artificial intelligence company disclosed private user information to Meta Platforms and Google without users' consent.

  • May 05, 2026

    Hockey Players Urge 9th Circ. To Revive U.S. Antitrust Claims

    A U.S. federal court erroneously ruled that federal antitrust law did not apply in a case involving Canada-based hockey leagues and teams, players hoping to revive their suit alleging mistreatment by the developmental leagues told the Ninth Circuit on Monday.

  • May 05, 2026

    Va. Judge Clears Amazon On 4 Of 5 DivX Video Patents

    A Virginia federal judge has trimmed much of the remainder of a lawsuit accusing Amazon of infringing video processing patents owned by California-based video technology company DivX, but let one of the patents remain at play.

  • May 05, 2026

    3 Suits Say Meta, Anthropic Pirating Books In AI 'Arms Race'

    Book publishers and legal novelist Scott Turow hit Meta Platforms Inc. with a proposed class action in New York federal court on Tuesday, accusing it of training its Llama large language models on millions of copyrighted books and articles from pirate sites instead of licensing the material.

  • May 05, 2026

    CooperSurgical Strikes Deal To End Embryo Loss Class Suit

    Connecticut-based fertility products manufacturer CooperSurgical Inc. has reached a settlement with a proposed class of in vitro fertilization patients and their partners, who claimed the company's defective product caused the loss of their embryos.

  • May 05, 2026

    Contractor Says Early Exit Is Unsupported In Premium Hike Suit

    Hartford Insurance members should not be granted summary judgment in a $1.7 million premium suit, a government contractor has said, arguing in Connecticut federal court the contractor has successfully pled its breach of contract claims.

  • May 05, 2026

    NCAA Insists Athletes Must Arbitrate NIL Deal, Not 'Rewrite' It

    College athletes' attempt to go through the courts to exempt certain revenue streams from NCAA oversight is an end-run around the resolution they reached in last year's $2.78 billion class action settlement, the association has told a California federal judge.

  • May 05, 2026

    9th Circ. Upholds Chip Injunction In Google Contract Case

    The Ninth Circuit refused to lift an injunction against Point Financial Inc. barring it from interfering with Google's license to manufacture certain computer chips while a case plays out over Google's contract with a chipmaker that went out of business.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Recruiting Suit Shows Old Laws May Implicate New Tools

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    The Fair Credit Reporting Act allegations recently filed in Kistler v. Eightfold AI, are the latest example of broad definitional language in legacy statutes proving far more dangerous to companies deploying artificial intelligence – particularly in hiring – than any purpose-built artificial intelligence regulation, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • What Voluntary Calif. Carbon Reports Show About Compliance

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    While the enforcement of California's S.B. 261 is currently paused due to a Ninth Circuit injunction, more than 130 companies have nonetheless chosen to voluntarily publish climate-related financial risk disclosures, providing a useful snapshot of how the market is interpreting the law's requirements in practice, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Pivotal 6th Circ. Ruling Threatens Decades Of NLRB Decisions

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Brown-Forman v. National Labor Relations Board fundamentally challenged the NLRB's long-standing practice of establishing policies through adjudication rather than formal rulemaking, giving employers and unions a new avenue to procedurally attack the vast majority of its rules, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Why MDLs Slow Down — And How To Speed Them Up

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    Multidistrict litigation has become central to mass tort practice, but as MDLs grow in size and complexity, so do delays and costs — so tools like the new federal rule governing MDLs, targeted use of special masters and strategically deployed Lone Pine orders are more essential than ever, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Opinion

    FTC Case Risks Redefining Price Discrimination

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    Federal Trade Commission v. Southern Glazer puts a spotlight on the blurry line between illegal price discrimination and ordinary competition, and could potentially set a precedent that puts nearly any manufacturer at risk of Robinson-Patman Act enforcement, says Jeremy Sandford at Econic Partners.

  • Parsing Rule 12(c) Motion Overuse In Securities Class Actions

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    Defendants in securities class actions have more frequently been filing motions for judgment on the pleadings following the denial of motions to dismiss, but courts have recently demonstrated an increasing willingness to reject these previously rare motions, finding them transparent attempts to relitigate already-decided issues, say attorneys at Labaton Keller.

  • Preparing For New Calif. Pay Data Reporting Requirements

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    California's S.B. 464 overhauls the state's pay data reporting framework by requiring employers to use job categories that are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, increasing both the potential visibility of pay disparities and the complexity of compliance, say attorneys at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Pension Case Offers Entertainment Work Exception Insights

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    A recent Ninth Circuit decision clarified that any amount of entertainment work can satisfy the entertainment industry exception under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act, reinforcing that statutory language, rather than evolving business models, dictates withdrawal liability outcomes, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Justices' Ruling Stresses Quick Action Against Absconders

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in Rico v. U.S. that a supervised release term is not automatically extended when a defendant absconds, probation officers and prosecutors risk being unable to address later violations if they don't act promptly to secure warrants, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • How Cos. Can Navigate The Patchwork Of AI Safety Bills

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    In the first few months of 2026, state and federal lawmakers introduced hundreds of bills to address the perceived safety risks of artificial intelligence, so companies should assess whether existing or planned services could be scoped into AI safety legislation across jurisdictions, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Series

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

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    As usual, California remained a hub for financial services activity in the first quarter of 2026, with key developments including the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation's eye on consumer issues, a bill targeting "pig butchering" schemes, and jam-packed courts, say attorneys at Joseph Cohen.

  • Series

    Ultramarathons Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Completing a 100-mile ultramarathon was tougher, more humbling and more rewarding than I ever imagined, and the experience highlighted how long-distance running has sharpened my ability to adapt to the evolving nature of antitrust law and strengthened my resolve to handle demanding, unforeseen challenges, says Dan Oakes at Axinn.

  • When AI Puffery Becomes Actionable Securities Fraud

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    Though courts usually hold that vague but optimistic corporate statements don’t constitute securities fraud, signs suggest that investors may give enough economic weight to references to artificial intelligence in public company disclosures that broad feel-good statements could cross into actionable misrepresentation, says Christine Polek at Keystone Strategy.

  • State FARA Laws Pose Unique Constitutional Challenges

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    Several states have recently enacted foreign agent registration and disclosure regimes that were modeled after the Foreign Agents Registration Act, but these state laws raise several constitutional questions, including concerns about preemption, speech and petition, and vagueness, says Alexandra Langton at Covington.

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