California

  • May 18, 2026

    Train Co.'s Claim Construction Dodge Ended IPRs

    Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp.'s attempt to rely on other parties' claim constructions doomed its challenges to Railware Inc. railway traffic control patents, according to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires.

  • May 18, 2026

    Exxon Tells 9th Circ. Calif.'s Plastic Suit Belongs In Fed. Court

    The state of California's claim that Exxon Mobil Corp. is responsible for plastic pollution belongs in federal court, the petroleum giant told a Ninth Circuit panel during a hearing on Monday, arguing that federal courts have admiralty jurisdiction because the litigation targets pollution in navigable waters, among other alleged injuries.

  • May 18, 2026

    Calif. AG Previews Live Nation Remedies At Democratic Forum

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of the state attorneys general in a coalition of states that recently won a jury verdict finding Live Nation illegally established a monopoly over the live music industry, said Monday the next step is a structural overhaul of the conglomerate.

  • May 18, 2026

    Disneyland Illegally Collects Visitors' Face Scans, Suit Says

    Disneyland guests hit the entertainment behemoth with a proposed class action in New York federal court Friday alleging it gathered facial recognition data of children who enter its parks without a meaningful way for them to opt out, arguing "the onus of privacy rights should not be on the victim."

  • May 18, 2026

    Justices Won't Revive LA Schools COVID Vaccine Policy Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review whether the Los Angeles Unified School District's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees passes constitutional muster, keeping in place the Ninth Circuit's ruling that relied on a 121-year-old high court precedent upholding a city's smallpox vaccine policy.

  • May 18, 2026

    Calif. High School Athletes Say State's NIL Ban Exploits Them

    High school athletes told a California federal judge that state regulations unfairly limit their name, image and likeness opportunities, contrary to the state governing body's claim that the rules exist to protect amateurism and keep transfers reasonable.

  • May 18, 2026

    Justices Skip Review Of Accountant Strict Liability Standard

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Ninth Circuit decision holding that legal liability does not extend to auditors who certify a client's financial statements for initial public offerings, even if those statements are later found to contain alleged misstatements.

  • May 18, 2026

    Amazon Fights Calif.'s Injunction Bid In Antitrust Case

    Amazon is pushing back after California state enforcers accused the e-commerce company of bullying major brands into pressuring competing retailers to raise prices, arguing the case has never involved price-fixing allegations before.

  • May 18, 2026

    Musk's xAI Opposes Anonymity In Deepfake Suit

    Elon Musk's xAI is asking a California federal court to force a group of women suing over Grok-generated deepfake images of them in sexual situations, saying they haven't shown that proceeding under pseudonyms is necessary to protect their privacy.

  • May 18, 2026

    King & Spalding, MoFo Guide $3.4B Industrial REIT Merger

    Investment and development firm Industrial Realty Group and real estate lender Sachem Capital said Monday that they have reached a deal to form a new industrial-focused REIT valued at $3.4 billion, using about half of IRG's portfolio in a transaction advised by King & Spalding LLP and Morrison Foerster LLP.

  • May 18, 2026

    Quinn Emanuel Remembers Harry Olivar After Fatal Crash

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP is remembering longtime partner and national securities practice chair Harry A. Olivar Jr., after he and his stepson, David Jackson, died in an automobile accident in central Georgia. Olivar was 62.

  • May 18, 2026

    Farmers Secures Retrial On $6.4M Medical Costs Award

    A California state appeals court ordered a limited retrial of a jury's nearly $6.4 million economic damages award in a drunk driving dispute, saying the trial court erred by allowing a life care planning expert to testify about the costs of the crash victim's past and future medical care.

  • May 18, 2026

    2nd Circ. Looks Poised To Uncork Reversal In Wine TM Fight

    The Second Circuit appeared inclined Monday to reverse a trial judge's findings that left a California winery owing $1.3 million to Italian vintner Cesari SRL in a well-aged trademark dispute, with three judges suggesting the case was improperly decided.

  • May 18, 2026

    OpenAI Beats Musk Suit Over For-Profit Restructuring

    In an advisory decision Monday, a California federal jury cleared OpenAI and executives Sam Altman and Greg Brockman of allegations they breached the nonprofit's charitable trust by converting to a for-profit, handing billionaire Elon Musk a defeat in a closely watched three-week trial that threatened to shake up the artificial intelligence industry.

  • May 18, 2026

    Calif. Bar Is Latest To Approve 'NextGen' Bar Exam For 2028

    The State Bar of California's board of trustees announced last week that it voted unanimously to adopt the National Conference of Bar Examiners' NextGen Uniform Bar Exam, starting in July 2028, as recommended by the Committee of Bar Examiners, following the calamitous rollout of its own exam last year.

  • May 15, 2026

    Calif. High Court Releases EdTech Co. From Data Breach Suit

    California's top court struck down a proposed class action accusing education technology provider Illuminate of failing to safeguard students' personal and health information, which was exposed in a data breach, finding the plaintiff hadn't sufficiently alleged key elements for his claims under the state's medical confidentiality or data security laws.

  • May 15, 2026

    Software Firm Seeks Belgian Venue For Calif. Cannabis Suit

    A Belgian software company has urged a California state court to throw out a nearly $400,000 fraud and breach of contract lawsuit filed by the owners of the PlugPlay cannabis vape brand, arguing both sides agreed all disputes must be litigated in Belgium.

  • May 15, 2026

    Meta Safety Monitor Would Create Roadblock, Judge Told

    Putting Meta under the supervision of a court-ordered monitor would only cause a slowdown in the development of new child safety features, a compliance executive testified Friday in the New Mexico attorney general's bench trial seeking changes to company practices.

  • May 15, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Infrastructure Districts, UpCodes, Tariffs

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including the rising popularity of infrastructure districts to meet funding needs, tech-based solutions for developers to navigate building laws, and one BigLaw leader's view of how tariffs are affecting capital in real estate deals.

  • May 15, 2026

    Citron Founder Phoned Fed. Agent During FBI Raid, Jury Told

    An inspector with the U.S. Postal Service told a California federal jury considering securities fraud charges against Citron Research founder Andrew Left on Friday that even as she participated in the FBI's raid of his home, Left called her and spoke at length about the allegations against him for over an hour. 

  • May 15, 2026

    Artist's Atty Owes Disney $475K Sanctions In 'Moana' IP Case

    An attorney representing an animator who unsuccessfully alleged that The Walt Disney Co.'s "Moana" lifted his Polynesian adventure story must pay more than $475,000 in sanctions, a California federal judge ruled, saying he "acted recklessly" by pursuing trade secret misappropriation claims premised on a forged document.

  • May 15, 2026

    Pharmacies Stuck With CVS Arbitration Mandate At 9th Circ.

    A Ninth Circuit panel refused Friday to let four independent pharmacies avoid arbitrating their antitrust claims that CVS exploited a Medicare loophole to charge them exorbitant fees, standing by a district court's conclusion that just because parts of the arbitration agreement were unconscionable doesn't negate the entire thing.

  • May 15, 2026

    Judge Lets Landlord Rework Claims In Cannabis Lease Suit

    A Los Angeles County judge refused to issue a court order forcing a tenant to pay $58,000 it allegedly owes for overdue rent and parking lot improvements, telling the landlord it needs to refile its breach of contract claims if it wants to try to get the money.

  • May 15, 2026

    Cerebras' Mega IPO Boosts Confidence In AI Pipeline

    Artificial intelligence computing company Cerebras Systems Inc.'s blockbuster debut was well received by deals attorneys who track the pipeline for initial public offerings, with lawyers saying the upsized $5.6 billion IPO is a sign that investor confidence in the AI sector is growing. 

  • May 15, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives Licorice Buyer's Wiley Wallaby Label Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday reinstated a consumer's proposed class action accusing a candy maker of deceptively labeling Wiley Wallaby-brand berry licorice as naturally flavored despite using an artificial ingredient, finding the buyer leveled plausible allegations that the manufacturer's statements would likely trick a reasonable consumer.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

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    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • A Framework For Habeas Relief After 5th Circ. Bond Ruling

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    Following the Fifth Circuit’s recent Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi decision foreclosing statutory bond for detained nonimmigrants not deemed admitted to the U.S., lawyers should adopt a framework that requests habeas relief pursuant to the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • Startup Founder Disputes Increasingly Turn On Governance

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    Recent Delaware developments suggest that as courts place increasing emphasis on board process, independence and oversight in founder-led startups, the growing intersection of governance, technology risk and investor oversight is accelerating both the emergence and escalation of founder disputes, says mediator Frank Burke.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Sentencing Tips For Defending Crypto Conspiracy Cases

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    The sentencing of Evan Tangeman to 70 months in federal prison for laundering money in a cryptocurrency conspiracy illustrates that defense attorneys representing clients in multidefendant crypto cases need to understand the mechanics of conspiracy liability, loss attribution and restitution exposure before they reach the sentencing table, says Joseph De Gregorio at Sentencing Advocacy.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • Nexstar Offers A Cautionary Tale On State-Level Deal Scrutiny

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    State-enforcement challenges to the $6.2 billion Nexstar-Tegna merger remind legal practitioners that federal approval isn't always sufficient to deliver certainty on closing, integration and timetable assumptions, says Brett Story at Britehorn Securities.

  • How 'Bundling' Enforcement Is Parsing Efficiency, Access

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    Recent antitrust enforcement actions have taken a selective view of companies' bundling of products or services — challenging it when it shuts out rivals, but tolerating it when it creates efficient scale — making the real test now less about lower prices than about whether competition is being blocked, says attorney Alan Kusinitz.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

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    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • Operational AI Washing: A New Securities Class Action

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    In rising claims of operational AI washing — plaintiffs alleging that artificial intelligence was invoked to explain corporate business decisions in ways that may obscure underlying financial distress — earnings calls, restructuring disclosures and board-level communications will serve as key defense evidence, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • Where The Preemption Fight Over Prediction Markets Stands

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    While the Third Circuit's recent ruling in Kalshi v. Flaherty remains a significant win for the federal government in its quest to regulate prediction markets, the Fourth, Sixth and Ninth Circuits appear more skeptical, indicating that this fight is likely headed for the Supreme Court, says Johnny ElHachem at Holland & Knight.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

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    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • 1st Surveillance Pricing Law In Md. Reflects Broader Scrutiny

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    A new law will make Maryland the first state to target data-driven or surveillance-based price manipulation, highlighting increased scrutiny from federal and state enforcement agencies and policymakers as they consider whether new laws are required to regulate dynamic pricing, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Understanding The Insider Trading Gap In Prediction Markets

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    While the first-ever insider trading indictment involving a prediction market — the recent prosecution of a service member involved in the capture of Nicolás Maduro — comprised extreme facts and straightforward legal theories, future cases will test the bounds of insider trading law, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

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    While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

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