Calif. Enacts Law To Boost Pay Parity Protections

By Grace Elletson

A California law aimed at increasing the accuracy of the compensation estimates that state employers are required to include in job postings and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom makes clear that perks such as stock options are considered wages and expands the limitations window for pursuing pay bias claims.

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Calif. Supreme Court Justice Martin Jenkins To Retire

By James Mills

California Supreme Court Justice Martin J. Jenkins, the first openly gay man and the third African American man to sit on the bench, will retire at the end of October, the court announced Thursday.

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9th Circ. Changes Stance On Appeals Of Anti-SLAPP Denials

By Hailey Konnath

The full Ninth Circuit on Thursday held that denials of California anti-SLAPP motions can no longer be appealed in the midst of litigation, diverging from 22-year-old circuit precedent and finding that such orders aren't immediately appealable because they don't resolve issues "completely separate from the merits."

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Baldoni Atty Faces LA Malpractice Suit Over Client 'Betrayal'

By Emily Sawicki

Entertainment attorney Bryan Freedman has been accused in Los Angeles County Superior Court of turning his back on a former client, allegedly convincing him to sign an unfavorable settlement on trademark claims against "It Ends With Us" star Justin Baldoni, only to later begin representing the actor and director.

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Calif. Sentence Reform Laws Act 'Harmoniously,' Justices Say

By Brandon Lowrey

The California Supreme Court on Thursday held that prisoners up for sentence reductions under a recent law may also be eligible to have their indeterminate life terms thrown out under the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 during resentencing, saying the laws "operate harmoniously."

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Calif. Bans Some Ultraprocessed Foods In School Meals

By Gina Kim

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday signed a first-in-the-nation bipartisan law that will slowly phase out and eventually ban ultraprocessed foods from public school meals by 2032, marking one of the most significant changes in the state's efforts to reform nutritional standards for children in the Golden State. 

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US Wind Fights For Countersuit Against Offshore Project Foes

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

US Wind Inc. is asking a Maryland federal court to allow it to proceed with claims against local governments and community, business and environmental groups that are challenging the approval of a wind energy project off the state's coastline.

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Nissan, Drivers Reach Deal To End Faulty Brake Claims

By Emily Field

Nissan North America Inc. and drivers on Thursday reached a settlement in principle in Tennessee federal court that would end multistate claims alleging the automatic braking systems in certain Nissan vehicles would sometimes trigger and cause the cars to stop suddenly, creating an unpredictable hazard.

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Tort Report: Nuked 'Nuclear Verdict' Stays, Texas Justices Say

By Y. Peter Kang

The fate of a "nuclear verdict" that was used to jump-start tort reform campaigns across the country and a settlement of a suit over a Kiss guitar technician's death lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Weinstein Says Jurors Traded Threats, Tainting Verdict

By Cara Salvatore

Harvey Weinstein's legal team said his June sexual assault convictions were tainted by juror misconduct, including physical threats and an unfounded bribery claim, arguing in a motion for a new trial that a judge refused to properly investigate.

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Investment Co. Hit With $8.9M Jury Verdict In Retaliation Suit

By Patrick Hoff

An investment management firm should pay a French-Canadian former employee nearly $8.9 million, a California federal jury said, finding that the company had unlawfully fired him for complaining that his boss belittled him because of his national origin.

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Aetna Inks ERISA Deal Over Nixed Spinal Surgery Claims

By Grace Elletson

Aetna has agreed to pay a class of health plan members up to $55,000 each to resolve their suit alleging their coverage claims for lumbar disk replacement surgeries were wrongfully denied, amounting to a deal worth millions of dollars, according to a California federal court filing.

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Anti-Union Firm Joins Fight Against Calif. Cannabis Labor Law

By Emily Brill

An anti-union group has thrown its weight behind a cannabis retailer's challenge to a California law that requires marijuana businesses to sign labor peace agreements with unions, arguing before the Ninth Circuit that the law is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act.

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X, XAI Say Texas Best, Fastest Court For OpenAI-Apple Suit

By Bryan Koenig

X Corp. and xAI urged a Texas federal judge not to transfer from the Northern District of Texas' Fort Worth Division their suit accusing Apple and OpenAI of anticompetitively edging out other artificial intelligence companies through a deal integrating ChatGPT into iPhones, stressing the speed of their chosen forum.

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9th Circ. Probes Buyers On HIV Drug Antitrust Claims

By Matthew Perlman

Insurers and health plans told a Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday that a lower court was wrong to toss their claims that Gilead orchestrated a product-hop scheme for its HIV drugs ahead of trial and for not seeing a price drop as evidence of an alleged agreement with Teva to delay generics.

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Biotronik Wants Full 9th Circ. Review Of Whistleblower Ruling

By Tom Lotshaw

Biotronik Inc. urged the full Ninth Circuit to review a panel ruling that revived a whistleblower suit alleging the company used unlawful compensation tactics to boost heart-device sales, saying it should have been tossed based on prior disclosures in news articles.

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Brief

Fed. Circ. Affirms Contractor Is Due Money For COVID Delays

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Federal Circuit on Thursday backed an Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals decision finding the government must compensate a contractor for fees incurred during the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown, just days after hearing oral argument. 

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Feds Urge 9th Circ. To Allow Portland Troop Deployment

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel appeared split Thursday on the Trump administration's bid to preserve its ability to send Oregon National Guard members to Portland, with one judge suggesting the president's decision is entitled to deference and another panelist skeptical that the federal government would suffer harm if the deployment plan is tabled.

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Former California Solicitor General Joins WilmerHale In SF

By James Mills

WilmerHale is expanding its appellate team, announcing Thursday it is bringing in the former California solicitor general as a partner in its San Francisco office starting in early December.

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Series

Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

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Sullivan & Cromwell Impersonators Hit With NY Fraud Claims

By Emily Sawicki

New York Attorney General Letitia James is attempting to take down a slew of businesses whose names are variants of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, accusing them of attempting a scheme to fraudulently redirect checks meant for the global corporate law firm.

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Analysis

False-Statement Case Puts Comey In Rare Company

By Phillip Bantz

Former FBI director James Comey is the latest addition to the relatively short list of government officials who have been criminally charged over the past several decades with making false statements to Congress.

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NY Atty General Indicted Following Pressure From Trump

By Lauren Berg

New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted in Virginia federal court Thursday on charges related to mortgage fraud, three weeks after President Donald Trump wrote a social media post encouraging U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action because James and two other political opponents were "guilty as hell."

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Jenn Mascott Of WH Counsel's Office Confirmed To 3rd Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 50-47 on Thursday to confirm Jenn Mascott, currently serving in the White House Counsel's Office, to the Delaware seat on the Third Circuit.

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7th Circ. Nominee Taibleson Advances To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced on party lines the nomination of Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin, to serve on the Seventh Circuit, as well as four district judicial nominees and five U.S. attorney nominees.

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