Marathon, BP Accused Of Using Algorithm To Fix Gas Prices

By Bryan Koenig

Consumers sought Monday to widen the campaign against alleged algorithmic price fixing, in a proposed class action accusing Marathon, 7-Eleven, BP, Albertsons and other fuel retailers of handing over confidential data and pricing decisions to Kalibrate in violation of California state antitrust law.

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17 States Sue Over Calif. Regulation Of Plastic Packaging

By Dorothy Atkins

Seventeen states and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors sued Golden State recycling regulators in California federal court Monday seeking to block a new state law regulating plastic packaging, slamming the law as California's "blatant and unprecedented attempt to impose its own policy preferences on the entire nation."

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'Campaign Of Hostility': Calif. Sues Trump EPA Over Waivers

By Bonnie Eslinger

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "campaign of hostility" toward waivers that allow California to set its own greenhouse gas emissions standards now includes an unlawful plan to have Congress undo granted waivers related to "clean" vehicles and other engines, California claimed Monday in a D.C. federal court lawsuit.

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Uber Board Spawned 'Serial Compliance Offender,' Suit Says

By Linda Chiem

Uber Technologies Inc. executives and board directors have fostered a culture of noncompliance and lax safety that has exposed the ride-hailing giant to thousands of sexual harassment and disability discrimination lawsuits, according to a new shareholder derivative suit in California federal court Monday.

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Can Unread Emails Trigger Arbitration? 9th Circ. Airs Doubts

By Jeff Overley

Medical supplies giant Thermo Fisher Scientific pressed a Ninth Circuit panel Monday to agree that the company's repeated emails about litigation waivers should send an ex-employee's proposed class action to arbitration, but the judges repeatedly questioned why no one simply asked if the worker saw the emails.

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Justices Decline Appeal Over Monster's $272M False Ad Win

By Ivan Moreno

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review former Vital Pharmaceuticals CEO and Bang Energy founder Jack Owoc's pro se bid to undo Monster Energy Co.'s roughly $272 million false advertising win over claims that Bang drinks contained super creatine.

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Workday Can't Knock Calif. Law Claims Out Of AI Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

Workday can't cut California law claims from a proposed class action alleging its artificial intelligence tools discriminated against job applicants, as a federal judge ruled Monday that the company's Golden State headquarters provided a solid enough foundation for the state-based allegations.

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Zymergen Investors Get First OK For $125M Settlement

By Sydney Price

Former executives, underwriters and large investors of now-defunct biotechnology company Zymergen received initial approval on Monday of a $125 million deal to end claims that they misled shareholders ahead of the company's initial public offering by approving misstatements about Zymergen's commercial product pipeline.

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Airbnb Seeks Toss Of Calif.'s Wildfire Price-Gouging Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

Airbnb Inc.'s counsel urged a California state court judge Monday to toss the Los Angeles city attorney's allegations that it price gouged Southern California residents amid the January 2025 wildfires, saying during a demurrer hearing that no case law requires it to "police" prices that hosts set using an "optional" pricing tool.

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Sorrento RICO Case Naming Jackson Walker Gets Axed

By Alex Wittenberg

A Texas bankruptcy judge blocked a lawsuit in California federal court alleging Jackson Walker LLP and executives at Sorrento Therapeutics and M3 Partners conspired to forum shop in Texas so the drug developer could seek Chapter 11 protection in an "ethically compromised" bankruptcy court, ruling the suit's claims are barred by Sorrento's bankruptcy plan.

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Dude Wipes Accused Of Misleading With 'Plant-Based' Claims

By Emily Field

Flushable-wipes company Dude Wipes LLC is facing a proposed class action in California federal court that alleges it promotes products as being plant-based and hypoallergenic, even though they contain synthetic ingredients, fragrances and known contact allergens.

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YouTube Seeks To Exit Wash. Driver's Viral Dashcam Clip Suit

By Rachel Riley

YouTube has urged a Seattle federal judge to free it from a woman's lawsuit alleging she was bullied online over a secretly recorded viral video of her texting while driving, saying she cannot circumvent the platform's protection under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act by leveling a baseless wiretapping claim.

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Judge Slashes 'Excessive' Atty Fee Bid In PHH Mortgage Deal

By Katryna Perera

A North Carolina federal judge granted the green light to a $1.5 million settlement to resolve claims from borrowers alleging PHH Mortgage Corp. sent notice of default letters containing "false threats" to speed up loan foreclosure, but reduced the attorney fees by nearly half, calling the requested amount "excessive."

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EDTX Jury Says Verizon Wireless Owes $190M In Patent Trial

By Adam Lidgett

Verizon Wireless is on the hook for $190 million after a federal jury in the Eastern District of Texas found that it infringed a patent covering a way for cellphone calls to switch between Wi-Fi and cellular networks.

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US Silicon Co. Accuses Chinese Biz Of Copying Anode Tech

By Jack McLoone

A California company that claims to have created products allowing for more efficient lithium-ion batteries accused a Chinese company of infringing its patents, asking the U.S. International Trade Commission to block imports of the foreign company's products.

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Chilisin Seeks To Undo Patent Judgments In Cyntec Case

By Adam Lidgett

Chilisin Electronics Corp. says that Cyntec Co.'s failure to disclose an agreement to license a pair of its patents to Apple should nullify judgments against Chilisin in a case where it was found to have infringed the patents.

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Calif. Group Says Maine IGaming Law Can't Depend On Race

By Crystal Owens

The California Gaming Association is looking to back Churchill Downs in its bid to block a Maine law that allows the state's tribal governments to operate online gaming, arguing that the statute flouts fundamental constitutional equity principles and creates a "licensing regime" based on race and ancestry.

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Sodexo Can't Wipe Out Worker's Nicotine Fee Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A California federal judge refused to toss a Sodexo worker's proposed class action alleging the global food services company wrongly charged nicotine-using employees $1,200 more a year for health insurance, opening discovery on allegations that a wellness program implementing the surcharge didn't meet all federal requirements.

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Justices To Hear Fight Over Reach Of Bivens Prison Suits

By Elizabeth Daley

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a case over whether a federal inmate can use a 1971 high court precedent to pursue damages from prison officials for allegedly failing to provide adequate medical care after a 2021 prison fight.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled disputes involving executive compensation, take-private transactions, books and records demands, tender offers and alleged insider misconduct.

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Justices Seek Solicitor General's Views On Drug Pricing Law

By Ivan Moreno

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked the federal government to weigh in on whether it should hear the pharmaceutical industry's challenge to Oregon's drug pricing transparency law, which drugmakers say forces them to justify pricing decisions and risks exposing trade secrets.

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FTC Reaches 'Agreement In Principle' With Southern Glazer's

By Bryan Koenig

A California federal judge hit pause Monday on the Federal Trade Commission's price discrimination lawsuit against Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits LLC so the parties can hash out a tentative deal resolving the FTC's first, and now only, Robinson-Patman Act case in decades.

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States Defend Live Nation Jury Verdict In Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

State enforcers have urged a New York federal court to reject Live Nation's bid to upend a jury verdict finding the company monopolized key parts of the live entertainment industry, telling the court the jury carefully considered ample evidence and should not be second-guessed.

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9th Circ. Doubts California City's Ban On Off-Site Pot Ads

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit panel expressed doubts Monday about an ordinance in Perris, California, banning off-site advertising by cannabis dispensaries, noting that the city collects taxes on cannabis sales and questioning the city's assertion that cannabis use is illegal under federal law.

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3 IPOs Could Raise $791M Combined As Listings Surge

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Three companies spanning the broadband infrastructure, silver mining and e-scooter industries launched plans Monday for initial public offerings that could raise a combined $791 million if they price as planned during the week of June 29.

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State Telecom Roundup: Before Disaster Strikes

By Nadia Dreid

The last three years have been the worst on record for the United States when it comes to damage from weather and climate disasters, and both the private and public sectors have been trying to find ways to harden the nation's telecommunication networks and keep them running during disasters, as climate catastrophes show no sign of letting up.

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California Antitrust Bill Raises New Risks For Dealmakers

A pending California bill would turn the state attorney general's office into a more powerful antitrust enforcer, introducing a host of implications for dealmakers beyond whether deals close, such as deal certainty and risk allocation, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

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Risk Reduction Lessons For PE Firms From PowerSchool Suit

A California federal court's recent orders allowing claims against Bain Capital to proceed based on a data breach at its subsidiary PowerSchool indicate that private equity firms need to strategically approach acquisition activities to avoid cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

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Securities Class Cert., 5 Years After Goldman Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court's 2021 decision in Goldman Sachs Group v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System has not only armed defendants in securities cases with more arguments in individual class certification fights, but may also be providing greater certainty and finality in class certification battles, say attorneys at Skadden.

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Recent Cases Clarify When Risk Disclosures Trigger Liability

Several recent decisions highlight circumstances where risk disclosures can constitute actionable misrepresentations, providing clarity on how the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act's safe harbor and the common-law bespeaks caution doctrine apply to risk disclosures, and how publicly traded companies can guard against such claims, say attorneys at Katten.

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Attorney Reprimanded In $256M Defamation Case

By Rachel Rippetoe

A former Conrad & Scherer LLP managing partner must pay an Alabama coal company's attorney fees after being publicly reprimanded by an Alabama federal judge, who found he lied to the court and paid witnesses to change their testimony in his repeated lawsuits against the company.

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NJ Firm Accused Of 'Double-Dipping' On Pelvic Mesh Fees

By Daniel Connolly

Four women allege in a recently filed lawsuit that a New Jersey law firm overcharged them on legal fees related to a settlement in pelvic mesh litigation, and the recent lawsuit also relates to a long-running conflict between lawyers who formerly worked together.

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Justices Seek Input On NJ State Bar Diversity Challenge

By George Woolston

The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the federal government to weigh in on a Garden State appellate court's decision that approved a New Jersey State Bar Association system for fostering diversity in its leadership that was accused of being discriminatory.

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Blanche, Pirro Can't Be DQ'd From Trump DC Shooting Case

By Craig Clough

A D.C. federal judge held Monday that the man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner can't disqualify U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche from prosecuting him because of their presence at the dinner.

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