Disney, WB, Universal Sue Chinese AI Firm Alleging IP Theft

By Craig Clough

Companies affiliated with Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal teamed up Tuesday to sue Chinese artificial company MiniMax, alleging the company steals their intellectual property to produce "an endless supply of infringing images and videos" featuring popular characters like Spider-Man, Darth Vader and Superman.

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UC Groups Sue Trump Admin Alleging Free Speech Violations

By Craig Clough

A coalition of faculty, staff and unions affiliated with the University of California system sued the Trump administration in federal court Tuesday, arguing the suspension of $584 million in research projects along with threats to terminate billions more violates the law and is an attempt to violate their free speech.

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California AG Bonta Names New State Solicitor General

By James Mills

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has promoted a veteran attorney in the state's Department of Justice to become the state's new solicitor general.

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Tesla Settles Suit Over Fatal 2019 Autopilot Crash In Calif.

By Lauren Berg

Tesla has reached a confidential settlement to resolve a lawsuit over the death of a 15-year-old killed in a 2019 car crash involving a Model 3 that was operating on self-driving, autopilot technology, according to an order in California state court Tuesday.

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Calif. Gov. Taps Consultancy Exec For Privacy Agency Board

By Allison Grande

A business executive and consultant with "extensive leadership experience" in data privacy and corporate governance has been picked to sit on the five-member board that governs the California Privacy Protection Agency, the regulator said Monday. 

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Brief

Wells Fargo Brass Reach Settlement In 'Sham' Hiring Suit

By Katryna Perera

Wells Fargo investors and executives have told a California federal judge they've reached a settlement in a derivative suit claiming the bank's leadership failed to address the company's discriminatory lending and hiring practices.

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Biz Groups Ask 9th Circ. To Block Calif. Climate Rules

By Lauren Berg

A coalition of business groups asked the Ninth Circuit to halt two new California climate regulations requiring large companies to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks, while they appeal a lower court's refusal to preliminarily block the rules that they say violate their First Amendment rights.

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Feds Oppose Sierra Club's Bid To Freeze $50M In Border Funds

By Elaine Briseño

The Trump administration told a California federal court Monday that forcing it to honor a settlement agreement between the Sierra Club and the Biden administration to use $50 million in border security funds on environmental projects would place the government between two conflicting court orders.

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Roundup User Fights Uphill To Revive Cancer Suit At 9th Circ.

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit judge expressed doubts Tuesday that a lower court erred in tossing a personal-injury plaintiff's claims that Monsanto's Roundup likely caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma, saying during a hearing the trial judge had a "great deal of discretion" to decide whether a general-causation expert's opinion was based on "junk science."

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Mother Claims Aquaphor Healing Ointment Contains Allergen

By Mike Curley

A California mother of two is suing Beiersdorf Inc. in federal court, alleging that its infant and children's healing ointments contain a common allergen despite being marketed as hypoallergenic.

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Okla. Tribe Sues Social Platforms Over Youth Mental Health

By Emily Field

The Chickasaw Nation on Monday became the latest Native American tribe to lodge claims against social media giants in California federal court, alleging that the platforms harm their youth who are already at risk of mental health problems and suicidal ideation.

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Alleged Uber Assault 'Catalyst' For PTSD Symptoms, Jury Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

A psychologist who treated a woman claiming she was sexually assaulted by her Uber driver told a San Francisco jury Tuesday in a bellwether trial that the alleged 2016 event was the "catalyst" for the post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms the then-college student subsequently displayed.

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Meta Loses Bid To Overturn Verdict In Flo Privacy Class Action

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge has refused to disturb a jury verdict that found Meta Platforms Inc. liable for using an online tracking tool to unlawfully obtain sensitive health data that users entered into the Flo menstrual tracking app, finding that there was nothing to justify reversing this result.

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TikTok Accused Of Withholding Docs On Anorexic Influencer

By Emily Field

Personal injury plaintiffs have told a California magistrate judge presiding over discovery in multidistrict litigation that TikTok is refusing to hand over more information about the app's relationship with Eugenia Cooney, a TikTok influencer with anorexia and 2.8 million followers, according to a document unsealed on Monday.

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Lowe's Skirts NC Class Actions Over Alleged False Discounts

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina federal judge threw out two proposed consumer class actions alleging Lowe's tricks customers into thinking they're getting a good deal with falsely advertised discount prices on products, finding the alleged harm for potential class members is too speculative.

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Doximity Says AI Startup Using Lawsuits To Thwart Rivals

By Julie Manganis

Telehealth platform Doximity has asked a Massachusetts federal judge to toss a trade secrets lawsuit brought by medical artificial intelligence company OpenEvidence, saying the startup is trying to "use the courts to stifle fair competition."

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Fed. Circ. Brushes Off Wig Grip Patent Case

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a wig grip apparatus patent owner's suit accusing a California hair replacement service of infringement, agreeing with how the lower court interpreted a key patent phrase.

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Media Co. Told Employees To Falsify Breaks, Worker Says

By Irene Spezzamonte

A California media company pressured employees to falsely record breaks and fired those who complained about wage and hour violations or sought a raise, a former production coordinator claimed in a suit filed in state court.

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Brief

9th Circ. Affirms Payment Plan For Poor Drug Dealer

By Elizabeth Daley

A Ninth Circuit panel has found that an Idaho federal court was within the law to require both an immediate payment and a payment plan over time for a fine and an assessment totaling $1,100 against an indigent drug dealer.

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Avalara Investors' Claims Pass Muster After 9th Circ. Revival

By Katryna Perera

A Washington federal judge has allowed a proposed class action to proceed accusing tax software company Avalara Inc. of misleading investors ahead of an $8.4 billion deal to take the company private, but said the suit failed to adequately allege negligence by individual board members, giving investors one week to amend those claims.

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NY Cannabis License At Center Of Suit Against Fla. Broker

By Sam Reisman

The entrepreneurs who secured one of the earliest New York cannabis retail licenses as part of a legal settlement with the state allege in a new California state lawsuit that a Florida cannabis franchise broker frustrated their effort to sell a share of the venture.

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DOE Asks Judge To Pull Plug On States' Cost Cap Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Energy has asked an Oregon federal judge to toss a New York-led lawsuit challenging a new policy that would cap certain overhead costs under energy assistance awards, arguing the change falls within its discretionary authorities.

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9th Circ. Tosses Appeal Of Automatic Stay In Bankruptcy Case

By Alex Wittenberg

The Ninth Circuit threw out an appeal of an Arizona bankruptcy court order that reinstated a stay of state court litigation between a mother and daughter, finding that a lower court erred in hearing the case.

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Ruling On Labor Peace Law Marks Shift For Cannabis Cos.

Currently on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, an Oregon federal court’s novel decision in Casala v. Kotek, invalidating a state law that requires labor peace agreements as a condition of cannabis business licensure, marks the potential for compliance uncertainty for all cannabis employers in states with labor peace mandates, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

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Reports Of Chemical Safety Board's Demise Are Premature

Despite the Trump administration's proposal to close down the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, companies should note that the agency recently enforced its accidental release reporting rule for the first time, is conducting ongoing investigations and expects more funding from Congress, say attorneys at Conn Maciel.

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2 Fed. Circ. Rulings Show Risks Of Altering Patent Claims

Two recent patent decisions from the Federal Circuit, overturning significant judgments, serve as reminders that claim modifications and cancellations may have substantive effects on the scope of other claims, and that arguments distinguishing prior art and characterizing claims may also limit claim scope, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Rebutting Price Impact In Securities Class Actions

Defendants litigating securities cases historically faced long odds in defeating class certification, but that paradigm has recently begun to shift, with recent cases ushering in a more searching analysis of price impact and changing the evidence courts can consider at the class certification stage, say attorneys at Katten.

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How 5th Circ.'s NLRB Ruling May Reshape Federal Labor Law

The Fifth Circuit's recent SpaceX National Labor Relations Board decision undermines the agency's authority, but it does not immediately shut down NLRB enforcement, so employers and labor organizations should expect more litigation, more uncertainty and a possible U.S. Supreme Court showdown, say attorneys at Goldberg Segalla.

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7 Document Review Concepts New Attorneys Need To Know

For new associates joining firms this fall, stepping into the world of e-discovery can feel like learning a new language, but understanding a handful of fundamentals — from coding layouts to metadata — can help attorneys become fluent in document review, says Ann Motl at Bowman and Brooke.

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'It's Confidential': Judiciary Chair Mum On Court System Strife

By Jeff Overley

The federal judiciary's leaders heard sharp criticism at a private meeting Tuesday regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's increasing willingness to block lower court decisions, according to remarks released publicly, and one of those leaders subsequently deflected requests for details during an official briefing.

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Feature

For Cahill Atty, Rare Disease Pro Bono Work Is Personal

By Mark Payne

John MacGregor of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP didn't have any experience in healthcare law before taking on a pro bono client that supports people with a rare form of epilepsy. MacGregor's son is one of them.

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Willkie Taps PE Head To Co-Lead The Firm In 2027

By Andrea Keckley

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP announced Tuesday that the nearly decade-long head of its private equity practice will step up to co-lead the firm as its joint chairman at the start of 2027.

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Sotomayor Warns Civics Undereducation Leads To Bad Laws

By Kevin Penton

Those looking to change the nation's laws first need to understand how they work and why they are in place, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor told a packed auditorium at New York Law School on Tuesday.

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Analysis

The Patent Workforce Is Attracting Fewer Attys, More Agents

By Theresa Schliep

The pool of patent practitioners registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has undergone a dramatic shift over the past few decades, with the number of attorneys taking the bar exam decreasing at the same time more patent agents are entering the field.

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Acting US Atty Denies Prosecution Of Lawmaker Is 'Selective'

By Parker Quinlan

The U.S. Department of Justice has requested that assault charges not be dismissed against U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, pushing back on claims the government is selectively prosecuting her following a confrontation with federal agents in May at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark.

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Former Judge Aims To Escape Suit Over Secret Atty Romance

By Ryan Boysen

Former Bankruptcy Judge David R. Jones wants out of a lawsuit claiming his secret romance scandal infected the restructuring of life insurance bond seller GWG Holdings Inc., arguing that he's clearly protected by judicial immunity.

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Husch Blackwell Used 401(k) Cash To Pay Bills, Ex-Atty Says

By Grace Elletson

A former Husch Blackwell LLP attorney sued the firm in Missouri federal court Tuesday, claiming it violated federal benefits law by delaying sending employees' 401(k) contributions to their retirement plan so that the cash could be used to pay for the firm's operating expenses.

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GOP Spending Bill Seeks $58M For Supreme Court, Marshals

By Courtney Bublé

The House Republicans unveiled their short-term spending bill Tuesday, and it includes an extra $28 million for security for the U.S. Supreme Court justices.

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Insurer Hits Hall Booth With $10M Suit Over Botched Defense

By Emily Johnson

A former client of Hall Booth Smith PC and its attorney allege the law firm botched its legal representation in an underlying suit related to a death at an indoor shooting range and caused the insurer $10.6 million in financial harm, according to a legal malpractice suit lodged in Georgia state court.

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Trump Taps US Atty Nominees For NC, NH And Louisiana

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump has named U.S. attorney nominees for Louisiana, New Hampshire and North Carolina.

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Ga. Justices Won't Reinstate DA Willis To Trump Election Case

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a lower court's ruling disqualifying Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the 2020 Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and his co-defendants.

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