Washington

  • June 12, 2026

    Wellpoint Data Breach Suit Says Delay Elevated Fraud Risk

    A Washington resident accused insurer Wellpoint Washington Inc. and health services provider Independent Clinics of Washington of failing to adequately protect patient information from a June 2025 cyberattack, claiming in a proposed nationwide class action Thursday that Wellpoint also neglected to inform subscribers until nearly a year after the breach.

  • June 12, 2026

    Oregon Athletes Appeal Title IX Class Cert. Denial To 9th Circ.

    Female student-athletes who were denied class certification in a Title IX lawsuit against the University of Oregon have asked the Ninth Circuit permission to appeal, saying a federal judge's decision was "riddled with legal and procedural errors."

  • June 12, 2026

    Enterprise Rent-A-Car Sued Over Wage, Break Claims

    Enterprise Rent-A-Car is accused of consistently shorting overtime pay and denying breaks to hourly employees, whose claims likely exceed $17 million, according to a notice filed by the company Thursday removing the case to the Western District of Washington. 

  • June 12, 2026

    Amazon, Colo. Delivery Drivers Say Wage Suit Can Resume

    Amazon and a proposed class of last-mile delivery drivers for the e-commerce giant asked a Colorado federal judge to allow the drivers' lawsuit over required bathroom breaks to move forward to discovery after the case had been stayed pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

  • June 12, 2026

    Snoqualmie Leader Joins Kilpatrick As Wash. Gov't Adviser

    Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP said it has added Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson's former director of external relations, who had previously served as the Snoqualmie Tribe's governmental affairs and special projects executive director, to the law firm's government relations team.

  • June 12, 2026

    Upper Deck Beats Game Co.'s Bid For $4M Fees After IP Loss

    A Washington federal judge denied a bid from toymaker Ravensburger and a game designer for $3.8 million in legal fees after the court mostly sided with them in Upper Deck's copyright case targeting a Disney-branded trading card game, noting that the suit was "neither unreasonable nor frivolous."  

  • June 12, 2026

    Feds Drop Appeal To Preserve Trump Wind Permit Freeze

    The federal government has dropped its appeal of a Massachusetts federal judge's order last year blocking the Trump administration from freezing wind energy project permits, according to a filing with the First Circuit.

  • June 12, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Deal Innovation, Infra REITs, Compass

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including attorney insights into deal-side innovation, real estate investment trusts for digital infrastructure and New York's scrutiny of the $1.6 billion Compass-Anywhere merger.

  • June 12, 2026

    OceanGate Claims Explorer's Estate Withholding Critical Docs

    OceanGate Inc., the company behind the failed Titan submersible, told a Washington state court Thursday it's been nearly a year since the company sought discovery around the $50 million in alleged damages sought by the estate of a French explorer who died in the incident — so far to no avail.

  • June 12, 2026

    Aetna Can't Nix Unfair Practices Claims In Medical Billing Row

    A Washington acupuncture clinic and doctor accused of submitting fraudulent bills for medical services may proceed with their counterclaims against Aetna for unfair trade practices under the state's Consumer Protection Act, a federal court ruled.

  • June 12, 2026

    Chinese E-Bike Seller Agrees To Stop Using UL Seal

    A Chinese company that sells electric scooters and e-bikes via Amazon has agreed to a permanent injunction against it using the logo of product safety organization UL to falsely promote its products as having been UL-certified.

  • June 12, 2026

    Choice Hotels Worker Moves To Transfer Wage Suit To Md.

    A former Choice Hotels worker has asked a Washington federal court to move her nationwide wage claims to Maryland, arguing the hospitality giant's headquarters there makes it a more appropriate venue for her collective action.

  • June 12, 2026

    Wash. Justices Uphold Repeat DUI Offender Gun Ban

    A 5-4 Washington State Supreme Court majority has found that two men who were prevented from owning firearms after being repeatedly convicted of driving under the influence did not have their Second Amendment rights violated by the restriction.

  • June 12, 2026

    9th Circ. Says Kroger Shoppers 'Obtained No Relief' For Fees

    A Ninth Circuit panel refused to revive a consumer lawsuit challenging Kroger's since-blocked purchase of Albertsons, agreeing with a district court that the deal's abandonment renders the suit moot and the consumers have no claim to attorney fees as victors in wins scored by government enforcers.

  • June 11, 2026

    USAA Says Therapist's Policy Doesn't Cover Ex-Lover's Death

    USAA argued in a Washington federal lawsuit Wednesday that the insurer has no duty to defend a therapist in a wrongful death action brought by the estate of a former patient who was allegedly shot and killed by the therapist's new boyfriend amid the fallout from a "tumultuous" romantic relationship.

  • June 11, 2026

    Automaker Group Wants Wash. Biz Licensing Regs Shut Down

    The Alliance for Automotive Innovation has urged a Washington federal court to invalidate a pair of state business licensing rules, including one that expanded the definition of "soliciting," saying the regulations are unconstitutional and beyond the authority of the state's licensing department.

  • June 11, 2026

    Ed. Dept. Tries New Tack To Scrap K-12 Mental Health Grants

    The U.S. Department of Education pressed ahead with its plan to end up to a billion dollars in school mental health grants, arguing Wednesday that a Seattle federal judge's December 2025 injunction barring the discontinuation of the grants shouldn't block the government from canceling the contracts outright.

  • June 11, 2026

    9th Circ. Fears Unknowns In Amazon's Fight With Perplexity AI

    A Ninth Circuit panelist expressed concern Thursday about potential "unintended consequences" of affirming a lower court order blocking Perplexity's artificial intelligence tool from purchasing items for users on Amazon.com, noting that Amazon's case relies on a decades-old computer fraud law passed long before the proliferation of AI.

  • June 11, 2026

    Court Wrong To Upend Worker's $2M Win, Wash. Justices Say

    The Washington Supreme Court found Thursday that a lower appeals court was too quick to nix a Latino county employee's $2 million verdict on claims he was suspended for calling out race bias, ruling the county's concerns about a set of jury instructions didn't warrant canceling the award.

  • June 11, 2026

    Ex-Pharma Exec Fights SEC 'Shadow Trading' Win At 9th Circ.

    An ex-Medivation Inc. executive urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to scrap a jury verdict finding him liable in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's first-ever "shadow trading" case, arguing the company's own policies permitted the trades and affirming the verdict will allow companies to adopt vague trading policies.

  • June 11, 2026

    FTC Wants Zillow-Redfin Deal Presumed Illegal Ahead Of Trial

    The Federal Trade Commission sought Wednesday to further limit Zillow and Redfin's ability to defend a rental listings syndication deal the agency says was a $100 million payoff for Redfin to exit the market, asking a Virginia federal judge to treat the agreement as a presumptively unlawful transaction.

  • June 11, 2026

    Valve Seeks Appeal After Judge Lets Steam Arbitrations Roll

    Valve will seek interlocutory review of a federal judge's order last month refusing to block hundreds of video game buyers from arbitrating consumer protection claims, the game developer said on Wednesday, citing the Seattle judge's observation during a hearing last month that neither side is "'sitting on comfortable ground.'"

  • June 11, 2026

    Justices Reject Feds' Venue Theory In Twitter Spying Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a former Twitter employee convicted of spying on behalf of Saudi Arabia must be prosecuted in Washington state, where he sent false documents to federal agents, and not in California, where the agents who investigated him are based.

  • June 10, 2026

    States Say Trump's DEI Rule For Contractors Is Unclear, Illegal

    Attorneys general from 19 states and Washington, D.C., on Wednesday sued numerous federal officials and agencies in an attempt to block the Trump administration's March 26 executive order prohibiting government contractors — including states — from engaging in "racially discriminatory" activity around diversity, equity and inclusion.

  • June 10, 2026

    GEO Says ICE, Not Contractor, Blocked Wash. Facility Access

    Private prison operator The GEO Group Inc. on Tuesday urged a federal judge to throw out counterclaims from Washington state officials who allege they were wrongfully denied access to an immigration processing center, arguing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not The GEO Group, controls entry to the facility.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    NY Times Word Puzzles Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Every morning I let The New York Times humble me with word games, which offer a chance to recalibrate my brain before the day's chaos arrives and remind me that a solution — whether to a puzzle or employment law issue — almost always exists once I find the right angle, says Amy Epstein Gluck at Pierson Ferdinand.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lesson: Diagnose Before Arguing

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    Law school often skips over explicitly teaching students how to determine what kind of problem a case presents before they commit to a particular doctrinal path, which risks building arguments that are internally coherent but externally misaligned, says Melanie Oxhorn at Kobre & Kim.

  • Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

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    Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Key Tronic Case Shows SEC Isn't Ignoring Controls Violations

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's first nonfraud enforcement action against a public company during Chairman Paul Atkins' tenure reflects the commission’s willingness to bring enforcement actions that charge books and records and internal controls violations, despite deviating from policing technical violations, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • 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.

  • 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​​​​​​​.

  • The Ethics And Practicalities Of Representing AI Agents

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    With autonomous artificial intelligence agents now able to take action without explicit instructions from — or the awareness of — their human owners, the bar must confront whether existing frameworks like informed consent and client privilege will be sufficient on the day an AI agent calls seeking counsel, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Notable insurance class action decisions from the first quarter of the year included reminders about the statute of limitations as a key defense for claims relating to allegedly deficient forms, the importance of focus on the specific contract at issue and further guidance on the contours of Rule 23, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

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