Washington

  • July 31, 2026

    Law360 Names 2026's Top Attorneys Under 40

    Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2026, our list of more than 160 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.

  • July 31, 2026

    Oil Cos. Say Estate Can't Expand Heat Wave Death Theory

    Exxon, Chevron and other oil conglomerates have accused a Washington woman suing over a 2021 heat wave death of seeking to retroactively push the boundaries of the legal theory she's posited to the court, while she fired back on Friday that the petroleum companies continue to mischaracterize her claims.

  • July 31, 2026

    9th Circ. Seeks Nev. High Court Input In Live Nation Class Suit

    The Ninth Circuit Friday sought the Nevada Supreme Court's input on a proposed class action against Live Nation, certifying a question about whether an arbitration agreement is void under Nevada law if "the drafter reserves the unilateral right to modify the entire agreement 'at any time' without notice."

  • July 31, 2026

    Parents Sue Meta, TikTok, Others Over Children's Suicides

    Parents of four children who died by suicide after heavy use of social media platforms are suing Meta, Google, TikTok and others in Delaware state court alleging that they pushed features that promoted self-harm and stole their loved ones' childhoods.

  • July 31, 2026

    District Judge Halts Overlapping Valve Arbitration Fee Suit

    A Washington federal court has paused a proposed class action from gamers seeking nearly $21 million in arbitration fees from Valve as the company appeals an order in another case declining to stop arbitrations against it.

  • July 31, 2026

    Case Challenging Ban On 'Conversion Therapy' Reopened

    A Washington federal judge has partly revived a family therapist's constitutional challenge of the state's prohibition on a practice commonly known as conversion therapy in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's March decision finding that a similar Colorado ban amounted to viewpoint discrimination against a Christian counselor.

  • July 31, 2026

    Hotel Booking Cos. Ink $1.1M Deal To End Wash. AG's Suit

    Hotel booking companies Lexyl Technologies LLC and Bookonline.com LLC agreed to pay nearly $1.1 million to resolve claims from Washington's attorney general that the platforms deceptively added a "refund protection fee" to users' reservations, according to a settlement announced Friday.

  • July 31, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: The Fed, Tariffs, SF Housing

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including attorney reactions to the Fed's decision to hold interest rates steady, the latest round of tariffs and San Francisco's attempt to reboot housing development.

  • July 31, 2026

    Amazon Misled Buyers On Seafood Sustainability, Suit Claims

    Shoppers accused Amazon on Friday of overstating the sustainability of seafood sold under its Whole Foods Market brand and others, claiming in a proposed class action that the company uses "unqualified, unsupported, and at times untrue environmental and ecological representations" to trick buyers into paying more for the products.

  • July 31, 2026

    Bankrupt Swiss Rival Drops Expedia Antitrust Claims

    A rival hotel booking website dropped its case in Washington federal court accusing Expedia of driving it out of business by using its control over Trivago to change the price comparison site's auction process for the placement of listings.

  • July 31, 2026

    Teck Asks Justices To Ax Wash. Tribal Cultural Loss Claims

    A Canadian mining company is asking the Supreme Court to reverse a Ninth Circuit ruling that revived Washington tribes' natural resource damages claims for alleged pollution of the Columbia River, arguing the appellate court upended an environmental cleanup statute's tradeoff between broad liability and limited remedies.

  • July 31, 2026

    Goodyear Denied Breaks, OT Pay, Suit Says

    A Goodyear worker hit the tire-maker with a proposed class action in Washington state court, alleging it denied employees required meal and rest breaks, failed to pay for off-the-clock work and used time-rounding practices that left workers underpaid.

  • July 31, 2026

    Musk Wants 9th Circ. To Weigh Twitter Investor Trial Loss

    Elon Musk wants the Ninth Circuit to review two orders entered in a securities case in California federal court accusing him of defrauding Twitter shareholders, according to a notice of appeal.

  • July 31, 2026

    Judge Rejects DOJ's Recusal Bid In Suit By Fired US Atty

    A Washington federal judge has denied a bid from the Trump administration to recuse himself from a case filed by a fired U.S. attorney in Seattle, saying there is no legitimate reason that he should step aside from the case.

  • July 31, 2026

    CBP Not Bound By CIT Ruling In Canadian CEO Border Suit

    A Washington federal judge has thrown out a suit by the Canadian CEO of a cannabis company and two of his employees alleging they were wrongly denied entry to the U.S. because they work in the industry, saying a Court of International Trade ruling allowed the company's merchandise to enter the country, but not its employees.

  • July 30, 2026

    USDA Sued By Nonprofits Over Anti-DEI Grant Conditions

    Five food nonprofits sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday over allegedly unlawful restrictions on grant funding meant to target what the Trump administration has called "radical left ideology," including on issues around diversity, gender identity and immigration.

  • July 30, 2026

    9th Circ. Reverses Hologenix CEO's Tortious Interference Loss

    A Ninth Circuit panel reversed a $2.5 million judgment Thursday against Hologenix CEO Seth Casden by finding a district court erred in ruling the executive is not immune from a tortious interference claim while also reversing a Lanham Act disgorgement award totaling nearly $3 million.

  • July 30, 2026

    Valve Scores Quick Appeal In Gamer Arbitration Clause Fight

    A Seattle federal judge on Thursday granted Valve Corp.'s bid for a quick appeal of an order declining to halt antitrust arbitrations brought by hundreds of individual gamers, pausing the litigation for the video game developer to seek the Ninth Circuit's input on whether the arbitrations can proceed under its subscriber terms.  

  • July 30, 2026

    Apartments.com Tells Judge Rent Payment Fees Not 'Junk'

    The company behind Apartments.com on Wednesday said its costs are clearly disclosed and users have options for avoiding them when paying rent, in a bid to have a Washington federal judge throw out a proposed class action accusing it of charging "junk fees."

  • July 30, 2026

    2 More Circuits Reject No-Bond Rule For Interior ICE Arrests

    Split Seventh Circuit and Ninth Circuit panels ruled Thursday that noncitizens arrested in the interior U.S. cannot be detained without bond, joining four other circuits that have rejected the Trump administration's policy of subjecting these noncitizens to mandatory detention.

  • July 30, 2026

    Albertsons Can't Nix 14 Years Of Opioid Claims At Wash. Trial

    Albertsons and Safeway can't dodge 14 years' worth of claims in Washington state's lawsuit accusing the grocery stores' pharmacies of irresponsibly dispensing prescription opioids and fueling the state's overdose crisis, according to a Seattle judge's ruling Wednesday striking the companies' statute-of-limitations defense.

  • July 30, 2026

    Wash. Justices Say University Owed Duty In Hazing Death Suit

    The Washington State Supreme Court said in a 5-4 ruling Thursday that Washington State University had a duty to protect a student who died of alcohol poisoning following a hazing ritual at an off-campus party, including by taking steps to ensure fraternities were following rules against alcohol misuse and hazing.

  • July 30, 2026

    Renters Seek $120M Fee Award In RealPage Rent-Fixing MDL

    Renters in sprawling multidistrict litigation that reached nearly $360 million in preliminary settlements with building owners over their alleged use of RealPage's software to inflate rents asked a Tennessee federal judge to approve $119.9 million in attorney fees, saying they've expended over 100,000 hours on the case.

  • July 30, 2026

    Chubb Seeks Toss Of Costco's Customer Injury Coverage Row

    A Chubb unit urged a Washington federal court to toss Costco's suit seeking coverage for a personal injury action under a home décor brand's policy, saying the retailer failed to state a claim for additional insured coverage because the underlying injuries are not related to the brand's products.

  • July 30, 2026

    9th Circ. Rules 401(k) Plan Arbitration Clause Unenforceable

    A split Ninth Circuit panel refused Thursday to force individual arbitration of a former asset management company worker's proposed class action alleging 401(k) self-dealing, ruling that an arbitration provision in retirement plan documents was unenforceable because it sought to nullify rights guaranteed by federal benefits law.

Expert Analysis

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Broadest So Far In Wave Of Habeas Decisions

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent opinion in Lopez-Campos v. Raycraft provides the most developed structural reasoning among rulings in a widening circuit split over mandatory detention after undocumented entry into the U.S., and supplies immigration practitioners a template for due process arguments in favor of habeas relief, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: An MDL Realignment

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    With seven multidistrict litigation proceedings initiated so far this year, a review of venue locations suggests a shift away from the East Coast, a seeming reversal of last year's swing in that direction, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

  • 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​​​​​​​.

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