Washington

  • July 29, 2026

    'Vibe Coding' Pushes Cos. To Rethink Copyright Protection

    As artificial intelligence takes on more software development projects, businesses embracing “vibe coding” are adapting to uncertain copyright protection by documenting engineers’ contributions, keeping humans involved in high-value projects and leaning more heavily on trade secrets.

  • July 29, 2026

    Amicus Briefs Back Decertification In Juul, Altria Antitrust Suit

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 14 states led by Iowa, and legal interest groups are urging the Ninth Circuit to throw out class certification in antitrust litigation against Altria and Juul, joining the companies in arguing that the trial court misapplied California law to apply to other states.

  • July 28, 2026

    DHS Can't Undo Order Halting TSA Union Deal Cancellation

    A federal judge in Seattle denied the Trump administration's bid on Tuesday to lift a court order blocking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from canceling a collective bargaining agreement covering thousands of Transportation Security Administration workers, saying the government failed to debunk two independent grounds for the injunction.

  • July 28, 2026

    Ed Dept. Can't Cancel K–12 Mental Health Grants Worth $1B

    A Washington federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Tuesday from terminating nearly $1 billion in K–12 mental health grants serving 15 states, finding that the plaintiff states are likely to prove the U.S. Education Department bypassed federal procedures when attempting to cut off the funds.

  • July 28, 2026

    Amazon To Pay $2M To End Suit Over Rest Breaks In Wash.

    Amazon will pay $2 million to resolve Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go store workers' accusations that the e-commerce giant failed to provide them with meal and rest breaks required under Washington state law, according to a settlement given final approval by a Pierce County judge.

  • July 28, 2026

    Wash. AG's Income Tax Repeal Ballot Language Challenged

    Political action committee Let's Go Washington on Monday launched a legal challenge to the Evergreen State attorney general's wording of a November ballot measure that would repeal a recently passed 9.9% tax on annual income above $1 million, claiming the summary is inaccurate and slanted in favor of the tax.

  • July 28, 2026

    States Back Guam Group In High Court Disposal Permit Fight

    A coalition of states has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the U.S. Air Force must comply with separate, complementary environmental laws over its permit renewal application to detonate expired munitions in Guam, arguing the laws have distinct aims.

  • July 28, 2026

    Calif. Warns SEC Against Preempting State REIT Registration

    California is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission not to adopt a proposal that could free certain real estate investment trusts and business development companies from registering with the states, saying it could leave retirees and the elderly vulnerable to fraud.

  • July 28, 2026

    Wash. Panel Upholds DoorDash's $14.5M Insurance Penalty

    DoorDash must pay $14.5 million in taxes and penalties for failing to pay its Dashers' industrial insurance premiums each quarter from 2017 to 2019, Washington appellate judges ruled Tuesday, finding the Dashers were covered workers under state law since their personal labor was the essence of their contracts.

  • July 28, 2026

    Judge Mulls Pausing Medicaid Work Rule For 'Frail' Recipients

    A Massachusetts federal judge said Tuesday he anticipates deciding by the end of the week whether the Trump administration will have to pause part of a new rule states must follow in determining whether medically frail Medicaid recipients are exempt from new work or school requirements.

  • July 28, 2026

    340B Appellate Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2026

    Drugmakers are pressing appellate judges in the back half of 2026 to strike down state laws blocking them from restricting 340B contract pharmacy arrangements. Law360 Healthcare Authority has the cases to watch.

  • July 28, 2026

    Teva Can't 'Literally Whine' Of Being Held To DOJ Admissions

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has taken Teva to task for trying to avoid being held to its admissions of price-fixing in a $225 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, ruling that Humana can use those admissions in one of the first bellwether trials in sprawling multidistrict litigation.

  • July 28, 2026

    Watchdog Org. Asks Court For Trump-IRS Deal Docs

    A watchdog organization asked a D.C. federal court to order the government to disclose communications relating to the settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service over leaks of his tax information.

  • July 28, 2026

    Zillow Judge Tosses Home Loan Claims, Leaves Door Open

    A Washington federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Zillow of paying kickbacks to brokers that directed homebuyers to use the company's mortgage services, in a scheme that plaintiffs argued inflated the overall cost of home purchases and loans.

  • July 27, 2026

    Albertsons Opioid Trial Told Of Needles, ODs In Library

    A witness in Washington's case accusing Albertsons Cos. Inc. of fueling the state's opioid crisis testified at a bench trial Monday that problem drug use was evident in a city library system she's led for nearly a decade, pointing to syringes scattered across the facility and multiple instances of overdoses.

  • July 27, 2026

    Wash. Panel Revives Island Health Wage, Break Class Action

    A Washington Court of Appeals panel has reinstated a worker's proposed class action accusing public hospital district Island Health of denying employees meal breaks and illegally rounding time worked when calculating wages, finding Monday that a trial court wrongly concluded the claims must be arbitrated under a union agreement.

  • July 27, 2026

    Kalshi Seeks To Keep Operating In Wash. Pending Appeal

    Kalshi has urged a Washington judge to pause a recent order granting the state attorney general's bid to preliminarily enjoin the prediction market platform from operating within the state, saying the injunction causes Kalshi to face a "'Hobson's choice' between state enforcement and its federal duties."

  • July 27, 2026

    OceanGate Foundation Insurer Launches Titan Coverage Suit

    Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. urged a Seattle federal court Friday to find it has no duty to defend nonprofit OceanGate Foundation from a lawsuit filed by the family of a French explorer who died during the Titan deep-sea submersible's 2023 expedition, or otherwise rule any coverage obligations are capped at $100,000.

  • July 27, 2026

    Wash., Hayden Homes Reach $1.6M Deal To End Fee Claims

    Hayden Homes LLC and affordable housing-focused nonprofit lender First Story agreed to pay more than $1.6 million to settle Washington state's claims that they charged home sellers illegal private transfer fees, the state's attorney general announced Monday.

  • July 27, 2026

    Fertilizer Biz Asks Justices To Reverse Idaho Tribal Land Swap

    An Idaho agribusiness is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a Ninth Circuit decision that invalidated a U.S. Department of the Interior land transfer over tribal concerns of contamination from a planned fertilizer plant expansion, arguing the ruling undermines the country's food security, thousands of jobs and millions in economic activity.

  • July 27, 2026

    Live Nation, DOJ Say States Have Enough Discovery Into Deal

    The U.S. Department of Justice has joined with Live Nation to resist a discovery request by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general seeking more information about a settlement the federal government reached with the company in the middle of an antitrust trial.

  • July 27, 2026

    Hemp Co. Says DEA Defied Farm Bill By Banning HHC

    A North Carolina hemp company challenging the legality of a recent U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration rule designating a psychoactive hemp-derived compound as a Schedule I substance has told the Fourth Circuit that the agency defied Congress when it issued the rule.

  • July 27, 2026

    Utilities Org. Urges FCC Not To Preempt Wash. Pole Regs

    A group representing 27 consumer-owned public utility districts in Washington state has told the Federal Communications Commission not to preempt the state's process to resolve issues stemming from mobile or internet service providers wanting to attach equipment to utility poles.

  • July 27, 2026

    Installer Sues Canadian Solar After He's Crushed By Panels

    A Washington man who owns a solar component contractor is suing Canadian Solar Inc. and its affiliates in federal court, alleging poor packaging caused 1,800 pounds of solar panels to fall over and crush him.

  • July 24, 2026

    Illinois Blocked From Giving Tuition Aid To Immigrants

    A federal judge Friday permanently barred Illinois from providing benefits such as in-state tuition and education scholarships to unauthorized immigrants, agreeing with the Trump administration's argument that the offerings run afoul of federal law by discriminating against U.S. citizens.

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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