Washington

  • July 13, 2026

    Amazon Settles With AI Worker Who Alleged It Ignored IP Law

    A Los Angeles judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday by an artificial intelligence researcher who alleged the company ignored numerous laws in a frantic attempt to catch up to its artificial intelligence rivals after the parties reached an out-of-court settlement.

  • July 13, 2026

    12 Democratic AGs Challenge Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal

    A dozen Democratic attorneys general on Monday sought to block Paramount Skydance's proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing in a California federal court challenge that the deal threatens competition for film distribution and basic cable.

  • July 10, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Housing Bill, Opportunity Zones, Florida

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including the latest on the federal housing bill, the rollout of Opportunity Zones 2.0, and a look at Florida at the midyear.

  • July 10, 2026

    States' Stopgap Suit Aims To Shield K-12 Mental Health Grants

    Washington and 14 other states launched a preemptive lawsuit Friday to stop the Trump administration from ending federal grants for mental health programming in public schools, seeking to preserve the funding if the U.S. Department of Education succeeds in asserting new grounds for canceling the grants in a related case.

  • July 10, 2026

    Kalshi's Contracts 'Sound Like A Bet,' 9th Circ. Judge Says

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared open Friday to preliminarily blocking Kalshi and Robinhood from offering sports contracts on tribal land, with one judge saying Kalshi's contracts "sound like a bet" subject to Native American gambling laws and another saying it "wouldn't be so unreasonable" to exclude tribes from federal oversight in this area.

  • July 10, 2026

    Nexstar-Tegna Merger Challenge Gets July 2027 Trial Date

    A California federal judge has scheduled an early July 2027 trial date in DirecTV and a coalition of states' lawsuit seeking to stop Nexstar Media Group Inc.'s integration with rival broadcast company Tegna Inc.

  • July 10, 2026

    Amazon Deal Would Let Casino App Users Pursue Developers

    Amazon.com Inc. has reached a tentative deal in a proposed class action accusing the e-commerce giant of promoting "social casino" mobile apps that constitute illegal gambling, agreeing to pay $2.5 million upfront and leverage indemnity rights that would allow the putative class to recover money from the app developers.

  • July 10, 2026

    Hospitals, Housing Targeted In 2026 As Fed Antitrust Wanes

    The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission are confronting claims that federal antitrust enforcement is petering out even as the agencies' dockets in 2026 include actions against hospital systems' demands on insurers, rental home listings, protein industry data and criminal prosecutions.

  • July 10, 2026

    Kalshi Fights 'Extraordinary' Bid To Halt Wash. Operations

    Counsel for Kalshi pressed a Washington state court Friday to reject the state's request for a court order blocking the prediction market from operating in Washington, arguing its attorney general's office is seeking an injunction "far broader" than orders issued in similar litigation in Nevada and Michigan courts.

  • July 10, 2026

    Judge Says GEO, Not ICE, Controls Detention Center Access

    A Washington federal judge rejected claims from GEO Group that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement controls access to an ICE detention center in the state and ordered GEO to allow state inspectors into portions of the center it controls.

  • July 10, 2026

    DOJ Defends Nurse Wage-Fixing Conviction At 9th Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Justice urged a Ninth Circuit panel to reject a Las Vegas home nursing executive's appeal of its first-ever criminal wage-fixing conviction, defending its trial characterization of a leniency deal with a cooperating company and the inclusion of the executive's statement likening nurses to prostitutes.

  • July 09, 2026

    Wash. Judge Grants Amazon Win In Audible Auto-Enroll Suit

    A Washington federal judge handed a win to Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday, dismissing a shopper's proposed class action accusing the e-commerce giant and its subsidiary Audible Inc. of deceptively enrolling customers in audiobook service subscriptions.

  • July 09, 2026

    Accellion Defeats Bid To Expand Classes In Data Breach Suit

    A California federal judge rejected a bid by plaintiffs suing software vendor Accellion over a sprawling data breach to broaden a previous order that limited class certification to allow only for the recovery of nominal damages, finding the introduction of a new damages expert wasn't enough to change the outcome.

  • July 09, 2026

    Exxon, Chevron Can't Exit Climate Suit Over Wash. Heat Death

    A Washington state judge said Wednesday that Exxon, Chevron and other oil giants must face a lawsuit over a death in a 2021 heat wave, distinguishing the case from other climate torts brought by cities and rejecting the companies' contention that the family of Juliana Leon is seeking to regulate global greenhouse gas emissions.

  • July 09, 2026

    9th Circ. Spurns Doxo's Bid To Arbitrate Class Action

    The Ninth Circuit backed a Washington district court's decision to deny online bill-pay service Doxo Inc.'s bid to arbitrate class claims that it deceived customers by not disclosing fees upfront, saying the company waited too long and litigated too much before pushing for arbitration.

  • July 09, 2026

    Southwest Airlines Accused Of Shorting Wash. Workers' Pay

    Southwest Airlines Co. regularly underpaid its workers in Washington state and denied them legally mandated meal and rest breaks, according to a former employee's proposed class action against the Texas-based carrier.

  • July 09, 2026

    Ropes & Gray, Goodwin Steer Sale Of Russell Investments

    Investment solutions provider Russell Investments, led by Goodwin Procter LLP, on Thursday announced that it has agreed to be bought by a consortium led by Ropes & Gray LLP-advised B Capital.

  • July 09, 2026

    Calif. Tribe Asks High Court To Revive Card Check Award Row

    A California Native American tribe has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to correct an arbitration award requiring it to follow the guidelines for union representation elections in its 2017 agreement with UNITE HERE, arguing that the award invalidated a tribal law that superseded the tribe's agreement with the union.

  • July 09, 2026

    Wash. Justices Nix Live-In Caregiver Wage Exemption

    Adult family homes in Washington cannot use a state minimum wage exemption to deny wage-and-hour protections to caregivers who live where they work, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday, holding the carveout unconstitutional as applied to workers in what it deemed a dangerous job.

  • July 09, 2026

    States Flag Freedom Forever's Deal With Financier In Ch. 11

    A dozen states have objected to Freedom Forever's settlement with one of its key financing partners, telling a Delaware judge they were concerned about the deal's impacts on customer contracts with the bankrupt solar panel installer.

  • July 09, 2026

    Actavis Can't Escape State AG Generic Drug Claims

    A Connecticut federal court has trimmed several claims from state enforcers accusing Actavis of fixing prices for dermatology drug products but allowed most of the claims against the drugmaker to proceed.

  • July 08, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives Whirlpool Dishwasher Warranty Class Action

    The Ninth Circuit has revived a Washington retiree's lawsuit accusing Whirlpool Corp. and an insurer of deceptively marketing a service plan as providing repairs or replacements for her dishwasher when the fine print allowed them to instead buy the appliance at a depreciated price, leaving her without enough money to replace it.

  • July 08, 2026

    Amazon Ordered To Give FTC Docs It Claimed Were Privileged

    A Washington federal judge ordered Amazon to give the Federal Trade Commission several documents sought in the agency's antitrust case and said a "re-review" of the online retailer's discovery is needed to ensure the company "does not continue to withhold documents based on an improper application of the attorney-client privilege."

  • July 08, 2026

    Costco Sued Over Reports Of Heavy Metals In Protein Powder

    Costco was hit with a proposed class action in Washington federal court Tuesday alleging the wholesale retailer knew the Orgain protein powders it sold at its warehouses and online risked containing dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals, but marketed them as providing "good, clean nutrition" and having "quality ingredients."

  • July 08, 2026

    9th Circ. Says Netflix Harassment Suit Belongs In Arbitration

    A former Netflix employee must arbitrate her lawsuit alleging the streaming giant fired her for raising concerns about its sexually charged office environment, with the Ninth Circuit ruling Wednesday that her dispute began before a law banning mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims took effect.

Expert Analysis

  • 'Made In America' EO May Not Survive Section 230

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in advertising directs the Federal Trade Commission to deem online marketplaces' failure to verify third-party origin claims as unlawful, but such a rule would likely run into Section 230's publisher immunity doctrine, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • CFTC Actions Show Prediction Market Insider Trading Risks

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    It is a myth that insider trading law does not apply in prediction markets, as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement actions illustrate that it has full authority to pursue such cases federally — and intends to, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

  • Prepping For White House's Proposed AI Framework

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    The artificial intelligence legislative framework issued by the White House last month reframes the policy landscape, creating a number of near-term developments for companies to track as congressional committees attempt to convert the framework into legislative text, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    Apple Discovery Fight Could Revive DOJ's Antitrust Appetite

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    Winning discovery disputes in the ongoing federal antitrust litigation over Apple’s app store practices is a huge opportunity for the Justice Department to return to its once-vigorous pursuit of product tying by tech monopolies, catch up with foreign competition regulators and establish clear standards for digital markets, says Ediberto Roman at Florida International University.

  • Opinion

    State Bars Need To Get Specific About AI Confidentiality

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    Lawyers need to put actual client information into artificial intelligence tools to get their full value, but they cannot confidently do so until state bars offer clear, formal authority on which plan tiers of the three most popular generative AI tools are safe to use when sharing specific client details, says attorney Nick Berk.

  • What Justices' Review Of Guam Case Will Mean For Permitting

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    In U.S. Department of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan, the U.S. Supreme Court will address whether a federal agency's permit application is a final decision that courts can review — a question whose answer could reshape the timing and strategy of environmental litigation across the federal permitting landscape, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Restraint Anchors Constitutional Order

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    Contrasting opinions in two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Trump v. CASA and Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections — demonstrate how the judiciary’s constitutionally entrusted role can easily be preserved or disrupted, and invite renewed attention to the enduring importance of judicial restraint, says Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace.

  • Series

    Alpine Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skiing has shaped habits I rely on daily as an attorney — focus, resilience and the ability to remain steady when circumstances shift rapidly — and influences the way I approach legal strategy, client counseling and teamwork, says Isaku Begert at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Telehealth Suit May Redraw Rules For Physician Classification

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    A new class action in California federal court, Cioppettini v. Mochi Medical, alleging a telehealth company misclassified providers as independent contractors, suggests that traditional markers of physician independence may not apply to telehealth, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Opinion

    Wash. Amazon Ruling Should Reshape Suicide Liability

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    The Washington Supreme Court's reinstatement of negligence claims in Scott v. Amazon.com, brought by the families of people who died by suicide after purchasing chemicals online, signals a reckoning for digital commerce and the rejection of the defense that online marketplaces are merely passive technology platforms, says Donald Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • Pivotal 6th Circ. Ruling Threatens Decades Of NLRB Decisions

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Brown-Forman v. National Labor Relations Board fundamentally challenged the NLRB's long-standing practice of establishing policies through adjudication rather than formal rulemaking, giving employers and unions a new avenue to procedurally attack the vast majority of its rules, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Pension Case Offers Entertainment Work Exception Insights

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    A recent Ninth Circuit decision clarified that any amount of entertainment work can satisfy the entertainment industry exception under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act, reinforcing that statutory language, rather than evolving business models, dictates withdrawal liability outcomes, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Justices' Ruling Stresses Quick Action Against Absconders

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in Rico v. U.S. that a supervised release term is not automatically extended when a defendant absconds, probation officers and prosecutors risk being unable to address later violations if they don't act promptly to secure warrants, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • How Cos. Can Navigate The Patchwork Of AI Safety Bills

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    In the first few months of 2026, state and federal lawmakers introduced hundreds of bills to address the perceived safety risks of artificial intelligence, so companies should assess whether existing or planned services could be scoped into AI safety legislation across jurisdictions, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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