Washington

  • December 02, 2025

    5th Circ. Weighs If Ex-Starbucks CEO Made Anti-Union Threat

    A Fifth Circuit panel pressed Starbucks Corp. to explain how former CEO Howard Schultz's comments telling a pro-union employee they could find another job did not run afoul of labor law, saying Tuesday the comments could be seen as threatening retaliation.

  • December 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Pauses Cannabis Dormant Commerce Clause Case

    The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday stayed proceedings in a constitutional challenge to Los Angeles' cannabis social equity program while the appellate court considers two other similar cases from the same litigant.

  • December 02, 2025

    Microsoft Touted Inclusion, Then Fired Blind Worker, Suit Says

    Microsoft Corp. held up a blind employee as an example of its commitment to inclusive hiring, then canned his accessibility project for people with vision issues and laid him off, according to a recent suit in Washington state court accusing the company of illegal discrimination.

  • December 02, 2025

    Wash. AI Task Force Proposes Guardrails And Disclosures

    A Washington state task force Monday unveiled a set of proposed guardrails and disclosure requirements for the responsible use of artificial intelligence, including mandating that developers publicly share details about data used to train their models and requiring law enforcement to disclose the use of AI tools.

  • December 02, 2025

    Judge Doubts That FEMA Funds Freeze Is Harmless

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday appeared to push back on assertions by the Trump administration that states are not entitled to a court order vacating what the government says is a temporary freeze of Federal Emergency Management Agency funds intended to pay for disaster-mitigating projects.

  • December 02, 2025

    States' HPE-Juniper Intervention Limited To Settlement

    A California federal court's ruling allowing state enforcers to intervene over a deal to end the Justice Department's challenge of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks is limited to the court's review of the settlement, according to a new order.

  • December 02, 2025

    'Ionization' Smoke Detectors Are Faulty, Class Claims

    A proposed class of buyers is suing the makers of "ionization technology" smoke alarms, saying they have hidden the fact that they are incapable of detecting slow, smoldering fires that are more dangerous and common than the faster, flaming fires they can detect.

  • December 02, 2025

    Approach The Bench: Judge Robart On Living Under Threats

    It's been nearly nine years since U.S. District Judge James Robart blocked President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order barring travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, and though the judge has had a long career — including groundbreaking patent and securities decisions — he still occasionally gets recognized as that "so-called judge."

  • December 01, 2025

    Silver Fern Chemical Tells Jury 3 Workers Stole Trade Secrets

    Counsel for chemical distributor Silver Fern Chemical told a Seattle federal jury Monday that three of its salespeople cheated the company out of more than $7 million in revenue by taking confidential customer information to a rival business, kicking off what's expected to be a 12-day trial.

  • December 01, 2025

    Apple IPhone Buyers Push To Appeal Class Decertification

    Consumers told the Ninth Circuit they need to appeal a district court ruling that decertified a class of iPhone buyers expected to reach 200 million members in an antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies because the ruling was a "death knell" for the case.

  • December 01, 2025

    FCA Says Drivers Lack Standing In Exploding Minivan MDL

    Fiat Chrysler has urged a Michigan federal judge to toss the remaining claims in sprawling multidistrict litigation over allegations that certain plug-in hybrid minivans are at risk for spontaneous fires, arguing most of the plaintiffs haven't suffered from an actual defect or dealt with financial loss.

  • December 01, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects Asylum Bid From Sikh Party Supporter

    An Indian man who says he was assaulted in his home country for participating in a Sikh political party cannot seek asylum in the U.S., the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday, saying he hasn't established persecution, while one judge called for a U.S. Supreme Court "course correction" ironing out the appropriate review standard.

  • December 01, 2025

    AGs Push For Law To Boost Tribal Access To US Marshals

    Thirty-nine state attorneys general are calling on federal lawmakers to pass legislation that would allow the U.S. Marshal's Service to assist tribal law enforcement in tracking down individuals with felony warrants, saying it's vital to public safety and to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis.

  • December 01, 2025

    Starbucks To Pay $39M In NYC's Fair Workweek Law Probe

    Starbucks has agreed to shell out nearly $39 million following a New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection probe that found the coffee chain had violated the city's Fair Workweek Law, the department and Mayor Eric Adams announced on Monday.

  • November 26, 2025

    Boeing Says Colo. Co. Waived Privilege For Shared Docs

    Mistakes can happen, but a Colorado company accusing The Boeing Co. of using stolen tech for a NASA moon program shouldn't be allowed to claw back hundreds of likely privileged documents shared in a discovery production, Boeing told a Washington federal judge Tuesday.

  • November 26, 2025

    21 AGs Sue USDA Over SNAP Rollbacks For Permanent Residents

    Twenty states and the District of Columbia sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday over new agency guidance barring certain categories of permanent residents from receiving federal food assistance benefits.

  • November 26, 2025

    Justices Urged To Mull 9th Circ. OK Of NLRB Order On Macy's

    The Ninth Circuit defied U.S. Supreme Court precedent and opened a circuit split when it upheld a National Labor Relations Board order making Macy's rehire striking workers and dole out novel remedies covering workers' losses, the company argued in a bid for the high court's review.

  • November 26, 2025

    AGs Urge Congress To Reject Trump's Ban On State AI Laws

    Attorneys general from 32 states are urging Congress to preserve their ability to pass laws regulating artificial intelligence, contending that the Trump administration's renewed proposal to insert a moratorium into a federal spending bill would leave states powerless in the face of AI-powered scams, harmful chatbot hallucinations and other emerging dangers.

  • November 26, 2025

    SF Island's Ex-Owner Refutes Wetlands Label At 9th Circ.

    The former owner of an island in the San Francisco Bay is asking the Ninth Circuit to reverse a lower court ruling that he illegally destroyed "critical" wetlands without first receiving a Clean Water Act permit.

  • November 26, 2025

    Kalshi Challenges Nev. Order Nixing Sports Contract Shield

    Kalshi has asked the Ninth Circuit to weigh in on a Nevada federal judge's decision to vacate an earlier order shielding the trading platform's sports event contracts from the state's gaming regulators.

  • November 26, 2025

    Air Force Ignored Supervisor's Sexist Comments, Suit Says

    The U.S. Air Force failed to intervene when a prevention analyst complained that her supervisor made derogatory comments about women and minimized LGBTQ-focused efforts while promoting "alpha male education," the former civilian employee said in a Wednesday complaint in Washington federal court.

  • November 26, 2025

    JetBlue Can Settle With Wash. Putative Wage Class Members

    A Washington state judge declined on Wednesday to block JetBlue from pursuing individual settlements with putative class members in a pending wage action, concluding the plaintiff workers hadn't shown "anything nefarious" about the airline's severance package talks with employees related to a recent closure.

  • November 26, 2025

    Nurse For App-Based Health Co. Can't Revive Retaliation Suit

    A Washington appeals court refused to revive a nurse's suit claiming she was fired from an app-based medical provider for complaining that it underpaid and overworked independent contractors, ruling she failed to show her termination was because of her concerns rather than reports that she was unprofessional.

  • November 25, 2025

    UnitedHealth Gets OptumRx Antitrust Suit Sent To Arbitration

    A group of independent pharmacies must arbitrate their proposed class claims that UnitedHealth-owned OptumRx gatekeeps its network of Medicare prescription patients by imposing unfair fees, a Washington federal judge said Tuesday, concluding the pharmacies haven't shown the arbitration clauses in question are unenforceable.

  • November 25, 2025

    9th Circ. Slams 'Unimpressive Excuses' In L'Oréal Rival's Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a trade secrets case against L'Oréal USA Inc., saying the plaintiff company's "unimpressive excuses" for fabricating evidence and other misconduct do not override the district court's conclusion that the proper sanction was to dismiss the case.

Expert Analysis

  • APA Relief May Blunt Justices' Universal Injunction Ruling

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    The Administrative Procedure Act’s avenue for universal preliminary relief seems to hold the most promise for neutralizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA to limit federal district courts' nationally applicable orders, say attorneys at Crowell.

  • Managing Risks As State AGs Seek To Fill Enforcement Gap

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    Given an unprecedented surge in state attorney general activity resulting from significant shifts in federal enforcement priorities, companies must consider tailored strategies for navigating the ever-evolving risk landscape, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion

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    In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Wash. Law Highlights Debate Over Unemployment For Strikers

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    A new Washington state law that will allow strikers to receive unemployment benefits during work stoppages raises questions about whether such laws subsidize disruptions to the economy or whether they are preempted by federal labor law, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What 9th Circ. Ruling Shows About Rebutting SEC Comments

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    The Ninth Circuit's June opinion in Pino v. Cardone Capital suggests that a company's lack of pushback to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission comment may be evidence of its state of mind for evaluating potential liability, meaning companies should consider including additional disclosure in SEC response letters, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • 9th Circ. Decisions Help Clarify Scope Of Legal Lab Marketing

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    Two Ninth Circuit decisions last week provide a welcome development in clarifying the line between laboratories' legal marketing efforts and undue influence that violates the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act, and offer useful guidance for labs seeking to mitigate enforcement risk, says Joshua Robbins at Buchalter.

  • What 9th Circ. Cracker Barrel Ruling Means For FLSA Cert.

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    The Ninth Circuit's decision in Harrington v. Cracker Barrel suggests a settling of two procedural trends in Fair Labor Standards Act jurisprudence — when to issue notice and where nationwide collectives can be filed — rather than deepening circuit splits, says Rebecca Ojserkis at Cohen Milstein.

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

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    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

  • Calif. Air Waivers Fight Fuels Automakers', States' Uncertainty

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    The unprecedented attempt by Congress and the Trump administration to kill the Clean Air Act waivers supporting California's vehicle emissions standards will eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court — but meanwhile, vehicle manufacturers, and states following California's standards, are left in limbo, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • 9th Circ. Customs Ruling A Limited Win For FCA Plaintiffs

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    While the decision last month in Island Industries v. Sigma may be welcome news for False Claims Act relators, under binding precedent courts within the Ninth Circuit still do not have jurisdiction to adjudicate customs-based FCA claims pursued by the government, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • Preparing For Trump Pushback Against State Climate Laws

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    An April executive order from President Donald Trump mandated a report from the U.S. attorney general on countering so-called state overreach in climate policy, and while that report has yet to appear, companies can expect that it will likely call for using litigation, legislation and funding to actively reshape energy policy, say attorneys at Bracewell.

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