Washington

  • February 20, 2026

    Full 9th Circ. Revives Trafficking Case Against Calif. Importer

    The full Ninth Circuit ruled on Friday that Congress' 2023 bill clarifying civil liability for companies that "attempt to benefit" from human trafficking retroactively applies to a group of Cambodian workers' lawsuit against a California importer, overturning a district court's refusal to vacate the importer's 2017 summary judgment win.

  • February 20, 2026

    Zillow Fights Class Claims It Pushed Buyers Into Pricey Loans

    Real estate marketplace Zillow urged a Seattle federal judge Friday to throw out homebuyers' accusations it violated a Washington consumer protection law and federal anti-racketeering and real estate statutes, rejecting claims that it directed buyers to its own more costly mortgage services and steered website visitors toward Zillow-affiliated sales agents.

  • February 20, 2026

    Credit One Bank Pays $10M In Calif. DAs' Suit Over Debt Calls

    Credit One Bank will pay $10.2 million to settle a lawsuit from a group of California district attorneys alleging it inundated consumers with excessive debt collection calls, even when they had no account with the bank, three years after the Ninth Circuit held that district attorneys can sue banks over such calls.

  • February 20, 2026

    Dallas Jury Finds Ex-NFL Player Ran $328M Medicare Scheme

    A federal jury in Dallas has found that former NFL player and Texas laboratory owner Keith Gray orchestrated a $328 million fraud scheme involving billing for cardiovascular genetic testing, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

  • February 20, 2026

    Insurer Owed Defense In Birth Defect Suit, 9th Circ. Says

    A commercial general liability insurer had a duty to defend a semiconductor manufacturer against an employee's suit claiming that his exposure to chemicals at work caused birth defects in his son, the Ninth Circuit ruled Friday, finding that certain policy exclusions did not unambiguously foreclose coverage.

  • February 19, 2026

    Ex-Googler Says Co. Fired Her After Pregnancy Complications

    Google LLC wrongfully fired a Washington software engineer who took time away from work to care for herself after the unexpected loss of a pregnancy, according to the former employee's discrimination complaint that was removed to Seattle federal court Wednesday.

  • February 19, 2026

    Latham To Guide Seahawks Sale In Wake Of Super Bowl Win

    BigLaw firm Latham & Watkins LLP and investment bank Allen & Co. have been tapped to oversee the sale of the Seattle Seahawks, the estate of late team owner Paul G. Allen said in a Wednesday announcement kicking off the process, less than two weeks after the team scored its second Super Bowl victory in franchise history.

  • February 19, 2026

    Cisco Warns Justices Of 'Serious Risks' In China Torture Case

    Cisco has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to toss a suit alleging that the tech company aided the Chinese government's allegedly unlawful torture of Falun Gong members, saying a green light would pose "serious risks" to foreign relations and foreign policy.

  • February 19, 2026

    Wash. Justices Say Amazon Must Face Chemical Suicide Suits

    The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday revived negligence lawsuits against Amazon brought by the families of four people who killed themselves by ingesting high-potency sodium nitrite purchased on the e-commerce platform, finding the company had a duty to avoid exposing online shoppers to foreseeable harm from items sold on its website.

  • February 19, 2026

    Washington Justices' Input Sought On Prosecutorial Immunity

    A Seattle federal judge said he intends to send a certified question to the Washington Supreme Court as part of a lawyer's racial discrimination suit against Snohomish County judges and prosecutors, giving parties a week to weigh in on what exactly the question should be.

  • February 19, 2026

    Amazon Loses Bid To Ditch Suit Over Lie Detector Testing

    Amazon has failed to win an early exit from a proposed class action alleging that the retail giant is flouting a Massachusetts statute banning the use of lie detectors in employment decisions, as a federal judge denied its motion to toss the case Wednesday.

  • February 19, 2026

    Amazon Throwing Out Tech Intercom Not Sanctionable: Judge

    While Amazon.com Inc. was negligent in allowing a consulting engineer to throw out an advanced intercom at the center of a trade secrets and unauthorized computer access proposed class action, a New York federal magistrate judge said Wednesday that doing so didn't cost the intercom's maker any relevant evidence.

  • February 19, 2026

    Amazon Seller 'Expert' Sues Over Alleged Inventory Fraud

    An Amazon "marketplace expert" that focuses on selling and managing the prices of branded goods on the platform sued on Wednesday 16 companies and one individual accused of supplying millions of dollars in goods that were later found to be encumbered by warehouse liens.

  • February 18, 2026

    Canada's Olympic Body Joins NHL, CHL Antitrust Defense

    Canadian hockey officials asked the Ninth Circuit to reject an appeal from junior players who sued the National Hockey League and its pipeline organizations over alleged antitrust violations, arguing certain rules actually benefit the community and foster competition.

  • February 18, 2026

    Live Nation Can't Exit Suit Over Fatal Music Festival Shooting

    A lawsuit against Live Nation over two concertgoers' deaths in a 2023 shooting at the Beyond Wonderland music festival will move forward following a Washington state judge's rejection of the entertainment giant's argument that the event was unforeseeable.

  • February 18, 2026

    Wash. Bill Reclassifying Insurance Fraud Clears State Senate

    The Washington State Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday that would broaden the definition of insurance fraud and elevate the offense to a Class B felony, while also expanding the Office of the Insurance Commissioner's ability to go after perpetrators for related crimes.

  • February 18, 2026

    Amazon Says Atty Accused Of TM Scheme Used AI Citations

    Amazon has told a Seattle federal judge that California attorney Kathy Q. Hao relied on artificial intelligence-hallucinated case law in her effort to escape its lawsuit accusing her of participating in a fraudulent trademark scheme, urging the court to weigh sanctions against the lawyer over what the e-commerce and technology giant called "fabricated citations."

  • February 18, 2026

    Amazon Rips FTC's 'Farfetched' Antitrust Discovery Refusals

    Amazon slammed the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday for treating discovery "as a one-way road" in the agency's antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, calling on a Seattle federal judge to again order the agency to cough up answers that the company says are key to formulating its defense.

  • February 18, 2026

    Feds Ask High Court To Reject Chinook Tribe Recognition

    The U.S. Department of the Interior is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a petition by the Chinook Indian Nation that looks to undo a Ninth Circuit order that denied it federal recognition, arguing that the case is a poor vehicle for resolving questions under the 1994 List Act.

  • February 18, 2026

    States, Unions Urge DC Circ. To Block Haiti TPS Termination

    California-led states and a coalition of unions urged the D.C. Circuit to deny the Trump administration's push to end temporary protected status for Haiti during an ongoing legal challenge, arguing it would harm families, communities and the economy.

  • February 18, 2026

    Morgan Lewis Adds Fenwick Litigator Duo In LA, Seattle

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP continues boosting its West Coast litigation team, announcing Wednesday it is bringing in a pair of Fenwick & West LLP trial attorneys as partners in its Los Angeles and Seattle offices.

  • February 17, 2026

    States Hit Discovery Roadblocks In HPE Merger Fight With DOJ

    A California federal judge mostly sided with the Justice Department on Tuesday on the latest discovery disputes in state attorneys general's challenge to a DOJ settlement greenlighting Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion Juniper acquisition, ruling that HPE doesn’t need to reveal who's bidding for divested assets, and refusing to delay deadlines.

  • February 17, 2026

    Jackson Lewis Adds Employment Pro From Gordon Rees

    Jackson Lewis PC expanded its employment litigation practice with the addition of principal David W. Silke, who joined the firm's Seattle office after nearly 18 years with Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP.

  • February 17, 2026

    Waste Co. Republic Sued Over Alleged Seattle River Pollution

    Waste management company Republic Services was hit with a Clean Water Act lawsuit in Washington federal court Friday by an environmental watchdog group for allegedly releasing polluted water from an industrial site near Seattle's Duwamish River.

  • February 17, 2026

    CFTC Backs Prediction Markets In 9th Circ. Fight With Nevada

    U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig told state gaming regulators Tuesday that he intends to defend his agency's "exclusive jurisdiction" over prediction markets, starting with a brief to the Ninth Circuit backing Crypto.com in an ongoing brawl with Nevada regulators over its sports wagers.

Expert Analysis

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • What 9th Circ.'s Rosenwald Ruling Means For Class Actions

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Rosenwald v. Kimberly-Clark has important implications around the Class Action Fairness Act and traditional diversity jurisdiction — both for plaintiff-side and defense-side class action litigators — and deepens the circuit split concerning the use of judicial notice to establish diversity, says Grace Schmidt at DTO Law.

  • State Paid Leave Laws Are Changing Employer Obligations

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    A wave of new and expanded state laws covering paid family, medical and sick leave will test multistate compliance systems, marking a fundamental operational shift for employers that requires proactive planning, system modernization and policy alignment to manage simultaneous state and federal obligations, says Madjeen Garcon-Bonneau at PrestigePEO.

  • Opinion

    Expert Reports Can't Replace Facts In Securities Fraud Cases

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    The Ninth Circuit's 2023 decision in Nvidia v. Ohman Fonder — and the U.S. Supreme Court's punt on the case in 2024 — could invite the meritless securities litigation the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act was designed to prevent by substituting expert opinions for facts to substantiate complaint assertions, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Amazon Ruling Marks New Era Of Personal Liability For Execs

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    A Washington federal court's recent decision in FTC v. Amazon extended personal liability to senior executives for design-driven violations of broad consumer protection statutes, signaling a fundamental shift in how consumer protection laws may be enforced against large public companies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • 3 New Cyberinsurance Rulings Aid In Policy Interpretation

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    Although the cyberinsurance market has exploded, there is no standardized cyber language or form and only a few court decisions thus far interpreting cyberinsurance policy language, making these three recent rulings key for guiding policyholders, insurers and brokers, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • How The FTC Is Stepping Up Subscription Enforcement

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    Despite the demise of the Federal Trade Commission's click-to-cancel rule in July, the commission has not only maintained its regulatory momentum, but also set new compliance benchmarks through recent high-profile settlements with Match.com, Chegg and Amazon, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Where 4th And 9th Circ. Diverge On Trade Secret Timing

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    Recent Fourth and Ninth Circuit decisions have revealed a deepening circuit split over when plaintiffs must specifically define their alleged trade secrets, turning the early stages of trade secret litigation into a key battleground and elevating the importance of forum selection, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

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    After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

  • Series

    Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

  • 5 Evolving Marketing Risks That Finance Cos. Should Watch

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    Financial services providers should beware several areas where consumer protection regulators are broadening their scrutiny of modern marketing practices, such as the use of influencer testimonials or advertisements touting artificial intelligence-powered products, so they can better adapt to changing expectations for compliance, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • What The New Nondomiciled-Trucker Rule Means For Carriers

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    A new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration interim final rule restricting states' issuance of commercial drivers licenses to nondomiciled drivers does not alter motor carriers' obligations to verify drivers' qualifications, but may create disruptions by reducing the number of eligible drivers, say attorneys at Benesch.

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