Washington

  • December 18, 2025

    Amazon Can't Shed Class Status In Virtual Try-On Privacy Suit

    A Seventh Circuit panel has affirmed an Illinois district judge's certification of a class of more than 100,000 Amazon shoppers who accuse the e-commerce giant of illegally collecting and preserving their facial geometry data when they used the company's virtual try-on feature to preview products such as makeup and eyewear.

  • December 18, 2025

    SF, Oakland Near Settlement In Airport Name Trademark Fight

    The Port of Oakland has cut a tentative deal with the city and county of San Francisco to resolve a trademark infringement suit over Oakland renaming its international airport to include "San Francisco Bay," according to a joint stipulation filed in California federal court Wednesday.

  • December 18, 2025

    Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

    The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

  • December 18, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives National Forest Road Injury Claim

    A timber worker who suffered injuries when his excavator slid off a Washington road under the control of the U.S. Forest Service will get the opportunity to take his claims to trial, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday, saying a jury needs to decide whether the worker's employer or the federal government was responsible for the road's upkeep.

  • December 18, 2025

    Monarch Overhyped 'Driver-Optional' Tractors, Ex-Dealer Says

    A Washington farm supply store sued California-based Monarch Tractor — which bills itself as the maker of "the world's first autonomous tractor" — in Seattle federal court Thursday, claiming the company's MK-V vehicles "did not perform as represented and were unable to operate in the autonomous manner represented."

  • December 18, 2025

    UC Researchers Near Reinstating $7B In DOE Grants

    A California federal judge said Thursday she's inclined to grant a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to reinstate $7 billion in Department of Energy grants awarded to researchers, saying they were canceled with form letters similar to those she's previously found to violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • December 18, 2025

    Wash. Justices Say Open Gov't Law Covers Seattle Contractor

    The Washington State Supreme Court has reinstated a citizen suit seeking information related to downtown Seattle's Metropolitan Improvement District, recognizing in a Thursday opinion that the district's private nonprofit management entity DBIA Services is analogous to a government agency and thus subject to the state's public records law.  

  • December 18, 2025

    Seattle Jury Awards $8.1M Over Fall During Operation

    A Seattle jury awarded $8.1 million on Thursday over an Adobe manager's fall from an operating table, after hearing the plaintiff's experts testify that his life was irrevocably altered by permanent brain damage.

  • December 18, 2025

    Vegas Sun Wants Justices To Revive Protective Pact

    The Las Vegas Sun wants the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a Ninth Circuit decision that nixed an agreement protecting it from the Las Vegas Review-Journal's alleged plan to drive it out of business, arguing that the old pact with the more conservative paper was valid even without express government approval.

  • December 18, 2025

    AT&T Worker Takes 401(k) Forfeiture Suit To 9th Circ.

    An AT&T worker has turned to the Ninth Circuit after a California federal judge spiked his proposed class action alleging that the telecom giant misspent employee 401(k) plan forfeitures. 

  • December 17, 2025

    Amazon, Le Labo Say Ripoff 'Basgax' Perfumes Reek Of Fraud

    Amazon and New York fragrance maker Le Labo accused a Florida-based company known as Basgax of selling bogus Le Labo products, claiming the company and its operators illegally copied Le Labo's promotional images and product names such as "Iris 39" and "Patchouili 24."

  • December 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms DHS Officers' Fast-Track Removal Authority

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday upheld the denial of a Mexican citizen's bid to toss illegal reentry charges, rejecting arguments that a U.S. Department of Homeland Security "deciding service officer" unconstitutionally ordered his removal, while also clarifying that such officers who issue fast-track removal orders aren't subject to the U.S. Constitution's appointments clause.

  • December 17, 2025

    States, Groups Urge DC Circ. To Preserve EPA Soot Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's request that the D.C. Circuit vacate a Biden-era soot rule is legally untenable and should be rejected, Democrat-led states and cities, along with health and environmental groups, told the court.

  • December 17, 2025

    Starbucks Brass Face Derivative Suit Over 'Triple Shot' Plan

    Executives and directors of Starbucks have been hit with a shareholder derivative complaint accusing them of misleading investors about the coffee chain's prospects for its so-called Triple Shot Reinvention strategy, which the suit alleges fell short.

  • December 17, 2025

    Energy Dept. Orders Wash. Coal Plant To Remain Open

    The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered Washington's sole coal-fired power plant to remain open through March 2026, despite a state law that requires utilities to stop using coal-fired electricity by year's end.

  • December 17, 2025

    29 State AGs Want Unified Meta Youth Addiction Trial

    A group of 29 states and their attorneys general is doubling down on a request in California federal court to hold a single, unified trial in their suit claiming Meta Platforms Inc. is designed to addict and harm minors, saying they have now identified another case where such a singular trial was held involving multiple attorneys general's claims.

  • December 17, 2025

    Amazon Charged Too Much Sales Tax, Tenn. Consumer Claims

    Amazon has been hit with a proposed class action in Washington state court by a Tennessee customer who claims the e-commerce giant collected excessive sales tax on his purchases and then refused to refund him, in violation of Volunteer State tax law that holds "marketplace facilitators" responsible for charging the correct rate.

  • December 17, 2025

    Bank Deserves Sanctions In Jail Debit Card Suit, Court Told

    A class of formerly incarcerated people who've accused the Central Bank of Kansas City of charging excessive fees on prepaid debit cards told a Washington federal judge that the bank should face sanctions for failing to sort and hand over documents required for compliance with an August court order.

  • December 17, 2025

    Anker, Ugreen Near Peace In Mobile Power Bank Patent Suit

    Electronics-makers Anker and Ugreen have reached a tentative agreement to end Anker's intellectual property claims accusing its rival of infringing a patent for a mobile power bank and marketing "virtually identical" products to consumers.

  • December 17, 2025

    Korean Food Chain Stole Family Spring Roll Recipe, Suit Says

    Korean food conglomerate CJ Group has been accused of stealing a family spring roll recipe that dates to the 1950s and marketing its versions as knockoff frozen spring roll products in a suit seeking $100 million in damages.

  • December 17, 2025

    Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To 2025's Most Memorable Moments

    Federal circuit courts in 2025 strained under a crush of Trump administration lawsuits, as judges directed animated language at litigants and even their fellow judges. And while the president only added a handful of appellate jurists, they had outsize impacts on circuit benches as they joined the cadre of conservatives seated in his first term.

  • December 17, 2025

    The Top Trademark Decisions Of 2025

    The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a trademark infringement award that reached nearly $47 million and found nonparties couldn't be on the hook for the amount, while the Federal Circuit reproached a trademark tribunal for its handling of a man's attempt to register the F-word. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trademark decisions of 2025.

  • December 17, 2025

    Consulting Co., Ex-Worker Seek OK Of Revised $295K OT Deal

    A consulting company and a former worker who lodged a proposed collective action took a second crack at persuading a Washington federal judge to sign off a $295,000 settlement, saying they now have shown a bona fide dispute over whether the company was required to pay overtime.

  • December 16, 2025

    Surgery Group Owes $52M For Man's Fall, Head Injury, Jury Told

    A lawyer for an Adobe software engineer told a Washington state jury in closing arguments Tuesday that he and his wife are owed up to $52 million from a medical provider, after the man's head slammed onto the floor of an operating room during surgery and causing allegedly permanent brain injuries.

  • December 16, 2025

    States Sue Trump Admin To Restart EV Infrastructure Funds

    Sixteen states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration in Washington federal court on Tuesday in an effort to stop the U.S. government from blocking billions of dollars in congressionally approved funds meant to expand the country's electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Expert Analysis

  • Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    The third quarter of 2025 was another eventful quarter for total loss valuation class actions, with a new circuit split developing courtesy of the Sixth Circuit, while insurers continued to see negative results in cost-of-insurance class actions, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • How 9th Circ. Ruling Deepens SEC Disgorgement Circuit Split

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Sripetch creates opposing disgorgement rules in the two circuits where the SEC brings a large proportion of enforcement actions — the Second and Ninth — and increases the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will step in, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • Justices' LabCorp Punt Leaves Deeper Class Cert. Circuit Split

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    In its ruling in LabCorp v. Davis, the U.S. Supreme Court left unresolved a standing-related class certification issue that has plagued class action jurisprudence for years — and subsequent conflicting decisions among federal circuit courts have left district courts and litigants struggling with conflicting and uncertain standards, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Lessons From Del. Chancery Court's New Activision Decision

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in AP-Fonden v. Activision Blizzard, declining to dismiss certain fiduciary duty claims at the pleading stage, offers takeaways for boards considering a sale, including the importance of playing an active role in the merger process and documenting key board materials, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Opinion

    Courts Must Continue Protecting Plaintiffs In Mass Arbitration

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    In recent years, many companies have imposed onerous protocols that function to frustrate plaintiffs' ability to seek justice through mass arbitration, but a series of welcome court decisions in recent months indicate that the pendulum might be swinging back toward plaintiffs, say Raphael Janove and Sasha Jones at Janove Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • How A 9th Circ. False Ad Ruling Could Shift Class Certification

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    The Ninth Circuit's July decision in Noohi v. Johnson & Johnson, holding that unexecuted damages models may suffice for purposes of class certification, has the potential to create judicial inefficiencies and crippling uncertainties for class action defendants, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Insights From Recent Cases On Navigating Snap Removal

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    Snap removal, which allows defendants to transfer state court cases to federal court before a forum defendant is properly joined and served, is viewed differently across federal circuits — but keys to making it work can be drawn from recent decisions critiquing the practice, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

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