Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
California
-
April 12, 2024
Petition Watch: Judge DQs, 'Excessive' Damages & Price Wars
A former al-Qaida member has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify disqualification protocol for judges overseeing a case related to their prior work as a government attorney, and energy drink manufacturers want the court to develop a modern-day test to determine if companies qualify as price-discrimination competitors. Here's four high court petitions filed recently that you might've missed.
-
April 12, 2024
Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Broadcom Unit's IP In Netflix Fight
The Federal Circuit on Friday backed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's holding that the vast majority of Broadcom unit Avago Technologies' patent directed to providing digital media services to users is invalid as obvious, based on a challenge from Netflix.
-
April 12, 2024
Ohtani's Ex-Translator Gets $25K Bond On $16M Fraud Charge
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, made his first appearance in California federal court Friday, with a magistrate judge ruling that he can be released on a $25,000 bond following his arrest for a bank fraud charge filed Thursday over allegations that he stole over $16 million from the baseball player.
-
April 12, 2024
FTC Taking Deeper Look At $35B Synopsys-Ansys Merger
The Federal Trade Commission is opening an in-depth review of Synopsys' $35 billion acquisition of fellow software company Ansys, with Synopsys telling investors that the agency had issued a "second request" for information from both companies.
-
April 12, 2024
IoT Co. Execs Sued Over Projected Revenue Shortfall
Executives and directors of Internet of Things services company Lantronix Inc. have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit accusing them of misleading investors about its revenue prospects for nearly a year.
-
April 12, 2024
Bridal Designer Seeks Conversion Of JLM Couture To Ch. 7
A bridal dress designer engaged in litigation with bankrupt dressmaker JLM Couture asked a Delaware court Friday to convert the company's insolvency case to a Chapter 7 liquidation, saying the costs of that ongoing litigation will drain estate resources to the point it won't be able to pay for the bankruptcy case.
-
April 12, 2024
Ex-Pfizer Worker's Pal Avoids Prison In Insider Trading Case
An electrical engineer was sentenced to probation Friday for trading Pfizer Inc.'s stock using confidential tips about the efficacy of its COVID-19 drug, after a Manhattan federal court recognized his decision to voluntarily assist prosecutors with the trial conviction of his friend, a former Pfizer employee who leaked insider information.
-
April 12, 2024
Lionsgate Ups PIPE To $225M Before $4.6B SPAC Merger
Entertainment and production giant Lionsgate on Friday is raising the amount of its private investment in public equity related to its planned $4.6 billion merger with special purpose acquisition company Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp. to $225 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
-
April 12, 2024
On Eve Of Ethics Trial, Ex-Calif. Bar Head Tries To Gut Case
Former State Bar of California Executive Director Joe Dunn is trying once again to shut down the bar's disciplinary case against him, on the eve of a trial set to begin next week that centers on a 2014 scandal connected to disgraced plaintiffs attorney Tom Girardi.
-
April 12, 2024
Woman Pleads Guilty To $1.3M COVID Tax Credit Fraud
A California woman pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining $2 million in COVID-19 government loans and falsely claiming $1.3 million in tax credits, crimes that could result in a 20-year prison sentence, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
-
April 12, 2024
Off The Bench: Ohtani 'Victim' In Theft, Arbitration Nod To NFL
In this week's Off The Bench, Shohei Ohtani looks to get off the hook on sports-betting allegations while his former interpreter faces charges, the NFL wins a critical court victory in the Brian Flores lawsuit, and troubled WWE founder Vince McMahon cuts even more financial ties with the company.
-
April 12, 2024
Hornblower Gets OK For Creditor Vote On Ch. 11 Plan
A Texas bankruptcy judge on Friday sent Hornblower Holdings' Chapter 11 plan out for a creditor vote after hearing the cruise and tour operator had resolved creditor objections to its plan disclosure statement.
-
April 12, 2024
Justices Back Property Owner In Dispute Over Permit Fees
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that a $23,420 local traffic impact fee charged to a California property owner's rural manufactured home isn't exempt from scrutiny as a Fifth Amendment taking simply because the charge is allowed by legislation.
-
April 11, 2024
Autonomy Became Less Transparent Before Sale, Jury Told
An ex-market analyst testifying Thursday in a California criminal trial over claims that former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch duped HP into buying the British company for $11.7 billion told jurors that the company became less forthcoming about some of its accounting a couple of years before the sale.
-
April 11, 2024
Gerber, Others Must Face Calif. MDL Over Baby Food Toxins
A group of baby food manufacturers, including Gerber Products Co., Hain Celestial Group Inc. and Beech-Nut Nutrition Co., must face consolidated lawsuits alleging that heavy metals in their products cause autism spectrum disorder and other conditions in California federal court, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled Thursday.
-
April 11, 2024
UnitedHealth Patients' Addiction Coverage Suit Revived, Again
The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived for the second time a proposed class action accusing UnitedHealth of wrongly rejecting coverage for outpatient substance use disorder treatments in violation of federal benefits law, finding the plaintiff plausibly alleged the insurer employed an excessively strict review process for those claims.
-
April 11, 2024
Investors Again Seek Asset Freeze To Enforce $60M Awards
Two Chinese investment firms have again urged a California federal court to impose a worldwide freeze against a renewable energy company's assets as they seek to enforce about $60 million in arbitral awards, saying the company is in increasing financial distress.
-
April 11, 2024
Feds Bring MLB's Messy Betting Scandal Into Focus
The federal bank fraud charge against Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter doubled as a de facto exoneration of Ohtani himself, as prosecutors built a detailed case that experts say brings clarity to an explosive saga marked by confusion and shifting narratives.
-
April 11, 2024
Orrick To Pay $8M To Settle Data Breach Litigation
A proposed class of data-breach victims asked a California federal judge Thursday to greenlight an $8 million settlement with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in litigation over a March 2023 data breach that purportedly exposed Social Security numbers and other personal information of more than 638,000 individuals.
-
April 11, 2024
Wells Fargo Wants Ex-CEO's $34M Back-Pay Suit Tossed
Wells Fargo & Co. has asked a California state court to throw out a lawsuit filed by former CEO Timothy Sloan that seeks $34 million in compensation he alleges was wrongfully withheld from him, a payout the bank maintains it doesn't owe.
-
April 11, 2024
State Rules Can't 'Obliterate' Federal Rights, Justices Told
The U.S. Supreme Court must clarify that states are categorically prohibited from requiring plaintiffs to exhaust local administrative remedies before pursuing claims that state officials violated federal rights, several Alabamans told the court Thursday, warning that state prerequisites obliterate federal rights.
-
April 11, 2024
Shops Fight Altria Unit's Bid To Block Flavored Vape Sales
A group of smoke shops urged a California federal judge to reject a bid by vape manufacturer NJOY, a subsidiary of tobacco giant Altria Group, Inc., seeking to block the retailers from selling Elf Bar branded flavored vapes, arguing that consumers won't flock to NJOY's tobacco flavored products even if Elf Bar is off the market.
-
April 11, 2024
JPMorgan Analyst's Acquittal Sinks Stock Tip Case, Man Says
A Los Angeles man is planning a Ninth Circuit appeal after he was found guilty of trading on privileged information supplied by a childhood friend who was an analyst at JPMorgan Securities LLC, reasoning that he could not be guilty because the friend was acquitted at a separate trial.
-
April 11, 2024
9th Circ. Nixes 'Super Snap Removals' In Dexcom Suits
The Ninth Circuit won't let Dexcom Inc. remove three suits alleging its glucose monitoring system is defective to federal court, saying its "super snap removal" motions were premature as they were filed before any of the cases actually commenced.
-
April 11, 2024
Pacific Pipeline To Pay Calif. Landowners $70M Over Oil Spill
A class of landowners urged a California federal judge to sign off on a $70 million deal with Pacific Pipeline Co. to resolve litigation stemming from the rupture of an onshore pipeline that leaked 140,000 gallons of crude oil near Santa Barbara, California, according to a motion for settlement approval entered Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
-
5 Trade Secret Developments To Follow In 2024
Recent cases and trends in trade secret law indicate that significant developments are likely this year, and practitioners should be anticipating their impact on the business and legal landscape, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
-
Series
Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer
After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.
-
3 Key Class Action Trends To Use As Guidance In 2024
Telephone Consumer Protection Act, privacy and false advertising class actions saw significant shifts last year — including a trend toward expanding the application of preexisting laws to current technologies — that businesses should keep in mind to navigate the class action landscape in 2024, say attorneys at Mintz.
-
Federal Courts And AI Standing Orders: Safety Or Overkill?
Several district court judges have issued standing orders regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courts, but courts should consider following ordinary notice and comment procedures before implementing sweeping mandates that could be unnecessarily burdensome and counterproductive, say attorneys at Curtis.
-
How Data Brokers Can Prep For Calif. Delete Act Compliance
As California Delete Act obligations approach in late January, data brokers should proactively assess and scrutinize their compliance with the act, taking proactive measures to mitigate potential risks associated with noncompliance, say Goli Mahdavi and Gabrielle Harwell at BCLP.
-
PAGA Turns 20: An Employer Road Map For Managing Claims
As California’s Private Attorneys General Act turns 20, the arbitrability of individual and representative claims remains relatively unsettled — but employers can potentially avoid litigation involving both types of claims by following guidance from the California Supreme Court’s Adolph v. Uber ruling, say attorneys at Mintz.
-
How 4 State AGs Are Shaping Data Privacy Compliance
As the landscape of state data privacy laws continues to grow across the nation, understanding how state attorneys general — such as in California, Colorado, Connecticut and Virginia — are thinking about these laws is critical to begin forecasting how enforcement will play out, say Michelle Kallen and Daniel Echeverri at Jenner & Block.
-
Wachtell-X Ruling Highlights Trend On Arbitrability Question
A growing body of case law, including a California state court's recent decision in X Corp. v. Wachtell, holds that incorporation of specific arbitral body rules in an arbitration provision may in and of itself constitute clear and unmistakable evidence of delegation of arbitrability to an arbitrator, and thus such clauses should be drafted carefully, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
-
7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond
The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.
-
Landmark Product Safety Prosecution May Signal Sea Change
U.S. v. Chu, a novel prosecution and guilty verdict of corporate executives for failing to report product defects under a consumer safety law, will certainly not be the last case of its kind, and companies will need to prepare for the government’s increasingly aggressive enforcement approach, say attorneys at Cooley.
-
ESG Concerns Can No Longer Be Ignored In 2024
While the long wait for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's ESG rule continues, government attention to regulations, increased litigation efforts and shareholder resolutions seeking transparency highlight the importance of placing an emphasis on ESG considerations, say attorneys at Wollmuth Maher.
-
A Closer Look At The Federal Criminal Enforcement Slump
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, now at King & Spalding, explains that the U.S. Department of Justice’s statistical reports reveal that federal authorities are considerably less productive today than in the past, as criminal prosecutions fell in 2022 in every major category, for reasons that are not entirely clear.
-
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024
Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
-
Key Issues When Navigating A Tenant's Bankruptcy
In light of recent Chapter 11 filings by Rite Aid and WeWork — companies with thousands of commercial leases — practitioners should review issues that can arise when bankruptcy is used to exit a lease, including the consequences of lease rejection and the statutory cap on landlord damage claims for a rejected lease, say attorneys at Proskauer.
-
Growing Green Tech Demand Spells Trouble For Groundwater
Increasing demand for green technology is depleting the groundwater reserves used to extract and process the necessary minerals, making a fundamental shift toward more sustainable water use practices necessary at both the state and federal levels, says Sarah Mangelsdorf at Goldberg Segalla.