California

  • April 23, 2024

    CoStar Rival Is Asking To Free Ride, 9th Circ. Told

    CoStar urged the Ninth Circuit not to revive antitrust counterclaims from Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc., despite backing from the Federal Trade Commission, arguing the rival is trying to use antitrust law to get free access to its platforms.

  • April 23, 2024

    Hot Spot Co. Investors' Revised $2.4M Deal Gets Initial OK

    Investors in mobile hotspot-maker Franklin Wireless Corp. have received an initial green light for their $2.4 million deal to end claims the company knowingly sold devices with defective batteries that could burst into flames after a federal judge rejected an earlier iteration of the proposal.

  • April 23, 2024

    GoodRx Hid Revenue Reliance On Kroger, Suit Claims

    GoodRx Holdings Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action alleging it concealed from investors the indispensability of its relationship with Kroger, leading to share declines when GoodRx announced revenue would be severely impacted because the grocery chain would no longer be accepting its discount codes.

  • April 23, 2024

    Firefighters Want LA County's Early Win Bid Axed In Hotel Suit

    Los Angeles County firefighters urged a California federal judge to deny the county's bid for an early win in their suit alleging they weren't paid for time they spent quarantined in hotels during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the motion attempts to use the courts as a "pawn to escape liability."

  • April 23, 2024

    Blue States Leap To Defend EPA Vehicle Emissions Rule

    California and 21 other blue states, along with a smattering of cities and the District of Columbia, have told the D.C. Circuit that they want to help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defend its rule requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and vans from legal attack by red states.

  • April 23, 2024

    Hunton Hires Martin Marietta Assistant GC In San Francisco

    Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP said Tuesday it is growing its environmental team by bringing in a land use and mining expert as a partner in the firm's San Francisco office from building supply company Martin Marietta Materials Inc., where he was assistant general counsel.

  • April 23, 2024

    Williams-Sonoma To Pay $3.2M Over 'Made In America' Claims

    Williams-Sonoma has agreed to a $3.18 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly mislabeling Chinese-produced products as American-made.

  • April 23, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Reinstate Pilot After High-Flying Pot Deliveries

    The Ninth Circuit won't undo the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to revoke the pilot certificate of a pilot who transported cannabis within the state of Alaska, saying the state's legalization of cannabis doesn't block the FAA's rules and regulations.

  • April 23, 2024

    Feds Want About 3 Years In Prison For LA Bank Embezzler

    The former chief financial officer at a community bank in Los Angeles should spend nearly three years in prison after admitting he embezzled more than $700,000 and used employee identities in a life insurance scheme, the government told a California federal court.

  • April 23, 2024

    DOJ Unveils $139M Deal For Larry Nassar Victims

    The U.S. Department of Justice will pay $138.7 million to settle 139 tort claims accusing the Federal Bureau of Investigation of not doing enough to stop the sprawling, decades-long sexual abuse of hundreds of victims at the hands of USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar, according to a Tuesday announcement.

  • April 22, 2024

    Pornhub Cos. Urge Judge To Drop Trafficking Suit Claims

    Attorneys for companies associated with Pornhub urged a California federal judge Monday to trim a lawsuit brought by a woman who claims she was sex trafficked by the defunct website GirlsDoPorn, saying it is full of excessive claims and that the court lacks jurisdiction over some defendants.

  • April 22, 2024

    Ex-Twitter Workers Can't Arbitrate Until Class Cert. Resolved

    A proposed class of former employees of Twitter, now known as X, cannot yet force the company to move forward with their various employment claims in arbitration, a California federal judge determined Monday, saying the issue of class certification needs to be decided first.

  • April 22, 2024

    Los Angeles Sues 3M, DuPont Over 'Forever Chemicals'

    The city of Los Angeles is the latest to sue 3M, DuPont and other chemical companies over contamination caused by "forever chemicals," saying the substances from firefighting foam leech into the environment and that the companies "should pay to help clean up the mess that they created."

  • April 22, 2024

    PacWest Wants Suit Over Alleged Rate Hike Exposure Axed

    PacWest Bancorp has urged a California federal judge to toss a proposed class action from an investor who alleges the California regional bank ignored warning signs posed by last year's collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, saying the fact that it did not anticipate the "unprecedented turmoil in the banking industry" is not a violation of federal securities laws.

  • April 22, 2024

    Real Estate Investment Cos. Owe SEC $8.4M For $17.5M Fraud

    A pair of companies allegedly used in service of a fraudulent real estate investment scheme will pay over $8.4 million to end claims they were part of the $17.5 million ploy that took in more than 150 would-be investors with claims that the securities involved were "recession-proof."

  • April 22, 2024

    Ex-Tech CEO Gets 18 Months, $1M Fine For Investor Fraud

    The former CEO of software company HeadSpin Inc. will spend 18 months in prison and pay a $1 million fine after pleading guilty to wire fraud and securities fraud for cooking the books as he pitched investors and raised over $100 million.

  • April 22, 2024

    Social Media MDL Attys Ordered To Sort Out Confidentiality

    A California federal judge presiding over discovery in multidistrict litigation over whether social media platforms' design is addictive warned parties at a hearing Monday not to ask him to resolve disputes over confidentiality designations, asking repeatedly, "Why do they matter?" and saying, "These are the kinds of things that lawyers should work out."

  • April 22, 2024

    9th Circ. Backs Class Cert. In Pet Supplement False Ad Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday upheld certification of a consumer class accusing health supplement company Nutramax of falsely marketing Cosequin as promoting healthy joints in dogs, saying an economics expert could use a generic and "otherwise reliable" damages model without applying it specifically to the class at this stage.

  • April 22, 2024

    Ship Captain Can't Get New Trial Over Boat Fire That Killed 34

    A California federal judge on Monday denied a new trial bid by a captain convicted of manslaughter in connection with a deadly boat fire, rejecting his argument that the judge issued an erroneous jury instruction, causing the jury to overlook a lesser alternative charge of gross negligence endangering a person's life.

  • April 22, 2024

    Exec In Insider Trading Case Says Feds Denied Him Counsel

    The former CEO at the center of a novel insider trading case is asking that the California jury deciding his fate not be allowed to hear evidence obtained during a pre-indictment interrogation, arguing he was denied access to an attorney despite insisting on speaking to counsel at least a dozen times.

  • April 22, 2024

    $1 Awarded To Software Co. Splunk In Copyright Fight

    A California federal jury on Monday awarded software company Splunk a single dollar in damages in a suit accusing rival Cribl of copyright infringement.

  • April 22, 2024

    E-Truck Maker Rivian Faces Investor Suit Over Sales Slump

    Electric-vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action alleging it misled investors by overstating the demand for its products and downplaying the impact historically high interest rates were having on its customers' shopping habits.

  • April 22, 2024

    Palo Alto Networks Execs Face Suit Over Misleading Outlook

    Executives and directors of cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit in California federal court alleging they misled investors about the success of its platform consolidation strategy, which was expected to result in lucrative government contracts.

  • April 22, 2024

    Opioid Marketer Completes $1.5M Damages Settlement With Del.

    Delaware's chancellor signed off Monday on a $1.5 million payment to the state by a company that helped Purdue Pharmaceuticals market its opioid products, the latest step in a $358 million, 50-state damages settlement reached with Publicis Health LLC.

  • April 22, 2024

    Broker In Penny Stock Scheme Says SEC Is Forum Shopping

    A former California securities broker serving a prison term for a $150 million pump and dump scheme said Monday that a companion civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission does not belong in Massachusetts.

Expert Analysis

  • Bracing Cos. For Calif. Privacy Agency's Restored Authority

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    A recent California state appeals court decision greenlights the California Privacy Protection Agency's enforcement of certain consumer privacy regulations, which may speed up compliance requirements, so businesses considering use of artificial intelligence, for instance, may want to reassess their handling of privacy notices and opt-out requests, say Kevin Angle and Matthew Cin at Ropes & Gray.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • 2 Emerging Defenses For Website Tracking Class Actions

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    Putative class actions premised on state wiretapping statutes that bar website activity tracking continue to be on the rise, but they are increasingly being dismissed on two procedural grounds, says Sheri Pan at ZwillGen.

  • No AI FRAUD Act Is A Significant Step For Right Of Publicity

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    The No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas and Unauthorized Duplications Act's proposed federal right of publicity protection, including post-mortem rights, represents a significant step toward harmonizing the landscape of right of publicity law, Rachel Hofstatter and Aaron Rosenthal at Honigman.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • After TikTok, Tiptoeing Toward Patent Transfer Alignment

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    Following the Fifth Circuit's TikTok decision, which aimed to standardize transfer analysis in patent cases, the Federal Circuit and Texas federal courts facing transfer requests have taken small steps to consider the practical realities of patent litigation, reinforcing the intensely factual focus of the analysis, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.

  • Bank Secrecy Act Lessons For Casinos After DOJ Settlements

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent settlements with the MGM Grand and Cosmopolitan casinos, resolving an investigation into alleged violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, signal a shift in the DOJ's enforcement focus and provide insight into potential pitfalls in anti-money laundering compliance programs, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Setting The Stage For High Court BofA Escrow Interest Case

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    Dori Bailey and Curtis Johnson at Bond Schoeneck examine relevant legislation and case law dating back 200 years ahead of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in Cantero v. Bank of America, the outcome of which will determine whether state laws governing mortgage escrow accounts can be enforced against national banks.

  • Using Arbitration And Class Waivers As Privacy Suit Tools

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    Amid a surge in data breach class actions over the last few years, several federal court decisions indicate that arbitration clauses and class action waiver provisions can be possible alternatives to public court battles and potentially reduce the costs of privacy litigation, say Mark Olthoff and Courtney Klaus at Polsinelli.

  • Future Not Looking Bright For Calif. Employee Nonsolicits

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    California's new legislation imposing potentially harsh consequences on employers for attempting to enforce noncompetes raises questions about the fate of employee nonsolicitation agreements — and both federal and state court decisions suggest the days of the latter may be numbered, say Anthony Oncidi and Philippe Lebel at Proskauer.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • 5 Lessons For SaaS Companies After Blackbaud Data Breach

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    Looking at the enforcement actions that software-as-a-service provider Blackbaud resolved with state attorneys general, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission in the past year can help SaaS companies manage these increasingly common forms of data breaches, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.

  • A Look Ahead For The Electric Vehicle Charging Industry

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    This will likely be an eventful year for the electric vehicle market as government efforts to accelerate their adoption inevitably clash with backlash from supporters of the petroleum industry, say Rue Phillips at SkillFusion and Enid Joffe at Green Paradigm Consulting.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

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