California

  • September 23, 2024

    California City Worker Loses Bias Suit Over Racist Nickname

    A federal jury sided with a California city in a race bias lawsuit filed by a Black maintenance worker who alleged that a supervisor and colleagues violated federal and state law by repeatedly referring to him by the name of a Mexican comic book character.

  • September 23, 2024

    Data Co. Ousted Exec Who Reported Harassment, Suit Says

    A former sales director for data storage company WekaIO says she suffered sexual harassment and retaliation and was ultimately forced to leave the "male-dominated" company after a sham investigation, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

  • September 23, 2024

    Paul Weiss Gains PE, M&A Partner From Ropes & Gray

    Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP has added to its mergers and acquisitions and private equity practice groups an attorney who previously worked for Ropes & Gray LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

  • September 23, 2024

    Kratom Co. Gets Claims Trimmed In Addiction False Ad Row

    A California federal judge has tossed four out of six claims from a proposed class action alleging Ashlynn Marketing Group Inc. hid from buyers the addictive qualities of its kratom products, leaving only fraud and Consumer Legal Remedies Act claims.

  • September 23, 2024

    FEMA Looks To Escape Atty's Bias And Retaliation Suit

    The U.S. government has asked a federal judge to toss a suit alleging two agencies pushed out an Asian American attorney following her complaints that a male colleague harassed her, arguing she failed to state a claim in her "behemoth," 190-page complaint.

  • September 23, 2024

    Letterman Enjoys Jury Service, But Not Picked For Fraud Trial

    David Letterman was excused from a Manhattan federal jury pool Monday ahead of the trial of a businessman accused of defrauding NBA athletes including former Los Angeles Laker Dwight Howard, after a lawyer said his son had interacted with the late-night television legend.

  • September 23, 2024

    Journalists Say EBay Can't ID Sources In Stalking Case

    A Massachusetts couple who were harassed by a group of eBay Inc. employees over their negative blog posts about the company said they shouldn't have to turn over the names of confidential sources purportedly scared off by the ordeal.

  • September 20, 2024

    Real Estate Recap: Infrastructure Rally, Insurance Reckoning

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including revived interest in infrastructure-focused funds and the next installment in a new series exploring the effects of extreme weather on the property insurance market.

  • September 20, 2024

    AGs Push To Can Google Privacy Deal With No Class Payout

    Nearly two dozen Republican state attorneys general are urging the Ninth Circuit to scrap a data privacy deal that requires Google to pay $62 million to plaintiffs' counsel and third-party organizations but gives no money to individual class members, arguing that consumers aren't adequately benefiting from the settlement.

  • September 20, 2024

    Arbitration Unlikely For Nursing Home Poison Death Suit

    A California state appeals court has all but affirmed the denial of arbitration in a suit alleging a nursing home caused the poisoning death of a resident who was mistakenly served industrial cleaner left in a pitcher, saying the trial court must first review the validity of the arbitration agreement.

  • September 20, 2024

    House To Weigh Patent Bill Aimed At Cutting Drug Prices

    The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider a bill soon that has already cleared the Senate and could streamline patent litigation by curbing the number of patents that makers of biologic drugs can assert over biosimilar drugs.

  • September 20, 2024

    Hyundai Says Startup Can't Sue In Calif. Over Trade Secrets

    South Korea-based Hyundai urged a California federal judge on Friday to toss a lawsuit alleging it stole a North Carolina startup's electric vehicle battery material technology, saying a contract inked by a Silicon Valley Hyundai office doesn't give the district court in California jurisdiction over the matter.

  • September 20, 2024

    Court Cuts Down Antitrust Suit From Loggers, Landowners

    An Oregon federal court has tossed a lawsuit by loggers and landowners that accused Iron Triangle LLC of monopolizing the market for logging services in part of the Pacific Northwest, saying they failed to show the logging and lumber company has monopoly power.

  • September 20, 2024

    Cities Score Wins Over FCC Even In 9th Circ. Permitting Loss

    Even though the Ninth Circuit in a recent decision largely upheld a Federal Communications Commission policy that reined in municipal governments' power to impose zoning restrictions on wireless network siting, the court's ruling wasn't all bad news for city officials.

  • September 20, 2024

    T.I.'s Fight With MGA Over Pop Group IP Goes To Jury Again

    An attorney for hip hop moguls T.I. and Tiny Harris told a California federal jury during closing arguments Friday that "common sense" should lead them to find that MGA Entertainment's line of O.M.G. dolls infringed the trade dress and misappropriated the name, likeness and identity of the OMG Girlz pop group.

  • September 20, 2024

    SEC To Seek Sanctions For Musk Deposition 'Gamesmanship'

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to seek sanctions against Elon Musk for not showing up to a scheduled deposition over his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter and instead flying to Florida to oversee a SpaceX launch, telling a California federal judge Friday that his excuse "smacks of gamesmanship."

  • September 20, 2024

    Senate Panel Advances Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act

    A U.S. Senate panel has moved forward efforts to win passage of the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act, which would place approximately 172 acres of specified lands in San Diego into trust for the benefit of the California tribe.

  • September 20, 2024

    States Tell 10th Circ. To Back Colo. Interest Rate Opt-Out Law

    Attorneys general for 13 states and Washington, D.C., asked the Tenth Circuit on Friday to uphold a Colorado law imposing more restrictive interest rate caps on loans made to its residents by out-of-state banks, arguing that a federal judge's injunction "nullifies the authority granted to states by Congress" to protect consumers from abusive lending practices.

  • September 20, 2024

    Cannabis Group Defends Social Equity Programs At 9th Circ.

    A coalition of cannabis business advocates pushing for a legal interstate weed market told the Ninth Circuit on Friday that the dormant commerce clause of the Constitution applies to marijuana, but that state social equity programs geared towards restorative justice are still legitimate.

  • September 20, 2024

    Calif. Panel Backs VW Drivers' $3.5M Data Breach Deal

    California appellate justices have upheld Volkswagen and Audi drivers' $3.5 million data breach settlement and rejected an objector's request to intervene and vacate judgment, finding that her disagreement with their litigation strategy doesn't mean her interests weren't adequately represented. 

  • September 20, 2024

    IPO Trio Looks To Raise $536M Combined As Autumn Begins

    Three companies spanning the energy, healthcare and life sciences industries are preparing initial public offerings that could raise $536 million combined in the coming week, guided by six law firms, signaling an upturn in IPOs as autumn begins.

  • September 20, 2024

    JPMorgan Chase Sued Again Over Cash 'Sweep' Program

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. was hit with another proposed class action in California federal court claiming the bank's cash sweep investment program funnels customer funds into low-interest bearing accounts at its affiliate Chase Bank, a move that benefits the financial giant while depriving customers of the chance to earn the market-rate interest.

  • September 20, 2024

    Ex-Harvard Football Player Fraudulently Raised $3M, Suit Says

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges in a new suit that a former Harvard football player swindled more than $3 million from two dozen investors by promising them that their money would be used for sports-related investments when, in reality, it was used for the defendant's personal expenses, such as rent for a multimillion-dollar home.

  • September 20, 2024

    Conservative Pundit Seeks To Block Calif. AI Election Laws

    A content creator who created a viral AI-generated video shared by billionaire Elon Musk that lampoons Vice President Kamala Harris' mannerisms has sued the state and asked a California federal judge to block recently enacted state laws cracking down on election-related deepfakes, arguing the new laws infringe influencers' constitutional rights.

  • September 20, 2024

    Avenatti Seeks Top Court Review Of Daniels ID Theft Verdict

    Incarcerated celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction for misappropriating money from ex-client Stormy Daniels, claiming the Second Circuit's decision upholding the verdict runs afoul of precedent for identity-theft cases.

Expert Analysis

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss the muted nature of the property and casualty insurance class action space in the second quarter of the year, with no large waves made in labor depreciation and total-loss vehicle class actions, but a new offensive theory emerging for insurance companies.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opting In To CIPA Risk Mitigation After New Precedent

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    A recent California federal court decision, adopting a new, broad interpretation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, will likely increase the volume of CIPA claims and should prompt businesses to undertake certain preventative measures, including adopting an opt-in approach to using third-party website advertising technologies, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Bankruptcy Courts May Be Budding Open To Cannabis Cases

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    Two recent California bankruptcy court rulings, denying motions to dismiss the respective debtors' bankruptcies, provide persuasive authority to allow cannabis debtors the protections of federal bankruptcy law, say Noah Weingarten and Bethany Simmons at Loeb & Loeb.

  • CFPB's Earned Wage Access Rule Marks Regulatory Shift

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's newly issued interpretive rule on earned wage access products, classifying them as extensions of credit, marks a significant shift in their regulatory landscape and raises some important questions regarding potential fringe cases and legal challenges, say Erin Bryan and Courina Yulisa at Dorsey & Whitney.

  • How Calif. Justices' Prop 22 Ruling Affects The Gig Industry

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    The California Supreme Court's recent upholding of Proposition 22 clarifies that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other companies in the gig industry can legally classify their drivers as independent contractors, but it falls short of concluding some important regulatory battles in the state, says Mark Spring at CDF Labor.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Employers Face Uncertainty After Calif. Justices' Slur Ruling

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    In Bailey v. San Francisco District Attorney's Office, the California Supreme Court recently ruled that a singular use of a racial slur may be sufficiently severe to support a hostile work environment claim, leaving employers to speculate about what sort of comments or conduct will meet this new standard going forward, says Stephanie Roeser at Manatt.

  • Considerations As State AGs Step Up Privacy Enforcement

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    As new state privacy laws take effect, businesses are facing an increasingly complex patchwork of compliance obligations and risk of scrutiny by attorneys general, but companies can gain a competitive edge by building consumer trust and staying ahead of regulatory trends, say Ann-Marie Luciano and Meghan Stoppel at Cozen O’Connor.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Flags Work Harassment Risks Of Social Media

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    The recent Ninth Circuit ruling in Okonowsky v. Garland, holding an employer could be liable for a co-worker's harassing social media posts, highlights new challenges in technology-centered and remote workplaces, and underscores an employer's obligation to prevent hostile environments wherever their employees clock in, say Jennifer Lada and Phillip Schreiber at Holland & Knight.

  • Lessons From Rising Fake Discount Consumer Class Actions

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    Ellen Robbins and Scott Allbright at Akerman discuss the rise of false reference price consumer class actions and outline key strategies to minimize legal risk and protect businesses.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

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