California

  • September 10, 2024

    80 Hospitals Sue HHS Over 'Part C Days' Payment Rule

    Scores of hospitals in Texas, California, Ohio, and other states sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Monday in a District of Columbia federal court over denied appeals that had sought additional Medicare payments for inpatient services.

  • September 10, 2024

    Corp.'s Stock Transfer Lacked Business Purpose, OTA Affirms

    The California Office of Tax Appeals upheld the Franchise Tax Board's denial of a company's $10 million deduction for the transfer of stock to a settlement fund, saying the transaction lacked economic substance.

  • September 10, 2024

    42 AGs Back Call For Social Media Warning Label Law

    A bipartisan group of 42 attorneys general urged Congress on Tuesday to introduce warning labels on social media platforms in a bid to tackle risks posed to young people's mental health.

  • September 10, 2024

    Simpson Thacher Names Bi-Coastal Fund Finance Leaders

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has tapped into both its East and West Coast offices to name the new leaders for its fund finance practice, according to a Tuesday announcement.

  • September 10, 2024

    Prime Hydration Beats Most Beverage PFAS Claims, For Now

    A California federal judge on Monday declined to end a putative class action accusing Prime Hydration of misleadingly marketing its Grape Sports Drink as healthy when it contains so-called "forever chemicals," although she tossed most of the lawsuit's claims with leave to amend.

  • September 10, 2024

    Calif. NLRB Judge OKs Union Vote At Social Services Org.

    Workers at a San Francisco-based social services nonprofit can proceed with their union representation election, a National Labor Relations Board official has ruled, rejecting the employer's bid to exclude some employees from the vote on the grounds that they exercise supervisory power.

  • September 10, 2024

    Womble Bond Eyes Growth, Not Layoffs, With New Tie-Up

    The merger between Womble Bond Dickinson and Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP is not about cutting costs because of mounting competition, the international law firm's U.S. boss told Law360 on Tuesday. It's about growth in the U.S., the U.K. — and beyond.

  • September 10, 2024

    Will Tom Girardi's Age Impact His Sentence?

    Disbarred attorney Tom Girardi's age and mental decline did not help him avoid conviction last month on charges that he stole millions in client funds, but it's an open question how much these factors will affect his sentencing, set for December.

  • September 10, 2024

    Ugg Maker Ends IP Boot Suit Against Costco

    Deckers Outdoor Corp. has dropped its suit in California federal court accusing Costco Wholesale Corp. of infringing a design patent and trade dress for Ugg "Classic Ultra Mini" boots with the retailer's Kirkland-branded footwear.

  • September 10, 2024

    Cybersecurity Co. Beats Suit Over Med Tech Data Breach

    A Massachusetts federal judge declined to hold information security technology company Barracuda Networks Inc. liable over a 2018 data breach that exposed the confidential information of more than 277,000 patients of medical device maker Zoll Medical Corp.

  • September 10, 2024

    Amazon Must Trim 'Halo' TM For EU Market

    Amazon Technologies could not convince the EU's intellectual property office to let it register trademarks for "halo" unscathed, with the office backing a Californian health technology company's bid to trim key protections for medical monitoring devices and health assessment services.

  • September 10, 2024

    McGuireWoods Adds Ex-Prosecutor, Former Fintech GC In SF

    McGuireWoods LLP continues to bolster its West Coast presence, announcing Tuesday that it has added a former federal prosecutor and the former general counsel for a fintech company as partners at its San Francisco office.

  • September 10, 2024

    The Medical-Style Legal Education Model On The Rise In Calif.

    A medical-school style model of legal education is expanding to a second California law school, giving law students the option of a year of hands-on training experience and a head start for post-graduation employment while providing much-needed support for nonprofits and government agencies.

  • September 10, 2024

    House Reps. Float Bill To Limit Patent Invalidations

    A bipartisan bill that would reset patent eligibility standards has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, over a year after a similar Senate bill was put forward that drew opposition from much of the tech and retail industry.

  • September 10, 2024

    Free Speech Or Bad Medicine? The Abortion 'Reversal' Battle

    The marketing of abortion pill "reversal" — a treatment doubted by medical groups but touted by anti-abortion advocates — is facing increased scrutiny from state attorneys general, triggering legal skirmishes in at least four states centered on First Amendment rights and consumer protection laws.

  • September 10, 2024

    Phone Maker Vivo Joins Via LA's Audio Patent Licensing Pool

    Via Licensing Alliance said Tuesday it has inked a deal with Chinese smartphone maker Vivo to join its patent pool for standardized audio coding technology.

  • September 10, 2024

    GM Can't Arbitrate Claims Engines Were 'Engineered To Fail'

    General Motors LLC cannot arbitrate class claims that certain engines were "engineered to fail," an Ohio federal judge has ruled, citing recent Sixth Circuit guidance on when a party waives the right to resolve disputes out of court.

  • September 10, 2024

    Kennedys Opens New Offices In LA, Seattle Amid US Growth

    Kennedys Law LLP said Tuesday it has opened new offices in Los Angeles and Seattle as the firm looks to build on its accelerating U.S. growth.

  • September 10, 2024

    Brookfield Pledges Over $1B To Ultra-Low Carbon E-Fuels Co.

    Brookfield will pump up to $1.05 billion into Infinium and its electrofuels platform, in what the asset management giant said Tuesday is its first direct sustainable aviation fuels investment.

  • September 10, 2024

    Womble Bond Dickinson To Merge With Lewis Roca

    Womble Bond Dickinson said Tuesday that its U.S. business is merging with regional law firm Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP at the start of the new year, the third law firm merger to be announced in the last week.

  • September 09, 2024

    Calif. State Senator's Ex-Staffer Sues For Sexual Harassment

    California State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil created a toxic work environment for her former chief of staff, demanding he perform sex acts to prove his loyalty and firing him for objecting to her "sexualized abuse of power," the former staffer alleged in a new complaint filed in Sacramento Superior Court.

  • September 09, 2024

    Exec Denied New Trial In 'Shadow Trading' Case, Fined $321K

    A California federal judge on Monday denied a new trial request from an ex-Medivation Inc. executive found to have used the pharmaceutical company's inside information when he bought a rival's stock, and also ordered him to pay a $321,000 penalty in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's "shadow trading" case.

  • September 09, 2024

    Yodlee Privacy Class Cert. Bid Faces Uphill Climb

    A California federal judge on Monday said she is "inclined" to find that three consumers claiming Yodlee Inc. unlawfully collected their banking data did not have standing to pursue claims or represent proposed classes alleging their transaction information was sold, even though the idea of the stored data is "creepy."

  • September 09, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Undoes Alice Ax Of Camera Patents In GoPro Case

    The Federal Circuit on Monday reversed a decision invalidating two video camera patents that GoPro Inc. is accused of infringing, ruling that the patents cover technological improvements, and not only an abstract idea, as a California federal judge had ruled.

  • September 09, 2024

    SpaceX Urges Arbitration Of Sex Harassment Suit

    Attorneys for SpaceX urged a California state court judge Monday to rethink a tentative ruling that declined to send a sexual harassment claim by an employee to arbitration but found 10 other claims are arbitrable, arguing the harassment claim predates a statute requiring that it be adjudicated in court. 

Expert Analysis

  • Considerations As State AGs Step Up Privacy Enforcement

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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?

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Daubert Motion Trends In Patent Cases Reveal Damages Shift

    Author Photo

    A review of all 2023 Daubert decisions in patent cases reveals certain trends and insights, and highlights the complexity and diversity in these cases, particularly in relation to lost profits and reasonable royalty damages opinions, say Sherry Zhang and Joanne Johnson at Ocean Tomo.

  • Why The SEC Is Targeting Short-And-Distort Schemes

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent crackdown on the illegal practice of short-and-distort trades highlights the urgent need for public companies to adopt proactive measures, including pursuing private rights of action, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • How High Court Ruling Is Shaping Homelessness Policies

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson to allow enforcement of local ordinances against overnight camping is already spurring new policies to manage homelessness, but the court's ruling does not grant jurisdictions unfettered power, say Kathryn Kafka and Alex Merritt at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Gilead Drug Ruling Creates Corporate Governance Dilemma

    Author Photo

    If upheld, a California state appellate court's decision — finding that Gilead is liable for delaying commercialization of a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on another drug — threatens to undermine long-standing rules of corporate law and exposes companies to liability for decisions based on sound business judgment, says Shireen Barday at Pallas.

  • Class Action Law Makes An LLC A 'Jurisdictional Platypus'

    Author Photo

    The applicability of Section 1332(d)(10) of the Class Action Fairness Act is still widely misunderstood — and given the ambiguous nature of limited liability companies, the law will likely continue to confound courts and litigants — so parties should be prepared for a range of outcomes, says Andrew Gunem at Strauss Borrelli.

  • 3 Notes For Arbitration Agreements After Calif. Ruling

    Author Photo

    After last month's California Supreme Court decision in Ramirez v. Charter Communications invalidated several arbitration clauses in the company's employee contracts as unconscionable, companies should ensure their own arbitration agreements steer clear of three major pitfalls identified by the court, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Jarkesy Ruling May Redefine Jury Role In Patent Fraud

    Author Photo

    Regardless of whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jarkesy ruling implicates the direction of inequitable conduct, which requires showing that the patentee made material statements or omissions to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the decision has created opportunities for defendants to argue more substantively for jury trials than ever before, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

    Author Photo

    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

    Author Photo

    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the California archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!