California

  • September 24, 2026

    Lugano Diamonds Gets Official OK For Ch. 11 Liquidation Plan

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge Thursday confirmed Lugano Diamonds' Chapter 11 liquidation plan, after the jewelry house finalized a deal with its former CEO.

  • September 24, 2026

    Issa Copyright Bill Looks To Combat Foreign Website Piracy

    A California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow U.S.-based copyright holders to seek federal court declarations that foreign websites are engaged in copyright piracy and then to have the sites blocked in the U.S.

  • September 24, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs Dual Deals Over Inaccessable LA Housing

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday found a whistleblower is not entitled to a portion of a $200 million settlement Los Angeles reached with federal officials to correct years of noncompliance with accessibility requirements in public housing after the plaintiff struck a separate deal in a fraud complaint over the city's conduct. 

  • September 24, 2026

    5 Circuit Splits To Watch At The High Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court has been deciding fewer and fewer cases over the past three decades, with its caseload reaching a historic low just last term. While attorneys believe several factors have contributed to that trend, they say one of the most consequential is the court's apparent declining interest in resolving circuit splits. 

  • September 24, 2026

    EPA Cuts Deal To Partially Settle UC Grant Fight

    University of California researchers urged a California federal judge Wednesday to preliminarily sign off on their proposed deal to resolve claims against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in broader litigation challenging the Trump administration's termination of thousands of UC grants.

  • September 24, 2026

    Walmart Pays $16M To End Expired Formula Sales Claims

    Walmart has agreed to pay $16 million to resolve claims that it sold expired infant formula and over-the-counter drug products to consumers after their expiration dates, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday.

  • September 24, 2026

    California Powerhouse: Morrison Foerster

    Morrison Foerster LLP planted roots in California not long after the state joined the Union, and it has continued to cultivate its reputation as an innovative adviser through this past year, leading SoftBank's historic $122 billion OpenAI financing and guiding Sumitomo Forestry Co.'s $4.5 billion acquisition of Tri Pointe Homes.

  • September 24, 2026

    9th Circ. Reinstates Vax Objector's Religious Bias Case

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday reopened a nurse's lawsuit alleging an Oregon hospital unlawfully put her on unpaid leave rather than accommodate her religious objection to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, faulting the trial court for overlooking a letter in which she explained why she wanted an exemption.

  • September 24, 2026

    Alston & Bird Adds 2 Ex-Loeb & Loeb Commercial Litigators

    Alston & Bird LLP has added two commercial litigators in California previously with Loeb & Loeb LLP who specialize in business disputes, the firm announced Thursday.

  • September 23, 2026

    NM Offers Infernal Literature Lesson In Meta Trial Closing

    New Mexico wrapped its data privacy trial against Meta on Wednesday by likening the social media company's alleged habitual lying about data protection to the worst of sins in Dante's "Inferno," asking the jury, "Does lying matter?"

  • September 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs Delta Immunity Over In-Flight Restraint

    Airlines are broadly immune from civil litigation when they report to law enforcement a passenger behaving suspiciously, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday, ending litigation by a passenger who secured a $7 million verdict against Delta Air Lines after a jury found he had not behaved suspiciously and that flight staff had caused him to be injured.

  • September 23, 2026

    Oakland Beats ADA Challenge To Rent Control Program

    Oakland city officials beat a proposed class action alleging its rent control program discriminatorily excludes tenants with mobility disabilities since few units under the program are accessible, after a California federal judge said Wednesday there are other options that could address disparate impacts without violating the state's rent control law.

  • September 23, 2026

    Google MDL Coverage Suit Belongs In Calif., Del. Judge Rules

    A Delaware state judge has stayed a lawsuit by American International Group subsidiaries seeking a declaration that they're not liable for covering Google's defense costs tied to social-media addiction multidistrict litigation, finding the parties must litigate in California where Google filed its own coverage suit weeks before the insurers.

  • September 23, 2026

    Calif. Appeals Court Revives Antitrust Suit Against Claritev

    A California state appeals court held in a published opinion that health insurer reimbursements for services are prices that, if fixed or tampered with, are subject to antitrust scrutiny, reviving a lawsuit that accused MultiPlan Corp. of violating antitrust law through pricing tools used by health insurance providers.

  • September 23, 2026

    Buyers Defend DRAM Price-Fixing Case Against Chipmakers

    Buyers are defending a proposed class action in California federal court that accuses Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix of conspiring to restrict supplies of dynamic random access memory, arguing the companies increased prices by nearly 700% over three years.

  • September 23, 2026

    JPMorgan Can't Scrap $4.25M Award Over Super Bowl Food

    A California federal judge has mostly denied JPMorgan's bid to vacate a $4.25 million arbitration award for a former wealth manager who was fired for expensing $642.40 worth of food for a Super Bowl party, finding vacatur isn't warranted, even if JPMorgan raised "serious challenges."

  • September 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Grounds Suit Over Wash. Airport Flight Path Pollution

    A Ninth Circuit panel said Wednesday that a provision of the Clean Air Act limiting state regulation of aircraft emissions is enough to extinguish a group of Washington residents' proposed class action against Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's operator over alleged flight path pollution.

  • September 23, 2026

    Blue Shield Still Facing Therapy 'Ghost Network' Suit

    A California federal judge ruled Wednesday that Blue Shield of California must face the majority of claims brought in subscribers' proposed class action alleging the insurer maintained a "ghost network" of mental-health providers that didn't exist or accept new patients, saying the suit adequately claims contract terms were not met.

  • September 23, 2026

    Tech CEO Hid Russian Ties To Win Gov't Contracts, Feds Say

    The CEO of Virginia-based Oxygen Forensics, which sought contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies, claimed the software company was completely American-owned when it was actually controlled by a group of Russian nationals, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.

  • September 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Rehear Klamath Project ESA Ruling

    The Ninth Circuit said Wednesday it won't disturb a divided three-judge panel's ruling affirming that a federal regulator must abide by the Endangered Species Act's interagency consultation requirements as it operates a water management project in northern California and southern Oregon.

  • September 23, 2026

    Wash. Judge Blocks Ed. Dept. Mental Health Grant Cuts

    A Washington federal judge preliminarily enjoined the U.S. Education Department from terminating up to $1 billion in K–12 mental health grants serving 15 states, finding states provided sufficient evidence that the agency was planning to unlawfully cut those grants.

  • September 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Rejects Squatter's-Rights Claim On Dead Baby's Name

    Walter Glenn Primrose testified at trial that he stole a dead baby's name to escape debt and threats in the 1980s and used it for three decades — even joining the U.S. Coast Guard and becoming a defense contractor — before his arrest and convictions. This week, the Ninth Circuit rejected Primrose's novel claim that his identity theft convictions can't stand because he has squatter's rights over the infant's identity.

  • September 23, 2026

    DOJ Partially Backs Apple In Epic High Court Contempt Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief that the Ninth Circuit wrongly faulted Apple for charging a 27% commission on transactions linked out from apps, but it backed other parts of the California federal court's contempt order won by Epic Games.

  • September 23, 2026

    Sam Smith Can't Shimmy Out Of 'Dancing' Copyright Suit

    A California federal judge will not throw out a lawsuit accusing pop singers Sam Smith and Normani of copying another song in their 2019 hit "Dancing With a Stranger," saying there were factual issues over the alleged similarity of the songs.

  • September 23, 2026

    Crypto Co. Wins Bid To Send $100M RICO Suit To Arbitration

    A California federal court has granted data cloud platform Cerebellum Networks Inc.'s motion to compel arbitration in a former employee's $100 million suit accusing company executives of running a pump-and-dump cryptocurrency fraud scheme.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

  • Tracking Trends In State-Level Regulatory Enforcement

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    State-level enforcement now increasingly involves antitrust, artificial intelligence and data privacy issues, and the key for organizations to reducing risk is having the ability to respond across governance, public affairs, discovery and remediation in multiple states simultaneously, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

  • Md. Digital Tax Ruling Is A Road Map For Future Challenges

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    Three Maryland Tax Court rulings that recently struck down the state's digital advertising tax suggest constitutional and statutory vulnerabilities that could be used to challenge newly enacted digital services laws or legislation being considered by other states, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: Accessing Key MDL Data

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    As the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation convenes for its September hearing session, it is useful to examine the treasure trove of historical and statistical information about MDLs past and present that the panel makes available to the public on its own website, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

  • What Cos. Must Know As Fast Energy Permitting Gains Steam

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    A recently approved geothermal project in Nevada may be the first authorized by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management under a new 14-day expedited environmental review process — but project developers may find that a more thorough environmental analysis will provide better protection against litigation challenges, says Jill Yung at Allen Matkins.

  • Opinion

    Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

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    California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

  • The Preemption Gap In Prediction Market High Court Petitions

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    The Supreme Court is considering three certiorari petitions following a split in prediction market litigation between the Third and Ninth circuits, but one of the petitions would not allow the court to reach the express preemption question, which would leave the dispute half-resolved, says Jordan Garman at Withers.

  • Hims & Hers Suit Spotlights Health Data-Sharing Privacy Risks

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    Regulators' complaint against telehealth company Hims & Hers alleging deceptive practices serves as a reminder that the privacy principles developed under consumer protection laws and predating omnibus statutes remain in force, and sensitive data governance continues to be a crucial component of compliance, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 4 Paths To AI Safety Coordination Amid Antitrust Debate

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    Frontier artificial intelligence companies have more room for collective safety work than the debate over an antitrust waiver suggests, with several existing avenues providing different degrees of protection and oversight, says Evan Miller at V&E.

  • 'Demon Hunter' IP Suit Highlights Reverse Confusion Perils

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    A metal band named Demon Hunter's recently filed lawsuit against Netflix, alleging that consumers mistakenly believe it to be connected to the "KPop Demon Hunters" movie, provides a useful vehicle for examining the reverse confusion doctrine and its practical implications, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Calif. Privacy Bill Could Change CIPA Tracking Cases

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    If California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs S.B. 690, the bill could materially reduce the leverage behind a pen-register-only claim or demand, so California Invasion of Privacy Act website tracking claims should not be evaluated the same way they were six months ago, says Alexandra Samofalova at Spencer Fane.

  • 5th Circ. Embedding Decision Could Recast Copyright Claims

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    The Fifth Circuit's decision in Emmerich v. Particle Media addresses decades of ambiguity surrounding whether embedded content can constitute copyright infringement, potentially affecting how defense counsel fight against such claims, say attorneys at Greenberg Glusker.

  • How Cos. Can Avoid Infant Product False Advertising Suits

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    As lawsuits proliferate over products marketed for infant use and sold at a premium that are identical to cheaper general-use products, manufacturers should review related product lines, and scrutinize contextual cues that may contribute to the overall message received by consumers, say attorneys at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Raises Bar For Arbitration Pacts Via Email

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent holding in Rickes v. Thermo Fisher that the mere delivery of an email doesn't establish an employee's assent to the arbitration agreement underscores that rollout processes should both give employees notice of the agreement and create evidence of their assent, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • How GCs Can Assess The Risks Of Emerging AI Laws

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    Amid a swirl of momentous legislative activity aimed at regulating artificial intelligence, general counsel must return to first principles when determining whether new laws will apply and whether the company’s use could cause regulators to subject it to additional regulation, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

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