California

  • August 21, 2026

    Foley & Lardner Adds Chief Information Officer From Fenwick

    Foley & Lardner LLP announced Thursday the hiring of James McKenna, formerly the chief information officer at Fenwick & West LLP, to operate in the same role at the firm.

  • August 21, 2026

    Insurers Owe No Coverage For $40M Retirement Plan Deal

    Three excess insurers owe no coverage for a $40 million settlement that a church retirement plan administrator reached to resolve claims of self-dealing, a California federal court ruled, finding the claims were connected to wrongful prior acts.

  • August 21, 2026

    Calif. High School NIL Limitations Survive Antitrust Challenge

    A California federal judge has tossed a lawsuit by high school athletes challenging the state's limits on name, image and likeness opportunities, saying the plaintiffs have not adequately defined a relevant market or pled antitrust injury.

  • August 20, 2026

    Uber Gets Greenlight On Most Fraud Claims Against LA Firms

    A California federal judge Wednesday largely rejected two Los Angeles personal injury firms' attempts to ditch Uber's suit claiming it's being targeted by a scheme involving fraudulent personal injury claims, finding Uber has plausibly alleged that the firms schemed with a surgeon to rack up medical costs.

  • August 20, 2026

    Jay-Z Appeals Buzbee Win In Rapper's Defamation Suit

    Music mogul Jay-Z's counsel fought uphill Thursday to convince a California state appeals court to revive claims that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee defamed and extorted him by roping him into a sexual abuse suit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, arguing in court that a trial court erroneously read evidence in Buzbee's favor.

  • August 20, 2026

    Instagram Algorithm Czar Tells Jury Safety Helps Profits

    The Instagram executive responsible for the algorithm kicked off Meta's defense case Thursday over Tennessee's claims it concealed harm to youths' mental health, testifying the company's efforts to protect children also protect its bottom line.

  • August 20, 2026

    Facebook Whistleblower Fights For Right To Promote Memoir

    An ex-Facebook executive who wrote a whistleblower memoir urged a California federal judge Thursday to toss a preliminary arbitration decision blocking her from promoting the book or disparaging Meta, while the company countered that she agreed to resolve such disputes by arbitration when she accepted a $780,000 payout.

  • August 20, 2026

    Social Media Cos. Fight Bid To Merge 2 Bellwether Trials In LA

    An attorney for two plaintiffs set to be the second and third bellwether trials out of thousands of lawsuits alleging social media platforms caused children mental health harm urged a Los Angeles judge Thursday to combine their trials into one, although a Meta attorney said they are "fundamentally different cases."

  • August 20, 2026

    CFPB Rips 'Baseless' CashCall Bid To Ax $157M Judgment

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has urged a California federal court to reject lender CashCall Inc.'s bid to wipe out its more than $157 million enforcement judgment, slamming its claims of a settlement bait-and-switch by the agency as "baseless."

  • August 20, 2026

    Ex-Trade Desk Finance Director Accused Of Insider Trading

    A former Trade Desk finance director traded on insider information ahead of public earnings announcements by his former employer, netting over $338,000 in profits, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday and a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint, both in New York federal court.

  • August 20, 2026

    Meta Atty 'Absolutely Wrong' On Client Privilege, Judge Warns

    With trial dark Thursday due to juror illness, a California judge overseeing states' claims that Meta Platforms Inc. hid social media's harms heard arguments over evidence, at one point criticizing Meta's efforts to assert attorney-client privilege and calling the company's in-house lawyer "absolutely wrong" about the appropriate standard.

  • August 20, 2026

    Sephora Denied Wash. Workers Breaks, Class Action Says

    Sephora is facing a proposed class action from a former employee who claims the beauty retailer deprived Washington state workers of legally required meal and rest periods and failed to compensate them for missed breaks.

  • August 20, 2026

    TikTok's Ex-Legal Head Made Racist Comments, Suit Says

    TikTok and its former head of global legal operations have been accused in a California state court lawsuit of harassment and discrimination based on race and sex by a former legal department employee who claims the executive subjected her and other nonwhite colleagues to an "unrelenting campaign of harassment."

  • August 20, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives Can-Am Fuel Claims Against Sinclair, Glovis

    A unanimous Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday revived Can-Am Fuel Distribution LLC's federal franchise claims against Sinclair Oil LLC and Glovis America Inc., holding the companies' licensing agreements are covered by the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act despite an "unusual variation" in the parties' relationship.

  • August 20, 2026

    Adviser, Startup To Pay SEC $266K For Taking Client Data

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has secured a nearly $266,000 judgment against a California-based investment adviser and his firm, and banned him from practicing for three years after he allegedly emailed himself confidential client information from his former employer and used it to launch his own investment firm.

  • August 20, 2026

    Lenders Sue Over $1M Loan Tied To Cannabis Farm

    A group of California lenders is trying to claw back a $1 million loan that was supposed to launch a cannabis farm in Miranda, claiming they learned too late that the property had already lost its permits to grow and that the borrowers had misused most of the loan proceeds.

  • August 20, 2026

    Defunct Tax Startup CEO Barred From Deceiving Investors

    A California federal judge prohibited the CEO of a defunct tax compliance startup who was accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of swindling $13 million from investors from deceiving anyone or disseminating false information regarding investments in violation of securities laws.

  • August 20, 2026

    Snap Must Face YouTube Creators' DMCA AI Scraping Suit

    A California federal judge has denied a bid from the company that owns video-messaging app Snapchat to escape allegations from a group of YouTube creators that their content was illegally ingested to train artificial intelligence, saying the YouTubers had sufficiently laid out how users encounter measures meant to protect videos.

  • August 20, 2026

    Judge Denies Bid To Move AT&T ERISA Case To State Court

    A California federal judge has denied a former AT&T employee's bid to move his class action suit alleging violations of state labor law over a tobacco surcharge on employee health plans from federal to state court.

  • August 20, 2026

    Estee Lauder's TM Suit 'Full Of Detail,' Judge Tells Walmart

    A California federal judge said Thursday he is skeptical of Walmart's motion to dismiss much of Estee Lauder's lawsuit accusing the retail giant of selling infringing beauty products online, saying he is unsure the pleadings are inadequate at this stage because he found them "chock full of detail."

  • August 20, 2026

    DOJ Pot Shift Changes LA Licensing Challenge, 9th Circ. Told

    A California attorney who has challenged state and local cannabis licensing policies across the country on the grounds that they discriminate against out-of-state entrants told the Ninth Circuit that recent federal shifts on medical marijuana mean the dormant commerce clause should apply to the once-federally illicit industry.

  • August 20, 2026

    Amgen Reaches Deal To End Ex-Worker's Tobacco Fee Fight

    Biotech giant Amgen Inc. struck a deal to end a proposed class action alleging a $150-a-month fee on the health plans of employees who used tobacco violated federal benefits law, according to a filing in California federal court Thursday.

  • August 20, 2026

    Trade Groups Back Apple In 9th Circ. Class Decert. Fight

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade and advocacy groups backed Apple Wednesday with amicus briefs telling the Ninth Circuit to reject an appeal from consumers looking to undo the decertification of a class of roughly 200 million people in an antitrust case targeting App Store policies.

  • August 20, 2026

    Lakers Sale Fight Offers M&A Lessons For Family Businesses

    The agreement by former Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger and venture capitalist Josh Kushner to acquire the Los Angeles Lakers at a record $12.5 billion valuation appeared, at first, to be another example of the seemingly endless rise in professional sports franchise values.

  • August 20, 2026

    Johns Hopkins Hit With Sex Discrimination, Retaliation Suit

    Johns Hopkins University was hit with a complaint in California federal court alleging it impaired a graduate student's educational access and retaliated against her after she returned from a pregnancy-related leave and accused her former adviser of sexual misconduct.

Expert Analysis

  • Illinois Audit Law Will Make AI Clauses Actually Enforceable

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    A law recently enacted in Illinois creates a first-in-the-nation requirement for artificial intelligence developers to undergo annual audits, providing objective standards that can be incorporated into private contracts and addressing the problem of defining responsible AI use, says William Tanenbaum at Moses & Singer.

  • Opinion

    Shareholder Derivative Litigation Needs A Better Framework

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    Uncoordinated, multiforum shareholder derivative litigation is a growing issue for corporate defendants that have little to no recourse for organizing and consolidating actions, but several commonsense steps should be utilized to preempt such disputes, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Occupier Contract Strategies For Locking In Expansion Rights

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    In a market defined by record-setting demand, shrinking availability and rising rents, large commercial office occupiers must treat expansion space planning as a strategic priority, including by auditing existing rights, understanding the competitive landscape within their buildings and exploring creative lease provisions, says Josh Winefsky at HSF Kramer.

  • How State, Local Rules Are Expanding Debt Collection Reach

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    Consumer protection rules recently enacted by several states signal that the rules of debt collection are being rewritten at a pace that should command the attention of every creditor, servicer, debt buyer, collection agency and collection law firm operating across state lines, says Weldianne Scales at Reed Smith.

  • 2 AI Washing Rulings Apply Familiar Securities Fraud Rules

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    Two recent federal court decisions to allow AI washing complaints to proceed begin to clarify the line between nonactionable optimism and actionable misstatements by framing the core issue as not overstating the promise of artificial intelligence, but misrepresenting the current state of a company's products, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • A New Regulatory Environment For PE In Calif. Healthcare

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    The California Office of Health Care Affordability's proposed revisions to its cost and market impact review regulations, amid broader state scrutiny of private equity-backed healthcare arrangements, represent a qualitative shift in California's regulatory posture toward institutional healthcare investment, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • CFIUS' Mandate Misses Foreign Risk In Project Subcontracts

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    Recent calls for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review equity transactions like the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. deal miss a consequential oversight gap — CFIUS' inability to review the subcontracting layer of U.S. infrastructure projects, says Thibaut Giret at Alstef Group.

  • AI Governance Tips For Avoiding Securities Suits

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    A recent securities class action in California federal court against lending platform Upstart highlights how statements about artificial intelligence are increasingly being scrutinized not only by regulators, but also by shareholders, meaning companies should ensure oversight frameworks keep pace with the technology, say attorneys at Akerman.

  • How Cos. Can Prep For Ultra-Processed Food Legal Risks

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    A wave of litigation and government scrutiny directed against ultra-processed foods is now gaining momentum, following patterns seen previously in other industries — and food companies that recognize those patterns early will be better positioned to manage the increasing risks, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Series

    Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

  • Roundup

    The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

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    This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

  • Pregnancy Bias Suits Highlight EEOC's Expanding Reach

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    Recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suits show that enactment of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act has drawn scrutiny to a wider range of employment decisions and an increasing focus on individual decisions as indicators of whether an employer's policies comply with evolving federal requirements, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The year's second quarter brought several noteworthy financial services developments to California, including activity around a commercial finance oversight bill, the former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head's appointment to lead a new consumer agency, and a ruling reinforcing viable bank-fintech partnerships, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • What Ex-CFPB Head's Calif. Role May Foretell For Oversight

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's selection of former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra to lead a new consumer agency signals tougher state financial services oversight, especially for fintechs, as well as heightened enforcement activity and larger penalties, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Justices Stand On Statutory Specifics In Cisco And Landor

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    With its June 23 decisions in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe and Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, the U.S. Supreme Court doubled down on the critical point that the statute invoked in a federal claim must authorize a private lawsuit and the remedy sought, says Patrick Judd at Phelps Dunbar.

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