California

  • April 09, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Hotel, Restaurant Virus Losses Not Covered

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday said two groups of Washington state restaurants and hotels can't claim COVID-related business losses under their insurance policies because they failed to show they physically lost functional use of their properties as a result of the virus.

  • April 09, 2024

    Investor Can't Get Approval Of Hong Kong Award In Calif.

    A California judge has thrown out a petition filed by a biotechnology company investor seeking to enforce a Hong Kong arbitral award that found she is the proper owner of the company's shares, saying the case has an insufficient connection to the Golden State.

  • April 09, 2024

    Prime Healthcare Lacked Oversight Of 401(k) Plan, Judge Told

    An attorney who specializes in Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation testified on Tuesday as the first witness in a California bench trial for two certified classes claiming Prime Healthcare Services Inc. poorly managed their 401(k) plans, and said the company's oversight of its investment committee was "almost a dereliction of duty."

  • April 09, 2024

    Calif. AG Backs Bill To Revamp 'Abysmal' Corporate Penalties

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta gave his full support Tuesday to a state bill that would increase the cap on criminal penalties for corporate malfeasance from the "abysmal penalty" of $10,000 per felony to $25 million, or twice the value of the inflicted loss, and provide all proceeds to California's crime victim services.

  • April 09, 2024

    Calif. Addiction Clinic Can't Shake Off Copyright Suit

    An intellectual property and false advertising feud between two rival addiction outpatient clinics in Sacramento will go on, a federal judge in California has ruled.

  • April 09, 2024

    99 Cents Only Moves Forward On Ch. 11 Shutdown Plans

    Discount retail store 99 Cents Only is on track to close its 371 stores by the end of May as part of its Chapter 11 case after a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved first-day motions that lay groundwork for the company to close down, but held off on approving a debtor-in-possession package until terms reached during hallway negotiations can be memorialized.

  • April 09, 2024

    Venable Snags Trio Of Product Liability Partners From Steptoe

    Three Steptoe LLP product liability and mass torts partners have departed the firm and joined Venable LLP in Chicago and Los Angeles, according to an announcement Tuesday.

  • April 09, 2024

    Pfizer Cancer Drug Way Too Expensive, Biden Told

    The U.S. government is being asked yet again to use patent laws to lower the price of a prostate cancer drug that was developed at UCLA and is being sold by Pfizer for $136 a pill in the U.S.

  • April 09, 2024

    'No Merit' To Talent Co.'s Bid To DQ Execs' Attys, Judge Says

    A California state judge on Tuesday told attorneys for A3 Artists Agency and its chair, Adam Bold, that their allegation of a conflict of interest "has no merit" and that she tentatively would deny their motion to disqualify opposing counsel representing executives suing Bold and the agency for breach of contract.

  • April 09, 2024

    Dole Escapes Fruit Snack False Ad Suit, For Now

    A California federal judge has tossed a proposed class action accusing Dole Packaged Foods LLC of falsely labeling its fruit snacks as nutritious and healthy when the products are filled with sugar, saying the challenged statements are "puffery."

  • April 09, 2024

    Starbucks' Calif. Stores Lack Lactation Spaces, Suit Says

    A Starbucks employee brought a proposed class action in California state court on behalf of similarly situated workers in the Golden State over the coffeehouse chain's "systemic failure" to provide adequate lactation spaces and sufficient pumping time for nursing employees.

  • April 09, 2024

    StarKist, PE Co. Settle Tuna Price-Fixing Claims For $3.9M

    Canned tuna buyers are hoping to settle their long-running price-fixing suit with StarKist and Bumble Bee, asking a California federal judge for preliminary approval of two class action payouts worth a total of $3.87 million.

  • April 09, 2024

    9th Circ. Open To Reviving Calif. Cannabis Abatement Fight

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday appeared open to reviving a proposed class action alleging that Humboldt County's abatement fines for unlicensed cannabis growing structures is an unconstitutional "dragnet scheme," with two judges suggesting the magistrate judge inappropriately resolved material factual disputes against the property owners at the pleading stage.

  • April 09, 2024

    Carpenters Urge 9th Circ. To Restart Union Retirement Fight

    A group of carpenters urged the Ninth Circuit to revive allegations that their union's retirement plan trustees played fast and loose with their savings, saying Tuesday that the trustees should face claims that their risky investment choices caused two retirement plans to plummet in value when the pandemic hit.

  • April 09, 2024

    Fintech Investment Biz To Go Public Via $700M SPAC Merger

    Financial technology investment platform Linqto Inc., advised by Lowenstein Sandler LLP, on Tuesday unveiled plans to go public through a merger with blank-check company Blockchain Coinvestors Acquisition Corp. I, advised by Seward & Kissel LLP, in a deal valued at $700 million.

  • April 09, 2024

    Lack Of Evidence Kills Pupuseria's Bid For H-2B Line Cooks

    A U.S. Department of Labor appeals board affirmed the rejection of a California pupuseria's request to hire two line cooks under the H-2B temporary foreign worker program, finding that a certifying officer correctly determined that the business failed to show it had a seasonal need for the employees.

  • April 09, 2024

    Ex-LA Deputy Mayor Says Jury's Chats Warrant Mistrial

    Former Los Angeles deputy mayor Raymond Chan is calling for a mistrial following his bribery conviction, telling a federal judge the jury foreperson and two other panel members discussed the case outside the jury room, reaching a premature verdict that likely swayed other jurors.

  • April 09, 2024

    $350M Google Privacy Settlement Receives Initial Approval

    A California federal judge on Tuesday gave the first green light to a $350 million settlement between Google's parent company, Alphabet, and investors over claims the company deceived them about a March 2018 software glitch that allegedly gave third-party app developers the ability to access the private profile data of 500,000 users of the Google Plus social media site.

  • April 09, 2024

    Judge Sees Plot Holes In Case Against TV's 'Penny Dreadful'

    A California federal judge has dismissed, for now, a writer's copyright infringement suit accusing cable channel Showtime and the makers of the show "Penny Dreadful" of ripping off her characters from posts she made in a online role-playing community forum called "Murders & Roses: Victorian London Crimes & Scandals."

  • April 09, 2024

    GAO Says Late Bid Blocks Protest Over VA Wellness Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has tossed a dispute over a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs contract for health and wellness classes, saying a late bid barred the protest even though the VA agreed to consider the protester's proposal.

  • April 09, 2024

    Jenner & Block Recruits Ex-Sheppard Mullin IP Litigator In SF

    Jenner & Block LLP is boosting its intellectual property practice with the addition of a veteran trial lawyer as of counsel in its San Francisco office who was most recently with Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.

  • April 09, 2024

    Calif. Federal Judge From Cardi B Mixtape Case To Retire

    U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney of the Central District of California is retiring next month after presiding over cases for more than 20 years, including high-profile matters like the one involving claims rapper Cardi B misappropriated a man's likeness for the cover of her 2016 mixtape.

  • April 09, 2024

    Hogan Lovells Adds Baker Botts Enviro Litigators In DC, SF

    Hogan Lovells announced Tuesday it has hired three environmental crisis and white collar attorneys from Baker Botts LLP to bolster efforts to steer clients through criminal environmental and workplace safety investigations and other matters.

  • April 09, 2024

    Ex-DraftKings Exec Loses Bid For $310K In Atty Fees

    A California federal judge will not award the $310,000 in attorney fees a former DraftKings executive claims it cost to handle the ping-ponging of his lawsuit between federal and state court, ruling the removal at the behest of his ex-employer was "suspect" but not unreasonable.

  • April 09, 2024

    Nonprofit Seeks Over $300K Atty Fees Over X Defamation Win

    A nonprofit organization focused on challenging hate speech asked a California federal judge to approve more than $300,000 in attorney fees following a successful defense against Elon Musk and social platform X Corp.'s claims over an allegedly defamatory article.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Retailers Must Be Mindful Of Sale Ads As Class Actions Rise

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    A recent uptick in class actions filed against retailers over a breadth of allegedly deceptive pricing practices — including misleading reference prices for sales and discounts offered on a perpetual basis — show no sign of slowing down, indicating that class counsel are laser-focused on challenging advertising strategies, say Louis DiLorenzo and Paavana Kumar at Davis+Gilbert.

  • Legislative And Litigation Trends In Environmental Advertising

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    Companies that tout their products' environmental benefits can significantly reduce the risk that they will face allegations of greenwashing by staying up to date on related Federal Trade Commission guidance, state requirements and litigation trends, say Raqiyyah Pippins and Kelsie Sicinski at Arnold & Porter.

  • What's On The Horizon In Attorney General Enforcement

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    A look at recent attorney general actions, especially in the areas of antitrust and artificial intelligence, can help inform businesses on what they should expect in terms of enforcement trends as 10 attorney general races play out in 2024, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

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