California

  • 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. 

  • September 09, 2024

    Ex-Finance Exec To Pay SEC $110K In Insider Trading Action

    A former finance director of pharmaceutical company Inhibrx Inc. has agreed to pay over $110,000 to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that he bought his employer's shares as it prepared to announce good news about its principal drug candidate.

  • September 09, 2024

    Siemens To Build $60M Bullet Train Production Facility In NY

    Siemens Mobility will build a $60 million bullet train production facility in Horseheads, New York, that is set to start operating in 2026, according to an official announcement Monday.

  • September 09, 2024

    'Terrorgram' Leaders Charged With Targeting Judge, Senator

    Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Monday charging two people with using the social media app Telegram to create a "Terrorgram Collective" of white supremacists who conspired to assassinate a federal judge, a U.S. attorney, a U.S. senator and others, and planned bombings and international hate crimes.

  • September 09, 2024

    No Coverage For BNSF In Flood Suit, Travelers Says

    Two Travelers units told a California federal court that they owe no additional insured coverage to railway giant BNSF over claims that a track relocation project it undertook caused significant flooding on a property owner's land.

  • September 09, 2024

    SeaWorld Strikes Deal To End 401(k) Class Action

    SeaWorld told a California federal court it agreed to settle a class action accusing it of loading its $300 million employee retirement plan with high-cost funds and hiring expensive recordkeepers who charged more than double what similar plans were paying.

Expert Analysis

  • Shipping Containers As Building Elements Require Diligence

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    With the shipping container market projected to double between 2020 and 2028, repurposing containers as storage units, office spaces and housing may become more common, but developers must make sure they comply with requirements that can vary by intended use and location, says Steven Otto at Crosbie Gliner.

  • Drip Pricing Exemption Isn't A Free Pass For Calif. Eateries

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    A new exemption relieves California bars and restaurants from the recently effective law banning prices that don't reflect mandatory fees and charges — but such establishments aren't entirely off the hook for drip pricing, due to uncertainty over disclosure requirements and pending federal junk fee regulations, say Alexandria Ruiz and Amy Lally at Sidley.

  • Justices' Intent Witness Ruling May Be Useful For Defense Bar

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    At first glance, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Diaz v. U.S. decision, allowing experts to testify to the mental state of criminal defendants in federal court, gives prosecutors a new tool, but creative white collar defense counsel may be able to use the same tool to their own advantage, say Jack Sharman and Rachel Bragg at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Why Calif. Courts Are Split On ERISA Forfeited Contributions

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    A split between two California federal courts, in deciding whether an employer’s use of forfeited retirement plan contributions to offset future costs violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, suggests employers should soon expect more ERISA cases to advance this novel legal theory when making anti-inurement and breach of fiduciary duty claims, says Blake Crohan at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • How 5 States' Deal Notification Laws Are Guiding Healthcare

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    Healthcare transaction notification laws at various stages of implementation in California, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon and Washington are shaping sector mergers and acquisitions, with significant transparency, continuity of care and compliance implications as providers tackle complex regulatory requirements, says Melesa Freerks at DLA Piper.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Alice Step 2 Trends Show Courts' Extrinsic Evidence Reliance

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    A look at recent trends in how district courts are applying Step 2 of the Alice framework shows that courts have increasingly relied on extrinsic evidence to help determine whether a claimed invention is "well-understood, routine, and conventional," says Jonathan Tuminaro at Sterne Kessler.

  • What To Know As Children's Privacy Law Rapidly Evolves

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    If your business hasn't been paying attention to growing state and federal efforts to protect children online, now is the time to start — there is no sign of this regulation slowing down, and more aggressive enforcement actions are to be expected in the coming year, says Susan Rohol at Willkie Farr.

  • What Cos. Should Know About New Global Plastics Regs

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    As the global regulatory landscape for plastics and recycling changes rapidly — with new policies coming into effect in California, at the federal level, in the European Union and at the United Nations — businesses that operate across jurisdictions must stay informed to remain compliant, mitigate legal risk and achieve stewardship goals, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.

  • The Rise Of State And Local Environmental Leadership

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    While Congress is deadlocked, and a U.S. Supreme Court with a hostility toward the administrative state aggressively dismantles federal environmental oversight, state and local governments are stepping up with policies to shape a more sustainable future for all species, says Jonathan Rosenbloom at Albany Law School.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

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