California

  • September 20, 2024

    Real Estate Recap: Infrastructure Rally, Insurance Reckoning

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including revived interest in infrastructure-focused funds and the next installment in a new series exploring the effects of extreme weather on the property insurance market.

  • September 20, 2024

    AGs Push To Can Google Privacy Deal With No Class Payout

    Nearly two dozen Republican state attorneys general are urging the Ninth Circuit to scrap a data privacy deal that requires Google to pay $62 million to plaintiffs' counsel and third-party organizations but gives no money to individual class members, arguing that consumers aren't adequately benefiting from the settlement.

  • September 20, 2024

    Arbitration Unlikely For Nursing Home Poison Death Suit

    A California state appeals court has all but affirmed the denial of arbitration in a suit alleging a nursing home caused the poisoning death of a resident who was mistakenly served industrial cleaner left in a pitcher, saying the trial court must first review the validity of the arbitration agreement.

  • September 20, 2024

    House To Weigh Patent Bill Aimed At Cutting Drug Prices

    The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider a bill soon that has already cleared the Senate and could streamline patent litigation by curbing the number of patents that makers of biologic drugs can assert over biosimilar drugs.

  • September 20, 2024

    Hyundai Says Startup Can't Sue In Calif. Over Trade Secrets

    South Korea-based Hyundai urged a California federal judge on Friday to toss a lawsuit alleging it stole a North Carolina startup's electric vehicle battery material technology, saying a contract inked by a Silicon Valley Hyundai office doesn't give the district court in California jurisdiction over the matter.

  • September 20, 2024

    Court Cuts Down Antitrust Suit From Loggers, Landowners

    An Oregon federal court has tossed a lawsuit by loggers and landowners that accused Iron Triangle LLC of monopolizing the market for logging services in part of the Pacific Northwest, saying they failed to show the logging and lumber company has monopoly power.

  • September 20, 2024

    Cities Score Wins Over FCC Even In 9th Circ. Permitting Loss

    Even though the Ninth Circuit in a recent decision largely upheld a Federal Communications Commission policy that reined in municipal governments' power to impose zoning restrictions on wireless network siting, the court's ruling wasn't all bad news for city officials.

  • September 20, 2024

    T.I.'s Fight With MGA Over Pop Group IP Goes To Jury Again

    An attorney for hip hop moguls T.I. and Tiny Harris told a California federal jury during closing arguments Friday that "common sense" should lead them to find that MGA Entertainment's line of O.M.G. dolls infringed the trade dress and misappropriated the name, likeness and identity of the OMG Girlz pop group.

  • September 20, 2024

    SEC To Seek Sanctions For Musk Deposition 'Gamesmanship'

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to seek sanctions against Elon Musk for not showing up to a scheduled deposition over his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter and instead flying to Florida to oversee a SpaceX launch, telling a California federal judge Friday that his excuse "smacks of gamesmanship."

  • September 20, 2024

    Senate Panel Advances Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act

    A U.S. Senate panel has moved forward efforts to win passage of the Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act, which would place approximately 172 acres of specified lands in San Diego into trust for the benefit of the California tribe.

  • September 20, 2024

    States Tell 10th Circ. To Back Colo. Interest Rate Opt-Out Law

    Attorneys general for 13 states and Washington, D.C., asked the Tenth Circuit on Friday to uphold a Colorado law imposing more restrictive interest rate caps on loans made to its residents by out-of-state banks, arguing that a federal judge's injunction "nullifies the authority granted to states by Congress" to protect consumers from abusive lending practices.

  • September 20, 2024

    Cannabis Group Defends Social Equity Programs At 9th Circ.

    A coalition of cannabis business advocates pushing for a legal interstate weed market told the Ninth Circuit on Friday that the dormant commerce clause of the Constitution applies to marijuana, but that state social equity programs geared towards restorative justice are still legitimate.

  • September 20, 2024

    Calif. Panel Backs VW Drivers' $3.5M Data Breach Deal

    California appellate justices have upheld Volkswagen and Audi drivers' $3.5 million data breach settlement and rejected an objector's request to intervene and vacate judgment, finding that her disagreement with their litigation strategy doesn't mean her interests weren't adequately represented. 

  • September 20, 2024

    IPO Trio Looks To Raise $536M Combined As Autumn Begins

    Three companies spanning the energy, healthcare and life sciences industries are preparing initial public offerings that could raise $536 million combined in the coming week, guided by six law firms, signaling an upturn in IPOs as autumn begins.

  • September 20, 2024

    JPMorgan Chase Sued Again Over Cash 'Sweep' Program

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. was hit with another proposed class action in California federal court claiming the bank's cash sweep investment program funnels customer funds into low-interest bearing accounts at its affiliate Chase Bank, a move that benefits the financial giant while depriving customers of the chance to earn the market-rate interest.

  • September 20, 2024

    Ex-Harvard Football Player Fraudulently Raised $3M, Suit Says

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges in a new suit that a former Harvard football player swindled more than $3 million from two dozen investors by promising them that their money would be used for sports-related investments when, in reality, it was used for the defendant's personal expenses, such as rent for a multimillion-dollar home.

  • September 20, 2024

    Conservative Pundit Seeks To Block Calif. AI Election Laws

    A content creator who created a viral AI-generated video shared by billionaire Elon Musk that lampoons Vice President Kamala Harris' mannerisms has sued the state and asked a California federal judge to block recently enacted state laws cracking down on election-related deepfakes, arguing the new laws infringe influencers' constitutional rights.

  • September 20, 2024

    Avenatti Seeks Top Court Review Of Daniels ID Theft Verdict

    Incarcerated celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction for misappropriating money from ex-client Stormy Daniels, claiming the Second Circuit's decision upholding the verdict runs afoul of precedent for identity-theft cases.

  • September 20, 2024

    Silvergate Wants Activist Investor's Board Seat Play Blocked

    The parent company of Silvergate Bank, a defunct bank that catered to the cryptocurrency industry, has asked the judge in its Delaware bankruptcy case to help head off what it described as an activist investor's effort to score a seat on the debtor's board so he can try to secure a payout for shareholders who are set to receive nothing under a Chapter 11 plan.

  • September 20, 2024

    IRS Special Trial Attorney Joins Hochman Salkin In California

    When Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez PC's newest principal, Sebastian Voth, was studying at Emory University School of Law, a former chief counsel for the Internal Revenue Service told students that the IRS was a great place to start their careers. After 15 years as an IRS attorney, Voth found that the agency was also a great place to work, he told Law360 Pulse in an interview Friday.

  • September 20, 2024

    Labor & Employment Trio From Calif. Firm Arrive At Buchalter

    Buchalter PC said Thursday that it has hired three attorneys from California firm Atkinson Andelson Loya Ruud & Romo, including a shareholder who will co-chair its wage and hour practice and chair its Private Attorneys General Act practice.

  • September 20, 2024

    LA Sees Retired Police Lt.'s Military Leave Suit Trimmed

    A California federal judge threw out several claims in a retired police lieutenant's lawsuit alleging the city of Los Angeles denied sick time and promotions to police officers who took military leave, although the parties have taken issue with the scope of the judge's order.

  • September 20, 2024

    California Powerhouse: Hueston Hennigan

    Even though commercial litigation boutique Hueston Hennigan LLP is both the youngest and the smallest of the firms making Law360's 2024 California Powerhouses list, it has already developed a reputation as a go-to firm when cases are going to trial.

  • September 20, 2024

    Former Wilson Elser Attorney Drops 9th Circ. Benefits Appeal

    The Ninth Circuit has agreed to dismiss a federal benefits lawsuit from a former Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP partner who claimed he was owed long-term disability benefits tied to chronic fatigue, after the parties held a lengthy mediation of the dispute.

  • September 19, 2024

    Wells Fargo Judge Says NDA Isn't A 'Gag' In Loan Bias Case

    A California federal judge on Thursday challenged Wells Fargo's arguments seeking to prevent a former underwriter from testifying as an expert in a proposed class action claiming the bank discriminated against non-white borrowers, saying a confidentiality agreement the ex-employee purportedly signed couldn't be used as a "gag" to silence him.

Expert Analysis

  • Navigating New Enforcement Scrutiny Of 'AI Washing'

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent lawsuit against Joonko Diversity, its first public AI-focused enforcement action against a private company, underscores the importance of applying the same internal legal and compliance rigor to AI-related claims as other market-facing statements, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Avoiding Corporate Political Activity Pitfalls This Election Year

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    As Election Day approaches, corporate counsel should be mindful of the complicated rules around companies engaging in political activities, including super PAC contributions, pay-to-play prohibitions and foreign agent restrictions, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Employer Arbitration Lessons From Calif. Consumer Ruling

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    Although a California state appeals court’s recent arbitration ruling in Mahram v. Kroger involved a consumer transaction, the finding that the arbitration agreement at issue did not apply to a third-party beneficiary could influence how employment arbitration agreements are interpreted, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor Law.

  • AI Art Ruling Shows Courts' Training Data Cases Approach

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    A California federal court’s recent ruling in Andersen v. Stability AI, where the judge refused to throw out artists’ copyright infringement claims against four companies that make or distribute software that creates images from text prompts, provides insight into how courts are handling artificial intelligence training data cases, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • 5 Ways Life Sciences Cos. Can Manage Insider Trading Risk

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    In light of two high-profile insider trading jury decisions against life sciences executives this year, public companies in the sector should revise their policies to account for regulators' new and more expansive theories of liability, says Amy Walsh at Orrick.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Bayer Antitrust Case Hinged On Evolving Market Definition

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    Generic flea and tick medication manufacturer Tevra's evolving market definition played a key role in the development and outcome of its five-year antitrust litigation against Bayer Healthcare, highlighting challenges that litigants may face when a proposed definition is assessed at trial, say Amy Vegari and Colleen Anderson at Patterson Belknap.

  • NYC Wage Info Bill Highlights Rise In Pay Transparency Laws

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    With New York City the latest to mull requiring companies to annually report employee wage data, national employers should consider adapting their compliance practices to comply with increasingly common pay transparency and disclosure obligations at state and local levels, says Kelly Cardin at Littler Mendelson.

  • The Bank Preemption Ripple Effects After Cantero, Flagstar

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    The importance of federal preemption for financial institutions will only increase as technology-driven innovations evolve, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America and vacatur of Kivett v. Flagstar Bank have real modern-day significance for national banks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Election Outlook: A Precedent Primer On Content Moderation

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    With the 2024 election season now in full swing, online platforms will face difficult and politically sensitive decisions about content moderation, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions from last term offer much-needed certainty about their rights, say Jonathan Blavin and Helen White at Munger Tolles.

  • Banking Compliance Takeaways From Joint Agency Statement

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    Federal bank regulatory agencies’ recent joint statement warning of risks associated with third-party fintech deposit services spotlights a fundamental problem that may arise with bank deposit products that are made through increasingly complex customer relationships, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

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