California

  • March 04, 2024

    Snapchat Lures Victims As Bitmoji 'Co-Publisher,' Suit Says

    Two weeks after a state court judge shredded the case, two parents and a minor renewed a lawsuit against Snapchat alleging the girl was sexually assaulted by two men she met online, arguing that their case targets the platform's own cartoon-like content and not third-party posts falling under federal immunity law.

  • March 04, 2024

    OpenAI Judge Denies Writers' Calif. IP Case 'First-To-File' Bid

    A California federal judge ruled Friday that a group of authors suing OpenAI for alleged copyright infringement cannot bar the Microsoft-backed company from defending itself against a similar suit in New York federal court, saying the plaintiffs' argument that the artificial intelligence startup engaged in forum shopping "holds no sway."

  • March 04, 2024

    What To Know About 9th Circ. Ruling On Tribe's Sacred Site

    A split Ninth Circuit ruling that a sacred tribal site in Arizona's Tonto National Forest can be transferred to a copper mining company is certain to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, which contends that the decision effectively bulldozes a long-held worship site and ultimately denies the tribe's freedom of religious expression, despite the panel's skepticism of that claim.

  • March 04, 2024

    Musk Fired Twitter Execs To Avoid $200M Bill, Suit Says

    Elon Musk fired four top Twitter executives just minutes after he closed on his deal to buy the company, now called X Corp., to avoid paying them $200 million in severance benefits, they told a California federal court Monday.

  • March 04, 2024

    Full 9th Circ. To Review Mormon Church Tithe-Misuse Suit

    The Ninth Circuit has voted for en banc review of a panel decision reviving claims against the Mormon Church brought by a former member who alleged its leadership used his tithes to finance commercial projects after promising it would not do so.

  • March 04, 2024

    Hospital Operator Pushes For Ch. 11 Plan Confirmation

    California-based hospital operator Alecto Healthcare Services LLC defended its Chapter 11 plan proposal Monday in Delaware bankruptcy court, saying opposition from creditors is based on a faulty belief that there are valuable claims that can be asserted for the benefit of creditors.

  • March 04, 2024

    'Varsity Blues' Feds Rip 'Alice-In-Wonderland' Bid To Nix Plea

    Federal prosecutors in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions case said Monday that a former television executive's bid to vacate her guilty plea is "built on an Alice-in-Wonderland version of events" in which pretrial litigation and rulings in her case never occurred.

  • March 04, 2024

    Auto Repair Website's Indicted VP Wants Co. To Pay Legal Bill

    The former finance vice president of RepairPal is suing the auto repair website in Delaware Chancery Court for an advancement of legal fees to help him fight accusations he directed $2.7 million in bonuses and extra pay to himself, saying the company is contractually obligated to foot the bill.

  • March 04, 2024

    Groups Push For Review Of $2.3B Walmart-Vizio Deal

    A group of 19 advocacy organizations including the American Economic Liberties Project and Public Citizen pushed the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the "serious threats" posed by Walmart's planned $2.3 billion acquisition of television maker Vizio.

  • March 04, 2024

    JPMorgan's Arbitration Fee Delay Trims Wage Suit

    JPMorgan Chase can't push into arbitration a former branch manager's claims not related to her wage and hour ones because it failed to timely pay the arbitration fees, a California federal judge ruled.

  • March 04, 2024

    Sorrento Creditors Fight To Keep Ch. 11 In Texas

    Creditors for drug developer Sorrento Therapeutics Inc. have asked a Texas bankruptcy judge to keep the company's Chapter 11 case in the Lone Star State, saying the U.S. trustee's bid to move it comes too late and wouldn't help those hoping for recoveries.

  • March 04, 2024

    Former IRS Commissioner Joins Chamberlain Hrdlicka

    Former IRS Commissioner Charles "Chuck" Rettig joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry as a shareholder in Los Angeles, following in the footsteps of his former acting chief of staff, whom the firm hired last year.

  • March 04, 2024

    Murdaugh Prosecutor To Join Capitol Police On March 11

    Johnny James, who was part of the team that successfully prosecuted former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh for murder, will start March 11 as a federal prosecutor in California with the U.S. Capitol Police and a U.S. attorney's office as part of the federal government's efforts to address the increasing number of threats around the country to members of Congress.

  • March 04, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    A Swedish music producer's takeover, a proposed award payable in Tesla shares, Truth Social stock squabbles, and an unusually blunt slap-down from the bench added up to an especially colorful week in Delaware's famous court of equity. On top of that came new cases about alleged power struggles, board entrenchment, consumer schemes and merger disputes.

  • March 04, 2024

    Storage Users Accuse Apple Of ICloud Monopoly

    A California iPhone buyer is bringing a proposed class action claiming that the limits Apple places on third-party cloud storage services violate anti-tying laws and drive up prices through an illegal monopoly.

  • March 04, 2024

    Sullivan & Cromwell-Led United Rentals Paying $1.1B For Yak

    Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is representing equipment rental giant United Rentals in a new agreement to buy the Yak roadway matting business from Morgan Lewis-guided Platinum Equity for $1.1 billion, United said in a statement Monday. 

  • March 04, 2024

    Simpson Thacher Adds Paul Hastings M&A Deal-Maker In LA

    Simpson Thacher is expanding its corporate team, announcing Monday it is bringing in a Paul Hastings mergers and acquisitions expert as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

  • March 04, 2024

    Sodexo Nicotine Surcharge Suit Gets Backing From DOL

    The U.S. Department of Labor backed a proposed class action accusing food provider Sodexo of unlawfully charging employees who use nicotine $1,200 more per year for health insurance, telling the Ninth Circuit that the arbitration agreement the company wants to use to sink the case conflicts with federal benefits law.

  • March 04, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Mexican Man's Torture By Gov't Facility Unlikely

    The Ninth Circuit refused to revive a Mexican man's bid for deportation relief, agreeing with the Board of Immigration Appeals that the man failed to show he'd likely be tortured by healthcare providers in Mexico's state-run mental health facilities.

  • March 04, 2024

    JetBlue And Spirit Nix $3.8B Deal After Court Block

    JetBlue Airways said Monday that it has reached an agreement with Spirit Airlines to end their planned $3.8 billion merger, after the U.S. Department of Justice convinced a Massachusetts federal court to block the deal earlier this year.

  • March 04, 2024

    Paul Hastings Hires 6-Partner IP Team From Allen & Overy

    Paul Hastings LLP has hired a six-partner litigation team from Allen & Overy LLP to boost the firm's intellectual property practice across the country as its clients look to tackle increasingly intricate IP matters, according to a Monday announcement.

  • March 01, 2024

    Ventyx Investor Says Co. Overhyped Psoriasis Drug

    Ventyx investors filed a proposed securities class action in California federal court on Friday, alleging the biopharma company made misleading statements regarding the efficacy and commercial prospects of its candidate inhibitor to treat psoriatic arthritis and Crohn's disease, before terminating its second clinical phase, leading stock prices to drop 80%.

  • March 01, 2024

    Tesla Judge Sees 'Range Of Options' In Factory Race Bias Suit

    A California state judge who previously indicated she's prepared to certify a 6,000-member class of Black Tesla workers alleging the company allowed racist language and graffiti at a California factory cautioned Friday that she's still "exploring a range of options" on how to best adjudicate the case.

  • March 01, 2024

    Adamas' Ex-COO Agrees To $4.6M Deal In Investor Suit

    Adamas Pharmaceutical Inc. investors asked a California federal judge on Friday to approve a $4.65 million settlement with the company's former chief operating officer to resolve proposed class claims the company misled consumers about the success of its treatment for Parkinson's disease.

  • March 01, 2024

    Wealthy Calif. City Fighting Uphill In 'Builder's Remedy' Suit

    Attorneys for a pro-housing group and a real estate developer praised a Los Angeles judge's tentative ruling Friday that a wealthy suburb violated a state housing law by rejecting a development that would include low-income units, but urged him to find the decision was made in bad faith.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Privacy And Cybersecurity Resolutions For 2024

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    In 2023, companies grappled with an unprecedented array of data privacy and cybersecurity challenges that are likely to continue in 2024, meaning businesses will be well-served to incorporate strategies, such as data governance and website configuration, into their compliance programs, say Steven Stransky at Thompson Hine and Violet Sullivan at Crum & Forster.

  • Fed. Circ. Patent Decisions In 2023: An Empirical Review

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    The Federal Circuit decided 306 patent cases last year, which is still well down from the pre-pandemic norm of around 440, and on the whole the court's decisions were markedly less patentee-friendly in 2023 than in 2022, says Dan Bagatell at Perkins Coie.

  • What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

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    As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • 4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

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    Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.

  • Shopify Ruling May Support Personal-Jurisdiction Defenses

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    Litigators, cybersecurity practitioners and web-based entities should all take note of the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Briskin v. Shopify, as it could lend significant support to personal-jurisdiction defenses, but such entities should still consider how their operations might tie them to certain states, say John Gray and Patrick McCormick at Lewis Roca.

  • 6 AI Cases And What They Mean For Copyright Law

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    Artificial intelligence cases filed last year, some decided and others pending, demonstrate how the appellate courts that set binding precedent look at the intersection between copyright and AI, so legal frameworks must adapt and provide clarity in order to foster innovation, protect creators, and ensure fair and equitable outcomes, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Sex Harassment Arbitration Exemption: Devil Is In The Date

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    A Federal Arbitration Act amendment that exempts workplace sexual harassment claims from arbitration is muddled in ongoing confusion about its chronological reach — and as many such cases begin to run up against applicable statutes of limitations, the clock is ticking for claimants to bring their actions in court, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.

  • Food And Beverage Policy Trends Cos. Should Track In 2024

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    The list of legal issues food and beverage companies should watch out for in 2024 include the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Human Foods Program, the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s salmonella proposal, Proposition 12 and more, say Bob Hibbert and Amaru Sánchez at Wiley.

  • Why Fed. Circ. Affirmed Attorney Fee Award In PersonalWeb

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    A recent Federal Circuit decision to leave a $5.2 million fee award in place in the PersonalWeb patent case underscores district courts' discretion to sanction unreasonable arguments and litigation tactics under the U.S. Code's attorney fee provision, say attorneys at Shearman. 

  • After Headwinds, 2024 May See Offshore Wind Momentum

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    Despite skyrocketing raw material costs, conflicting state and federal policies, and other setbacks for the offshore wind sector in 2023, the industry appears poised for growth in the coming year, with improving economics, more flexible procurement procedures and increasing legislative support, say Emily Huggins Jones and Ben Cowan at Locke Lord.

  • How State AGs Process And Prioritize Consumer Complaints

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    Recent state attorneys general actions illustrate how their offices triage, monitor and respond to consumer complaints — and why businesses need to be proactive in addressing these issues as they arise, say Meghan Stoppel and Hannah Cornett Land at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Compliance Refresher Amid DOL Child Labor Crackdown

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    In light of the Labor Department’s recent announcement of new penalty assessment procedures for child labor law violations, Erica MacDonald and Sylvia Bokyung St. Clair at Faegre Drinker discuss what employers should know about the department’s continued focus on this issue and how to bolster compliance efforts.

  • 5 Trends That Will Affect Food Litigation In 2024

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    In 2024, food and beverage companies are likely to continue to face threats of litigation relating to so-called forever chemicals, citric and malic acid, and ESG claims, but recent developments in case law have created potential avenues for defense, say Abby Meyer and Khirin Bunker at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 10 Issues To Watch As ESG Remains Alive And Well In 2024

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    Practitioners and stakeholders should watch a number of key environmental, social and corporate governance issues in the new year, including court rulings and comprehensive research, as the data shows ESG is here to stay, says Heidi Friedman at Thompson Hine.

  • Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

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    Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.

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