California

  • September 22, 2026

    California Powerhouse: Keker

    Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP partners helped Google and Netflix beat major patent litigation in the past year, while representing OpenAI and other tech companies in precedent-setting IP cases, and fostering a strong pro bono practice, earning the boutique firm a spot on the list of Law360 2026 California Powerhouses.

  • September 22, 2026

    Dispensary's Tax Deduction Properly Nixed, IRS Tells 9th Circ.

    The U.S. Tax Court correctly ruled that a San Francisco marijuana dispensary's expenses found to be tied to trafficking in controlled substances aren't deductible, the IRS told the Ninth Circuit, saying such a deduction shouldn't be allowed in determining an amount to settle the business's $3 million tax debt.

  • September 22, 2026

    Judge Sinks Patent Judgments Against Chilisin In Cyntec Suit

    A California federal judge has nullified judgments against Chilisin Electronics Corp. in a patent case from Cyntec Co. over Cyntec's failure to disclose an agreement to license a pair of its patents to Apple, while also agreeing to sanction Cyntec's counsel.

  • September 22, 2026

    Vape Purchasers Say MDL Complaint Shows Price-Fix Scheme

    Direct purchasers of vaping products are defending their amended complaint in multidistrict litigation alleging that a Chinese vape company conspired with its distributors to fix prices, saying new allegations in their latest complaint show there was more at work in the arrangement than "ordinary" business dealings.

  • September 21, 2026

    British Columbia Joins In Blaming OpenAI In School Shooting

    The Canadian province of British Columbia on Monday became the latest to sue artificial intelligence company OpenAI over a deadly February shooting at a small-town school, telling a California federal court that company leadership rejected an internal recommendation to notify law enforcement of the shooter's ChatGPT communications that company staff flagged as dangerous.

  • September 21, 2026

    Tesla Atty Misled Witness Days Before Bias Trial, Judge Hears

    The California Civil Rights Department asked a California judge for a protective order Monday on the first day of a bench trial over claims Tesla Inc. fostered racism at its Fremont factory, after a witness testified that an in-house Tesla attorney recently called him and misled him into believing he represented the agency.

  • September 21, 2026

    Insider Critiques Of Meta Came From Ignorance, Jury Told

    A Meta vice president testified before a New Mexico state jury Monday that, "with all due respect," criticisms of the company's data handling from investigation partner Gibson Dunn and from then-Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg were born of a lack of understanding.

  • September 21, 2026

    AI-Native Healthcare Service Co. Says Rival Copied 'N' Logo

    Nitra Inc., an artificial intelligence-native all-in-one platform that provides fintech related services helping healthcare practices save time and money, accused a rival company of impermissibly using a "strikingly and confusingly similar" design mark for the stylized letter "N," according to a trademark infringement action filed Friday in California federal court.

  • September 21, 2026

    Anthropic Can't Shake Reddit's AI Content-Scraping Suit

    A San Francisco judge largely rejected Anthropic's bid to toss Reddit Inc.'s suit accusing it of improperly gathering user content to train its artificial intelligence products, finding that most of Reddit's allegations have extra elements exempting them from federal preemption.

  • September 21, 2026

    Ex-Girlfriend Of $36M Crypto Schemer Gets 18 Months

    A California federal judge sentenced an Orange County woman to 18 months in prison and ordered her to pay more than $1.48 million in restitution for failing to report more than $2.6 million in taxable income she received through accounts funded by her then-boyfriend's criminal activities related to a $36 million hacking scheme.

  • September 21, 2026

    Vape Co. Gets $304K Judgment Over Unpaid Order

    The Illinois-based owner of the Urb vape brand has secured a $300,000 judgment in Illinois federal court against a California company that ordered tens of thousands of empty vape devices but never paid for them, but it won't be getting attorney fees.

  • September 21, 2026

    L3Harris Says Navy Deal Aims To Bolster Missile Supplies

    L3Harris Technologies said Monday that it's inked a multiyear agreement with the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, California, to manufacture key missile components needed for national defense.

  • September 21, 2026

    Meta Trims But Can't End Cybersecurity Pro's Retaliation Suit

    The former head of cybersecurity at messaging platform WhatsApp can pursue some, but not all, of his whistleblower retaliation suit against Meta Platforms, a California federal judge has ruled, saying the complaint plausibly alleges protected activity regarding his reports that claim Meta violated U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules.

  • September 21, 2026

    AI Cos. Hit With Antitrust Suit Over Deal To 'Pace The Frontier'

    Artifical intelligence users in Florida and California have accused Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX and Google of illegally restraining competition by publicly agreeing to "pace the frontier" and collectively slow down their AI development.

  • September 21, 2026

    ICE Contractor To Pay $48.75M To End Family Separation Suit

    U.S. government contractor MVM Inc. has agreed to pay $48.75 million to resolve a proposed class action over its alleged participation in a policy that separated thousands of immigrant families during the first Trump administration, according to a motion for preliminary approval.

  • September 21, 2026

    'So What?': Judge Pans DOJ Bid To End TikTok Consent Decree

    A California federal judge said Monday he will not end a 2019 consent decree the government reached with TikTok Inc. predecessor Musical.ly over its collection of data on kids under 13 just because the U.S. Department of Justice is asking him to, saying the DOJ gave him no information about why he should.

  • September 21, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Says Profit Measurement Patents Ineligible

    The Federal Circuit on Monday said claims in a trio of patents relating to management profit measures were not patent-eligible, handing a win to software company Teradata Operations Inc. and industrial supply business W. W. Grainger Inc. in a suit accusing them of infringement.

  • September 21, 2026

    Smart-Ring Maker Oura Launches $2.1B IPO Plan

    Fitness-tracking ring maker Oura on Monday unveiled a target price range for its public debut, telling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to raise roughly $2.1 billion.

  • September 21, 2026

    Varian, Gov't Appeal Foreign Dividend Decision To 9th Circ.

    Varian Medical Systems Inc. is appealing a U.S. Tax Court decision that it owes more than $7.2 million to the Internal Revenue Service as a result of the court limiting its deemed dividends deduction, while the government is also appealing, according to filings in the Ninth Circuit.

  • September 21, 2026

    $1.35M Class Deal Reached Over Botched Calif. Bar Exam

    Takers of the February 2025 California bar exam that was marred by technical failures have agreed to settle their proposed class action against the proctor for $1.35 million, while the company also agreed to complete quality checks before proctoring future bar examinations, according to a motion seeking preliminary approval in federal court.

  • September 21, 2026

    Boies Schiller Gets Womble Bond AI Practice Co-Founder

    Boies Schiller Flexner LLP announced Monday that it has added an experienced intellectual property attorney who co-founded Womble Bond & Dickinson's artificial intelligence and machine learning practice and also led two of his former firm's San Francisco-area offices.

  • September 21, 2026

    California Powerhouse: Fenwick

    Fenwick & West LLP proved last year why it has long been a go-to firm for technology companies, as it guided several clients through blockbuster IPOs, secured a precedential appellate win confirming nonfungible tokens are "goods" under the Lanham Act and scored dismissal of a securities class action against Docusign.

  • September 21, 2026

    New Calif. Law Bars Legal Funders From Influencing Litigation

    Corporate investors and litigation funders will be barred from influencing litigation strategy in California under a new bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

  • September 21, 2026

    Sidley Lands Life Sciences Pair From King & Spalding

    Sidley Austin LLP announced Monday that it has brought on two attorneys from King & Spalding LLP to bolster its capacity to handle life sciences-related litigation and regulatory matters involving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

  • September 21, 2026

    Clippers Tap BigLaw Vet To Fill In For Suspended Owner

    The Los Angeles Clippers on Monday named veteran corporate litigator John S. Gibson as the team's interim CEO and governor while team owner Steve Ballmer serves a one-year suspension for violating the NBA's salary cap rules.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 AI Snafus Show Why Attys Can't Outsource Judgment

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    The recent incident involving Sullivan & Cromwell where citations in a filed motion were fabricated by artificial intelligence, as well as a punitive ruling from the Sixth Circuit in U.S. v. Farris, demonstrate that the obligation to supervise AI has belonged and always will belong to lawyers, says John Powell at the Kentucky School Boards Association.

  • Assessing The 9th Circ.'s Recent Stock Drop Dismissal Trend

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    The recent decision in Nova Scotia Health Employees' Pension Plan v. Comerica is an important circuit-level addition to the growing trend of Ninth Circuit securities class action dismissals on loss causation grounds, which have used a contextual analysis premised on stock drops that are modest, typical and short-lived, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Calif. Case Raises Questions For Medical Practice Investors

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    The California attorney general's amicus brief in Art Center v. WCE and the California Medical Association's response highlight how the California appeals court's ruling could significantly affect the structure and enforceability of succession arrangements in medical practice ownership, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Opinion

    Tribal Gaming Law Is Paramount In Prediction Market Cases

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    Whatever the outcome of the preemption question in prediction market litigation involving states and the federal government, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act deals very specifically with gaming on Indian lands and almost certainly trumps the general federal laws at issue, says Kevin Washburn at the University of California, Berkeley.

  • Series

    Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

  • Why Product-Based Public Nuisance Claims May Be Waning

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    The Maryland Supreme Court's recent decision in Express Scripts v. Anne Arundel County is the latest in a national trend of rulings rejecting product-based public nuisance claims — but other forms of government litigation against companies that allegedly increase the cost of public services are likely to continue, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Improving Well-Being In Law, 10 Years After Landmark Study

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    An important 2016 study revealed significant substance abuse and mental health issues among lawyers, and while the findings helped normalize the conversation around these topics, a decade later, structural change is still needed, says Denise Robinson at PLI.

  • Small And Midsize Business Finance Faces More State Regs

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    Recent developments in state credit disclosure, consumer debt collection, and lender licensing and registration requirements suggest that companies extending financing to small and midsize businesses are likely to encounter a significantly more stringent legal climate moving forward, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Steps To Consider As DOJ Launches Fraud Division

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    The establishment this month of the National Fraud Enforcement Division within the U.S. Department of Justice is a significant reorganization that suggests an increase in enforcement activity involving federally funded programs but leaves a number of important questions unanswered, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Why Justices Seem Skeptical Of Curbing SEC Disgorgement

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    Sripetch v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission presents an opportunity for the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify the disgorgement limits it set six years ago in Liu v. SEC, with recent oral arguments suggesting the court sees disgorgement as an equitable remedy akin to unjust enrichment, say attorneys at Hueston Hennigan.

  • Series

    Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

  • Fresenius Ruling May Shift Anti-Kickback Enforcement

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Fresenius v. Bonta suggests that businesses have a First Amendment right to donate to certain charities, even if those donations are motivated by economic self-interest, potentially calling into question years of Anti-Kickback Statute proceedings against pharmaceutical manufacturers for making similar donations, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

  • How College Sports EO Raises Stakes, Casts Uncertainty

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    The effectiveness of President Donald Trump's recent executive order urging national action to "save" college sports depends on NCAA implementation and judicial tolerance, neither of which is certain, so college athletics will remain governed by an unstable balance between executive pressure and judicial authority until Congress acts, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Written Consent Ruling May Signal Change For Telemarketing

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    The Fifth Circuit's ruling in Bradford v. Sovereign Pest Control is a takedown of the Federal Communications Commission's prior express written consent regulation, and because Loper Bright empowers courts to disregard agency interpretations, Telephone Consumer Protection Act litigants now have an opportunity to challenge previously settled FCC regulations, orders and interpretations, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Prediction Market Platform Probes Merit Strategic Responses

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    As the battle over the regulation of prediction markets is being waged between states and the federal government, investigations into insider trading allegations are increasingly originating from inside the exchanges themselves, creating obvious risks for market participants — as well as opportunities, say attorneys at Kobre & Kim.

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