California

  • December 18, 2025

    Monarch Overhyped 'Driver-Optional' Tractors, Ex-Dealer Says

    A Washington farm supply store sued California-based Monarch Tractor — which bills itself as the maker of "the world's first autonomous tractor" — in Seattle federal court Thursday, claiming the company's MK-V vehicles "did not perform as represented and were unable to operate in the autonomous manner represented."

  • December 18, 2025

    UC Researchers Near Reinstating $7B In DOE Grants

    A California federal judge said Thursday she's inclined to grant a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to reinstate $7 billion in Department of Energy grants awarded to researchers, saying they were canceled with form letters similar to those she's previously found to violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • December 18, 2025

    SF Must Reinstate Worker Fired For Violating COVID Vax Rule

    A California federal judge ordered San Francisco to reinstate a 311 call center agent who was fired for violating a COVID-19 vaccination mandate after he sought an exemption based on his Muslim faith, ruling Thursday that the plaintiff has made a "prima facie case for religious discrimination."

  • December 18, 2025

    IRS Guidance Discriminates Against Wind, Solar, Groups Say

    Several groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the city of San Francisco, asked a D.C. federal court Thursday to block the Internal Revenue Service from instituting new tax credit rules that they say illegally discriminate against wind and solar projects.

  • December 18, 2025

    Feds Urge Justices To Keep SEC Disgorgement Power Intact

    The Trump administration has joined the call for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's disgorgement powers, urging the justices to find that alleged fraudsters should be required to give up illegal profits even if the government can't show investors lost money.

  • December 18, 2025

    California Justices OK Standards For Updated Bar Exam

    The California Supreme Court on Thursday approved a proposed set of qualification standards for experts involved in developing California's bar exam in the wake of a botched administration of the exam in February.

  • December 18, 2025

    Nonclass Attys' $75M Fee Request Too High, Anthropic Says

    Anthropic says the $75 million in fees that nonclass counsel requested as part of the artificial intelligence company's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors is far too high, arguing there is "scant justification" for the request.

  • December 18, 2025

    Calif. AG, Bar Officials Fight Bid To Stop ABS Fee-Sharing Ban

    Both the California attorney general and the California State Bar are opposing a California attorney's attempt to block a new law preventing fee-sharing with out-of-state law firms owned by nonlawyers set to go into effect on Jan. 1.

  • December 18, 2025

    Vegas Sun Wants Justices To Revive Protective Pact

    The Las Vegas Sun wants the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a Ninth Circuit decision that nixed an agreement protecting it from the Las Vegas Review-Journal's alleged plan to drive it out of business, arguing that the old pact with the more conservative paper was valid even without express government approval.

  • December 18, 2025

    Oakland Diocese To Continue Ch. 11 Plan Talks

    The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and representatives of sexual abuse claimants told a California bankruptcy judge Thursday they are ready for another month of talks to try and reach an agreement on a Chapter 11 plan for the diocese.

  • December 18, 2025

    LinkedIn Data Access Settlement Rejected In Antitrust Case

    A California federal court refused to approve a settlement requiring LinkedIn to stop conditioning access to its data interface on rivals agreeing not to use the data for a competing professional social network, a deal that included no damages but up to $4 million in attorney fees.

  • December 18, 2025

    AT&T Worker Takes 401(k) Forfeiture Suit To 9th Circ.

    An AT&T worker has turned to the Ninth Circuit after a California federal judge spiked his proposed class action alleging that the telecom giant misspent employee 401(k) plan forfeitures. 

  • December 17, 2025

    Nvidia Settles Valeo's Suit Over Stolen Driving Assist Code

    Nvidia Corp. has settled automotive tech supplier Valeo's lawsuit that accused the artificial intelligence chipmaker of using trade secrets a former Valeo engineer stole before joining Nvidia and later accidentally left on his screen during a videoconference call with Valeo.

  • December 17, 2025

    GAO Partly Backs DOD Contract Protest Because Of Redactions

    Heavy redactions from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency in natural gas contract proposals prevented the U.S. Government Accountability Office from assessing whether two bidders deserved their awards, the GAO said Wednesday as it partially sustained an Oklahoma natural gas supplier's protest.

  • December 17, 2025

    Meta Blamed For Teens' Instagram 'Sextortion' Suicides

    The parents of a 16-year-old boy from Scotland and a 13-year-old boy from Pennsylvania blame Meta and Instagram for their children dying by suicide after being "sextorted" through the photo sharing platform, alleging in a lawsuit Wednesday that the social media companies know the app connects predators to children.

  • December 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms DHS Officers' Fast-Track Removal Authority

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday upheld the denial of a Mexican citizen's bid to toss illegal reentry charges, rejecting arguments that a U.S. Department of Homeland Security "deciding service officer" unconstitutionally ordered his removal, while also clarifying that such officers who issue fast-track removal orders aren't subject to the U.S. Constitution's appointments clause.

  • December 17, 2025

    States, Groups Urge DC Circ. To Preserve EPA Soot Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's request that the D.C. Circuit vacate a Biden-era soot rule is legally untenable and should be rejected, Democrat-led states and cities, along with health and environmental groups, told the court.

  • December 17, 2025

    Shutdown Deal Bars Federal Firings Until Feb., Judge Says

    A California federal judge said Wednesday she'll grant a preliminary injunction barring layoffs of federal workers from several agencies before Jan. 30, saying legislation that ended the government shutdown prohibits the layoffs, but she added she might pause her order while the government appeals.

  • December 17, 2025

    ASUSTeK Gets Albright To Send 3 Patent Cases To Calif.

    A Texas federal judge on Wednesday transferred to California a patent owner's suits accusing Taiwanese computer company ASUSTeK of infringing numerous patents, finding the Golden State is the more convenient place for the litigation.

  • December 17, 2025

    29 State AGs Want Unified Meta Youth Addiction Trial

    A group of 29 states and their attorneys general is doubling down on a request in California federal court to hold a single, unified trial in their suit claiming Meta Platforms Inc. is designed to addict and harm minors, saying they have now identified another case where such a singular trial was held involving multiple attorneys general's claims.

  • December 17, 2025

    Calif. DMV Tells Tesla To Rename Autopilot Or Lose License

    The California DMV has said Tesla violated state law when it marketed its vehicles' "autopilot" and "full self-driving capability," calling the phrases misleading because the technology doesn't actually enable autonomous driving and ordering the company to change its marketing or face a suspension of its permit to sell vehicles in the state.

  • December 17, 2025

    Great American Says Cryo Unit Co. Hid Facts In Getting Policy

    Insurer Great American has gone to California federal court asserting that it doesn't owe coverage to a cryotherapy unit seller for an underlying lawsuit involving an alleged injury in a hyperbaric chamber at the company's subsidiary, arguing that the cryotherapy company never told the insurer it had a subsidiary.

  • December 17, 2025

    PG&E Electrical Transformer Bomber Gets 10 Years In Calif.

    A California federal judge Wednesday sentenced a San Jose software engineer to 10 years in prison for willfully bombing Pacific Gas & Electric Co. electrical transformers using homemade explosives in late 2022 and early 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

  • December 17, 2025

    Chancery OKs $10M Fat Brands Settlement, Defers Fees

    A judge in the Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday approved a proposed settlement resolving two long-running shareholder derivative suits against Fat Brands Inc. and its controlling stockholder, finding that the deal delivers immediate cash, targeted governance reforms and a realistic recovery in light of substantial litigation and collectibility risks, while reserving judgment on a disputed request for attorney fees.

  • December 17, 2025

    Adobe Infringed Copyrights To Train AI Model, Writer Says

    A writer hit Adobe with a proposed class action in California federal court Tuesday, alleging the software giant illegally used copyrighted books in the "RedPajama" dataset to train its artificial intelligence large-language models, marking the latest development in a wave of litigation over tech companies' use of the controversial dataset.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Courts Must Continue Protecting Plaintiffs In Mass Arbitration

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    In recent years, many companies have imposed onerous protocols that function to frustrate plaintiffs' ability to seek justice through mass arbitration, but a series of welcome court decisions in recent months indicate that the pendulum might be swinging back toward plaintiffs, say Raphael Janove and Sasha Jones at Janove Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • AG Watch: Illinois A Key Player In State-Level Enforcement

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    Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has systematically strengthened his office to fill federal enforcement gaps, oppose Trump administration mandates and advance state policy objectives, particularly by aggressively pursuing labor-related issues, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • How A 9th Circ. False Ad Ruling Could Shift Class Certification

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    The Ninth Circuit's July decision in Noohi v. Johnson & Johnson, holding that unexecuted damages models may suffice for purposes of class certification, has the potential to create judicial inefficiencies and crippling uncertainties for class action defendants, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Know About Interim Licenses In Global FRAND Cases

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    Recent U.K. court decisions have shaped a framework for interim licenses in global standard-essential patent disputes, under which parties can benefit from operating on temporary terms while a court determines the final fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms — but the future of this developing remedy is in doubt, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Compliance Tips Amid Rising FTC Scrutiny Of Minors' Privacy

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    The Federal Trade Commission has recently rolled out multiple enforcement actions related to children's privacy, highlighting a renewed focus on federal regulation of minors' personal information and the evolving challenges of establishing effective, privacy-protective age assurance solutions, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Insights From Recent Cases On Navigating Snap Removal

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    Snap removal, which allows defendants to transfer state court cases to federal court before a forum defendant is properly joined and served, is viewed differently across federal circuits — but keys to making it work can be drawn from recent decisions critiquing the practice, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Workday Case Shows Auditing AI Hiring Tools Is Crucial

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    Following a California federal court's recent decisions in Mobley v. Workday signaling that both employers and vendors could be held liable for discriminatory outcomes from artificial intelligence hiring tools, companies should consider two rigorous auditing methods to detect and mitigate bias, says Hossein Borhani at Charles River Associates.

  • Tips For Cos. Crafting Enforceable Online Arbitration Clauses

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    Recent rulings from the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicate that courts are carefully examining the enforceability of online arbitration clauses, so businesses should review the design of their websites and consider specific language next to the "purchase" button, say attorneys at DTO Law.

  • 7 Lessons From The Tractor Supply CCPA Enforcement Action

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    The California Privacy Protection Agency's recent enforcement action targeting Tractor Supply for alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act provides critical insights into the compliance areas that remain a priority for the California regulator, including businesses with significant consumer interactions, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Parody Defendants Are Finding Success Post-Jack Daniel's

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    Recent decisions demonstrate that, although the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products did benefit trademark plaintiffs by significantly limiting the First Amendment expressive use defense, courts also now appear to be less likely to find a parodic work likely to cause confusion, says Andrew Michaels at University of Houston Law Center.

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