California

  • September 29, 2026

    Construction Equipment Rental Antitrust Case Moves Ahead

    An Illinois federal court refused to toss a case accusing construction equipment rental companies including United Rentals, Herc and The Home Depot of using benchmarking software to inflate rental rates.

  • September 29, 2026

    Surgical Robot Co. Says 9th Circ. 'Expands' Antitrust Law

    Intuitive Surgical asked the full Ninth Circuit to reconsider a decision reviving a surgical repair company's claims that it blocked third parties from refurbishing components for its popular da Vinci surgery robot, arguing the panel created a whole new pathway to alleging monopolization of secondary markets.

  • September 29, 2026

    LA Seeks Groundwater Cleanup Costs From Manufacturers

    Los Angeles sued several manufacturers over alleged groundwater contamination from three industrial sites, saying its water department has been saddled with millions of dollars in cleanup costs in the San Fernando Basin.

  • September 29, 2026

    Google Beats Suit Over 'Pig Butchering' App Scams, For Now

    A California federal judge tossed with leave to amend Monday a proposed class action alleging Google falsely advertised its Google Play Store as safe despite allowing swarms of "pig butchering" crypto-scam apps, finding that the claims are barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

  • September 29, 2026

    Live Nation Can't Ditch FTC's Ticket Scalping Case

    A California federal judge refused Monday to toss the Federal Trade Commission's claims Live Nation ignored ticket scalpers and failed to disclose significant Ticketmaster fees upfront, finding the suit plausibly alleges Ticketmaster didn't enforce its own resale policies and duped consumers with "ambiguous and vague" disclosures.

  • September 29, 2026

    Tax Court Approves Penalties On Captive Without Substance

    The U.S. Tax Court on Tuesday approved IRS penalties imposed on policyholders of a California company's captive insurance policy that the agency determined to be lacking economic substance, finding they failed to report the transactions in their tax returns for 2015.

  • September 29, 2026

    Feds Seek To Throw Out States' Challenge To DEI Contract EO

    The Trump administration told a Maryland federal court that it should toss a lawsuit from states challenging its implementation of an executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the government contracting space, arguing the order falls within well-settled law.

  • September 29, 2026

    A's Player Sues Tigers Over Exposed Fence Injury

    A third baseman ​​​​​​for Major League Baseball's Athletics is suing the Detroit Tigers, its parent company and the Detroit-Wayne County Stadium Authority in Michigan state court, claiming they are responsible for an injury he suffered in July after sliding to catch a ball and banging his knee against a metal fence.

  • September 29, 2026

    Feds Say Pot Co. CEO Lied About Business To Get PPP Loans

    The federal government is urging a California federal judge not to throw out its suit seeking to recoup $2.5 million in PPP loans from the CEO of a group of cannabis companies, saying she hasn't denied that she sought the loans despite knowing her business was federally illegal.

  • September 29, 2026

    Latham, Wilson Sonsini Guide AMD's $8.2B World Labs Buy

    AMD has agreed to buy AI model developer and research lab World Labs in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $8.2 billion, acquiring a team that the chipmaker said will help bolster its efforts to develop AI infrastructure for emerging models and applications.

  • September 28, 2026

    Grok-Maker Can't Get Deepfake Suit Paused Or Transferred

    Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company must continue battling a proposed class action brought by women suing over Grok-generated deepfakes of them in sexual situations, a California federal judge ruled Monday, declining to pause or transfer the suit to Texas.

  • September 28, 2026

    ChatGPT Users' Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft Gets Trimmed

    Microsoft isn't going to be able to force into arbitration claims that it undermined OpenAI by forcing the artificial intelligence giant into using only its cloud computing, but it did convince the California federal judge overseeing the case to toss the proposed class's federal antitrust claim.

  • September 28, 2026

    Calif. Attys Face New Penalties For Paying To Recruit Clients

    Lawyers convicted of felony "capping" — or illegally paying for client recruitment — in California will now face a $25,000 civil penalty and face disbarment under a bill signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

  • September 28, 2026

    Calif. Governor Vetoes Broad Ban On Sensitive Data Sales

    California's governor has refused to sign off on legislation that would have made the state the latest to restrict the sale and sharing of consumers' geolocation, biometric and other sensitive information, saying the proposed "categorical ban" on these online data practices was "a step too far."

  • September 28, 2026

    Apple Briefs Set Stage For Challenge To Record $5.7B Verdict

    Friday's $5.7 billion verdict against Apple Inc. for infringing Taction Technology Inc.'s vibration technology patents is the largest in history, eclipsing many others that have been overturned, and filings by Apple preview its arguments for why this one should meet the same fate.

  • September 28, 2026

    Wash. Can Pursue Gold Mine Pollution Claims, 9th Circ. Says

    A Ninth Circuit panel revived Washington state's Clean Water Act lawsuit against the operator of the Buckhorn Mountain gold mine Monday, reversing a district court's ruling that the state's claims were barred because of another plaintiff's settlement in the consolidated case.

  • September 28, 2026

    Netflix Gets Atty Fees From Ramey For 'Bad Faith' Conduct

    A California federal judge Monday refused to let intellectual property attorney Bill Ramey off the hook for paying Netflix's attorney fees, attributing nearly $1.4 million to the Houston-based attorney's misconduct, including the concealment of the fact that his client didn't own a patent they accused Netflix of infringing.

  • September 28, 2026

    Lucid Investors Get Class Cert. In Production Forecast Suit

    Investors in electric-vehicle maker Lucid Group Inc. were granted class certification in their suit alleging they suffered damages when the company disclosed it was not on track to meet its 2022 vehicle output projections.

  • September 28, 2026

    Newsom Signs Calif. Pesticide PFAS Tracking Bill Into Law

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law new regulations requiring state officials to track and publicly disclose when pesticides that are used on state produce contain "forever chemicals."

  • September 28, 2026

    Paramount, States Urge Court To Approve Merger Deal

    State enforcers and Paramount Skydance responded Monday to several questions raised by a lawmaker over a settlement ending the states' challenge of Paramount's deal for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., telling a California federal court there's no need for a full-blown review.

  • September 28, 2026

    Black Tesla Workers In Calif. Fired At Higher Rates, Judge Told

    An economics professor testified in a California state bench trial Monday over the California Civil Rights Department's claims Tesla fostered racism at its Fremont factory that he found Tesla's Black workers in California are paid 4.37% less, and involuntarily terminated at a 75% higher rate, than their white counterparts.

  • September 28, 2026

    'Migration' Copying Suit Is For The Birds, Mike White Says

    Universal City Studios, Illumination Entertainment and "White Lotus" creator Mike White urged a California federal judge Monday to toss a writer's lawsuit claiming they stole his script for the 2023 film "Migration," saying the movie is not substantially similar to the unpublished screenplay, and the complaint does not plausibly allege that they had access to it.

  • September 28, 2026

    Calif. Expands Reproductive Care, Abortion Access

    A series of new laws in California aim to expand access to medication abortion on community college campuses, bolster veterans' access to reproductive care including abortions, and make it easier for nursing parents to access lactation support, according to an announcement made Sunday.

  • September 28, 2026

    Cannabis Distributor Says Partner Denied Its $332K Stake

    The manager of a Los Angeles cannabis cultivation facility seized an entire harvest without his business partner's permission, selling much of it until armed men raided the facility and took a significant portion of the inventory, according to a state lawsuit seeking more than $300,000 for the iced-out partner.

  • September 28, 2026

    9th Circ. Rules Cops' Gunpoint Arrest Constitutional

    A Ninth Circuit panel has ruled that two California police officers who allegedly aimed their guns at a compliant suspect acted reasonably and enjoyed qualified immunity protection from the man's civil rights lawsuit, reversing a district court's finding that they may have used unconstitutional excessive force.

Expert Analysis

  • Hims & Hers Suit Spotlights Health Data-Sharing Privacy Risks

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    Regulators' complaint against telehealth company Hims & Hers alleging deceptive practices serves as a reminder that the privacy principles developed under consumer protection laws and predating omnibus statutes remain in force, and sensitive data governance continues to be a crucial component of compliance, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 4 Paths To AI Safety Coordination Amid Antitrust Debate

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    Frontier artificial intelligence companies have more room for collective safety work than the debate over an antitrust waiver suggests, with several existing avenues providing different degrees of protection and oversight, says Evan Miller at V&E.

  • 'Demon Hunter' IP Suit Highlights Reverse Confusion Perils

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    A metal band named Demon Hunter's recently filed lawsuit against Netflix, alleging that consumers mistakenly believe it to be connected to the "KPop Demon Hunters" movie, provides a useful vehicle for examining the reverse confusion doctrine and its practical implications, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Calif. Privacy Bill Could Change CIPA Tracking Cases

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    If California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs S.B. 690, the bill could materially reduce the leverage behind a pen-register-only claim or demand, so California Invasion of Privacy Act website tracking claims should not be evaluated the same way they were six months ago, says Alexandra Samofalova at Spencer Fane.

  • 5th Circ. Embedding Decision Could Recast Copyright Claims

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    The Fifth Circuit's decision in Emmerich v. Particle Media addresses decades of ambiguity surrounding whether embedded content can constitute copyright infringement, potentially affecting how defense counsel fight against such claims, say attorneys at Greenberg Glusker.

  • How Cos. Can Avoid Infant Product False Advertising Suits

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    As lawsuits proliferate over products marketed for infant use and sold at a premium that are identical to cheaper general-use products, manufacturers should review related product lines, and scrutinize contextual cues that may contribute to the overall message received by consumers, say attorneys at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Raises Bar For Arbitration Pacts Via Email

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent holding in Rickes v. Thermo Fisher that the mere delivery of an email doesn't establish an employee's assent to the arbitration agreement underscores that rollout processes should both give employees notice of the agreement and create evidence of their assent, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • How GCs Can Assess The Risks Of Emerging AI Laws

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    Amid a swirl of momentous legislative activity aimed at regulating artificial intelligence, general counsel must return to first principles when determining whether new laws will apply and whether the company’s use could cause regulators to subject it to additional regulation, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • How FTC's $20B Amazon Suit May Shake Up Ad Enforcement

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    Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye discusses the significance of the Federal Trade Commission's recent suit against Amazon for allegedly overcharging advertising customers more than $20 billion, the company's potential defenses, and the context of rapidly evolving digital advertising technology.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Marks New Chapter In Risk Factor Tug-Of-War

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent dismissal of a securities fraud class action against SunPower is the latest in a growing line of cases addressing whether, if ever, a company's risk factor disclosures can give rise to potential liability, an area where the law remains unsettled, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Meta Deal Highlights Advisory Jury Issues, Litigation Risk

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    The $17 billion settlement of youth safety claims brought against Meta offers lessons for all consumer-facing companies because the court made the rare move of empaneling an advisory jury and the case was built on what the company learned from its own studies, says Mark Morgan at McCarter & English.

  • What State AI Election Laws Mean For The 2026 Midterms

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    In the absence of federal rules governing artificial intelligence in elections and no consensus emerging across state laws, campaigns, their vendors and AI developers must address the risks associated with outdated rules written for other problems, says Matthew Shapanka at Covington.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

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    Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.

  • Responding To State Packaging Law Uncertainty

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    As states roll out new packaging and recycling mandates, companies face expanding compliance duties and a growing wave of constitutional challenges that offer key lessons for managing regulatory risk, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • CMS Rule, DOJ Probes Deepen Gender Care Compliance Risk

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    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' final rule restricting Medicaid funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care is likely to face immediate litigation, but the CMS rulemaking is already working alongside U.S. Department of Justice's enforcement campaign to create operational risk for providers, say attorneys at Arnall Golden.

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