California

  • August 28, 2026

    Meta's $17B Child Safety Deal Puts Heat On Congress To Act

    Meta's landmark $17.1 billion settlement of states' claims that it purposely addicted kids to social media mandates many of the safeguards increasingly being required by a growing patchwork of largely contested state child safety laws, boosting not only the profile of these measures but also the push for Congress to enact a more comprehensive fix.

  • August 28, 2026

    Judge Temporarily Nixes 'Arbitrary' Pauses On Diversity Visas

    A California federal judge Friday certified classes of diversity immigrant visa applicants affected by three Trump administration policies that froze immigrant visas and temporarily vacated the policies, agreeing with a Washington, D.C., federal judge who days ago found the policies arbitrary and capricious.

  • August 28, 2026

    25K Workers 'Out Of Luck': Feds Defend Layoffs At 9th Circ.

    The federal government Friday urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse a finding that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management wrongfully fired 25,000 probationary workers shortly after President Donald Trump took office, arguing that the OPM was operating well within its statutory authority, the district court lacked jurisdiction, and the workers are "simply out of luck."

  • August 28, 2026

    Calif. Panel Upholds Win For Dentist In Fatal Trip-And-Fall Suit

    The deletion of surveillance footage showing a woman's fatal trip and fall outside a California dentist's office was not spoliation, a state appeals court ruled Friday, calling the erasure unintentional while upholding a lower court's order ending the wrongful death lawsuit.

  • August 28, 2026

    'Friday The 13th' Creators Say Game Publisher Hid Royalties

    Creators of the "Friday the 13th" franchise alleged in a Friday suit that a video game publisher withheld up to $4.5 million in royalties from sales of a "Friday the 13th" video game that it was licensed to distribute and destroyed reports that proved how much it owed.

  • August 28, 2026

    2nd Circ. Revives FCA Overpayment Suit Against Pharmacy

    A Second Circuit panel on Friday undid a whistleblower's loss on False Claims Act allegations that AmerisourceBergen Corp.'s pharmacy business owes the government money for overpayments from federal healthcare programs for drug purchases and other services.

  • August 28, 2026

    Apple Is Infringing 5G Tech Patents, Longhorn Affiliate Says

    Apple was hit with a patent suit in Texas federal court Friday by a Longhorn IP affiliate alleging the Silicon Valley tech behemoth is infringing its innovative 5G wireless technologies that are found in some of the defendant's iPhones and iPads.

  • August 28, 2026

    Md. Pot Co. Evermore Faces Bid To Confirm $1.98M Award

    A California-based capital advisory firm is urging a state court to enforce a $1.98 million arbitration award it scored against Evermore Cannabis Company, which was found to have intentionally dodged fees it promised to pay the firm as part of a contract that helped the marijuana cultivator secure loans.

  • August 28, 2026

    'Exemplary Performance' Earns Google Users' Attys $146.8M

    A California federal judge Friday awarded plaintiffs' attorneys $146.8 million in fees after they secured a $425 million jury verdict against Google LLC in a privacy class action covering about 98 million people, calling the one-third fee award "extraordinary" but justified given their "exemplary performance."

  • August 28, 2026

    Judge Wants Info On Effort To Return Deported Nigerian

    A California federal judge ordered the Trump administration Friday to explain how it is facilitating the return of a Nigerian citizen who was granted protection from being deported to Nigeria but who is now hiding in Togo after Ghanaian officials tried sending him to Nigeria.

  • August 28, 2026

    OpenAI Sued Again Over ChatGPT's Role In FSU Shooting

    Another survivor of the April 2025 shooting at Florida State University that killed two people and left five injured joined the pile of suits facing OpenAI over ChatGPT, saying in her own federal complaint that artificial intelligence fed the shooter's delusions and violence.

  • August 28, 2026

    Amazon Beats Calif. AG's 'Ill-Conceived' Injunction Bid

    A California judge refused to block what the state attorney general's office has cast as Amazon's coercive price-fixing imposed on Walmart, Target and others via major brands like Levi Strauss, critiquing enforcers for the "last-minute request" targeting conduct they have not shown is ongoing.

  • August 28, 2026

    Calif. Challenges Trump Admin's Offshore Wind Lease Buyout

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a federal lawsuit on Friday against the Trump administration and Golden State Wind LLC, claiming the government unlawfully used a $120 million buyout of the company's offshore wind energy lease to end the renewable energy project and facilitate fossil fuel development.

  • August 28, 2026

    9th Circ. Rules Against Kalshi In Sports Wager Circuit Split

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday backed a Nevada federal court decision that cleared the way for the state's gambling regulators to pursue Kalshi's sports offerings, creating a circuit split in the sprawling litigation over prediction market regulation.

  • August 28, 2026

    Feds Gain Ground In Energy Permit Turf War With States

    A federal judge's endorsement earlier this month of the Trump administration's restart of a pipeline over California's objections will likely embolden the federal government to override state opposition to energy project development, but the ruling won't be the last word on the legality of such moves.

  • August 28, 2026

    ITC Probes If Apple Stole Tech For Swapping Contact Info

    The U.S. International Trade Commission is investigating a claim that Apple's smart devices infringe a patent covering exchanges of contact information, but a judge will first determine whether the company bringing the claim has sufficient U.S. presence, the agency said Friday.

  • August 28, 2026

    Calif. County Judges Recuse From Bias Suit Against DA's Office

    The entire bench of a county court recused itself from a lawsuit alleging the San Francisco District Attorney's Office didn't take appropriate action when a Black employee reported a colleague's use of a racial slur, pushing the trial in the decade-old case to early October.

  • August 28, 2026

    Ex-Victoria's Secret Worker's Wage Case Sent To Arbitration

    A California federal judge has ruled that Victoria's Secret can arbitrate a former employee's proposed wage-and-hour class action, finding the parties' arbitration agreement, signed by the plaintiff, has a class action waiver that demonstrates the intent to resolve disputes via individual arbitration.

  • August 28, 2026

    Calif. Pot Retailer Owes $540K In Taxes, Lost Permit, City Says

    A cannabis business is unlicensed, owes more than half a million dollars in taxes and is a public nuisance, a California city said, seeking to recover taxes and costs.

  • August 28, 2026

    Medical Marijuana Industry Grapples With DEA's New Role

    After years of allowing the state-sanctioned medical marijuana industry to operate without interference, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is stepping in to regulate a drug it once treated exclusively as contraband, but attorneys and regulators say the cannabis industry's interactions with the agency are off to a rocky start.

  • August 28, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Back To School

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including the latest higher-education projects driving legal work, as well as an interview with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP's new real estate practice group leader. 

  • August 28, 2026

    Ex-Tribal Telecom CEO Gets 2 Years For Embezzlement

    A former telecommunications company executive who stole more than $500,000 from an Indian tribal organization to fuel what her attorneys described as "gambling and substance abuse" has been sentenced to two years in federal prison, after asking a federal judge for a sentence of time served.

  • August 28, 2026

    Data Center Projects Outstrip Power Supply, CBRE Says

    Data center projects are increasingly breaking ground despite a dwindling amount of available power, which has extended completion timelines, according to a Thursday report from commercial broker CBRE.

  • August 27, 2026

    Anthropic Judge Rejects Trump's Nat'l Security 'Blank Check'

    The U.S. Department of Defense's designation of Anthropic PBC as a supply chain risk to national security was not based on a credible threat, but rather was retaliation for the company's public criticism of the Trump administration's position in contract negotiations, a California federal judge ruled Thursday.

  • August 27, 2026

    Mass. Judge Halts USPS Mail Ballot Rule Before Midterms

    A Massachusetts federal judge late Thursday temporarily blocked the U.S. Postal Service from implementing a new rule allowing it to deny delivery of mail-in ballots from voters whose names are not on citizenship lists the Trump administration is compiling ahead of November's midterms.

Expert Analysis

  • Calif. Ruling Opens Del. Cos. Up To Stockholder Inspection

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    A California appellate court's recent decision in Salamon v. Orchid Global underscores that despite last year's amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware companies with principal operations in California remain subject to California's broader and more stockholder-protective inspection regime, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • 10 Ways To Avoid Privacy Risks Revealed In AI Notetaker Suits

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    Litigation claiming Otter.ai trained its AI-powered transcription tool on user conversations and a recent complaint alleging Granola’s notetaking bot joined video calls unbeknownst to participants show companies should assess these technologies as communications-capture tools with privacy and wiretap risks, says Jennifer Ruehr at Hintze Law.

  • What 9th Circ. Devas Ruling Means For AI Infrastructure Deals

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent confirmation of a $2 billion arbitration award in Devas Multimedia's arbitration against a state-owned commercial arm of India’s space agency creates a cross-border enforcement road map for disputes that are bound to arise from the current generation of artificial intelligence infrastructure deals, says Fernanda Merouco at Davis Wright.

  • 9th Circ. Wage Ruling Shows Arbitration Pacts Are Still Useful

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    After years of uncertainty for California employers, the Ninth Circuit’s recent Cocom v. ABM Aviation decision signals that workplace arbitration agreements remain a powerful and enforceable tool — if thoughtfully drafted and employment-focused, says Benjamin Runge at Thompson Coburn.

  • The Expanding Litigation Front Against The Data Center Boom

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    A survey of environmental and land use claims raised in disputes over data center projects across the country shows that the outcomes of these disputes will have significant implications not only for the future of data center development, but for infrastructure projects in general, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Series

    Taekwondo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Taekwondo has taught me to recognize when to fight for a position and when to focus on finding a solution, and that the best outcomes are often achieved by solving problems — all of which has improved my work as a bankruptcy lawyer, mediator and Subchapter V trustee, says Amy Denton Mayer at Berger Singerman.

  • Early Action Can Benefit Distressed Restaurant Franchisees

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    As rising costs put increased pressure on restaurants, as evidenced by recent bankruptcy filings by Popeyes, Farmer Boys and Applebees franchisees, distressed businesses should move early to preserve profitable locations, reject uneconomic obligations, manage brand defaults and choose the appropriate restructuring path, says Christopher Caplinger at Kean Miller.

  • What To Know As Legal Duty To Consider AI Takes Shape

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    While the U.K. Jurisdiction Taskforce’s recent statement on liability for artificial intelligence harms is nonbinding for both U.K. and U.S. lawyers, it highlights the importance of being able to distinguish between the availability of a tool and a professional obligation to use it, say Jonny Frank and Michael Costa at StoneTurn.

  • Patent Ruling Shows Concrete Tech Solution Key To Eligibility

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent Ceiva Opco v. Amazon.com decision offers an important reminder that software-related inventions can remain patent eligible when they claim a concrete technological solution to a specific problem, says Irah Donner at Manatt.

  • NC Dental Review Change Counters Tougher National Trend

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    North Carolina’s elimination of its prior review requirement for dental management agreements departs sharply from the national trend toward expanded corporate practice of medicine oversight, but stakeholders should not view this regulatory shift as a relaxation of compliance expectations, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Amazon v. Perplexity Ruling Limits CFAA Reach Over AI Tools

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Amazon v. Perplexity provides important early guidance on how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act applies to agentic artificial intelligence, and is the latest in a line of rulings in which courts have declined to stretch existing statutes to broadly regulate AI, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Costco Chicken Case Highlights Food Labeling Lessons

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    Recent litigation over allegedly deceptive food labels, including the ongoing proposed class action in a California federal court over Costco's rotisserie chicken, shows that plaintiffs rarely focus on single label statements in isolation — so product claims that comply with regulations could still incur litigation risk, says Brandy Alonzo-Mayland at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Series

    Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    After 2026's second quarter, there is more authority rejecting class certification on total loss valuation theories from courts at the federal circuit, federal district and state appellate level — along with a resolution of a novel issue of depreciation on a wildfire claim, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

  • How Drug Trial Prediction Markets Pose Insider Trading Risks

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    Multiple prediction market platforms have recently announced plans to offer event contracts related to clinical trial outcomes and regulatory decisions, creating new insider trading risks by expanding the group of people possessing related material nonpublic information far beyond traditional corporate insiders, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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