California

  • June 08, 2026

    Trump's $100K H-1B Fee Is Unauthorized Tax, Judge Rules

    A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Monday that President Donald Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa payment constitutes a tax that Congress did not authorize the president to impose, declaring the fee unlawful and vacating it in its entirety.

  • June 08, 2026

    Sleep Aid Buyers Say 'Non-Habit' Pills Can Cause Dependence

    A proposed class of sleep-aid buyers is suing the makers and sellers of Unisom, saying that despite being marketed with a prominent "non-habit forming" claim, its main ingredient has been known to lead to dependence with frequent use.

  • June 08, 2026

    Seattle Fights Uber, Instacart Bid To Undo 9th Circ. Gig Ruling

    The city of Seattle urged the Ninth Circuit not to revisit a panel decision backing its app-based worker deactivation ordinance against a First Amendment challenge from Uber and Instacart, arguing the companies are trying to turn an ordinary worker protection law into a speech case.

  • June 05, 2026

    USDA Food Assistance Conditions Halted By Mass. Judge

    A Massachusetts federal judge Friday blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture from conditioning funding for programs like school lunches and food assistance on compliance with Trump administration policies on gender, women's sports, diversity and immigration.

  • June 05, 2026

    Streamer's 'Lazy Reaction' Video May Be Fair Use, Judge Says

    A California federal judge said Friday he is inclined to toss a YouTube creator's copyright suit over a Twitch user's livestreamed response to a documentary, finding that what the plaintiff characterized as "lazy reaction" content that siphoned views from the original work is covered by fair use because of the defendant's real-time criticism, commentary and mockery.

  • June 05, 2026

    Chinese Co. Barred From Claiming Connection To Olympics

    A Chinese company and affiliates were blocked by a California federal court judge from using trademarks associated with the Olympics or claiming to have any affiliation with the games, after the International Olympic Committee claimed they were falsely using marks to sell products with purported health benefits.

  • June 05, 2026

    JPML Denies Industrywide Spinal Device Injury MDL Bid

    The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation declined to consolidate dozens of product liability cases over spinal cord stimulator devices manufactured by Boston Scientific Corp., Abbott Laboratories, Nevro and Medtronic, finding Friday that while centralization of the actions against Boston Scientific was appropriate, an industrywide action was not.

  • June 05, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives TCPA Suit Against Keller Williams

    The Ninth Circuit reinstated a proposed class action against Keller Williams Realty and an Arizona real estate solutions company over phone calls and texts asking a woman about selling her home, ruling she sufficiently alleged the communications at issue constituted solicitations prohibited under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. 

  • June 05, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives Tribal Smoke Shop Owner's RICO Suit

    Officials with the Colorado River Indian Tribes must face a lawsuit brought by a smoke shop owner who claims they wrongfully evicted his business and stole its inventory, the Ninth Circuit ruled in a published opinion, saying tribal employees aren't automatically shielded by sovereign immunity.

  • June 05, 2026

    Costco Roasts Customers' Rotisserie Chicken Additives Suit

    Costco is crying foul on two California shoppers who claim the bulk retailer deceptively marketed its $4.99 rotisserie chickens as preservative-free, telling a federal judge Thursday the proposed class action cannot survive because the ingredients the plaintiffs flag aren't classified as preservatives by federal regulators.

  • June 05, 2026

    Epic Fights Apple's Bid For High Court Sanctions Review

    Epic Games told the U.S. Supreme Court there's no need for high court review of a California federal court's contempt order against Apple for violating a ban on company policies that barred app developers from steering users to outside payment options.

  • June 05, 2026

    Trans Patients Urge Blocking DOJ 'Campaign Of Harassment'

    Transgender adolescents urged a California federal judge Friday to block a Stanford Medicine hospital from sharing gender-related care medical records in response to a Texas grand jury criminal subpoena, arguing that other courts have rebuffed similar government subpoena attempts and the judge should end the DOJ's "campaign of harassment."

  • June 05, 2026

    J&J Cleared Of Talc Liability In LA Bellwether Trial

    A Los Angeles jury cleared Johnson & Johnson of any liability in the deaths of three women from ovarian cancer, finding Friday following a six-week bellwether trial that the company's sales of talcum powder were not negligent. 

  • June 05, 2026

    GOP Lawmakers Target China With 2 Patent Bills

    Republican lawmakers are floating a pair of bills that would block anyone who is considered a national security threat from gaining a U.S. patent and require anyone with connections to "foreign adversaries" to list the association on an application.

  • June 05, 2026

    Wamco Inks $100M SEC Deal Over 'Cherry-Picking' Scheme

    Western Asset Management Co. LLC on Friday agreed to pay $100 million to settle allegations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the investment management firm "failed to take reasonable steps to detect and prevent" its former executive's purported cherry-picking practices.

  • June 05, 2026

    IRhythm Inks $45M Deal With Investors In Heart Device Suit

    IRhythm Technologies Inc. investors asked a California federal judge to preliminarily greenlight a $45 million settlement resolving allegations the digital healthcare company inflated stock prices with misrepresentations about its heart-event monitoring device, noting the deal is a favorable result that warrants approval, given the possibility of no recovery. 

  • June 05, 2026

    Paramount Criticizes Consumers' Antitrust Suit As Unserious

    Paramount Skydance has asked a California federal judge to toss a consumer antitrust challenge to its pending $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying the lawsuit lacks essential elements to state a claim and criticizing the opposition for treating the litigation like a "sport" rather than a "serious matter."

  • June 05, 2026

    Judge Rejects Objectors' Bid For More Equity In NIL Proposal

    A California federal magistrate judge has turned down a group of athletes' objection to a proposed addition to the $2.78 billion settlement with the NCAA that the group said would disproportionately benefit men in major revenue college sports.

  • June 05, 2026

    Microchip Co. Can't Dismantle Severance Suit Class Action

    A microchip manufacturer can't decertify a class action alleging it unlawfully revoked its severance program after a merger, with a California federal judge rejecting the company's assertion that a Ninth Circuit decision meant the court had to individually assess workers' decisions.

  • June 05, 2026

    Marilyn Manson Fails To Nix Ex-Assistant's Sex Assault Suit

    Goth rocker Marilyn Manson failed to convince a Los Angeles judge on Friday to permanently toss his former personal assistant's latest amended complaint that accuses him of having sexually assaulted her in 2010, with the judge saying it wouldn't be right to resolve the case at the pleading stage.

  • June 05, 2026

    SoCal Securities Partner Joins Jones Day From Orrick

    Jones Day announced that the former leader of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's financial and securities litigation practice has joined the firm's Irvine, California, office as a partner.

  • June 05, 2026

    Berkeley Dean Views 1952 Opinion As Executive Power Test

    Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, has urged the courts to examine a lesser-known concurring opinion in a 1952 U.S. Supreme Court decision on a steel mill case when judging the modern limits of presidential power.

  • June 05, 2026

    MoFo Adds AI-Focused Labor Atty From McDermott In LA

    Morrison Foerster LLP has expanded its employment and labor group in Los Angeles with the addition of a former McDermott Will & Schulte attorney.

  • June 05, 2026

    Dunn Isaacson Announces Bonuses Of Up To $25K

    Litigation boutique Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP is the latest firm to announce midyear associate bonuses and is distributing payouts of between $10,000 and $25,000, according to an internal memo viewed by Law360.

  • June 05, 2026

    Polsinelli Hires Career Gunderson Dettmer Lawyer In SF

    Polsinelli PC has hired a career Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP lawyer who focuses on representing technology companies and venture capital investors in a range of corporate matters, the firm announced Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Congress Should Lead On AI Policy, Not The States

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    There needs to be some limits on how far federal agencies go in regulating artificial intelligence systems, but Congress must not abdicate its responsibility and cede control over this interstate market to state and local officials, say Kevin Frazier at the University of Texas School of Law and Adam Thierer at the R Street Institute.

  • Limiting Worker Surveillance Risks Amid AI Regulatory Shifts

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    With workplace surveillance tools becoming increasingly common and a recent executive order aiming to preempt state-level artificial intelligence enforcement, companies may feel encouraged to expand AI monitoring, but the legal exposure associated with these tools remains, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • How Insurers Are Wording AI Exclusions

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    Artificial intelligence exclusions are now available for use in insurance policies, meaning corporate risk managers must determine how those exclusions are interpreted and applied, and how they define AI, says David Kroeger at Jenner & Block.

  • How 2 Tech Statutes Are Being Applied To Agentic AI

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    The application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the California Invasion of Privacy Act to agentic artificial intelligence is still developing, but recent case law, like Amazon's lawsuit against Perplexity in California federal court, provides some initial guidance for companies developing or deploying these technologies, say attorneys at Weil.

  • FTC Focus: Testing Joint Enforcement Over Loyalty Programs

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    The Federal Trade Commission's case against Syngenta can be understood both as a canary for further scrutiny over loyalty-discount practices and a signal of the durability of joint federal-state antitrust enforcement, with key takeaways for practitioners and those subject to regulatory antitrust scrutiny alike, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Defense Strategy Takeaways From Recent TCPA Class Actions

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    Although recent Telephone Consumer Protection Act decisions do not establish any bright-line tests for defeating predominance based on an argument that class members provided consent for the calls, certain trends have emerged that should inform defense strategies at class certification, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

  • NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

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    Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court

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    While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.

  • Viewing The Merger Landscape Through An HPE-Juniper Lens

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    If considerations beyond antitrust law were taken into account to determine whether Section 7 of the Clayton Act was violated in the Hewlett Packard Enterprise-Juniper Networks deal, then legal practitioners advocating deal clearance may now have to argue that deals should be justified by considerations not set forth in the merger guidelines, says Matthew Cantor of Shinder Cantor.

  • 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

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    Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

  • 2 Rulings Showcase Fuzzy Limits Of 'Related To' Jurisdiction

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    The Fifth and Ninth Circuits recently handed down decisions, in Sanchez Energy and Sawtelle Partners, respectively, reminding practitioners that bankruptcy court jurisdiction over lingering disputes is not guaranteed, regardless of whether confirmation orders contain specific "retention of jurisdiction" language, says Brian Shaw at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Privacy Ruling Shows How CIPA Conflicts With Modern Tech

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    A California federal court's recent holding in Doe v. Eating Recovery Center that Meta is not liable for reading, or attempting to read, the pixel-related transmission while in transit reflects a mismatch between the California Invasion of Privacy Act's 1967 origins and modern encrypted, browser‑driven communications, says David Wheeler at Neal Gerber.

  • Navigating Trade Secret Exceptions In Noncompete Bans

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    Recent and ongoing developments in the noncompete landscape, including a potential decision from the Tenth Circuit in Edwards Lifesciences v. Thompson, could offer tools for employers to bring noncompete agreements within trade secret exceptions amid an era of heightened employee mobility, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Series

    Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

  • How Generative AI Cos. Can Navigate Product Liability Claims

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    Increasingly, plaintiffs are aggregating disputes over generative artificial intelligence and pursuing them through mass-tort-style proceedings, borrowing tactics from litigation involving social media, pharmaceuticals and other consumer-facing products — but there are approaches that AI companies can use to narrow claims and manage long-term exposure, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

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