California

  • July 02, 2026

    Hall Benefits Law Adds Exec Comp Pro From Trucker Huss

    Hall Benefits Law has hired an executive and equity compensation practice group leader from Trucker Huss, bringing in a practitioner with more than three decades of experience advising employers about benefit plan designs and their tax implications as the firm expands in Sacramento, California.

  • July 02, 2026

    Transportation Regulation To Watch: Midyear Report 2026

    Revised vehicle fuel economy standards, negotiations on a new infrastructure and transportation funding package and the next iteration of a North American trade deal are some of the transportation industry's top regulatory developments to watch in the latter half of 2026.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Man Says ChatGPT Fueled Bipolar Delusion, Self-Harm

    When a California man with bipolar disorder shared his intense delusions with ChatGPT, a lack of safeguards caused OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot to drive him deeper into those delusions and encourage him to attempt to take his own life, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Francisco.

  • July 01, 2026

    'I Would've Been Fired': FDIC Expert Pans SVB's Risk-Taking

    The FDIC's banking expert testified in a California federal bench trial Wednesday that Silicon Valley Bank violated prudent banking standards by mismanaging assets before it collapsed, saying officers knew SVB was taking excessive risks but did not stop, adding that "I would've been fired" if he had managed his bank's assets the same way.

  • July 01, 2026

    Big Pharma Cos. Want 340B Drug Price FCA Suit Tossed

    Four major pharmaceutical companies Wednesday urged a California federal court to toss False Claims Act allegations revived by the Ninth Circuit claiming they filed false ceiling prices for drugs and overcharged entities covered by a federal discount program, saying the suit is precluded by the FCA's public disclosure bar.

  • July 01, 2026

    California Court Trims State Charges In Pelosi Hammer Attack

    A split California appeals court has ruled that the man who attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, correctly obtained dismissal of several charges from his state court indictment.

  • July 01, 2026

    LinkedIn Says Users Agreed To Browser Extension Scans

    LinkedIn told a California federal judge that two proposed class actions alleging the website unlawfully accesses users' browser extensions are part of an "international retaliation campaign" over routine security methods that users agreed to.

  • July 01, 2026

    Bankrupt EV Co.'s Execs Reach $20M Investor Deal

    Executives of bankrupt electric vehicle startup Canoo Inc. have reached a $20 million deal with the company's shareholders to end claims that they misled investors about its go-to-market strategy ahead of its merger with a special purpose acquisition company in 2021.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Judge Sends $2M Cannabis Land Dispute To Arbitration

    A Los Angeles County judge has hit pause on a $2.2 million lawsuit accusing a cannabis company of misappropriating an investor's contribution after both sides agreed to take the case to arbitration.

  • July 01, 2026

    Latham-Led Bending Spoons Leads Trio Of IPOs Topping $2B

    Italian mobile app developer Bending Spoons hit the public markets after raising $1.7 billion in its initial public offering, marking the largest of three IPOs to begin trading on Wednesday, exceeding $2.1 billion in total deal volume.

  • July 01, 2026

    MGA Beats Rapper T.I.'s Bid For $125M In Punitive Damages

    A California federal jury found Wednesday that MGA Entertainment owes no punitive damages for misappropriating looks from the OMG Girlz singing group created by rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka Harris, wrapping another chapter in a six-year legal battle in which the couple sought up to $125 million in punitive damages. 

  • July 01, 2026

    Yelp Gets To Lock In Part Of DOJ's Search Win Over Google

    A California federal judge Wednesday partially granted Yelp Inc.'s request to lock in liability findings from the U.S. Department of Justice's landmark antitrust win over Google LLC for its own case against the company, thereby precluding Google from arguing it didn't monopolize the market for general search services.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Man Gets 21 Months For Sports Memorabilia Fraud

    A California resident has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty in December to one count of wire fraud for knowingly selling counterfeit baseball memorabilia he claimed was from MLB Hall of Famer Willie Mays.

  • July 01, 2026

    TikTok Nears Deal Ahead Of 2nd Social Media Addiction Trial

    A plaintiff who alleges he became harmfully addicted to major social media platforms as a child and whose case is set to be the second bellwether trial later this month out of thousands of similar cases pending in Los Angeles court has reached a settlement in principle with TikTok, his counsel told Law360 on Wednesday.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. City Looks To Escape Tribe's Land Advisory Suit

    A California city is asking a district court to dismiss a challenge by the Yurok Tribe that looks to block the municipality from asserting jurisdiction over an Indigenous village site, saying it's well within its authority to appoint another tribe regarding management of the city-owned real property.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Court Rejects Challenge To FAIR Plan Fee Pass-Through

    California's top insurance regulator has the authority to allow the private insurance companies that make up the state's FAIR Plan to recoup from policyholders payments the companies make to support the last-resort insurer when its claim-paying ability is tested.

  • July 01, 2026

    Littler Adds Ex-Morgan Lewis Labor Litigator In California

    Littler Mendelson PC, which primarily deals in employment and labor law practice representing management, announced on Tuesday the hiring of a former Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP attorney as a shareholder in its Walnut Creek, California, office.

  • July 01, 2026

    WilmerHale Trade Secrets Litigation Co-Lead Joins Debevoise

    San Francisco-based litigator Joshua H. Lerner has left his job as co-chair of WilmerHale's trade secrets litigation practice to join Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as a partner, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • July 01, 2026

    Withers Promotes 12 Partners In US, UK, Singapore

    International law firm Withers has appointed a dozen new partners across three countries, nearly half of whom are based in the United States.

  • July 01, 2026

    DC Judge Blocks More USDA Grant Terminations

    A D.C. federal court has preliminarily reinstated U.S. Department of Agriculture grants totaling roughly $127 million under a program aimed at helping underserved farmers, finding the department's grant terminations likely flouted Congress' priorities under two Biden-era laws.

  • July 01, 2026

    Calif. Tribe Seeks To Block July 8 Wild Horse Roundup

    A California tribe is looking to block the U.S. Department of the Interior from removing more than 600 wild horses via helicopter from a protected habitat starting July 8, arguing that the federal government has been on notice for nearly four decades that aboriginal interests are implicated by the territory's management activities.

  • June 30, 2026

    MGA Asks Trial Judge To End TI's Punitive Damages Claim

    MGA urged a California federal judge Tuesday to end the punitive damages trial in its intellectual property dispute with Tameka Harris and rapper T.I., arguing ahead of closing arguments the Harrises presented no evidence that MGA or its CEO intentionally misappropriated the looks of their girl group when designing dolls.

  • June 30, 2026

    Meta Social Media Addiction MDL Headed For August Trial

    A California federal judge has mostly denied dueling motions for summary judgment in litigation brought by multiple states claiming Meta intentionally designed its products to be addictive, rejecting Meta's attempts to ditch the case and teeing it up for an August advisory jury trial.

  • June 30, 2026

    Trump Public Loan Forgiveness Rule Is Unlawful, Judges Find

    Federal judges in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday struck down a U.S. Department of Education rule that effectively narrowed which public service workers could receive student loan forgiveness, saying the department had issued limitations on qualifying employers outside its rulemaking authority.

  • June 30, 2026

    Ex-SVB Exec Defends Bank's Risk Appetite In FDIC Trial

    Silicon Valley Bank's ex-chief financial officer defended SVB's risk appetite during a California federal bench trial Tuesday over the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s claims the bank's brass mismanaged its assets, testifying SVB consistently received satisfactory regulatory ratings, took action to mitigate risks and received expert advice before SVB collapsed.

Expert Analysis

  • How A Founder's AI Pitch Deck Can Become A Crime Scene

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    As recent indictments and prosecutions against tech executives illustrate, AI washing is a criminal enforcement priority, not a regulatory formality, highlighting the importance of ensuring that founders don't overstate what their artificial intelligence does, particularly in the initial pitch deck to investors, says attorney Alan N. Walter.

  • SEC Disgorged Fund Distribution Is Next Query After Sripetch

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    Following the Supreme Court's Sripetch v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decision, investor harm isn't required for the SEC to obtain a disgorgement award, but future cases must resolve whether the commission will be freed from a requirement to distribute disgorged funds to the victims of alleged misconduct, says Daniel Walfish at Katsky Korins.

  • New State AI Laws Create Dual Misrepresentation Risk

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    As artificial intelligence transparency laws are enacted across the country and the volume and specificity of compliance records increase, companies will be required to speak more often, more precisely and to more audiences about the same systems, compounding the risk of litigation, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Trump Admin's Agency Records Purge Tests Judicial Notice

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    While courts commonly take judicial notice of data in government websites and reports, the Trump administration's recent modification or wholesale deletion of these sources means that litigants must look elsewhere to support trial admission of this information, says Jon Gryskiewicz at Lewis Baach.

  • Series

    Cow Horse Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Moving an unwilling 800-pound cow while riding a horse at high speed is exhilarating, a little unhinged and, at least for me, a surprisingly effective training ground for litigation — both demand focus, preparation over rigid planning and the willingness to act despite fear, says Ashley Zitrin at Glenn Agre.

  • Vax Ruling Offers Employer Tips For Handling Political Speech

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    A California appeals court's recent decision in Rademacher v. ABC, rejecting a "General Hospital" actor's suit alleging he was terminated for opposing a vaccine policy, demonstrates the importance of the employer's process, including neutral policies, documentation, and evidence of who knew what and when, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • PowerSchool Data Breach Ruling Underscores PE Liability

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    The recent California federal court decision in PowerSchool, where Bain Capital was unable to dismiss claims relating to a data breach based in part on Bain's preinvestment activities, is an important addition to the line of cases addressing investor liability for acts of a portfolio company, says Mark Kelley at MoloLamken.

  • What Prop 65 Listings For Welding Fumes, Drugs Mean For Cos.

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    With California poised to add welding chemicals and three medications to its list of known carcinogens under Proposition 65, businesses must assess risks from nontraditional pharmaceutical dispensing, occupational and environmental exposures to welding operations, and downstream exposures from the manufacture of both types of substances, says Gregory Berlin at Alston & Bird.

  • 3 Disgorgement Questions Linger After Justices' SEC Ruling

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sripetch v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission avoided placing new limits on the SEC’s disgorgement powers, it passed over several questions, including whether the commission can seek disgorgement when returning the money to investors isn't possible, says David Slovick at Kopecky Schumacher.

  • Checking For AI Errors Is Now A Two-Way Street

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    A handful of recent federal and state cases demonstrate the importance of checking for errors generated by artificial intelligence not only in your own court submissions, but also your opponent's, as well as when catching opposing counsel's AI mistakes could result in an award for attorney fees, says Tamara Barago at Hollingsworth.

  • Green Card Memo Warps Long-Standing Adjustment Process

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    A recent policy memorandum that treats a nonimmigrant visa holder’s decision to seek adjustment of status in the U.S., rather than at a U.S. consulate, as an adverse factor reinterprets existing discretionary frameworks, compounds risks for applicants required to apply abroad and changes practitioner approaches to application preparation, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • Celebs May Need Federal Protection To Fight Voice Deepfakes

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    Deepfakes and digital replicas are increasingly misappropriating celebrities' voices for commercial purposes, but unless federal right of publicity protections are developed, celebrities are left to rely on ill-equipped trademark and state law, say attorneys at Brown Rudnick.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Shoring Up Corporate Law In Maryland

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    Launched more than 20 years ago to improve complex corporate adjudication, Maryland's Business and Technology Case Management Program has been a solid success in some areas, but there always is room for improvement, says Bill Krulak at Miles & Stockbridge.

  • State Enviro Agencies Give Cosmetics Regulation A Makeover

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    As state oversight of cosmetics rapidly expands, the new statutes and regulations governing these products are being implemented by environmental agencies rather than consumer product regulators, requiring manufacturers, distributors and retailers to reevaluate their supply chains and procedures, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • How End Of SEC 'Gag Rule' Affects Free Speech Certiorari Bid

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    The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescission of the so-called gag rule, which forbade defendants in settlements from denying the SEC’s allegations, may sway the outcome of a petition to the Supreme Court in a case challenging the rule on First Amendment grounds, say attorneys at Troutman.

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