California

  • January 09, 2026

    Up Next At High Court: Pollution Lawsuits & Trans Athletes

    The U.S. Supreme Court will kick off the new year by hearing disputes over the constitutionality of state laws banning transgender female athletes from female-only sports and whether state or federal courts are the proper forum for lawsuits seeking to hold major oil companies accountable for harm caused by their oil production activities along Louisiana's coast. 

  • January 09, 2026

    $500K Revelation Doesn't Nix Surgeon's Win In Eye Injury Row

    A California appeals court won't order a retrial in a suit alleging a surgery center blinded a patient in one eye during spinal surgery, saying she failed to properly object to a closing argument that implied that a co-defendant's settlement was the source of $500,000 she had received.

  • January 09, 2026

    Netflix Wins Atty Fees In 'Orgasm Inc.' Defamation Case

    A California state appellate court affirmed an award of attorney fees to Netflix Inc. after the streaming giant's anti-SLAPP victory in a defamation case over its documentary "Orgasm Inc.: The Story of OneTaste," saying the trial court had the authority to award fees despite the case being under appeal.

  • January 09, 2026

    Calif. Climate Laws Violate Free Speech Rights, 9th Circ. Told

    A coalition of business groups urged a Ninth Circuit panel Friday to preliminarily block new California laws requiring large companies to disclose financial risks tied to climate change, arguing the laws are unprecedented and violate the First Amendment, in part by being "completely untethered" to any product or transaction.

  • January 09, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Predicting '26

    Catch up on this past week's developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including key asset classes and pending litigation to watch in the new year.

  • January 09, 2026

    High Court Grants Review Of Falun Gong Cisco Spying Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it will determine whether the Ninth Circuit was right to reinstate a suit brought under the Alien Tort Statute suit alleging that Cisco aided the Chinese government's allegedly unlawful crackdown on the Falun Gong religious movement.

  • January 09, 2026

    Is 9th Circ.'s Copyright Test Doomed After Kat Von D Verdict?

    Celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D's realistic tattoo of a famous Miles Davis photo on a friend's arm — and the jury ruling that it did not violate copyright law — could imperil a decades-old Ninth Circuit doctrine for assessing similarity between works, with potential review by a full panel of judges on the horizon.

  • January 09, 2026

    H-1B Spouses Challenge End Of Auto Work Permit Extensions

    Seven spouses of H-1B visa holders asked a California federal judge to block the Trump administration's end of automatic work permit extensions, saying the move was based on unsupported national security grounds to fast-track the policy without public input.

  • January 09, 2026

    Paramount Seeks To Toss Privacy Suit Over Kids' Data

    Paramount Skydance Corp. urged a California federal court to toss a "haphazard" proposed class action that accuses the media giant of unlawfully disclosing the personally identifiable information of children who streamed content on their families' devices, saying the kids' parents failed to sufficiently allege any of their claims.

  • January 09, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives Suit Over Milliman's 'Fuzzy Matching' Tactic

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday reversed a decision tossing one of two classes in litigation accusing consulting firm Milliman of peddling inaccurate information by using a strategy known as "fuzzy" data matching to compile its reports, saying the lower court applied a too-high standard at the summary judgment stage for showing class members were harmed.

  • January 09, 2026

    Calif. Construction Co. Nabs $15B Air Force Contract

    Brea, California-based Insight Pacific LLC has been awarded an open-ended, global construction contract with the U.S. Air Force worth up to $15 billion through 2035, the U.S. Department of Defense announced.

  • January 09, 2026

    States Cite Ed. Dept. Outsourcing In Revamped Suit

    Democratic state attorneys general added fresh allegations Friday to an ongoing lawsuit over cuts to the U.S. Department of Education, saying the Trump administration has begun offloading some of the department's functions to other agencies.

  • January 09, 2026

    News Orgs. Want OpenAI Sanctioned In Copyright MDL

    News organizations, including The New York Times, are sparring with OpenAI over allegations that the artificial intelligence company didn't properly maintain output logs of its ChatGPT chatbot in multidistrict copyright litigation in New York federal court.

  • January 09, 2026

    Justices To Resolve Split On SEC Disgorgement Powers

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case that could resolve a circuit split over whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has to prove investor harm in order to secure disgorgement from alleged fraudsters. 

  • January 09, 2026

    Biz Owner's RICO Suit Says 5 Calif. Attys Helped Loot IT Co.

    A business owner has filed a lawsuit accusing five attorneys from five different small California law firms of conspiring with his ex-business partner to steal assets from a company the two had jointly owned.

  • January 09, 2026

    How New Judges Can Quell Patent Litigation Fears

    Patent litigation has a reputation for being particularly complex due to its technical content, which can be intimidating for litigants, attorneys and judges alike. In the first of a two-part series, several judges in the trenches of patent law spoke with Law360 about how new judges can make patent litigation less overwhelming.

  • January 09, 2026

    Calif. Wage Suit Settles Months After Atty Admits To AI Mishap

    A proposed wage and hour class action that drew the legal world's attention in November after the plaintiff's counsel admitted to using a half-dozen artificial intelligence tools to prepare a botched motion has now ended, with a Northern California federal judge granting a joint dismissal following a settlement agreement.

  • January 09, 2026

    Groups Oppose Feds' Bid To Stay $100K H-1B Visa Fee Suit

    Medical and other groups challenging President Donald Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee urged a California federal judge to reject the federal government's bid for a stay in the case, saying they are facing imminent harm without court intervention.

  • January 09, 2026

    Rakoff Hints 'Baby Shark' Mail-Service Precedent Is Unpopular

    U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Friday critiqued a Second Circuit decision requiring mail service to alleged Chinese infringers of "Baby Shark" trademarks, which he said may slow Google's effort to shutter an alleged China-based global phishing scam.

  • January 09, 2026

    IDEXX Software Defect Blamed For At Least 40 Dog Deaths

    Two Los Angeles-based veterinary clinics say pet healthcare diagnostics company Idexx Distribution Inc. fraudulently concealed a software algorithm defect that allegedly led to at least 40 dogs dying and hundreds of animals getting sick or missing treatment due to false diagnostic testing, according to a new lawsuit in California state court.

  • January 09, 2026

    Costco Denied Breaks Due To Understaffing, Suit Says

    Costco did not permit a former employee to take proper meal and rest breaks because the store was understaffed, resulting in unpaid wages, the worker said in a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

  • January 09, 2026

    Calif. Law Firm Wins $3M From Deal Made Without Client's OK

    A California state appeals court ruled that a Los Angeles personal injury law firm was entitled to over $3 million in payout from a $6 million settlement even though the firm initially entered into the deal without its client's consent and was later fired.

  • January 08, 2026

    Calif. Judge Will Resign, Cop To Workers' Comp Fraud

    A California state judge has agreed to resign and plead guilty to a felony fraud charge after prosecutors alleged he knowingly hired a physician previously convicted of healthcare fraud to prepare medical reports to submit to the state's workers' compensation program, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

  • January 08, 2026

    9th Circ. Vacates Seagate Loss In Hard Drive Price-Fixing Case

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday resurrected a number of Seagate Technologies' antitrust claims against Japanese manufacturer NHK Spring in a fight over hard drive components, finding that U.S. antitrust laws could indeed apply to the alleged conspiracy in this case even though foreign entities executed transactions abroad.

  • January 08, 2026

    States Fight To Block EPA From Wiping Out $7B Solar Funding

    A coalition of states urged a Washington federal district judge Thursday to preliminarily block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from cutting solar power grant programs, arguing that without an injunction the Trump administration could transfer $7 billion back to the Treasury and "we will be entirely out of luck."

Expert Analysis

  • Learning From 2025 FCA Trends Targeting PE In Healthcare

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    False Claims Act enforcement trends and legislative developments from this year signal intensifying state and federal scrutiny of private equity's growing footprint in healthcare, and the urgency of compliance, says Lisa Re at Arnold & Porter.

  • Reviewing 2025's State And Federal AI Regulations

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    In light of increasing state and federal action to oversee the use of artificial intelligence, companies that develop or deploy the technology should keep abreast of current and forthcoming AI laws and consider their applicability to their business activities, says Jessica Brigman at Spencer Fane.

  • What Trump Order Limiting State AI Regs Means For Insurers

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    Last week's executive order seeking to preclude states from regulating artificial intelligence will likely have minimal impact on insurers, but the order and related congressional activities may portend a federal expectation of consistent state oversight of insurers' AI use, says Kathleen Birrane at DLA Piper.

  • 4 Privacy Trends This Year With Lessons For Companies

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    As organizations plan for ongoing privacy law changes, 2025 trends that include a shift of activity from the federal to the state level mean companies should take an adaptive and principle-based approach to privacy programs rather than trying to memorize constantly changing laws, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Clarifies Auditor Liability For IPO Errors

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Hunt v. PricewaterhouseCoopers elucidates the legal standard for claims against auditors in connection with a company's initial public offering, confirming that audit opinions are subjective and becoming the first circuit to review this precise question since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 Omnicare ruling, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • AG Watch: Texas Junk Fee Deal Shows Enforcement Priorities

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    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent $9.5 million settlement with online travel agency website Booking Holdings for so-called junk fee practices follows a larger trend of state attorneys general who have taken similar action and demonstrates the significant penalties that can follow such allegations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Calif. AG's No-Poach Case Reflects Tougher Antitrust Stance

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    This month, California’s attorney general resolved the latest enforcement action barring the use of no-poach agreements, underscoring an aggressive antitrust enforcement trend with significant increases in criminal and civil penalties, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • 2025 Noncompete Developments That Led To Inflection Point

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    Employers must reshape their approaches to noncompete agreements following key 2025 developments, including Delaware's rejection of blue-penciling and the proliferation of state wage thresholds, say attorneys at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

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    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

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    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Next Steps For Orgs. Amid Updated OpenAI Usage Policies

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    OpenAI's updates to its usage policies, clarifying that its tools are not substitutes for professional medical, legal or other regulated advice, sends a clear signal that organizations should mirror this clarity in their governance policies to mitigate compliance and liability exposure, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • Autonomous Vehicle Liability Trends To Watch In 2026

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    With autonomous vehicles increasingly making their own decisions, the liability landscape for AVs has changed over the past year — highlighting a number of important issues that companies and practitioners should keep a close eye on in 2026, says Farid Yaghoubtil at Downtown LA Law Group.

  • Key Crypto Class Action Trends And Rulings In 2025

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    As the law continued to take shape in the growing area of crypto-assets, this year saw a jump in crypto class action litigation, including noteworthy decisions on motions to compel arbitration and class certification, according to Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.

  • 6 Laws For Calif. Employers To Know In 2026

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    California's legislative changes for 2026 impose sweeping new obligations on employers, including by expanding pay data reporting, clarifying protections related to bias mitigation training and broadening record access rights, but employers can avoid heightened exposure by proactively evaluating their compliance, modernizing internal systems and updating policies, says Alexa Foley at Gordon Rees.

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