California

  • December 11, 2025

    FEMA's Freeze On Disaster Mitigation Funds Ruled Unlawful

    The Trump administration unlawfully terminated Federal Emergency Management Agency funds intended to pay for disaster mitigating projects, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Thursday, describing the case as an "unlawful executive encroachment on the prerogative of Congress to appropriate funds" for specific purposes.

  • December 11, 2025

    Nonprofit Says Calif. Gov. Order Wrongfully Blocks Housing

    A housing nonprofit sued California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other parties in state court over government orders that blocked the construction of residential properties in certain areas hit by the January wildfires.

  • December 11, 2025

    Duolingo, CoStar Prevail In Font Patent Fight At Fed. Circ.

    The Federal Circuit on Dec. 11 refused to revive a pair of computer font patents challenged by Duolingo Inc. and CoStar Realty Information Inc., backing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board findings that the patents were invalid.

  • December 11, 2025

    Buchalter Adds Trusts And Estates Duo In Los Angeles

    Buchalter PC has hired two tax, benefits and estate planning shareholders for its Los Angeles office, including a former McDermott Will & Schulte partner who counsels ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families to help lead the national trusts and estates litigation group. 

  • December 11, 2025

    Sports League Grand Slam Track Hits Ch. 11 After Debut Year

    Grand Slam Track, a professional track and field league started by Olympic sprinting champion Michael Johnson, filed for Chapter 11 protections in Delaware Thursday with up to $50 million in liabilities.

  • December 10, 2025

    Hyundai Attacks Judge's 'Disdain For Arbitration' At 9th Circ.

    Hyundai urged the Ninth Circuit Wednesday to revive its bid to arbitrate litigation over an alleged defect in its Palisade SUVs, saying that a district court judge erred by rejecting an arbitration agreement within a contract for complimentary "connected" services and arguing that the order "drips with disdain for arbitration."

  • December 10, 2025

    Pelosi Attack Footage Unfairly Swayed Jurors, 9th Circ. Told

    David DePape urged the Ninth Circuit Wednesday to vacate his conviction and 30-year prison sentence for attempting to kidnap then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and assaulting her husband, arguing the trial judge committed multiple errors, including admitting prejudicial footage of Pelosi's husband lying in a pool of blood.

  • December 10, 2025

    'Crazy' To Link Talc With Ovarian Cancer, J&J Expert Says

    Johnson & Johnson rested its defense Wednesday in a Los Angeles bellwether trial over claims its talc products caused two women's ovarian cancer, with a gynecologic oncologist appearing as its last witness and telling the jury the idea of talc used for feminine hygiene reaching the ovaries is "crazy."

  • December 10, 2025

    Calif. Panel Reinstates Child Porn Rap Despite Abuse History

    A man who was abused as a child and raped as an adult cannot escape a child pornography conviction by arguing the abuse he endured led to the offense, a California state appeals court has ruled, finding in a reversal that his many traumas made it hard to ascertain a direct link to his crime.

  • December 10, 2025

    Kaiser Asks 9th Circ. To Make Nurses Arbitrate Wage Claims

    Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and a staffing company urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to force traveling nurses to arbitrate their claims that they were cheated out of compensation, saying a judge erred when he found the agreement unconscionable due to a potentially confusing fee shifting provision.

  • December 10, 2025

    Calif. Suit Over $4B High-Speed Rail Funds OK To Proceed

    A California federal judge on Tuesday denied the Trump administration's bid to toss California's lawsuit challenging the termination of $4 billion in grants for the state's electric rail project, rejecting the administration's contention that California asserted a breach-of-contract claim that only the Court of Federal Claims could hear.

  • December 10, 2025

    Too Zealous? EscapeX Challenges Sanctions In Google Case

    EscapeX IP is asking the Federal Circuit to review en banc a decision upholding $255,000 in fees and sanctions for what a California federal judge found to be a frivolous patent suit against Google, arguing the decision contradicts precedent and raises questions for the whole legal profession.

  • December 10, 2025

    Amazon Shoppers In Price-Hike Suit Say Retailer Deleted Docs

    Amazon shoppers accusing the e-commerce giant of price-gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic urged a Seattle federal judge to sanction the company for allegedly destroying an "untold number of documents" crucial to their proposed consumer class action.

  • December 10, 2025

    HPE Fights State AGs' Bid To Block Juniper Integration

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise told a California federal court that even though it has already combined with Juniper Networks, state enforcers are seeking to temporarily break up the companies while the court mulls a U.S. Department of Justice settlement over the $14 billion wireless networking deal.

  • December 10, 2025

    Diagnostic Co. Agrees To Oversight Reforms In Derivative Suit

    A California federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a deal ending shareholder derivative claims that diagnostics company CareDx's executives and directors damaged the company by concealing its scheme to inflate its testing services revenue.

  • December 10, 2025

    Sports Floor Distributors Say Acquisition Cut Their Profits

    A group of 16 distributors have challenged the sole ownership of two of the largest manufacturers of indoor and outdoor sports courts, saying that placing them under the same parent company created a monopoly ultimately resulting in lower sales and revenues.

  • December 10, 2025

    Retired Calif. Judge Censured For Case Delays

    A now-retired California state appeals court judge was publicly censured Wednesday, and he has agreed to "not serve in a judicial capacity in the future" as part of a stipulation he entered with the state's judicial ethics watchdog, following its investigation into whether the judge mismanaged cases and caused a yearlong backlog.

  • December 10, 2025

    Dreyer's Misleads Fruit Bar Buyers About 'Processed' Treats

    Dreyer's falsely claims that its Outshine fruit bars are nutritionally equivalent to eating real fruit, despite containing large amounts of added sugar and artificial ingredients, which means the products are "engineered, processed desserts, not simple frozen fruit," a proposed class action filed Tuesday in California federal court alleges.

  • December 10, 2025

    AGs Say Judicial Safety Threats Reaching 'All-Time Highs'

    Attorneys general for 43 states, three territories and the District of Columbia signed a letter to Congress urging more financial support for judicial security in the face of threats against judges, including funding for a program that lets judges scrub addresses and personal information from online databases.

  • December 10, 2025

    Calif. Bar Exam Proctor Fights To Dismiss Class Claims

    The company that proctored the fraught California Bar Exam in February wants to end a proposed class action brought by test-takers claiming they are owed monetary relief for funds they spent on the exam, which was rife with technical errors, though both sides have indicated they are open to a settlement agreement.

  • December 10, 2025

    Meta Hit With Patent Claims Over Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

    Meta is facing a lawsuit by a smart appliance company that claims Meta's Orion artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses and its Ray-Ban smart glasses are infringing a patent.

  • December 10, 2025

    Ex-Nikola CEO Asks To Cancel Asset Sale, Submit Higher Bid

    An entity affiliated with the former CEO of electric-truck maker Nikola has urged a Delaware bankruptcy judge to undo an August asset sale, saying the transaction was conducted unfairly and that it is now willing to offer more than twice the sale price.

  • December 10, 2025

    Calif. National Guard Deployment Must Stop, Judge Rules

    A California federal court on Wednesday ordered President Donald Trump's administration to cease its mobilization of National Guard troops in California following recent protests over immigration raids in Los Angeles, finding no present threat to the rule of law exists to justify deployment.

  • December 10, 2025

    Wanted: Temporary US Attorney, No Experience Needed

    Frustrated by a string of court rulings disqualifying several of his U.S. attorney picks, President Donald Trump lamented recently that he might "just have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint another one, another one." Experts say the idea raises legal and practical issues.

  • December 10, 2025

    Staffing, Consulting Cos. Face PAGA Suit Over Unpaid Wages

    Two staffing companies and an account and consulting entity failed to pay employees for all time that they worked and manipulated their time entries, two workers said in a Private Attorneys General Act suit lodged in California state court.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • AG Watch: Illinois A Key Player In State-Level Enforcement

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    Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has systematically strengthened his office to fill federal enforcement gaps, oppose Trump administration mandates and advance state policy objectives, particularly by aggressively pursuing labor-related issues, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • How A 9th Circ. False Ad Ruling Could Shift Class Certification

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    The Ninth Circuit's July decision in Noohi v. Johnson & Johnson, holding that unexecuted damages models may suffice for purposes of class certification, has the potential to create judicial inefficiencies and crippling uncertainties for class action defendants, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • What To Know About Interim Licenses In Global FRAND Cases

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    Recent U.K. court decisions have shaped a framework for interim licenses in global standard-essential patent disputes, under which parties can benefit from operating on temporary terms while a court determines the final fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms — but the future of this developing remedy is in doubt, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Compliance Tips Amid Rising FTC Scrutiny Of Minors' Privacy

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    The Federal Trade Commission has recently rolled out multiple enforcement actions related to children's privacy, highlighting a renewed focus on federal regulation of minors' personal information and the evolving challenges of establishing effective, privacy-protective age assurance solutions, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Insights From Recent Cases On Navigating Snap Removal

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    Snap removal, which allows defendants to transfer state court cases to federal court before a forum defendant is properly joined and served, is viewed differently across federal circuits — but keys to making it work can be drawn from recent decisions critiquing the practice, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Workday Case Shows Auditing AI Hiring Tools Is Crucial

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    Following a California federal court's recent decisions in Mobley v. Workday signaling that both employers and vendors could be held liable for discriminatory outcomes from artificial intelligence hiring tools, companies should consider two rigorous auditing methods to detect and mitigate bias, says Hossein Borhani at Charles River Associates.

  • Tips For Cos. Crafting Enforceable Online Arbitration Clauses

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    Recent rulings from the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California indicate that courts are carefully examining the enforceability of online arbitration clauses, so businesses should review the design of their websites and consider specific language next to the "purchase" button, say attorneys at DTO Law.

  • 7 Lessons From The Tractor Supply CCPA Enforcement Action

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    The California Privacy Protection Agency's recent enforcement action targeting Tractor Supply for alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act provides critical insights into the compliance areas that remain a priority for the California regulator, including businesses with significant consumer interactions, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Parody Defendants Are Finding Success Post-Jack Daniel's

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    Recent decisions demonstrate that, although the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products did benefit trademark plaintiffs by significantly limiting the First Amendment expressive use defense, courts also now appear to be less likely to find a parodic work likely to cause confusion, says Andrew Michaels at University of Houston Law Center.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • Trader Joe's Ruling Highlights Trademark Infringement Trends

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Trader Joe's Co. v. Trader Joe's United explores the legal boundaries between a union's right to advocate for workers and the protection of a brand's intellectual property, and illustrates a growing trend of courts disfavoring early dismissal of trademark infringement claims in the context of expressive speech, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

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