Google Likely Stuck With $425M Loss, But Bid For $3B Flops

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge overseeing a class action accusing Google of illegally collecting information from 98 million cellphone users said Wednesday that he probably will not let Google decertify the class, but he is also unlikely to add $2.36 billion in alleged wrongful profits on top of a jury's $425 million verdict.

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Businesses Seek OK On $436M Toyota Forklift Emissions Deal

By Mike Curley

A proposed class of businesses is asking a California federal court to give the go-ahead on a $436 million settlement with Toyota Industries Corp. and its material handling affiliates in a suit that alleged the company misled them on their forklift and construction engine emissions.

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Medtronic 'Blocked' Surgical Device Competition, Jury Told

By Craig Clough

An executive at Applied Medical Resources Corp. on Tuesday told a California federal jury considering antitrust claims against Medtronic Inc. that a surgical device his company introduced a decade ago had great success in Europe but was "blocked" in the U.S. by Medtronic's practice of "bundling" products.

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'Out Of Control': Coach Says He Placed Bets For Ex-MLB Star

By Gina Kim

A baseball coach who placed illegal sports wagers for former MLB star Yasiel Puig took the stand Wednesday in the player's obstruction of justice trial, telling a California federal jury that Puig's gambling got "out of control" and that the coach feared repercussions from bookies after Puig didn't pay his debts.

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AI Recruiting Co. Eightfold Sued Over Job Applicant 'Dossiers'

By Dorothy Atkins

Job applicants have hit Eightfold AI with a proposed class action in California court, alleging the artificial intelligence company's business model violates longstanding consumer protection statutes by using "opaque" closely guarded AI algorithms to scrape personal data and generate "dossiers" on job applicants for major employers without applicants' knowledge or consent.

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Apple Shakes Mobile Users' Suit Over App Data Collection

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge released Apple from a putative class action accusing it of improperly collecting mobile device users' data when they interacted with Apple's App Store, Music and other proprietary apps, finding "perplexing" contradictory allegations and other deficiencies doomed plaintiffs' claims, including those under California and Pennsylvania's wiretap laws. 

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Calif. GOP Asks Justices To Block New Congressional Map

By Lauren Berg

California Republicans asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and block the state's new, voter-approved congressional districts before they can be used in this year's midterm election, arguing that the redrawn map constitutes illegal racial gerrymandering with Democratic officials "maximizing Latino voting strength."

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Fed. Circ. Gives Apple New Shot At Axing Smart Mobile Patent

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday undid the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Apple failed to show a Smart Mobile wireless patent was invalid, saying the first claim was unpatentable and that the board needs to rethink the other challenged portions.

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Bill Would Require Stays On Patent Claims Against End Users

By Elliot Weld

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to mandate that a stay be implemented on claims against retailers or end users in patent infringement cases when a manufacturer steps in to defend those claims.

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Disney Can't Dodge 'Toy Story 3' TM Claim On Remand

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge has refused to grant Disney a partial win in a trademark infringement case brought by a stuffed animal manufacturer over the "Toy Story 3" character Lotso, ruling that the manufacturer had established a Lanham Act case against Disney before the U.S. Supreme Court considered the case.

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Brief

Netflix's $83B Warner Bros. Deal Draws DOJ Scrutiny

By Bryan Koenig

Warner Bros. Discovery has disclosed that Netflix's proposed $82.7 billion purchase of the entertainment giant is now under an antitrust microscope, after the U.S. Department of Justice kicked off an in-depth probe that keeps the deal from closing for the time being.

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UFC Asks 9th Circ. To Nix 'Overbroad' Discovery In Wage Suits

By Benjamin Morse

The Ultimate Fighting Championship urged the Ninth Circuit to immediately stop a Nevada federal court from enforcing a "breathtakingly overbroad" discovery order in wage suppression lawsuits, saying it violates attorney-client privilege and the First Amendment.

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9th Circ. Reverses Ruling In $4.1M Union Health Plan Suit

By Irene Spezzamonte

A California district court erred in concluding a medical center where union dockworkers received treatments was not a hospital, a split Ninth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday, sending the workers' $4.1 million claims dispute against a multiemployer health plan back to the lower court.

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Apple Workers In Wash. Sue Over Limits On Moonlighting

By Ben Adlin

Apple Inc. has broken a Washington state moonlighting law by prohibiting dozens of lower-wage workers from taking second jobs to supplement their incomes, according to a former employee's proposed class action against the company.

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Health Tech SPAC Execs Ink $10M Investor Settlement

By Emilie Ruscoe

Former executives of a health technology company that went public via merger with a blank check company have reached a $10 million deal to settle claims they wiped out investors with a bankruptcy filing after the company's product development projections derailed.

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Jump Trading Beats Crypto Class Action Over Terra Collapse

By Aislinn Keely

Brokerage firm Jump Trading and its crypto arm beat back claims that they failed to honor their market-making duties when certain holders of TerraUSD sought to sell their tokens during the algorithmic stablecoin's collapse, as a California magistrate judge found the holders have not tied the market maker to the state.

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Nationwide Unit Seeks Exit From Stock Dilution Scheme Suit

By Mark Payne

A Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. unit told a federal court that it doesn't owe coverage to a company and its officers for a shareholder derivative lawsuit alleging the officers schemed to dilute the stockholders' shares, saying the underlying suit doesn't allege a covered loss for disgorgement or restitution. 

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FINRA Says Firm Broke Reg BI By Not Spotting Risky Trading

By Sydney Price

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has accused a broker-dealer and its ex-CEO of violating Regulation Best Interest by failing to identify suspicious, excessive trading in a customer account by a representative of the firm, causing the client $1.2 million in losses.

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Brief

Blueprint Closes Oversubscribed $333M Tech-Focused Fund

By Al Barbarino

San Diego-based growth equity firm Blueprint Equity said Wednesday it has raised $333 million for its third fund, pushing the firm to more than $600 million of assets under management.

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Cozen O'Connor Brings On Ex-Federal Prosecutor In LA

By James Mills

Cozen O'Connor is expanding its West Coast team, bringing in a former assistant U.S. attorney as a member in its Los Angeles area offices.

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Data Center Power Co. Names GC To Oversee Real Estate

By Nate Beck

Data center infrastructure company Crusoe Inc. said Wednesday that it has added the managing partner of a boutique California business law firm as its general counsel.

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7 Predictions For Cyber Risk And Insurance In 2026

In 2026, cyber risk and insurance will be shaped by developments such as the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence, ongoing privacy litigation and evolving regulatory requirements, as organizations that integrate AI into their operations contend with new vulnerabilities and a legal landscape that demands greater vigilance and adaptability, say attorneys at Wiley.

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How A 1947 Tugboat Ruling May Shape Work Product In AI Era

Rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence test work-product principles first articulated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s nearly 80-year-old Hickman v. Taylor decision, as courts and ethics bodies confront whether disclosure of attorneys’ AI prompts and outputs would reveal their thought processes, say Larry Silver and Sasha Burton at Langsam Stevens.

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Ex-Baker McKenzie Atty Alleges Assault In New DC Lawsuit

By Alison Knezevich

A former Baker McKenzie associate who was sued for defamation over a series of social media posts accusing the firm's Washington, D.C., managing partner of sexual assault has brought her own lawsuit, marking the first time she publicly detailed her allegations in court records.

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Trump Calls For Prosecution Of Jack Smith Post-Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Shortly after former special counsel Jack Smith gave his first public congressional testimony on the Trump cases, in which he warned the rule of law should not be taken for granted, President Donald Trump said he should be prosecuted.

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Goldstein Prosecutors Unveil Conflicting Cash Source Claims

By Jared Foretek

A former lawyer at SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's firm said Thursday that Goldstein told coworkers that the more than $960,000 in cash he brought off a flight from Hong Kong — the source of which is integral to the government's case — had come from a client.

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ABA Outlines Limited Atty Duty To Give Info To Former Clients

By Lynn LaRowe

The American Bar Association said attorneys have a limited responsibility to convey information to former clients or successor counsel that was not within the client's file, when doing so is necessary to protect a client's interests and reasonably practicable, according to a new ethics opinion.

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Proposed Subpoena Rule Change Raises Victim Privacy Fears

By Brandon Lowrey

A proposal to loosen restrictions on the use of federal criminal subpoenas would endanger and further traumatize victims of crime, most of whom lack legal representation to fight the invasive demands, victims' rights advocates told a federal rules advisory committee on Thursday.

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Pa. Justices Say Judge's Partisan Posts Warrant Suspension

By Hayley Fowler

Pennsylvania's highest court has adopted a balancing test for restricting a sitting judge's free speech outside the context of an election and, in doing so, affirmed the suspension of a state court judge who it said damaged the court's appearance of impartiality by making political posts on social media.

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Brief

Courthouse News Drops Access Suit Against DC Court Clerk

By Emily Sawicki

National litigation news outlet Courthouse News Service has voluntarily and permanently dropped claims against a Washington, D.C., Superior Court clerk and the executive officer of the D.C. courts over filing delays, with both sides agreeing to pay their own costs.

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