'Eating Ourselves To Death': SF Sues Processed Food Giants

By Lauren Berg

The Kraft Heinz Co., General Mills, Nestle USA and other food industry giants aggressively market their ultra-processed products as staples of the American diet, despite knowing about the items' slew of dangerous health consequences, San Francisco's city attorney alleged Tuesday in a California state court lawsuit.

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Dentons Sees Ex-Partner's Appeal Nixed In California

By Caroline Simson

California's highest court has quietly tossed litigation filed by a former Dentons partner who was fired over a $34 million contingency fee due from a Chinese client following an arbitration matter, several months after advising the parties to prepare for oral arguments.

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Twitter Investors Lose Bid To DQ Musk Counsel Spiro

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has denied an attempt by Twitter investors to have Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner Alex Spiro disqualified from serving as both lead counsel for Elon Musk and a witness in a trial over claims that Musk tried to tank Twitter's stock.

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'I'm A Drug Addict LOL': Skaggs' Widow Denies Red Flags

By Gina Kim

An attorney defending the Los Angeles Angels against negligence claims related to the overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs confronted his widow on the stand Tuesday with his texts about drug use, including one message saying, "I'm a drug addict lol," but she maintained that she never observed any "red flags."

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9th Circ. Tosses Tesla Investor Suit Over Self-Driving Tech

By Katryna Perera

The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of a suit against Tesla Inc. and its CEO Elon Musk claiming they deceived investors about the capabilities and safety record of the company's self-driving technology, finding the investors failed to plead any actionable false statements, among other issues.

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Cher Wins $187K In Royalties In Sonny Bono Estate Dispute

By Elliot Weld

Actress and singer Cher was granted about $187,000 in royalties by a California federal judge who ruled that the money had been retained by her late ex-husband and one-time musical collaborator Sonny Bono's estate improperly.

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9th Circ. Judges Criticize Ship Captain's Actions In Deadly Fire

By Craig Clough

An attorney for a ship captain convicted of manslaughter over the deaths of 34 people in an onboard fire urged a Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday to reverse his conviction, but he received pushback from two judges who suggested the evidence against his client was "damning" and his actions were indefensible.

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9th Circ. Judges Doubt EPA's Pesticide Ban Review Timeline

By Dorothy Atkins

Ninth Circuit judges suggested during a hearing Tuesday that a petition by green groups to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take action on banning organophosphate pesticides may be premature, but each panel judge also expressed concerns the EPA lacks a clear timeline on banning pesticides found harmful.

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Judge Doubts That FEMA Funds Freeze Is Harmless

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday appeared to push back on assertions by the Trump administration that states are not entitled to a court order vacating what the government says is a temporary freeze of Federal Emergency Management Agency funds intended to pay for disaster-mitigating projects.

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Boeing Faces New Passenger Suits Over 737 Blowout

By Rachel Riley

The Boeing Co. has been hit with a pair of fresh lawsuits in Washington state court by two California couples who say they were traumatized when a panel blew off a 737 Max jet during a January 2024 Alaska Airlines flight over the West Coast, which triggered an "explosive and violent decompression of the aircraft cabin."

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States Hit Abbott With FCA Suit Over Infant Formula Recall

By Emily Field

Seven states, including California, Michigan and New York, on Monday intervened in a False Claims Act suit brought by the federal government against Abbott Laboratories over the 2022 infant formula crisis seeking to recoup funds spent on the tainted baby food.

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Atty's 'Reptile Theory' Argument Sparks Assault Suit Retrial

By Y. Peter Kang

A California state appeals court has greenlit a new trial in a case where a jury awarded $1 million to a woman who was allegedly assaulted by a hotel owner during an eviction dispute, saying plaintiff's counsel improperly used the "reptile theory" trial technique to sway the jury.

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Startup's Accent Translation Trade Secrets Suit Can Proceed

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge has denied a technology company's attempt to escape a suit alleging it stole trade secrets related to an accent translation technology from an artificial intelligence startup, saying the tech company's insistence that its rival did not make enough of an effort to defend the secrets does not make for grounds to dismiss the case at this time.

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Fla. Judge Reduces Damages In Megan Thee Stallion Verdict

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge on Tuesday reduced the amount of damages awarded to Megan Thee Stallion after a jury found that an online blogger shared a deepfake porn video over the internet and accused the rapper of lying in court, ruling that the writer was not served with a pre-suit notice for defamation.

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Roundup

Defamation Litigation Roundup: FDA, Lively, Alexander Bros.

By Theresa Schliep

In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 highlights a pharmaceutical company's suit against a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official, as well as the latest decision siding against President Donald Trump in his fights with media companies.

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9th Circ. Mulls Pharma Exec's Use Of Forced Arbitration Law

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California biopharmaceutical company told the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday that a district court erred in letting its former chief financial officer move her discrimination claims out of arbitration and into federal court, saying she arbitrated too long before invoking the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act.

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'Mailbox Rule' Can't Deliver Win For Marshalls, 9th Circ. Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

A former Marshalls worker told the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday that a district judge wrongly relied on the "mailbox rule" to send his employment suit to arbitration because Marshalls had mailed him an arbitration agreement, saying he never received it and California law requires that he actively agree to the deal.

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Wells Fargo Beneficiary's Hidden Trust Claims Are Too Late

By Emilie Ruscoe

Wells Fargo has beaten claims that it intentionally concealed a Massachusetts man's trust fund and drove him to financial instability, after a federal judge found the man didn't take appropriate steps to find his trust decades earlier.

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States' HPE-Juniper Intervention Limited To Settlement

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court's ruling allowing state enforcers to intervene over a deal to end the Justice Department's challenge of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks is limited to the court's review of the settlement, according to a new order.

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FDIC Secures Dismissal Of SVB Cayman Deposit Suit

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has permanently tossed a suit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. brought by liquidators of the Cayman Islands branch of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, finding they lack standing to sue the agency and are barred from relitigating issues already decided in bankruptcy court.

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Trio Of Firms Advises On Planned $500M Eventbrite Sale

By Al Barbarino

Eventbrite Inc. said on Tuesday it has agreed to be acquired by Italian technology company Bending Spoons in an all-cash deal valuing the event management platform at about $500 million and steered by three law firms. 

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'Robo-Adviser' Wealthfront Targets Estimated $450M IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Digital wealth management firm Wealthfront on Tuesday launched plans to raise up to $450 million in its initial public offering, a move that comes after the "robo-adviser" and automated investment tool provider filed confidential plans to go public earlier this summer.

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Court Urged To Revive Asylum Claims At Southern Border

By Ganesh Setty

An advocacy group supporting asylum-seekers urged a California federal court to rule in favor of two nonprofits challenging President Donald Trump's proclamation blocking noncitizens' entry at the southern border, saying that legislative history is clear that asylum claims must be heard.

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Brief

9th Circ. Pauses Cannabis Dormant Commerce Clause Case

By Sam Reisman

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday stayed proceedings in a constitutional challenge to Los Angeles' cannabis social equity program while the appellate court considers two other similar cases from the same litigant.

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Judge Blocks Planned Parenthood Funding Cut In 22 States

By Dan McKay

A Massachusetts federal judge Tuesday stopped the Trump administration from halting Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood clinics in 22 states, ruling the funding cutoff likely violated requirements to warn the states ahead of time about the change.

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9th Circ. Robinhood Ruling May Alter Intraquarter Disclosures

By aligning with the Second Circuit and rejecting the First Circuit's extreme-departure standard, the Ninth Circuit recently signaled in its decision to revive a putative securities class action against Robinhood a renewed emphasis on transparency when known trends that can be considered material arise between quarterly reports, say attorneys at MoFo.

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Florida Throws A Wrench Into Interstate Trucking Torts

Florida's recent request to file a bill of complaint in the U.S. Supreme Court against California and Washington, asserting that the states' policies conflict with the federal English language proficiency standard for truck drivers, transforms a conventional wrongful death case into a high-stakes constitutional challenge, say attorneys at Farah & Farah.

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Bonus Spotlight

Sheppard Mullin To Offer Larger Bonuses To Busy Associates

By Kevin Penton

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP associates who labored past 2,000 hours in 2025 can expect to see a little extra in their upcoming bonus checks, according to an internal memo obtained by Law360.

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Hagens Berman Referred To DOJ For Alleged Misconduct

By Emma Cueto

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday recommended to the U.S. Department of Justice that it investigate powerhouse plaintiffs firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP's conduct in connection with several since-dropped product liability cases that a special master found to be filed in bad faith.

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King & Spalding Atty Dies In Mountain Climbing Accident

By Kelcey Caulder

People at King & Spalding LLP are mourning after an appellate attorney from the firm and a mountain guide fell to their deaths climbing New Zealand's tallest mountain.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Robart On Living Under Threats

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

It's been nearly nine years since U.S. District Judge James Robart blocked President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order barring travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, and though the judge has had a long career — including groundbreaking patent and securities decisions — he still occasionally gets recognized as that "so-called judge."

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The Top In-House Hires Of November

By Sue Reisinger

Elon Musk's xAI has a new but familiar general counsel, while several sports groups — including the New York Mets, PGA of America and the SEC college athletic conference — also brought on new legal leaders in November.

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SDNY Head Backs Good Deals For Quick Cooperation By Cos.

By Stewart Bishop

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton on Tuesday said he's prepared to offer "real benefits" to corporations facing criminal investigations if they quickly agree to cooperate and compensate victims, ideally in the form of comprehensive, government-wide resolutions.

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Exclusive

14 Ex-Lawmakers Tell USPTO Proposed Rules Violate The Law

By Ryan Davis

A group of 14 former members of Congress, including America Invents Act sponsor Patrick Leahy, has told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the agency's proposal to restrict many patent challenges "violates foundational American legal principles and the AIA."

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The FTC urged a D.C. court to block a deal involving a new heart valve treatment, and courts rejected the commission's monopolization case over Meta's past acquisitions and the agency's challenge of a medical device coatings deal. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from November.

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2 New Judges Confirmed To NC Federal Court

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed two federal judges for North Carolina on Tuesday.

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