Disney Brass Fumbled Streaming Strategy, Investor Suit Says

By Emilie Ruscoe

Walt Disney Co. leaders, including longtime CEO Bob Iger, are facing a proposed shareholder derivative action alleging they mismanaged the launch of the Disney+ streaming service then concealed that an aggressive push for subscriber growth was made "at the expense of overall profitability."

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DOJ Sues Calif. Over Laws To Unmask, ID Federal Agents

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice launched a lawsuit Monday challenging two California state laws that aim to unmask federal law enforcement officers, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and require them to visibly display their name and agency, saying the laws are unconstitutional and endanger agents.

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Uber's Fraud Claims Against LA Firms Is 'Fantasy,' Court Told

By Rose Krebs

Two Los Angeles personal injury firms are asking a California federal court to toss a lawsuit alleging Uber is being targeted by a scheme involving fraudulent personal injury claims arising from motor vehicle accidents, with one of them calling the purported scheme a "mere fantasy."

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9th Circ. Strikes Down Trans Patients' Win In ACA Bias Case

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Ninth Circuit upended a win Monday for patients who challenged Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' administration of their employer-provided health plans containing gender-affirming care exclusions, ordering a lower court to reexamine the case in light of intervening authority from the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Tesla Wins Bid To Unwind Class In Race Harassment Suit

By Grace Elletson

A California judge said a class of thousands of Black workers should be disbanded in a suit alleging rampant racist harassment at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California, after the workers' lawyers faced difficulty in securing witness testimony and asked the court for a new trial plan. 

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Tyler Skaggs' Widow Blames Angels In Tearful Testimony

By Gina Kim

Tyler Skaggs' widow fought through sobs on the stand in a wrongful death trial Monday while describing the tremendous loss she feels from her husband's 2019 overdose, testifying that she feels angry at him and the Los Angeles Angels, who should be held accountable for their actions and inactions. 

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Eaton Fire Plaintiffs Say Edison Is Delaying Litigation

By Mike Curley

A group of plaintiffs suing Southern California Edison Co. over the Eaton Fire that began in January is accusing the utility of acting in bad faith by refusing to negotiate in mediation, despite admitting to shareholders that its equipment is responsible for the blaze.

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Oakland Faces 9th Circ. Headwinds In Airport Naming Fight

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Port of Oakland faced turbulence Monday as it urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse an order barring it from using "San Francisco Bay" in its airport's name, with one judge immediately noting that its proposed name sounds "pretty close" to that of the nearby San Francisco International Airport.

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AGs Seek To Freeze EPA Solar Grant Funds During Challenge

By Abigail Harrison

A coalition of states asked a Washington federal judge to maintain federal money for Solar for All grants during the pendency of their lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to kill the program, arguing that they're likely to prevail on their claims that the agency can't legally claw back funds Congress already obligated.

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Advocacy Groups Push 9th Circ. To Uphold Fluoride Ruling

By Tom Lotshaw

Advocacy groups that convinced a California federal judge to rule that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "optimal" level for fluoride in drinking water is not protective enough for children, told the Ninth Circuit Monday that there's no reason to disturb the decision.

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Salesforce, Clients Accused Of Ignoring Data Breach Scheme

By Joyce Hanson

Credit bureau TransUnion, airline Qantas and luxury goods seller Louis Vuitton — all clients of software company Salesforce Inc. — failed to adequately protect millions of users' data from a July "hub-and-spoke" data breach, a class action filed in California federal court claims.

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MGA's IP Clash With Rapper T.I. May Head To 9th Circ.

By Craig Clough

Hip-hop moguls Clifford "T.I." Harris and Tameka "Tiny" Harris urged a California judge Monday not to send their long-running intellectual property case against toy maker MGA Entertainment to the Ninth Circuit, but instead allow a new jury trial on punitive damages to proceed.

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Columbia Design Patent Survives Reexam In Seirus Row

By Ryan Davis

A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examiner has upheld a Columbia Sportswear clothing design patent challenged by rival Seirus Innovative Accessories Inc. in a reexamination, as the companies continue sparring over the patent's validity in a long-running infringement suit.

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PTAB Upholds Some Dish Network-Challenged Patent Claims

By Elliot Weld

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board said Dish Network had successfully shown 13 claims in a patent held by Entropic Communications were unpatentable but four other claims could stand, after being ordered by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires to take a second look at the claims.

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X Asks 9th Circ. To Let It Litigate Media Matters Suit In Ireland

By Dorothy Atkins

X Corp. urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to scrap an injunction blocking it from continuing to litigate its Irish-law defamation case against Media Matters in Ireland, arguing that the left-leaning watchdog waited too long to invoke a California forum-selection clause in X Corp.'s terms of service.

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Brief

Crypto.com Asks 9th Circ. To Shield Event Contracts In Nev.

By Aislinn Keely

Crypto.com is appealing to the Ninth Circuit a judge's decision to not restrain Nevada's gaming regulators from taking action against the company over its sports event contracts.

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Calif., Unions Urge Justices Not To Review Orientation Law

By Braden Campbell

California and two teachers' unions urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to take up a challenge to a state law limiting who gets to know when new public employees have their orientations, disputing that the law discriminates against a group that informs state workers of their right not to be union members.

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Union Benefit Plans Ask 9th Circ. Not To Revive Worker's Suit

By Emily Brill

A California federal judge was right to toss a carpenter's attempt to compel a group of union benefit plans to resume covering him and his coworkers, the plans told the Ninth Circuit, asking the appellate court to keep the suit dead.

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Ex-USC Coach Says 'Varsity Blues' Prosecutors Hid Evidence

By Chris Villani

A former University of Southern California water polo coach asked a federal judge for a new trial in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions case, arguing that prosecutors knew USC officials were aware that undeserving applicants were being passed off as recruited athletes.

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Engineer Gets 46 Months For Stealing Tech To Aid China

By Craig Clough

An engineer was sentenced by a California federal judge to 46 months in prison for stealing trade secrets regarding nuclear missile detection used by the government and planning to send it to the People's Republic of China, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.

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Atty Lowell Gets Delay In EBay Trial Amid NY AG Case Work

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday agreed to postpone the trial in a cyberstalking lawsuit against eBay and several former executives at the request of defense attorney Abbe David Lowell, who had cited his ongoing work for several high-profile clients, including New York Attorney General Letitia James in the Trump administration's criminal prosecution.

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Online Star Defends Actions In Megan Thee Stallion Scandal

By Carolina Bolado

Online personality Milagro "Mobz World" Cooper deflected blame for drawing attention to a deepfake porn video of rapper Megan Thee Stallion, saying she did not know it was fake as she took the stand Monday in Miami in the defamation trial against her.

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New DNA Analysis Enough For Murder Case, Calif. Panel Says

By Elizabeth Daley

A California man can be charged with murder decades after the crime, as DNA evidence analyzed using new techniques has linked him to the San Diego killing, a state appeals court said, reversing a trial court's dismissal of the case.

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Origin Materials Investors Seek First OK For $9M Deal

By Katryna Perera

Investors in sustainable materials maker Origin Materials Inc. have asked a California federal judge to grant the first green light to a $9 million deal in a class action that claims the company and its co-CEO failed to disclose a change in direction in the company's manufacturing plans and a delay in building a new plant.

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Mobix Sues SPAC Backers Over Alleged $30M Funding Failure

By Jarek Rutz

A California-based semiconductor-technology company has sued its former special purpose acquisition company sponsor, affiliated investment groups and their chief executive in the Delaware Chancery Court, accusing them of creating a scheme of false funding assurances that left the company undercapitalized when it entered the public markets in 2023.

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Fintech Ryvyl Gets First OK For Derivative Suit Deal

By Sydney Price

Blockchain-based payment solutions company Ryvyl Inc. has reached a deal with its investors to settle their derivative claims that the company was damaged by an alleged concealment of accounting issues.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court and Delaware Supreme Court last week had a dense slate of fiduciary duty battles, merger-process challenges, post-bankruptcy fights and a series of cases probing the limits of fraud pleading, credible-basis inspections and board-level disclosure duties.

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DOJ Defends HPE Merger Deal As 'Prudent Compromise'

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department told a California federal judge to pay no heed to the "politicians and advocacy groups" opposing the controversial settlement clearing Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks, arguing their concerns about improper lobbying influence are outside the scope of the court's review.

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UConn Health Poised To Buy Hospital In $35M Ch. 11 Deal

By Aaron Keller

Bankrupt for-profit hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. on Monday sought approval for the $35 million sale of Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut to two UConn Health units under a stalking horse bid package filed in early November.

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Justices Will Review Defunct Asylum Metering Policy

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to review a defunct policy under which border agents physically prevent asylum-seekers from setting foot on U.S. soil and turn them back to Mexico when border processing capacity is maxed out.

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McNicholas & McNicholas Brings On Ex-Acting US Atty For LA

By James Mills

Plaintiff-side trial boutique McNicholas & McNicholas LLP is bringing in a former acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California to lead its emerging litigation department, the firm announced Monday.

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Assessing The SEC's Changing Approach To NFT Regulation

Early U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission actions on nonfungible tokens pushed for broad regulation, but subsequent court decisions — including a recent California federal court ruling in Adonis Real v. Yuga Labs — and SEC commissioners' statements have narrowed the regulatory focus toward a more fact-specific approach, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: November Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five recent rulings and identifies practice tips from cases involving claims related to oil and gas royalty payments, consumer fraud, life insurance, automobile insurance, and securities violations.

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What To Mull After 9th Circ. Ruling On NLRB Constitutionality

The Ninth Circuit recently rejected three constitutional attacks on the National Labor Relations Board in NLRB v. North Mountain Foothills Apartments, leaving open a debate about what remedies the NLRB can award employees and creating a circuit split that could foretell a U.S. Supreme Court resolution, say attorneys at Proskauer.

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Analysis

UK Firms Drive Transatlantic Appetite For M&A Dealmaking

By Aebra Coe and Chris Villani

The merger announced Monday between British legal giant Ashurst LLP and American law firm Perkins Coie LLP is the latest in a spate of deals driven, in part, by an appetite among global firms to gain a strong presence in the U.S.

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'Astounding' Holland & Knight Conduct Drives Liability Ruling

By Ryan Boysen

Holland & Knight LLP has forfeited a malpractice lawsuit in Alaska by refusing to turn over information to a Native American tribal corporation, with a state judge entering a default judgment as a sanction and calling the firm's conduct "a head scratcher" and "astounding."

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Brief

ABA Decries Lawmaker Calls For Impeachments Of Judges

By Courtney Bublé

The American Bar Association said on Monday it's "alarmed" by lawmakers' interest in impeaching judges just because they don't like their rulings.

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Judge Orders Grand Jury Docs Released In Comey Case

By Brandon Lowrey

A Virginia federal magistrate judge Monday ordered the disclosure of all grand jury materials related to the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, saying government misconduct may have tainted the grand jury proceedings.

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DOJ Backs White House's Military Lawyer Transfers

By Courtney Bublé

A newly released legal opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice says the Trump administration is allowed to detail military lawyers to serve as immigration judges and special assistant U.S. attorneys in the District of Columbia.

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Senator Slams Trump For 'Blowing Up' Wis. US Atty Process

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., accused President Donald Trump on Monday of skirting the process to nominate U.S. attorneys in Wisconsin with his pick of a failed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate for the office that covers Milwaukee.

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Law School Admission Council Pushes To Toss Antitrust Suit

By Andrea Keckley

The Law School Admission Council is continuing its push to toss a proposed class action accusing it of fixing application fees with its member schools, saying in a Pennsylvania federal court filing last week that the applicant's opposition to its dismissal motion "entirely fails to engage with the incoherence at the core of his case."

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Holyoak Leaves FTC For Interim US Atty In Utah

By Bryan Koenig

Melissa Holyoak left the Federal Trade Commission on Monday to become Utah's interim U.S. attorney, leaving the FTC down to two commissioners, both Republicans, in the Trump administration's latest use of interim U.S. attorney appointments.

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