Ex-Morgan Lewis Atty Unseats Progressive LA DA Gascón

By Dorothy Atkins

Los Angeles and San Francisco voters delivered a blow to the progressive prosecution movement on Tuesday, with tough-on-crime candidate Nathan Hochman unseating incumbent LA County District Attorney George Gascón and incumbent San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins beating a prosecutor who once worked under Chesa Boudin's leadership.

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California's $18 Minimum Wage Initiative Too Close To Call

By Lauren Berg

In the early morning hours on Wednesday, it was still too close to call whether California voters would approve an initiative to increase the statewide minimum wage from the current floor of $16 an hour to $18 an hour, with votes against the measure slightly ahead.

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Calif. DA Recalled In Latest Blow To Progressive Prosecutors

By Dorothy Atkins

San Francisco Bay Area residents have voted to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price less than two years after she took office, following a multimillion-dollar campaign backed by conservative-tied nonprofits that criticized Price's prosecution policies for being overly liberal.

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California Voters Reject Cities' Rent Control Authority

By Lauren Berg

California voters on Tuesday rejected Proposition 33, a ballot initiative that would have expanded local governments' authority to enact rent control measures but that opponents argued would have made the state's housing crisis worse.

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Calif. Enacts Prop. 3, Enshrining Same-Sex Marriage Rights

By Dorothy Atkins

California voters passed Proposition 3 on Tuesday, amending the state's constitution to recognize the fundamental right to marry regardless of sex or race and removing language inserted by the 2008 Proposition 8 ballot measure that said marriage is only between a man and a woman.

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Voters Pass Medicaid Tax In Calif., Support IVF Coverage In Ill.

By Dan McKay

A tax on managed care organizations in California and an Illinois advisory question supporting access to in vitro fertilization won voter approval Tuesday as state-level ballot measures were set to shape healthcare policy across the country, according to unofficial election returns.

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Calif. Managed Care Tax Made Permanent By Ballot Measure

By Jaqueline McCool

California's tax on managed healthcare insurance plans to fund the state's Medi-Cal health program has been made permanent following voter approval of a proposition on Tuesday.

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Analysis

How The Patent System May Look After Trump's Return

By Dani Kass

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during Donald Trump's first term as president focused on making the invalidation of patents more difficult, and attorneys say his second administration is likely to do the same following his projected reelection. 

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The Firms With An Inside Track To A New Trump Admin

By Brandon Lowrey

Law firms that have represented Donald Trump and the Republican Party on everything from personal legal woes to election-related lawsuits could see the risks of that work pay dividends as Trump is projected to secure a second term in office.

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An Early Look At Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist

By Katie Buehler

With former President Donald Trump projected to win the 2024 presidential election and the Republicans' success in securing the U.S. Senate majority, Trump may now get the chance to appoint two more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, cementing the court's conservative tilt for decades to come.

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GOP's Senate Win Hands Future Of The Judiciary To Trump

By Courtney Bublé

Republicans were projected to take back the White House and Senate and possibly the House early Wednesday, putting the GOP in position to back Donald Trump's agenda and his slate of young, conservative judicial nominees. 

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'Fat Leonard' Gets 15 Years For Navy Bribery Scheme

By Lauren Berg

Leonard Francis, the Malaysian defense contractor and ex-fugitive known as "Fat Leonard" who led a sprawling bribery scheme that authorities say caused over $20 million in losses for the U.S. Navy, was sentenced Tuesday in California federal court to 15 years behind bars, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

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Feds Say Girardi's Behavior At Trial Shows He Is Competent

By Craig Clough

Prosecutors told a California federal judge on Tuesday that Tom Girardi should not receive a new trial following his conviction for misappropriating $15 million in client settlement funds, saying the disbarred attorney's arguments that he was not competent to stand trial are completely undercut by his behavior during the trial.

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Apple Stole Masimo Sensor IP, Calif. Judge Told At Trial's Start

By Gina Kim

Masimo and Cercacor Laboratories' counsel told a California federal judge at the opening of a bench trial Tuesday that after Apple struggled to implement blood oxygen sensors in a watch, the tech giant poached their employees and stole their trade secrets to get this key health technology into the Apple Watch.

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Warner Bros. Says New Series Is 'Entirely Different' From 'ER'

By Rachel Scharf

Warner Bros. Discovery's television unit is urging a California state judge to throw out contract claims brought by the widow of "ER" creator Michael Crichton, saying its upcoming medical drama "The Pitt" shares only generic concepts with the 15-season hit series.

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Texas Rebar Giant CMC Hit With $110M Antitrust Verdict

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal jury hit Commercial Metals Co. with a $110 million antitrust verdict on Tuesday, finding the Texas rebar giant liable for multiple antitrust violations and awarding Pacific Steel Group millions of dollars in lost profits and other damages.

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Hagens Berman Defends Bid To Ditch AWOL Apple Suit Client

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge expressed skepticism on Tuesday that Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP was within its rights to substitute a proposed class representative in an antitrust case against Amazon and Apple earlier this year when the lead plaintiff stopped communicating with the firm.

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Groups Lose Early Bid To Undo Calif. Climate Disclosure Laws

By Madeline Lyskawa

A California federal judge rejected the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups' attempt to block California's corporate climate disclosure rules before discovery, ruling Tuesday that discovery is needed for the court to answer whether the laws facially violate the First Amendment.

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9th Circ. Says State Farm Needn't Cover Sex Assault Claims

By Hope Patti

A State Farm unit doesn't owe coverage to a man accused of sexual assault, the Ninth Circuit held Tuesday, affirming that the man engaged in deliberate and intentional conduct and thus there was no occurrence, or accident, for the purpose of triggering coverage.

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Peet's Sinks ADA Bias Suit Over Alt Milk Surcharge, For Now

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge on Tuesday freed Peet's Coffee from a proposed class action accusing it of discriminating against customers with lactose intolerance and milk allergies by levying a surcharge for non-dairy milk alternatives, saying customers who sued failed to show that only disabled customers would incur the extra cost.

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FTC Says Dave Mobile Banking App Deceives Customers

By Hailey Konnath

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday accused mobile banking app Dave of misleading customers about the actual amount of cash advance they're likely to receive while also charging them undisclosed fees, including "tips" via a guilt-inducing interface, according to a complaint filed in California federal court.

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Google Escapes Play Store Gift Card Scam Suit, For Now

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge on Monday tossed a woman's proposed class action accusing Google of profiting millions of dollars stolen from victims of Google Play gift card scams but rejected the tech giant's contention that the woman was subject to a heightened pleading standard for claims predicated on fraud.

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Google, Nvidia Push To Toss YouTuber's IP Class Actions

By Ivan Moreno

Google and Nvidia have asked a California federal court to dismiss a YouTube creator's proposed class actions accusing them and OpenAI in three nearly identical suits of copying his videos to train large language models, arguing the plaintiff has not asserted any copyright claims.

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Justices Urged To Take Up 9th Circ. Sesame Oil TM Decision

By Hannah Albarazi

The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to take up a Ninth Circuit ruling that disfavored an India-based sesame oil company, with the company arguing that the circuit court ignored high court precedent, resulting in "a constitutional error" in its trademark infringement case and causing a Lanham Act violation.

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Nunes Can Search Maddow's Devices In Defamation Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A New York federal judge reopened discovery Monday in former Rep. Devin Nunes' defamation suit accusing Rachel Maddow of improperly implying that the California Republican failed to give authorities a package from a suspected Russian agent, saying the MSNBC host's personal devices can be subject to a limited search.

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Manhattan DA Says Calif. Art Owner Can't Stop Looting Probe

By Rachel Scharf

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has told a judge that a California art collector is improperly using federal litigation to interfere with an ongoing grand jury investigation into whether his ancient Roman statue was stolen from Turkey.

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Boeing Machinists Ratify New Contract, Ending Strike

By Linda Chiem

A majority of 33,000 Boeing employees represented by the Machinists union voted Monday to ratify a new labor contract that includes a 38% wage increase over four years, ending a nearly two-month strike that hampered Boeing's production and cash flow.

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9th Circ. Rules Biden Couldn't Spike Federal Contractor Wage

By Irene Spezzamonte

The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act didn't authorize President Joe Biden to mandate a $15 blanket minimum wage for federal contractors, a split Ninth Circuit panel ruled Tuesday, reviving a challenge four states lodged against the government.

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Calif. Basketball Referee Group Hit With PAGA Suit

By Irene Spezzamonte

A California-based association training people to become basketball referees misclassified its instructors as independent contractors, cheating them out of wages and reimbursements, an instructor said in a Private Attorneys General Act suit filed in state court.

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Audio Worker Says Flagging Ethical Concerns Got Him Fired

By Emmy Freedman

An audio series platform reneged on a promise to offer full-time employment to an independent contractor after he raised concerns about discriminatory content the company was producing and then abruptly fired him when he asked about his promised employment contract, a lawsuit filed in California state court said.

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LA City Hall RICO Corruption Witness Gets Home Confinement

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge showed leniency Tuesday toward a cooperating government witness in the corruption probe of Los Angeles City Hall and sentenced the former real estate consultant to 12 months of home confinement on a racketeering charge, saying a joint recommendation of the more restrictive home detention is too harsh.

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Meta Ruling Will Fuel Class Actions, Chamber Warns Justices

By Jared Foretek

Business organizations are backing Meta's appeal of a Ninth Circuit ruling upholding damages class certification for a group of Meta advertisers claiming they were misled about Facebook's ad tools, with the industry outfits telling the U.S. Supreme Court that the Ninth Circuit is out of sync with other circuits on class questions.

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Film Production Services Co. Hits Ch. 11 With Sale Plans

By Rick Archer

A film production services company owned by embattled private equity firm 777 Partners has filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware with $88.9 million in liabilities, blaming the COVID-19 pandemic, Hollywood strikes and its owner's legal and financial troubles.

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McDermott Lands Pharma IP Attorney From DLA Piper In SF

By Rose Krebs

McDermott Will & Emery LLP has added to its intellectual property group a former DLA Piper attorney who, a firm leader said, will strengthen the firm's litigation efforts in the life sciences space.

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Emerging Cos. Pro With SEC Background Returns To Latham

By James Mills

Latham & Watkins LLP is expanding its West Coast team, welcoming back an emerging companies expert who was a founding partner at Ketsal PLLC and worked for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and is now joining Latham as a partner in its San Francisco Bay Area offices.

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Littler Adds To Litigation Bench With Ex-Fresno, Calif. Atty

By Adrian Cruz

Employment firm Littler Mendelson PC announced that a former deputy attorney for the City of Fresno joined the firm's office in the city, adding that his government along with employment law experience will help its employer clients.

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What FTC's 'Bitcoin ATM' Report Tells Us About Crypto Scams

The Federal Trade Commission's recent insights into bitcoin ATM scams highlight the technical evolution of fraudsters, the application of old scams to new technology, and the persistent financial impact on victims, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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Comparing Antitrust Outlooks Amid Google Remedy Review

As the U.S. Justice Department mulls potential structural remedies after winning its recent case against Google, increased global scrutiny of Big Tech leaves ex post and ex ante antitrust approaches ripe for evaluation, say Nishant Chadha at the Indian School of Business and Manisha Goel at Pomona College.

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On The Ground: How Attorneys Safeguarded The Election

By Law360 Staff

Attorneys worked tirelessly Tuesday to support citizens and election workers on the final day of voting in one of history's most contentious presidential contests.

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Colo. Voters OK Overhaul Of Judicial Discipline Process

By Daniel Ducassi

Colorado voters on Tuesday approved a series of constitutional changes aimed at limiting the state judiciary's influence over the judicial discipline process.

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Harvard Can't End Suit Claiming Antisemitism On Campus

By Chris Villani

Harvard University must face allegations that it was indifferent to antisemitic behavior on its campus in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

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Eversheds To Close Beijing Office, Return To Singapore

By Tracey Read

Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP said Tuesday that it is taking steps to close its Beijing office following a strategic review.

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ABA Tweaks Planned Changes To Law School Diversity Rules

By Andrea Keckley

The American Bar Association is revising the language of its diversity standards for law schools after its August decision to remove references to race, ethnicity and other identities in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision striking down affirmative action in higher education was met with pushback from legal professionals.

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Brief

Wash. Courts' Website Goes Dark After 'Unauthorized Activity'

By Rachel Riley

The Washington state courts' website was down for a second day Tuesday following an outage officials attributed to "unauthorized activity," though few details were available.

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