Apple Gets Class Decertified In App Store Antitrust Case

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge Monday decertified a class of consumers claiming Apple violated antitrust laws with its App Store policies, finding that the plaintiffs' damages expert isn't qualified to do the work and submitted an analysis that included several "alarming" errors.

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Exxon Sues Calif. Over Climate Disclosure Laws

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

Exxon Mobil Corp. is suing California over state laws the company says violate its First Amendment rights by forcing it "to serve as a mouthpiece" for ideas it disagrees with, including that large companies are uniquely responsible for climate change.

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Angels Players Shared Pills, Former Staffer's Ex-Wife Says

By Gina Kim

The ex-wife of a former Los Angeles Angels staffer who supplied the drugs that killed pitcher Tyler Skaggs told a California state jury Monday that Angels coworkers knew about her husband's addiction, and that she'd observed players and clubhouse staff passing out Xanax and Percocet on the team's charter plane.

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'Terrifier' Actor Sues Filmmakers Over Royalties, Nude Scene

By Craig Clough

An actor from the first "Terrifier" movie sued the filmmakers in California federal court Sunday, saying she is potentially owed millions of dollars in royalties and was subjected to sexual harassment and unsafe conditions during filming, including performing a nude scene without consent.

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Judge Tosses Eli Lilly Suit Over Telehealth Weight Loss Drugs

By Ivan Moreno

A California federal court has dismissed a lawsuit from Eli Lilly against a telehealth company and related entities over the compounding of its popular weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, saying the pharmaceutical giant's complaint failed to plausibly allege claims under the Lanham Act and the state's false advertising and consumer protection laws.

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Robinhood User Attys Forgo Fee Over 'Unusually High' Costs

By Emilie Ruscoe

Attorneys representing Robinhood users said they will forgo fees after racking up "unusually high" costs brokering the $2 million settlement of a consolidated class action alleging the investing platform failed to disclose financial interests, affecting how customers' orders were handled.

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Girardi Keese Trustees Sue Over $3.2M Settlement Transfers

By Rae Ann Varona

Bankruptcy trustees for disgraced California attorney Tom Girardi's defunct law firm and New York attorney Joseph DiNardo have filed suit to recover more than $3.1 million they allege should have been paid to a gas explosion settlement victim, but instead went to help finance food and beverage businesses.

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Developer Says Calif. Law Targets Its Santa Barbara Project

By Isaac Monterose

The developer behind a housing project in Santa Barbara, California, sued the city and state in federal court, claiming a new state law is unconstitutional because it unfairly singles out its development for additional review under the California Environmental Quality Act.

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Designer Hits Commercial Developer With $15M Fraud Suit

By Grace Dixon

A designer behind such brands as Citizens of Humanity and 7 For All Mankind filed suit against a developer and its founder in California state court, alleging the founder failed to uphold his promise to buy out $15 million of the designer's investments.

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Feds Push To Keep Challenge To Calif. Truck Rules Alive

By Mike Curley

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is urging a California federal court not to dismiss its intervenor claims alleging that the state violated the Clean Air Act through its adoption of new emissions standards for heavy duty trucks.

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LA Property Owner Can't Get Extra $2.1M For Fire Claim

By Hope Patti

An insurer needn't pay an additional $2.1 million in coverage to the owner of a Los Angeles property that was damaged in a fire, a California federal court ruled Monday, finding the insurer already paid all benefits due under the policy.

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Families Back Experts In Heavy Metal Baby Food MDL

By Emily Field

Families swung back Friday at bids to disqualify their experts in multidistrict litigation consolidated over claims that baby foods made by Gerber, Nurture and Beech-Nut contain heavy metals, telling a California federal judge that their experts' opinions are backed by a wealth of scientific data and that it's time to set bellwether trials.

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Brief

Buyers Drop Gatorade Bar 'Health Halo' Suit Against Pepsi

By Mike Curley

A proposed class of consumers is dropping its suit against PepsiCo alleging it created a "deceptive health halo" around its Gatorade bar products by hyping up their high protein content while downplaying their high sugar content.

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9th Circ. OKs Gun Ban For Suspect Who Brought Gun To Court

By Parker Quinlan

The Ninth Circuit on Monday revived the indictment of a man who brought a loaded handgun into an Idaho state court, finding that a no-contact order banning him from possessing a firearm does not violate his Second Amendment rights.

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Nvidia Accused Of Ignoring Site Users' Cookies Preferences

By Rae Ann Varona

Nvidia Corporation is lying about giving its website users control over how they are being tracked and how their personal data is used, a new proposed class action filed Friday in California federal court alleges.

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9th Circ. Won't Revive Avast Extension Users' Wiretap Suit

By Allison Grande

The Ninth Circuit on Monday affirmed the toss of a proposed class action accusing Gen Digital Inc. of illegally intercepting the browsing activities of internet users that downloaded its Avast data security browser extension, finding that the software company couldn't be held liable because it owned the extension and therefore was a valid party to the disputed communications. 

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Samsung Infringed Smart Ring IP, Suit Says

By Elliot Weld

Smart ring maker Oura has hit Samsung with patent claims in Texas federal court, alleging the Korean electronics giant had been challenging Oura's patents in the U.S. before the launch of its allegedly infringing Samsung Galaxy Ring.

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House Committee Wants NBA Commish Briefing On Gambling

By Craig Clough

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce wrote to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Friday requesting a briefing on the indictments of players and coaches in a federal gambling investigation, seeking his appearance no later than the end of the week.  

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Activision Blizzard Violated Break Time Rules, Ex-Worker Says

By Craig Clough

A former Activision Blizzard employee filed a Private Attorneys General Act suit against the video game giant Friday in California state court alleging the company and its subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment required employees to work through breaks and tried to control how workers spend their time during breaks.

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Northrop Grumman Settles Pension Benefit Estimate Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

Northrop Grumman has agreed to settle a proposed class action from retirees alleging violations of federal benefits law over what they claimed were inaccurate pension estimates and the aerospace and defense company's failure to provide regular statements to beneficiaries, according to a joint filing in California federal court.

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Feds Fight Union Bid To Protect Jobs During Gov't Shutdown

By Emily Brill

The Trump administration is fighting a group of unions' request for a California federal judge to block the government from laying off federal workers during the shutdown, saying the injunction request from eight unions is far too broad.

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Wash. AG Tells 9th Circ. Seattle DEI Policies Protect Workers

By Patrick Hoff

The Washington state attorney general joined several voices urging the Ninth Circuit to back Seattle's defeat of a white former employee's lawsuit challenging the city's diversity, equity and inclusion programs, arguing that thoughtful diversity initiatives "uplift," rather than violate, the law.

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Marketing Co. Escapes 401(k) Forfeiture Suit, For Now

By Kellie Mejdrich

A New York federal court nixed a proposed class action against a marketing company from two ex-workers who said 401(k) plan forfeitures were misspent, holding that allegations of fiduciary breach and prohibited transactions failed to state a claim for violating federal benefits law.

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X Gets AI Developer's Deplatforming Case Sent To Texas

By Matthew Perlman

An antitrust case accusing social media platform X of blocking competition was transferred to Texas, after a California federal court found the developer of software used to create artificial intelligence agents that operate on the platform agreed to a forum selection clause.

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Korean Developers Defend Google Play Store Antitrust Claims

By Matthew Perlman

Foreign developers and trade associations for South Korean publishers are defending their Android app antitrust case against Google, saying their claims over U.S. and foreign Play Store transactions all belong in California federal court.

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Biotech Firm MapLight Inks $251M IPO Amid Shutdown

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Biotechnology company MapLight Therapeutics began trading publicly Monday after raising $251 million in its initial public offering, which marked a rare listing during the ongoing federal government shutdown.

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9th Circ. Calls Out Legality Of Its Own Removal Stay Process

By Tom Lotshaw

The Ninth Circuit's practice of automatically granting requests to stay removal orders on appeal allowed a Peruvian couple to gain time in the country with a "barebones" filing, according to a three-judge panel who said the practice must end.

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More Action Needed On Upper Microwave Bands, FCC Told

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission needs to consider a total overhaul of spectrum rules in the upper microwave bands to help the U.S. satellite industry thrive, a California space venture told the FCC.

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Gordon Rees Adds Clark Hill Litigator In Sacramento

By James Mills

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP is expanding its West Coast team, bringing in a Clark Hill PLC litigator as a partner in its Sacramento office.

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Workday Case Shows Auditing AI Hiring Tools Is Crucial

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.

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Compliance Tips Amid Rising FTC Scrutiny Of Minors' Privacy

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.

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Insights From Recent Cases On Navigating Snap Removal

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.

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Opinion

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

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.

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8th Circ. Jurist To Take Senior Status, Giving Trump Open Seat

By Dorothy Atkins

U.S. Circuit Judge William Duane Benton of the Eighth Circuit notified the judiciary on Friday that he plans to step back from active service, opening up another seat on the court for President Donald Trump to fill, according to the federal judiciary's online list of future judiciary vacancies.

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Former Mintz Client Files Negligence Suit Over Patent Work

By Adam Lidgett

A former Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC client has hit the firm with a professional negligence suit in Texas federal court, saying the firm's allegedly "shoddy, substandard" legal work led to one of the company's patents being almost completely wiped out.

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Trump Taps Ex-Willkie Atty For 2nd Shot At Filling CFTC Chair

By Jessica Corso

President Donald Trump has chosen a former Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP partner and top attorney on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's cryptocurrency task force to head the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, tapping the crypto industry advocate to lead an agency struggling with a leadership void.

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Senate Confirms 7th Circ., Alabama Judicial Picks

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted on Monday to confirm Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin, to the Seventh Circuit, and Justice Bill Lewis of the Alabama Supreme Court to the Middle District of Alabama.

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Analysis

PTAB Judges Alarmed By Squires' Moves To Limit Their Role

By Theresa Schliep

With U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leadership limiting the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's oversight of patent validity disputes, current judges for the tribunal say they are distressed by the recent moves to curb their role and are looking for work elsewhere amid the instability.

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Brief

DOJ Hires 36 New Immigration Judges After Dozens Of Firings

By Britain Eakin

The Executive Office for Immigration Review has hired 11 new permanent immigration judges and 25 temporary ones after more than 100 judges were terminated, reassigned or retired early.

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Who Watches The Watchers? Conn. Justices Mull Court Bias

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut Supreme Court justice said Monday that if the state's human rights watchdog cannot address claims of racial discrimination in attorney licensing, then there is "no oversight" when bias infects the process.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court and Delaware Supreme Court saw another busy week of disputes spanning biotech milestones, reincorporation showdowns, shareholder voting schemes and cryptocurrency fiduciary rights.

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