Washington

  • September 22, 2026

    Nordstrom To Pay $450K To Wrap Up Tobacco Fee Fight

    Nordstrom Inc. will pay $450,000 to settle a proposed class action alleging it unlawfully charged employees who used tobacco hundreds of dollars more each year to obtain health benefits, workers told a Washington federal court.

  • September 21, 2026

    Due Process Not Limited In Bond Hearing Suit, 9th Circ. Says

    The Ninth Circuit held in a published opinion Monday that a certified class of asylum-seekers apprehended well within the U.S. border can challenge their detentions, rejecting the government's contention that the U.S. Supreme Court limited their due process rights.

  • September 21, 2026

    Costco Says It Didn't Say 'Zero Heavy Metals' In Protein Powder

    "Good, clean nutrition" doesn't actually mean "free of lead," Costco Wholesale Corp. told a Washington federal court on Friday as it pushed for dismissal of a proposed class action claiming its Orgain protein powders contained dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals.

  • September 21, 2026

    Starbucks Investors Allege $227.5M In Buyback Losses

    Two Starbucks shareholders have brought a derivative suit in Washington federal court accusing the company's leadership of hyping its performance in the U.S. and China even as sales declined, and of losing $227.5 million buying back its own stock at inflated prices. 

  • September 21, 2026

    Swedish Health's $86M Wage Deal Nets Attys $25.8M In Fees

    Swedish Health Services' $86 million settlement to end workers' class action suit over alleged wage and meal break violations will include a $25.8 million payout for the plaintiffs' attorneys, according to a Washington state judge's order giving final approval to the deal.

  • September 21, 2026

    Xbox Buyer Says IEEPA Refund Arbitration Bid Lacks Backing

    Microsoft's bid to force arbitration of an Xbox purchaser's proposed class action accusing the video game giant of wrongfully withholding tariff refunds from consumers should fail because it can't point to a clause that covers his dispute, he told a Washington federal court.

  • September 21, 2026

    She Has A Point: Fenwick's Jessica Kaempf

    Jessica Kaempf of Fenwick & West LLP is a pragmatic yet tenacious attorney whose representation of her clients has earned her plaudits from Kathi Vidal of Winston Taylor, who praised Kaempf as part of a Law360 series celebrating women litigators.

  • September 21, 2026

    Lummi Nation Says Telecom Needs To Reinter Remains

    The Lummi Nation has said Whidbey Telephone Co. has not reinterred the nation's ancestral remains that were allegedly disturbed during broadband construction despite repeated requests to do so amid its fight over a contested telecom project.

  • September 21, 2026

    Target Says It Had No Duty To Investigate Formula For Taint

    Target Corp. is again urging a Washington federal court to throw out a couple's claims that it sold tainted baby formula that gave their child infant botulism, saying it's protected by state law and had no duty to independently investigate its suppliers.

  • September 21, 2026

    HHS Defends Move To Limit Noncitizen Medicaid Benefits

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has urged a Washington federal court not to block provisions in the 2025 federal budget bill generally denying Medicaid benefits to noncitizens receiving supplemental security income, countering claims of conflicting statutory language.

  • September 21, 2026

    Varian, Gov't Appeal Foreign Dividend Decision To 9th Circ.

    Varian Medical Systems Inc. is appealing a U.S. Tax Court decision that it owes more than $7.2 million to the Internal Revenue Service as a result of the court limiting its deemed dividends deduction, while the government is also appealing, according to filings in the Ninth Circuit.

  • September 21, 2026

    Washington Powerhouse: Arnold & Porter

    Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP grew its Washington state business at a blistering pace in the first year after opening its Seattle office in July 2025, representing Microsoft in connection with an OpenAI corporate restructuring, juggling an array of employment matters for the city and scoring legal victories for other major corporate clients.

  • September 21, 2026

    States Settle Challenge Of Paramount's Warner Bros. Deal

    State enforcers suing to block Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery reached a settlement on Monday to end the case with a package of concessions.

  • September 18, 2026

    The 2026 Regional Powerhouses

    From major deals to high-profile litigation, the firms named to Law360's 2026 Regional Powerhouses list are leading the way across 14 states. They deliver deep regional expertise and make a lasting impact at the state and local level.

  • September 18, 2026

    Judge Nixes USDA's SNAP Deadline, Immigrant Benefit Rules

    An Oregon federal judge sided with a coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia that challenged the Trump administration's restrictions to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, ruling Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's guidance barring certain noncitizen immigrants from SNAP benefits was unlawful.

  • September 18, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Interest Rate Inklings, 9/11 Reflections

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including attorney views on the Fed's first interest rate hike in three years and reflections from real estate practitioners 25 years after 9/11.

  • September 18, 2026

    Gaming Record Label Sues Rival Over YouTube Takedowns

    Video-game music record label GameChops launched a lawsuit in Washington federal court Friday accusing a Washington-based competitor of a campaign to force it to accept "unjustified and unreasonable demands," primarily by flagging its YouTube videos for takedown based on fabricated copyright concerns.

  • September 18, 2026

    9th Circ. Asks Wash. Justices About Indirect Employer Claims

    A Ninth Circuit panel has asked the Washington State Supreme Court to clarify whether the state's law permits common law wrongful firing claims against indirect employers and certain individuals, saying the answers are key to assessing a former solar company CFO's claim he was unjustly ousted by a private equity backer.

  • September 18, 2026

    Kalshi Loses Bid To Lift Wash. Event Contracts Ban

    Kalshi can't lift an injunction currently barring its operations in Washington, a King County Superior Court judge ruled, denying the prediction market's request to reconsider an August order blocking the company from offering most event contracts to state residents.

  • September 18, 2026

    Swift Seeks To Narrow Truckers' OT Class Over Rest Time

    A trucking company has asked a Washington federal court to clarify that truck drivers certified to pursue overtime claims cannot also pursue a separate theory that rest and sleeper berth time is compensable, arguing the theory was never included in the lawsuit or addressed when the court certified the class.

  • September 17, 2026

    Wash. Sheriff's Office Faces $27M Claim Over Fatal Stabbing

    A Washington sheriff's office was hit with a $27 million tort claim Thursday alleging a deputy wrongfully killed a DUI suspect by stabbing him 17 times with a personal, "unauthorized" dagger during a May 2025 confrontation in a testing room at a Washington State Patrol station.

  • September 17, 2026

    Oil Giants, Estate Agree To End Heat Wave Death Claims

    The daughter of a Washington woman who died in a 2021 heat wave has agreed to drop claims against oil giants Chevron, Shell, BP and Phillips 66, according to motions filed Tuesday and Wednesday in King County Superior Court.

  • September 17, 2026

    Wash. High Court Strikes Down Natural Gas Voter Initiative

    The Washington State Supreme Court has invalidated a voter-approved initiative barring local governments and building code officials from adopting rules to discourage natural gas use, ruling in a 6-3 decision Thursday that it violates a provision of the state constitution limiting legislative measures to a single subject.

  • September 17, 2026

    T-Mobile Can't Challenge Ruling That It Broke Wash. Data Law

    A Washington state judge said he will not reconsider his finding that T-Mobile committed more than 722,000 violations of a state data breach notification law.

  • September 17, 2026

    Amway To Pay $225M To End Deceptive Marketing Claims

    The Federal Trade Commission and the State of Washington have reached a $225 million settlement with health and beauty company Amway and two of its affiliates to resolve allegations that they engaged in unfair and deceptive multilevel marketing tactics in which independent business owners and their recruits purchased products for "reasons other than genuine demand for them in a near-futile effort to make money while faking their customer sales."

Expert Analysis

  • 'Made In America' EO May Not Survive Section 230

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in advertising directs the Federal Trade Commission to deem online marketplaces' failure to verify third-party origin claims as unlawful, but such a rule would likely run into Section 230's publisher immunity doctrine, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • CFTC Actions Show Prediction Market Insider Trading Risks

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    It is a myth that insider trading law does not apply in prediction markets, as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement actions illustrate that it has full authority to pursue such cases federally — and intends to, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

  • Prepping For White House's Proposed AI Framework

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    The artificial intelligence legislative framework issued by the White House last month reframes the policy landscape, creating a number of near-term developments for companies to track as congressional committees attempt to convert the framework into legislative text, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    Apple Discovery Fight Could Revive DOJ's Antitrust Appetite

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    Winning discovery disputes in the ongoing federal antitrust litigation over Apple’s app store practices is a huge opportunity for the Justice Department to return to its once-vigorous pursuit of product tying by tech monopolies, catch up with foreign competition regulators and establish clear standards for digital markets, says Ediberto Roman at Florida International University.

  • Opinion

    State Bars Need To Get Specific About AI Confidentiality

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    Lawyers need to put actual client information into artificial intelligence tools to get their full value, but they cannot confidently do so until state bars offer clear, formal authority on which plan tiers of the three most popular generative AI tools are safe to use when sharing specific client details, says attorney Nick Berk.

  • What Justices' Review Of Guam Case Will Mean For Permitting

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    In U.S. Department of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan, the U.S. Supreme Court will address whether a federal agency's permit application is a final decision that courts can review — a question whose answer could reshape the timing and strategy of environmental litigation across the federal permitting landscape, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Restraint Anchors Constitutional Order

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    Contrasting opinions in two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Trump v. CASA and Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections — demonstrate how the judiciary’s constitutionally entrusted role can easily be preserved or disrupted, and invite renewed attention to the enduring importance of judicial restraint, says Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace.

  • Series

    Alpine Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skiing has shaped habits I rely on daily as an attorney — focus, resilience and the ability to remain steady when circumstances shift rapidly — and influences the way I approach legal strategy, client counseling and teamwork, says Isaku Begert at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Telehealth Suit May Redraw Rules For Physician Classification

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    A new class action in California federal court, Cioppettini v. Mochi Medical, alleging a telehealth company misclassified providers as independent contractors, suggests that traditional markers of physician independence may not apply to telehealth, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Opinion

    Wash. Amazon Ruling Should Reshape Suicide Liability

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    The Washington Supreme Court's reinstatement of negligence claims in Scott v. Amazon.com, brought by the families of people who died by suicide after purchasing chemicals online, signals a reckoning for digital commerce and the rejection of the defense that online marketplaces are merely passive technology platforms, says Donald Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • Pivotal 6th Circ. Ruling Threatens Decades Of NLRB Decisions

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Brown-Forman v. National Labor Relations Board fundamentally challenged the NLRB's long-standing practice of establishing policies through adjudication rather than formal rulemaking, giving employers and unions a new avenue to procedurally attack the vast majority of its rules, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Pension Case Offers Entertainment Work Exception Insights

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    A recent Ninth Circuit decision clarified that any amount of entertainment work can satisfy the entertainment industry exception under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act, reinforcing that statutory language, rather than evolving business models, dictates withdrawal liability outcomes, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Justices' Ruling Stresses Quick Action Against Absconders

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in Rico v. U.S. that a supervised release term is not automatically extended when a defendant absconds, probation officers and prosecutors risk being unable to address later violations if they don't act promptly to secure warrants, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • How Cos. Can Navigate The Patchwork Of AI Safety Bills

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    In the first few months of 2026, state and federal lawmakers introduced hundreds of bills to address the perceived safety risks of artificial intelligence, so companies should assess whether existing or planned services could be scoped into AI safety legislation across jurisdictions, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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