Washington

  • September 29, 2026

    Prejudice Question Bars Quick End To Negligence Deal Suit

    A Washington federal court said it cannot definitively say whether an insurer must cover a healthcare management company's settlement with a nursing home resident, saying there is a genuine dispute about whether the carrier was prejudiced by its insured's decision to settle an underlying negligence suit without consent.

  • September 28, 2026

    Home Depot, Keurig Spam Suits Paused For 9th Circ. Ruling

    Proposed class actions over allegedly misleading spam emails from Home Depot and Bed Bath & Beyond are on hold until the Ninth Circuit decides a related appeal involving Aeropostale's operators, a Washington federal judge said last week, as another Seattle federal judge returned similar suits against Macy's and Audible to state court.

  • September 28, 2026

    ChatGPT Users' Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft Gets Trimmed

    Microsoft isn't going to be able to force into arbitration claims that it undermined OpenAI by forcing the artificial intelligence giant into using only its cloud computing, but it did convince the California federal judge overseeing the case to toss the proposed class's federal antitrust claim.

  • September 28, 2026

    Wash. Can Pursue Gold Mine Pollution Claims, 9th Circ. Says

    A Ninth Circuit panel revived Washington state's Clean Water Act lawsuit against the operator of the Buckhorn Mountain gold mine Monday, reversing a district court's ruling that the state's claims were barred because of another plaintiff's settlement in the consolidated case.

  • September 28, 2026

    Paramount, States Urge Court To Approve Merger Deal

    State enforcers and Paramount Skydance responded Monday to several questions raised by a lawmaker over a settlement ending the states' challenge of Paramount's deal for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., telling a California federal court there's no need for a full-blown review.

  • September 28, 2026

    9th Circ. Rules Cops' Gunpoint Arrest Constitutional

    A Ninth Circuit panel has ruled that two California police officers who allegedly aimed their guns at a compliant suspect acted reasonably and enjoyed qualified immunity protection from the man's civil rights lawsuit, reversing a district court's finding that they may have used unconstitutional excessive force.

  • September 28, 2026

    White Worker Gets 2nd Chance In Race Training Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit reinstated Monday a white worker's claims that the City of Seattle subjected him to harassment by pushing race bias trainings that caused his colleagues to villainize white people, ruling that negative comments he received about his race were enough to keep the case in court.

  • September 28, 2026

    FTC Touts 'Dismantling' Of Corteva's Pesticide Rebates

    The Federal Trade Commission on Monday touted its new settlement with Corteva Inc. for severely constricting the pesticide company's ability to pay distributors a loyalty rebate in exchange for limiting sales of cheaper generics, the latest in a string of agreements Trump-era antitrust enforcers have struck ending existing claims.

  • September 28, 2026

    New Dem Bill Aims To Tighten Rules For Immigration Arrests

    Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif., have introduced a new bill to clarify existing requirements for immigration arrests and codify procedures to prevent unlawful arrests and detentions.

  • September 25, 2026

    Corteva Will Pay $35M To Resolve FTC Pesticide Rebate Case

    Corteva Inc. has agreed to pay $35 million to put to rest allegations from the Federal Trade Commission and a slew of states that the pesticide-maker blocked competition from generic rivals through the use of loyalty rebates, according to a motion filed in North Carolina federal court Friday.

  • September 25, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Mideast Data Centers, NYC Amenity Race

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including attorney insights into how the war in Iran is affecting Middle East data center deals and how an amenity race is steering the New York City office market.

  • September 25, 2026

    Ex-Soldier Gets 70-Month Sentence For Telecom Hack Scheme

    A Washington federal judge on Friday sentenced a former U.S. Army soldier to 70 months in prison and ordered him to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution for his role in extorting telecommunication companies by hacking their systems and holding sensitive data hostage for ransom.  

  • September 25, 2026

    Aramark Faces Wash. Class Claims Over Noncompete Terms

    Aramark has been hit with a proposed class action in Washington state court accusing the food service giant of failing to provide advanced notice to Evergreen State workers of its noncompete terms and restricting them from taking second jobs, in violation of state law.

  • September 25, 2026

    9th Circ. Says Overlook Of Bond Receipt Was 'Legal Error'

    A split Ninth Circuit panel ruled in a published opinion Friday that an immigration appeals board committed "legal error" by overlooking proof of receipt of a Mexican citizen's voluntary departure bond payment, which was required to reinstate his voluntary departure period.

  • September 25, 2026

    PTAB Invalidates Challenged Claims In Breast Pump Patent

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Friday ruled that all claims Shenzhen Root Technology Co. Ltd. challenged in a Willow Blossom wearable breast pump patent are invalid on numerous grounds.

  • September 25, 2026

    9th Circ. OKs Class Cert. In Classmates.com Name Use Case

    The Ninth Circuit has approved a lower court's certification of a class of Californians suing over their names appearing in the yearbooks platform Classmates.com, rejecting a number of challenges from the website's operator, including that the lead plaintiff couldn't adequately represent the class.

  • September 25, 2026

    Detractors Tell Court Paramount Deal Fails To Fix Concerns

    Civil rights and public interest groups have told a California federal court the settlement ending a challenge of Paramount Skydance's purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery fails to address the concerns state enforcers raised in the first place.

  • September 25, 2026

    Telecom Says 2023 Discovery Bars Wash. Tribe's Burial Claims

    A telecommunications company has argued the clock ran out last year on the Lummi Nation's claims of Washington Indian Graves and Records Act violations, and asked a Washington federal judge to dismiss the tribe's suit.

  • September 25, 2026

    Apple Hit With Garnishment Order For $1.69M Wage Judgment

    Apple was ordered Friday by a North Carolina federal judge to cease contract payments to an affiliated repair company that has allegedly failed to pony up a $1.69 million judgment in a wage and hour class action.

  • September 25, 2026

    UDR Settles Wash. AG's Claims Of Illegal Rent Hikes

    Multifamily real estate investment trust UDR Inc. will pay more than $1.6 million in order to settle a suit filed by the Washington State Office of the Attorney General, which accused the REIT in state court of illegally hiking rents on its tenants.

  • September 24, 2026

    Expedia Hit With Smoke Detector Suit Over Deadly VRBO Fire

    A Massachusetts family has accused Expedia of negligently listing VRBO vacation rental properties without smoke detectors after an apartment they booked in the Dominican Republic caught fire, leading to the deaths of four family members, according to a Washington state court lawsuit.

  • September 24, 2026

    Game Publishers Eye Doc Request In Valve Antitrust Case

    Video-game publishers accusing Valve Corp. in a federal antitrust lawsuit of manipulating arbitration pacts with gaming customers have questioned the gamers' bid for access to the publishers' purportedly protected materials as the gamers fight a separate case against the digital content company.

  • September 24, 2026

    Google, Ex-Engineer End Suit Over Pregnancy-Loss Firing

    Google LLC and a former software engineer who sued the company over allegations that she was wrongfully fired for taking time off following the unexpected loss of a pregnancy agreed to dismiss the worker's lawsuit with prejudice, according to a Western District of Washington filing in the case Wednesday.

  • September 24, 2026

    Paramount Judge Won't 'Rubber Stamp' States' Merger Deal

    A California federal judge questioned state enforcers Thursday about the details of their proposed settlement to resolve antitrust litigation challenging Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, telling counsel, "The court isn't a rubber stamp," and "I've got questions, and I'm not the only one."

  • September 24, 2026

    Full 9th Circ. Asked To Revisit $2B Devas Arbitral Award

    An Indian state-owned aerospace company has urged the full Ninth Circuit to review a three-judge panel's unanimous decision to enforce a $2 billion arbitral award issued to a Bangalore-based satellite communications company, saying the decision raises important questions about the constitutional limits on jurisdiction of foreign disputes with no connection to the U.S.

Expert Analysis

  • Money Transmission Issue Looms For Prediction Markets

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    The circuit split recently created by the Ninth Circuit's ruling in Kalshi v. Assad has implications reaching beyond gaming regulation as, depending on the ultimate characterization of prediction market event contracts, platforms may face differing obligations under federal and state money transmission laws, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • The Deep Split Over Mandatory Detention, And What's Next

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    The government’s mandatory detention policy for noncitizens who entered the U.S. without inspection has led to a spate of decisions this year, with nine circuits rejecting the government's reading of the Immigration and Nationality Act against two that have accepted it, making the issue ripe for U.S. Supreme Court review, says attorney Kemal Hepsen.

  • Attorneys Using AI May Have Ethical Duty To Redact Docs

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    The trajectory of legal ethics guidance in recent years strongly suggests that as redaction technology becomes more accessible, the failure to use it when uploading highly confidential materials into artificial intelligence tools will become increasingly difficult to defend as reasonable, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

  • Minn. Ruling Expands Insureds' Right To Independent Counsel

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    If upheld on appeal, a recent decision by a Minnesota appellate court — Fabyanske Westra Hart & Thomson v. Western National Mutual Insurance — will give Minnesota policyholders a stronger basis to demand independent counsel when an insurer accepts a defense under a reservation of rights, say attorneys at Stoel Rives.

  • Retailers Must Navigate State Innocent-Seller Law Patchwork

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    States' innocent-seller statutes can shield nonmanufacturing retailers from product liability claims to varying degrees, and by building the evidentiary record strategically throughout discovery, companies can improve their chances of obtaining summary judgment — but it is essential to stay abreast of the rapidly evolving policy environment, say attorneys at Chamberlain Hrdlicka.

  • OpenAI Deal Highlights AI Hiring Risks In PERM Process

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent settlement of allegations that OpenAI discriminated against U.S. applicants for positions connected to the permanent labor certification process underscores that employers providing or using artificial intelligence must align their recruitment practices with their overlapping compliance obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • State AI Safety Laws Raise New Liabilities For Healthcare Cos.

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    Healthcare and life science companies using third-party artificial intelligence tools should pay particular attention to the changing state-level legal landscape, where the rollout of multiple AI safety laws is introducing both new compliance obligations and potential consumer protection liabilities, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Series

    Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

  • How 'Swap' Fight Underpins Prediction Market Enforcement

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    As courts around the country grapple with whether, and under what circumstances, event contracts qualify as swaps, federal enforcement authority hangs in the balance, with implications for companies that need to manage compliance risks during this period of legal uncertainty, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • The State Of Prediction Market Litigation After 9th Circ. Ruling

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Kalshi v. Assad gives state regulators significant appellate backing to enforce state gaming laws over prediction markets, creating a direct split with the Third Circuit that will likely lead to Supreme Court review of the question, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Series

    Ballet Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of learning and performing ballet taught me that success — whether in dance or practicing law — comes only through hours of thorough preparation, boundless energy and relentless effort, says Sharon Katz-Pearlman at Greenberg Traurig.

  • 9th Circ. 'Bad Spaniels' Ruling Rewrites TM Dilution Playbook

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling that each element of the Jack Daniel's packaging parodied by the Bad Spaniels dog toy must be independently assessed for fame narrows trademark owners' ability to use a flagship mark's halo effect to protect the entire brand from tarnishment, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • How Texas' Protein Powder Probe Reflects Prop 65's Influence

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    Texas' recently announced investigation into contaminants in protein powder illustrates how California's Proposition 65, with its hundreds of listed chemicals, safe harbor levels and consumer warnings, may have an influence on enforcement and regulation in other states, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • What 9th Circ. Devas Ruling Means For AI Infrastructure Deals

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent confirmation of a $2 billion arbitration award in Devas Multimedia's arbitration against a state-owned commercial arm of India’s space agency creates a cross-border enforcement road map for disputes that are bound to arise from the current generation of artificial intelligence infrastructure deals, says Fernanda Merouco at Davis Wright.

  • 9th Circ. Wage Ruling Shows Arbitration Pacts Are Still Useful

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    After years of uncertainty for California employers, the Ninth Circuit’s recent Cocom v. ABM Aviation decision signals that workplace arbitration agreements remain a powerful and enforceable tool — if thoughtfully drafted and employment-focused, says Benjamin Runge at Thompson Coburn.

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