Washington

  • October 16, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Adaptive Reuse, NYC Affordable Housing

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including attorney interviews on adaptive reuse as a defense against tariff-induced price spikes and New York's latest effort to fast-track affordable housing.

  • October 16, 2026

    Target Can't Nix Wash. Workers' Unpaid Walking Time Claims

    Target must face proposed class claims that it shortchanged distribution center workers on wages for minutes spent passing through security checkpoints and walking to their departments each shift, a Washington federal judge said Friday, finding the plaintiffs had shown the time qualified as "on duty."

  • October 16, 2026

    Sig Sauer's Trade Secret Claims Shot Down In Contract Fight

    A Washington federal judge has thrown out Sig Sauer's trade secret counterclaims in a lawsuit accusing the firearms company of reneging on a contract to buy products a contractor agreed to make.

  • October 16, 2026

    States Win 1st OK Of $400M Sandoz Generic Price-Fixing Deal

    A Connecticut federal judge granted preliminary approval Friday to a $400 million settlement between a coalition of states, Sandoz Inc. and its subsidiary Fougera Pharmaceuticals Inc. over allegations of generic drug price-fixing and market allocation, setting aside $280 million as restitution.

  • October 16, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Rethink $2B Devas Arbitral Award Confirmation

    The Ninth Circuit said Friday it will not disturb a unanimous three-judge panel's decision to enforce a $2 billion arbitral award issued to a satellite communications company, rejecting the award debtor's petition for a rehearing by the full court.

  • October 16, 2026

    Aetna Drops Medical Billing Suit Against Acupuncture Clinic

    Aetna, a Washington acupuncture clinic and a retired doctor have agreed to end the insurer's suit claiming it paid more than $800,000 because of fraudulent billing for medical services, according to a federal court filing.

  • October 16, 2026

    Judge Gives Final OK To $360M In RealPage Class Deals

    A Tennessee federal judge has granted final approval for about $360 million worth of class action settlements with renters who accused dozens of corporate landlords of engaging in rent price-fixing by using RealPage Inc.'s rental property revenue management software.

  • October 16, 2026

    Gap Workers In Wash. Sue Over Unpaid OT, Missed Breaks

    Gap and Athleta were hit with a proposed class action in Washington state court alleging that the retail giants failed to pay hourly employees with overtime wages and also failed to ensure that they took the meal and rest breaks they were entitled to.

  • October 15, 2026

    Ex-Microsoft Manager Says Her Bias Complaints Led To Firing

    A former Microsoft Corp. engineering manager sued the tech giant in Washington state court Wednesday over claims the company eliminated her role after she raised concerns about race and gender discrimination against women of color.

  • October 15, 2026

    Google Beats T-Shirt Co.'s Suit, Amazon Still Facing IP Claims

    An Ohio federal judge overseeing a T-shirt seller's separate intellectual property lawsuits accusing Google and Amazon of copyright infringement issued diverging rulings Wednesday, saying Weekend Warrior Clothing can pursue claims against Amazon over its "Merch on Demand" service, while tossing claims that Google advertised infringing shirts.

  • October 15, 2026

    9th Circ. Orders New Murder Trial Over Juror Mental Crisis

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday vacated a man's convictions for a slaying on the waters off California's coast, saying the trial court should have declared a mistrial after dismissing a juror who experienced a mental health crisis during deliberations.

  • October 15, 2026

    Wash. Justices Doubt Prosecutor Immunity In Judge DQ Case

    Washington Supreme Court justices pushed back Thursday on assertions by a county prosecutor's office that it's immune from claims that it improperly used disqualification affidavits to remove a former judge from its cases, with one justice noting that a line-level prosecutor acknowledged an officewide policy to seek disqualification of the judge.

  • October 15, 2026

    Redfin Hit With Breach Suit Over Hacked Worker, User Data

    A former Redfin Corp. employee filed a proposed nationwide class action against the real estate listings company Wednesday, accusing it of failing to meet "even the most basic requirements of cybersecurity" to protect workers' and customers' personal information from hackers.

  • October 15, 2026

    Cyber Incident Halts Bankruptcy Court Noticing Nationwide

    The nationwide system for providing notice to creditors in bankruptcy cases has been disrupted by a cybersecurity incident, and it is not currently known when the outage will end.

  • October 14, 2026

    State Farm Says Insureds' $7M Fee Bid Ignores Case Losses

    State Farm urged a Seattle federal judge to slash policyholders' bid for attorney fees in two class actions in which the insurer was found liable for shortchanging customers on payouts for totaled vehicles, contending the plaintiffs' nearly $7 million in requested fees should be pared down to $1.9 million.

  • October 14, 2026

    Wash. Pastor Pleads Not Guilty To Alleged $13M Investor Con

    The pastor of a Washington church pled not guilty Tuesday to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges after he allegedly told congregation members they had been chosen by God to back his e-commerce venture and convinced victims to invest $13 million in a sham company.

  • October 14, 2026

    Farmers Insurer Must Face Proposed Class Life Policy Claims

    A Seattle federal judge refused on Tuesday to toss a proposed class action against a Farmers Insurance subsidiary, concluding the plaintiff has leveled valid contractual and consumer protection claims based on contentions that the insurer overcharged for life insurance and underpaid interest on policyholder accounts.  

  • October 14, 2026

    Amazon Workers Allege Unpaid Time At Exit Security Checks

    Amazon.com Services LLC fails to pay its Washington warehouse workers for time spent in mandatory anti-theft security screenings when leaving its facilities, two former employees claimed in a proposed wage class action filed in state court Monday.

  • October 14, 2026

    9th Circ. Blocks Calif. Law Requiring Fed Agents To Show IDs

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday reversed the implementation of a California law requiring federal agents to display identification, saying the Trump administration is "certain to succeed" on its argument that the state statute violates the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause.

  • October 14, 2026

    No Jail For Coach Who Testified Against Jordan Card Con Man

    A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday allowed a Washington state youth sports coach to avoid prison, after he admitted bankrolling a $2 million Michael Jordan trading-card scam and testified against the main perpetrator who recently was arrested in Canada.

  • October 14, 2026

    AGs Say Character.AI Chats Must Be Protected In Ch. 11 Sale

    A group of state attorneys general told a Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday that protection of minors and privacy concerns need to be addressed before the company behind artificial intelligence entertainment platform Character.AI is allowed to sell its data in its Chapter 11 case.

  • October 14, 2026

    Paramount, State AGs Chose Certainty Over Merger Trial Risk

    Paramount Skydance closed its $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery on Oct. 6, after reaching a settlement with state enforcers that experts say was driven by both politics and the underlying litigation risk for both sides.

  • October 14, 2026

    Carpenters Broker $9.25M Deal In $250M Pension Loss Suit

    The trustees of a carpenters pension plan and an investment advisor promised to pay $9.25 million to resolve a suit from workers who claimed they saw a $250 million loss in savings when the plan invested in speculative Allianz index funds, according to a Washington federal court filing.

  • October 14, 2026

    Couple Says Target Can't Escape Tainted Baby Formula Suit

    Two parents are urging a Washington federal court not to throw out their claims against Target Corp. in a suit alleging their baby contracted infant botulism from tainted baby formula sold at the store, saying their complaint sufficiently pleads that Target had a duty of reasonable care and should have looked into its sources.

  • October 13, 2026

    Landlord Discovery OK'd In Yardi Rental Rate Software Suit

    A Washington federal judge said Tuesday that renters can pursue discovery from landlords in a proposed antitrust class action targeting Yardi's rent-setting software for multifamily property managers, while largely denying the tech firm's summary judgment bid — a ruling that would allow for more factfinding before definitively resolving the arguments.  

Expert Analysis

  • AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

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    The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

  • HPE-Juniper Settlement Teaches Key Tunney Act Lessons

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    A California federal court's recent approval of the U.S. Department of Justice's settlement with Hewlett Packard over its Juniper Networks acquisition offers legal practitioners some crucial lessons, including on unique tech-sector remedies for mergers and acquisitions and the continued viability of the Tunney Act, says Shubha Ghosh at Syracuse University College of Law.

  • Series

    Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

  • Tracking Trends In State-Level Regulatory Enforcement

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    State-level enforcement now increasingly involves antitrust, artificial intelligence and data privacy issues, and the key for organizations to reducing risk is having the ability to respond across governance, public affairs, discovery and remediation in multiple states simultaneously, say consultants at FTI Consulting.

  • Md. Digital Tax Ruling Is A Road Map For Future Challenges

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    Three Maryland Tax Court rulings that recently struck down the state's digital advertising tax suggest constitutional and statutory vulnerabilities that could be used to challenge newly enacted digital services laws or legislation being considered by other states, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • What Cos. Must Know As Fast Energy Permitting Gains Steam

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    A recently approved geothermal project in Nevada may be the first authorized by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management under a new 14-day expedited environmental review process — but project developers may find that a more thorough environmental analysis will provide better protection against litigation challenges, says Jill Yung at Allen Matkins.

  • Opinion

    Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

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    California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

  • The Preemption Gap In Prediction Market High Court Petitions

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    The Supreme Court is considering three certiorari petitions following a split in prediction market litigation between the Third and Ninth circuits, but one of the petitions would not allow the court to reach the express preemption question, which would leave the dispute half-resolved, says Jordan Garman at Withers.

  • 5th Circ. Embedding Decision Could Recast Copyright Claims

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    The Fifth Circuit's decision in Emmerich v. Particle Media addresses decades of ambiguity surrounding whether embedded content can constitute copyright infringement, potentially affecting how defense counsel fight against such claims, say attorneys at Greenberg Glusker.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Raises Bar For Arbitration Pacts Via Email

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent holding in Rickes v. Thermo Fisher that the mere delivery of an email doesn't establish an employee's assent to the arbitration agreement underscores that rollout processes should both give employees notice of the agreement and create evidence of their assent, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • How FTC's $20B Amazon Suit May Shake Up Ad Enforcement

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    Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye discusses the significance of the Federal Trade Commission's recent suit against Amazon for allegedly overcharging advertising customers more than $20 billion, the company's potential defenses, and the context of rapidly evolving digital advertising technology.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Marks New Chapter In Risk Factor Tug-Of-War

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent dismissal of a securities fraud class action against SunPower is the latest in a growing line of cases addressing whether, if ever, a company's risk factor disclosures can give rise to potential liability, an area where the law remains unsettled, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

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    Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.

  • Responding To State Packaging Law Uncertainty

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    As states roll out new packaging and recycling mandates, companies face expanding compliance duties and a growing wave of constitutional challenges that offer key lessons for managing regulatory risk, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • 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.

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