Washington

  • April 24, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Insurance Allure, People Pinch, Blackstone

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including an alluring source of capital for real estate investment trusts, how competition for skilled workers may hamper data center development, and Blackstone Inc.'s take on the first quarter of the year.

  • April 24, 2026

    Wash. Judge Reprimanded For Getting Too Close To Clerk

    The Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct reprimanded a King County District Court judge Friday for having an inappropriate relationship with a clerk, who reported that he hugged her during a private meeting in his dimly lit chambers, asked her questions about personal matters, and offered her a massage.

  • April 24, 2026

    Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

    A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

  • April 24, 2026

    States Seek Early Win In Challenge To Trump Mail-In Ballot EO

    A coalition of Democrat-led states is asking a Massachusetts federal judge to permanently block core provisions of President Donald Trump's executive order limiting mail-in voting, arguing the directive unlawfully encroaches on states' authority over elections and violates the Constitution's separation of powers.

  • April 24, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Renew Wash. Developer's Suit Against County

    A Ninth Circuit panel declined Friday to resurrect a Washington developer's lawsuit accusing Whatcom County officials of violating its constitutional rights by scaling back a housing development plan, concluding that the firm hasn't shown a protected stake in the property that it offloaded during Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

  • April 24, 2026

    One Certainty As Tariff Refunds Start: 'There Will Be Litigation'

    The launch of the refund process for tariffs struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court marks the start of lengthy and multifaceted court battles as companies fight with consumers — and amongst themselves — about who gets a slice of the $166 billion pie, experts told Law360.

  • April 24, 2026

    Union, Google Draws 9th Circuit In Joint-Employer Dispute

    Google and a Communications Workers of America affiliate will go to the Ninth Circuit to present their competing challenges to a National Labor Relations Board decision ordering the company to bargain with the content creators' union, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled.

  • April 24, 2026

    Compass Looks To Dodge 'Baseless' MLS Counterclaims

    Compass Inc. urged a Washington federal court to toss a multiple listing service's "baseless" and "conclusory" counterclaims against the real estate brokerage's antitrust suit, which alleges that the MLS' property listing rules are anticompetitive.

  • April 24, 2026

    Ex-Intel Workers Urge Justices To Revive 401(k) Fund Suit

    Former Intel employees urged the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their suit alleging their employee 401(k) savings were dragged down by underperforming investments, arguing the Ninth Circuit's requirement that allegations of subpar funds also include a meaningful benchmark for comparison didn't align with federal benefits law.

  • April 24, 2026

    Restaurant Operators Hit With Wage, Break Suit

    Two restaurant operators required workers to perform unpaid off-the-clock duties, denied legally required meal and rest breaks and manipulated time records, according to a proposed class action filed in Washington state court.

  • April 23, 2026

    Expert Must Speak To Ruined Phone Claims In Antitrust Case

    A Washington federal judge said Wednesday that a digital forensics expert who was hired by a former Pilgrim's Pride employee facing bid-rigging allegations must testify in long-running civil antitrust litigation accusing poultry producers of price-fixing, finding the expert may be able to speak to claims that the worker destroyed evidence.

  • April 23, 2026

    Amazon Urges 9th Circ. To Uphold Block On Perplexity AI Bot

    Amazon on Wednesday pressed the Ninth Circuit to leave in place an injunction blocking a startup's artificial intelligence tool, Comet, from purchasing items on Amazon.com, calling the tool "a textbook violation" of federal and state law and arguing that the injunction is backed by a robust record.

  • April 23, 2026

    Humiliated Delta Flyer Asks 9th Circ. For New Trial

    A Delta Air Lines passenger who defecated on himself after he was handcuffed and denied the opportunity to use the bathroom urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to give him another trial after a judge scrapped his $7.2 million verdict, arguing that the court wrongly tossed the verdict after trial.

  • April 23, 2026

    Toplessness Isn't Nudity, Beach Advocates Tell Seattle Court

    A court-ordered plan to crack down on nudity at a Seattle public beach is causing confusion, according to a filing from advocates, with private security guards wrongfully targeting topless beachgoers despite police and park rangers greenlighting bare chests.

  • April 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Revives County's $162M Environmental Coverage Bid

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a California county's suit seeking coverage of up to $162 million for environmental remediation efforts at an airport, reversing a lower court ruling that the policies were capped by an annual limit.

  • April 23, 2026

    Boeing 737 Max Door Blowout Cases Merged In Wash. Court

    The number of passengers suing Boeing, Alaska Airlines and Spirit AeroSystems over a door plug blowout on a 737 Max airplane has grown by one, with a Washington state court consolidating a lone complaint into the larger case.

  • April 23, 2026

    Alaska Air Credit Union Left Members' Info Exposed, Suit Says

    A Las Vegas woman has lodged a proposed class action against a Washington-based credit union that provides services to Alaska Airlines employees and their families, claiming the financial institution failed to use reasonable security measures to protect members' personal data that was exposed in a cyberattack.

  • April 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Seems Willing To Revive Ex-Seattle Worker's DEI Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared receptive Thursday to reopening a former Seattle employee's suit alleging that the city's workplace diversity program was discriminatory, but strongly pushed back against the federal government's contention that he was improperly held to a higher legal bar because he is white. 

  • April 23, 2026

    Cathay Bank Says Macquarie Hid $100M DTG Rival Acquisition

    Cathay Bank sued Macquarie's asset management arm and the former executives of recycling company DTG Enterprises in Washington federal court Wednesday, claiming they tricked lenders into backing a $540 million buyout by misrepresenting DTG's financial viability and concealing a plan to acquire its largest competitor for $100 million.

  • April 23, 2026

    Huawei's Long-Awaited NY RICO Trial Moved To Fall

    A Brooklyn federal judge on Thursday said the racketeering trial of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. will be delayed from June until September, after prosecutors filed streamlined charges over the weekend in one of two seven-year-old criminal cases the Chinese telecom company faces in the U.S.

  • April 23, 2026

    Judge Questions DOJ Bid To End Suit Over Trans Care Memo

    A Massachusetts federal judge appeared unmoved Thursday by a U.S. Department of Justice lawyer's argument that a suit challenging directives on prosecuting providers of gender-affirming care for transgender children is an abstract debate, noting that some providers have deemed the care too risky and stopped services. 

  • April 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Says New Rotor Parts Reset Clock In Crash Suit

    The Ninth Circuit has reinstated a couple's suit against Robinson Helicopter Co. over the death of their daughter in a helicopter crash, finding that replacement parts for the helicopter reset the 18-year statute of repose.

  • April 23, 2026

    9th Circuit Clash Flares Over Idaho Tribal Land Swap Decision

    The Ninth Circuit's rejection of a global agribusiness' efforts to reverse the invalidation of an Idaho federal land transfer drew the ire of seven Republican-appointed judges, who said in a dissent that the majority is blocking the government's administration of the property that was once owned by an Indigenous nation.

  • April 23, 2026

    Meta Defends Toss Of Consumer Antitrust Case At 9th Circ.

    Meta told the Ninth Circuit a lower court was right to find no support for an expert's theory that Facebook would have paid users $5 a month for using the service if it didn't misrepresent its privacy and data practices.

  • April 23, 2026

    VW Can't Shed Paraplegic Woman's Seat Heater Burn Suit

    A Washington federal judge won't let Volkswagen AG fully escape a paraplegic woman's suit alleging she was burned because of a defect in her vehicle's seat heater, finding a jury should decide whether the seat was too hot to be safe.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: How It Works In Massachusetts

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    Since its founding in 2000, the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session's expertise, procedural flexibility and litigant-friendly case management practices have contributed to the development of a robust body of commercial jurisprudence, say James Donnelly at Mirick O’Connell, Felicia Ellsworth at WilmerHale and Lisa Wood at Foley Hoag.

  • Viral 'Brewers Karen' Incident Teaches Employers To Act Fast

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    An attorney who was terminated after a viral video showed her threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on an opposing team's fan at a Milwaukee Brewers game underscores why employers must take prompt action when learning of viral incidents involving employees, says Joseph Myers at Mesidor.

  • Why Appellees Should Write Their Answering Brief First

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    Though counterintuitive, appellees should consider writing their answering briefs before they’ve ever seen their opponent’s opening brief, as this practice confers numerous benefits related to argument structure, time pressures and workflow, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    The third quarter of 2025 was another eventful quarter for total loss valuation class actions, with a new circuit split developing courtesy of the Sixth Circuit, while insurers continued to see negative results in cost-of-insurance class actions, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • How 9th Circ. Ruling Deepens SEC Disgorgement Circuit Split

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Sripetch creates opposing disgorgement rules in the two circuits where the SEC brings a large proportion of enforcement actions — the Second and Ninth — and increases the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will step in, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • Justices' LabCorp Punt Leaves Deeper Class Cert. Circuit Split

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    In its ruling in LabCorp v. Davis, the U.S. Supreme Court left unresolved a standing-related class certification issue that has plagued class action jurisprudence for years — and subsequent conflicting decisions among federal circuit courts have left district courts and litigants struggling with conflicting and uncertain standards, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Lessons From Del. Chancery Court's New Activision Decision

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in AP-Fonden v. Activision Blizzard, declining to dismiss certain fiduciary duty claims at the pleading stage, offers takeaways for boards considering a sale, including the importance of playing an active role in the merger process and documenting key board materials, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Opinion

    Courts Must Continue Protecting Plaintiffs In Mass Arbitration

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    In recent years, many companies have imposed onerous protocols that function to frustrate plaintiffs' ability to seek justice through mass arbitration, but a series of welcome court decisions in recent months indicate that the pendulum might be swinging back toward plaintiffs, say Raphael Janove and Sasha Jones at Janove Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

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