Washington

  • December 22, 2025

    Ed Dept. Ordered To Restore $1B In Mental Health Grants

    The U.S. Department of Education will not be allowed to cut more than $1 billion in mental health grants for schools after a Washington federal judge ruled that the agency acted illegally by citing new, undisclosed Trump administration priorities as a basis for slashing the funding.

  • December 22, 2025

    Mercedes Inks $150M Deal In Emissions Cheating Claims

    Mercedes-Benz USA LLC and Mercedes-Benz Group AG have reached a nearly $150 million national settlement with state attorneys general amid allegations that they sold and leased vehicles equipped with devices capable of defeating emissions tests.

  • December 19, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives Excessive Force Suit Against Spokane Police

    The Ninth Circuit has held that police officers in Washington state could have violated the Fourth Amendment rights of a man who died in their custody during a suspected drug overdose, finding that their alleged use of force would be excessive under federal law if proven.

  • December 19, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: How '25 Shaped Offices, Hotels, Data Hubs

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including analyses of how the office, hotel and data center sectors fared in 2025.

  • December 19, 2025

    Amazon Settles Customer's Heating Pad Burns Claims

    Amazon has reached a deal ending a lawsuit seeking to hold it liable for second-degree burns and an infection a woman suffered after using a heating pad she purchased on the platform, sold to her by a third party.

  • December 19, 2025

    F5 Faces Securities Class Action Over 'False' Security Claims

    Seattle tech company F5 Inc. boasted to investors about its cybersecurity offerings while at the same time hiding a long-term data breach that targeted the company's highest-revenue product, an investor claimed Friday in a proposed class action filed in Washington federal court.

  • December 19, 2025

    App Makers Tell 9th Circ. It Got Google Maps Facts Wrong

    App makers asked the Ninth Circuit to rethink their proposed antitrust class action accusing Google of locking out rival maps products, arguing a panel refused to revive the case only because it did "not address and ignored" their allegations.

  • December 19, 2025

    23 AGs Oppose FCC's Possible AI Law Preemption

    Nearly two dozen state attorneys general joined forces to urge the Federal Communications Commission not to issue a ruling that would preempt state-level regulation of artificial intelligence technologies, arguing in a comment letter that the agency lacks such authority.

  • December 19, 2025

    Chemical Co. Workers Stole Trade Secrets, Seattle Jury Says

    Three former employees of Silver Fern Chemical Inc. misused the Washington-based distributor's trade secrets when they took proprietary customer information to work for a rival business, a Seattle federal jury said in awarding the company $1.9 million for lost profits.

  • December 19, 2025

    Live Nation 401(k) Suit Arbitration In Calif. Gets Redo

    A California federal judge agreed to reconsider his order from 2023 requiring arbitration of some claims in a federal benefits suit from Live Nation workers alleging excessive fees in their employee 401(k) plan after the Ninth Circuit had remanded the case in August.

  • December 19, 2025

    9th Circ. Takes Up IPhone Buyers' Class Decertification

    The Ninth Circuit has summarily agreed to let consumers appeal what they had described as the "death knell" district court ruling that decertified their class of iPhone users that was expected to reach 200 million members in an antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies.

  • December 18, 2025

    Amazon Can't Shed Class Status In Virtual Try-On Privacy Suit

    A Seventh Circuit panel has affirmed an Illinois district judge's certification of a class of more than 100,000 Amazon shoppers who accuse the e-commerce giant of illegally collecting and preserving their facial geometry data when they used the company's virtual try-on feature to preview products such as makeup and eyewear.

  • December 18, 2025

    SF, Oakland Near Settlement In Airport Name Trademark Fight

    The Port of Oakland has cut a tentative deal with the city and county of San Francisco to resolve a trademark infringement suit over Oakland renaming its international airport to include "San Francisco Bay," according to a joint stipulation filed in California federal court Wednesday.

  • December 18, 2025

    Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

    The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

  • December 18, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives National Forest Road Injury Claim

    A timber worker who suffered injuries when his excavator slid off a Washington road under the control of the U.S. Forest Service will get the opportunity to take his claims to trial, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday, saying a jury needs to decide whether the worker's employer or the federal government was responsible for the road's upkeep.

  • December 18, 2025

    Monarch Overhyped 'Driver-Optional' Tractors, Ex-Dealer Says

    A Washington farm supply store sued California-based Monarch Tractor — which bills itself as the maker of "the world's first autonomous tractor" — in Seattle federal court Thursday, claiming the company's MK-V vehicles "did not perform as represented and were unable to operate in the autonomous manner represented."

  • December 18, 2025

    UC Researchers Near Reinstating $7B In DOE Grants

    A California federal judge said Thursday she's inclined to grant a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to reinstate $7 billion in Department of Energy grants awarded to researchers, saying they were canceled with form letters similar to those she's previously found to violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • December 18, 2025

    Wash. Justices Say Open Gov't Law Covers Seattle Contractor

    The Washington State Supreme Court has reinstated a citizen suit seeking information related to downtown Seattle's Metropolitan Improvement District, recognizing in a Thursday opinion that the district's private nonprofit management entity DBIA Services is analogous to a government agency and thus subject to the state's public records law.  

  • December 18, 2025

    Seattle Jury Awards $8.1M Over Fall During Operation

    A Seattle jury awarded $8.1 million on Thursday over an Adobe manager's fall from an operating table, after hearing the plaintiff's experts testify that his life was irrevocably altered by permanent brain damage.

  • December 18, 2025

    Vegas Sun Wants Justices To Revive Protective Pact

    The Las Vegas Sun wants the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a Ninth Circuit decision that nixed an agreement protecting it from the Las Vegas Review-Journal's alleged plan to drive it out of business, arguing that the old pact with the more conservative paper was valid even without express government approval.

  • December 18, 2025

    AT&T Worker Takes 401(k) Forfeiture Suit To 9th Circ.

    An AT&T worker has turned to the Ninth Circuit after a California federal judge spiked his proposed class action alleging that the telecom giant misspent employee 401(k) plan forfeitures. 

  • December 17, 2025

    Amazon, Le Labo Say Ripoff 'Basgax' Perfumes Reek Of Fraud

    Amazon and New York fragrance maker Le Labo accused a Florida-based company known as Basgax of selling bogus Le Labo products, claiming the company and its operators illegally copied Le Labo's promotional images and product names such as "Iris 39" and "Patchouili 24."

  • December 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms DHS Officers' Fast-Track Removal Authority

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday upheld the denial of a Mexican citizen's bid to toss illegal reentry charges, rejecting arguments that a U.S. Department of Homeland Security "deciding service officer" unconstitutionally ordered his removal, while also clarifying that such officers who issue fast-track removal orders aren't subject to the U.S. Constitution's appointments clause.

  • December 17, 2025

    States, Groups Urge DC Circ. To Preserve EPA Soot Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's request that the D.C. Circuit vacate a Biden-era soot rule is legally untenable and should be rejected, Democrat-led states and cities, along with health and environmental groups, told the court.

  • December 17, 2025

    Starbucks Brass Face Derivative Suit Over 'Triple Shot' Plan

    Executives and directors of Starbucks have been hit with a shareholder derivative complaint accusing them of misleading investors about the coffee chain's prospects for its so-called Triple Shot Reinvention strategy, which the suit alleges fell short.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • How A 9th Circ. False Ad Ruling Could Shift Class Certification

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    The Ninth Circuit's July decision in Noohi v. Johnson & Johnson, holding that unexecuted damages models may suffice for purposes of class certification, has the potential to create judicial inefficiencies and crippling uncertainties for class action defendants, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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