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California

  • August 26, 2025

    OpenAI, ChatGPT Blamed In Suit Over Calif. Teen's Suicide

    The parents of a California teenager who died by suicide earlier this year filed a wrongful death suit in Golden State court Tuesday, claiming that OpenAI's artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT encouraged self-harm and suicidal ideation and then helped the 16-year-old plan his death.

  • August 26, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Website Wiretap Suit Against Microsoft

    The Ninth Circuit Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of a proposed class action accusing Microsoft Corp. of providing a pet supply website with "session replay" technology that illegally captured visitors' browsing activities, finding that the plaintiff had failed to show how this alleged conduct caused concrete harm.

  • August 26, 2025

    Google Exec. Disputes '30 Stories' Of Data Claim At Trial

    A Google executive testifying Tuesday in a multibillion-dollar privacy case alleging the company illegally collected app data from 98 million consumers took issue with claims that the data at issue for just the lead plaintiffs would reach 30 stories high if printed out, while acknowledging that Google collects "considerable" data.

  • August 26, 2025

    Proposed NIH Class Can Join UC Grant Cuts Suit, Judge Says

    A California federal judge ruled Tuesday that a proposed class action seeking to reinstate grants awarded to University of California researchers that were nixed pursuant to President Donald Trump's executive orders can amend the complaint to add researchers whose National Institutes of Health grants have been recently suspended.

  • August 26, 2025

    Uber Eats To Pay Couriers $15M To End Seattle's Wage Claims

    Uber Eats has inked a $15 million settlement to end allegations that it flouted the city of Seattle's worker protection laws by failing to pay drivers what they were promised, including bonus earnings and minimum payments for canceled fares. 

  • August 26, 2025

    Teradata Asks High Court To Stay Out Of SAP Tying Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court should let sitting dogs lie when it comes to a Ninth Circuit decision reviving tying claims brought by data analytics giant Teradata against a German rival and software maker and just let the matter head to trial, according to the U.S.-based Teradata.

  • August 26, 2025

    Split 9th Circ. Upholds Oregon Pharmaceutical Reporting Law

    A split Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday vacated a lower court's order blocking an Oregon law requiring drug manufacturers to report information related to certain prescription drugs to the state, ruling that the law is indeed constitutional under both the First and Fifth amendments.

  • August 26, 2025

    Otter.ai Violates BIPA Through Voiceprint Collection, Suit Says

    Artificial intelligence-powered transcription software company Otter.ai has been collecting users' voiceprints without consent and without a published policy laying out when it retains and destroys the data, a new proposed class action filed Tuesday in California federal court alleges.

  • August 26, 2025

    Ex-Genentech Worker Urges 9th Circ. To Revive ERISA Suit

    Counsel for a former Genentech employee urged the Ninth Circuit at a hearing Tuesday to revive his client's proposed class action alleging the biotechnology company kept unwise investment options in its 401(k) plan for years, saying the case is "vastly different" from one the lower court cited when tossing the suit.

  • August 26, 2025

    Meta Fired Worker For Being Older White Male, Bias Suit Says

    A former Meta Platforms Inc. employee filed an age bias suit in California state court Tuesday, alleging the company prioritized non-white, non-male workers and applicants for job opportunities, bonuses and promotions, before it eventually executed a "reduction in force" that disparately affected older workers who ended up being terminated.

  • August 26, 2025

    Google Backers Cite Security, Competition To 9th Circ.

    Trade groups, cybersecurity experts, think tanks and others backed Google with proposed Ninth Circuit amicus briefs arguing that an order affirmed by an appeals panel opening up the Play Store will upend competition and endanger security.

  • August 26, 2025

    Firm Says It Shouldn't Owe SEC For Ex-Owner's Alleged Fraud

    A now-shuttered investment advisory firm has opposed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's attempt to hold it jointly liable for a $5 million judgment alongside its former owner who was accused of scamming elderly clients, arguing it did not profit from the alleged exploitation.

  • August 26, 2025

    Calif. High Court Says Gang Law Applies To Past Convictions

    A divided California Supreme Court has ruled that a state law redefining criminal enhancements for people accused of gang activity must be applied retroactively to prior convictions to determine whether they still count under the state's three-strikes law.

  • August 26, 2025

    Delta To Pay LA Residents $79M For Dumping Fuel On Them

    Delta Air Lines Inc. and a certified class of Angelenos urged a California federal judge to vacate his summary judgment ruling and preliminarily approve their $78.75 million deal under which class counsel would receive up to $26 million to end consolidated litigation over a 2020 jet fuel dumping incident.

  • August 26, 2025

    Airbnb Argues Secret Filming Not Legally Sexual Harassment

    Airbnb says the federal law prohibiting forced arbitration in sexual misconduct claims doesn't apply to a lawsuit filed by six women who claim that they were secretly filmed nude during their stay at a California rental, arguing to a Los Angeles County court that clandestine recordings do not count as sexual assault or harassment.

  • August 26, 2025

    USDOT Threatens States With Funding Cuts Over Truck Safety

    The U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday threatened to withhold funds from California, Washington and New Mexico over their apparent failures to enforce federal mandates that all commercial truck drivers be proficient in the English language.

  • August 26, 2025

    AI Copyright Licensing Is Helping To Fuel Tech's Evolution

    While courts wrestle with fair use questions around artificial intelligence training, legal experts say the growing number of licensing deals between tech companies and copyright owners is setting market norms for accessing the troves of content needed across rapidly evolving AI applications.

  • August 26, 2025

    Blacklist Suit Blocked By Illegal Biz Ties, Justices Told

    LegitScript has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene against the Ninth Circuit's decision to make it face PharmacyChecker.com's antitrust blacklisting claims, arguing the lower court rulings wrongly allow PharmacyChecker to sue to protect a business focused on facilitating the illegal importation of drugs.

  • August 26, 2025

    Anthropic, Authors Reach Deal In AI Copyright Cases

    Artificial intelligence developer Anthropic said Tuesday it has inked a deal to end copyright litigation from authors who allege that their works were illegally obtained to train the company's large language model, Claude.

  • August 26, 2025

    Feds Look To Dismiss Calif. Tribe's $700M Casino Dispute

    The U.S. Department of the Interior, with the backing of two tribes and the California Gaming Association, is looking to dismiss a lawsuit over its decision to temporarily nix eligibility for a proposed $700 million casino and hotel project, arguing it doesn't constitute a final agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • August 26, 2025

    SEC Says Nikola's Ch. 11 Plan Mischaracterizes $80M Penalty

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission objected to the Chapter 11 plan of electric-truck maker Nikola Corp. on Tuesday, saying the plan improperly treats the agency's $80 million civil penalty claim as if it were a damages claim behind other unsecured creditors in the priority scheme.

  • August 26, 2025

    X Corp. Settles WARN Act Suit With Worker Terminated In 2022

    A former X Corp. employee has settled its lawsuit alleging that he wasn't given a heads-up before the company conducted mass layoffs in 2022 following Elon Musk's takeover, prompting a California federal judge to conditionally dismiss the case on Monday, two weeks before trial had been set to begin.

  • August 26, 2025

    NY Judge In NFL Case May Hold No-Show Atty In Contempt

    The Manhattan federal judge presiding over a high-profile racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL said Tuesday she will initiate a contempt proceeding against a California lawyer who failed to appear to further explain an erroneous filing that stated he could practice in New York.

  • August 26, 2025

    Netflix Flight Attendant Says Harassment Report Led To Firing

    A former flight attendant for Netflix's private air fleet accused the streaming company of withholding her raise and eventually firing her after she reported several instances of sexual harassment, including one involving a pilot's sexually explicit Christmas cards.

  • August 26, 2025

    Clause Not Unconscionable In Jet Damage Row, 9th Circ. Says

    A "limitation of liability" provision that an aircraft services company used in a "landing card" agreement for arriving aircraft wasn't unconscionable under Nevada law, the Ninth Circuit ruled, siding against an insurer demanding that the company reimburse it for damage to a private jet stored at a Las Vegas airport.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

  • Focusing On Fluoride: From FDA To Class Action

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    A class action filed two days after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced plans to remove ingestible fluoride prescription drug products for children from the market may be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the connection between government pronouncements on safety and their immediate use as evidence in lawsuits, says Rachel Turow at Skadden.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Is Turning Point For Private Funds In 401(k)s

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    The Ninth Circuit's decision in Anderson v. Intel reinforces that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's duty of prudence permits fiduciaries to use private market assets in diversified funds, yet it also exposes the persistent litigation and regulatory uncertainties that continue to temper wider adoption in 401(k) plans, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • How Dfinity Timeliness Ruling Can Aid Crypto Issuers

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    A California federal court's recent dismissal of a class action against Dfinity, holding that the claims were time-barred by the Securities Act's three-year statute of repose, provides a useful defense for cryptocurrency issuers, which often solicit investments years before minting and distributing the associated tokens, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • 4 Precautions For Responsible AI Use In Bid Protests

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    Despite the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s May warning that it will impose stiff sanctions on bid protesters whose filings contain artificial intelligence-generated mistakes and hallucinations, generative AI can be a valuable tool for the bid protest bar if used with safeguards, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

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    Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Trade In Limbo: The Legal Storm Reshaping Trump's Tariffs

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    In the final days of May, decisions in two significant court actions upended the tariff and trade landscape, so until the U.S. Supreme Court rules, businesses and supply chains should expect tariffs to remain in place, and for the Trump administration to continue pursuing and enforcing all available trade policies, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • Why Funder Forecasts Don't Belong In Royalty Analysis

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    In denying the request for production of damages-model communications between Haptic and its litigation funder, which Apple argued were relevant to a reasonable royalty analysis, a California federal court recently reaffirmed an underappreciated principle — that the purpose and context of an estimate shape its evidentiary value, says Rick Eichmann at Secretariat Advisors.

  • Move Beyond Surface-Level Edits To Master Legal Writing

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    Recent instances in which attorneys filed briefs containing artificial intelligence hallucinations offer a stark reminder that effective revision isn’t just about superficial details like grammar — it requires attorneys to critically engage with their writing and analyze their rhetorical choices, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • NCAA Settlement Kicks Off New Era For Student-Athlete NIL

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    A landmark settlement stemming from 15 years of litigation between schools and the NCAA reflects a major development in college athletics by securing compensation for usage of student-athletes' names, images and likenesses, and schools hoping to take advantage of new opportunities should take proactive steps to comply with new rules, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Lessons From Recent Creative Clashes In Entertainment IP

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    Three recent controversies highlight when creative expression might cross over into infringing another party's rights, and how these potentially conflicting interests can be balanced, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 9th Circ. Has Muddied Waters Of Article III Pleading Standard

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    District courts in the Ninth Circuit continue to apply a defunct and especially forgiving pleading standard to questions of Article III standing, and the circuit court itself has only perpetuated this confusion — making it an attractive forum for disputes that have no rightful place in federal court, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • What Calif. Appeals Split Means For Litigating PAGA Claims

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    After two recent California state appeals court rulings diverged on whether a former employee with untimely individual claims under the Private Attorneys General Act can maintain a representative action, practitioners' strategic agility will be key to managing risk and achieving favorable outcomes in PAGA litigation, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • How Cos. Can Prep For Calif. Cybersecurity Audit Regulations

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    As the California Privacy Protection Agency Board finalizes cybersecurity audit requirements, companies should take six steps to prepare for the audit itself and to build a compliant cybersecurity program that can pass the audit, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Competing In Modern Pentathlon Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Opening myself up to new experiences through competing in modern Olympic pentathlon has shrunk the appearance of my daily work annoyances and helps me improve my patience, manage crises better and remember that acquiring new skills requires working through your early mistakes, says attorney Mary Zoldak.

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