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California

  • May 23, 2025

    Westlaw AI Win Right But Appellate Review Wise, Judge Says

    A Delaware federal judge Friday voiced confidence in his ruling that tech startup Ross Intelligence infringed copyrighted material from Thomson Reuters' Westlaw platform to create a competing legal research tool powered by artificial intelligence, but explained that granting interlocutory appeal on two questions will help resolve the case more efficiently.

  • May 23, 2025

    Calif. Developer Duped Churchgoers In $46M Scam, Feds Say

    A Sonoma, California, real estate developer faces federal wire fraud and money laundering charges in connection with claims he duped hundreds of would-be investors — some of whom are described in court filings as elderly members of his church congregation — into giving him over $46 million as purported investments in certain real estate limited partnerships that their funds were never actually invested in.

  • May 23, 2025

    LegitScript Can't Use 'Unclean Hands' To Ax Antitrust Case

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday said that pharmacy verification and monitoring service provider LegitScript could not toss an antitrust action brought by PharmacyChecker.com based on assertions that the plaintiff facilitated the illegal importation of foreign drugs, saying that the defense of unclean hands doesn't bar the lawsuit.

  • May 23, 2025

    Judge Extends Block On Trump's Government Layoffs

    A California federal judge has extended her block of President Donald Trump's executive order directing layoffs at federal agencies, saying a coalition of unions, nonprofits and cities has shown it is likely to succeed in showing the order exceeded the president's authority.

  • May 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Judges Grapple With Funko Investors' Fraud Claims

    Ninth Circuit panelists said Friday they were "struggling" with an appeal from a group of investors in a proposed class securities fraud case against toymaker Funko, expressing skepticism that the shareholders had shown corporate leadership knowingly misrepresented the status of a software update that flopped.

  • May 23, 2025

    Atty, Stepdaughter Face $600K Workers' Comp Fraud Charges

    The Orange County District Attorney's Office has charged a California attorney and his stepdaughter with conspiring to defraud a police department she was employed at by filing fraudulent workers' compensation payments.

  • May 23, 2025

    SoCal Edison To Pay $82.5M Over 2020 Bobcat Fire Costs

    Southern California Edison agreed Friday to pay $82.5 million to the federal government to resolve a lawsuit that seeks to recoup costs incurred by the U.S. Forest Service as a result of the devastating 2020 Bobcat Fire, which burned over 100,000 acres, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced.

  • May 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds Ch. 13 Plan Against Debt Bifurcation Appeal

    The Ninth Circuit rejected a mortgage lender's bid to overturn a California couple's bankruptcy plan, ruling their recalculated home value qualified them for Chapter 13 despite initial estimates exceeding the unsecured debt limit.

  • May 23, 2025

    IP Notebook: Trump's AI Plan, ChatGPT Logs, Dewberry Cited

    In this round of emerging issues in copyright and trademark law, Law360 takes a closer look at comments submitted to the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies to create an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan as part of an executive order from President Donald Trump.

  • May 23, 2025

    Biotech Insider Traded On $3.5B Novartis Deal, Feds Say

    A former board member at Chinook Therapeutics orchestrated an insider-trading scheme after learning about Novartis' plans to purchase the biotech company for $3.5 billion in 2023, according to an indictment announced Friday.

  • May 23, 2025

    Judge Skeptical Of Harm In Recall Of Tribe's Gambling Eligibility

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday signaled concerns with the Interior Department's decision to revoke a California tribe's gambling eligibility for a casino-resort project in the Bay Area, but said that the tribe faces an uphill battle in establishing the irreparable harm needed to secure a preliminary injunction.

  • May 23, 2025

    Staffing Co. Owner Gets 8 Years For $60M Payroll Tax Fraud

    The owner of California staffing companies who admitted to a long-running payroll tax fraud that caused roughly $60 million in tax losses was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $38 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, prosecutors said.

  • May 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Urged To Force ERISA 401(k) Suit Arbitration

    A Los Angeles-based investment management company urged the Ninth Circuit to force individual arbitration of an ex-worker's proposed class action alleging 401(k) mismanagement, arguing a lower court incorrectly concluded an arbitration provision in employees' retirement plan wasn't enforceable because it waived statutory rights under federal benefits law.

  • May 23, 2025

    Musk Doubles Down After OpenAI Drops For-Profit Transition

    OpenAI's decision to abandon its transition into a for-profit enterprise was not enough to appease Elon Musk, who doubled down Thursday with an amended California federal court complaint continuing to allege the ChatGPT maker tricked him into contributing nearly $45 million with false promises of remaining a nonprofit.

  • May 23, 2025

    Foley & Lardner Adds DLA Piper, McDermott Corporate Pros

    Foley & Lardner LLP has hired two seasoned attorneys in California who previously practiced at DLA Piper and McDermott to bolster its innovative technology sector and transactions practice group.

  • May 23, 2025

    2 Firms Tapped To Lead Visa Derivative Suits Over DOJ Claims

    A California federal judge has combined lawsuits accusing Visa's executives and directors of allowing the company to understate the regulatory risk it faced by engaging in anticompetitive actions currently at the center of a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice last year, and appointed two law firms to lead the litigation.

  • May 23, 2025

    GAO Dismisses Protest To Forest Service Fire Retardant Buy

    A Missouri company that supplies the U.S. Forest Service with fire retardants and support services had no basis to protest a sole-source award for the agency to buy 900,000 gallons of another company's product for testing, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said.

  • May 23, 2025

    Off The Bench: Tennis Officials, NCAA Stay On The Defensive

    In this week's Off The Bench, tennis players face pushback from the governing bodies they are accusing of antitrust violations, college basketball players claiming the NCAA exploited them want their class action revived, and a baseball player seeking one last year to play in college hits another legal roadblock.

  • May 23, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Troutman, A&O Shearman

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Blackstone acquires TXNM Energy, OpenAI buys io Products, Lumen Technologies sells its Mass Markets fiber-to-the-home business in 11 states to AT&T, and AMD sells its data center infrastructure manufacturing business to Sanmina.

  • May 23, 2025

    FTC Finally Drops Challenge To Microsoft-Activision Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission has dropped its in-house case seeking to block Microsoft's $68.7 billion purchase of video game developer Activision Blizzard, after its Ninth Circuit loss earlier this month, ending a lingering challenge to a deal that closed in late 2023.

  • May 22, 2025

    Nonprofits Seek To Block Trump's DEI, LGBTQ+ Orders

    A group of nonprofits urged a California federal judge Thursday to block President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting diversity and inclusion policies and programs serving the LGBTQ+ community, arguing the unconstitutionally "vague" orders have upended lifesaving services and illegally treat transgender individuals as if they don't exist.

  • May 22, 2025

    Training LLMs Is OK, Pirating Isn't: Anthropic Judge Tips Hand

    A California federal judge considering writers' copyright suit against Anthropic indicated Thursday that he thinks training its LLM with copyrighted works is fair use, but said plaintiffs can likely pursue claims that the AI startup infringed by obtaining those training materials from pirating websites instead of buying them.

  • May 22, 2025

    EV Carmaker Lucid Gets Inflated Biz Suit Trimmed, Again

    A California federal judge on Thursday again trimmed a proposed investor class action that alleges electric carmaker Lucid made misleading production forecasts, finding that the latest complaint still doesn't adequately allege the defendants knew some of the challenged statements were false when they were issued.

  • May 22, 2025

    Chegg Investors Get Final OK In $55M Student Cheating Deal

    A California federal judge on Wednesday gave his blessing to a $55 million settlement resolving investor claims that educational technology company Chegg Inc. falsely attributed its "dramatic growth" during the COVID-19 pandemic to its sustainable business model, rather than to students using the platform to cheat.

  • May 22, 2025

    Feds Push To Nix Landmark Migrant Kids Detention Settlement

    The Trump administration is urging a California federal judge to end a landmark settlement agreement governing the custody of detained immigrant children — a move advocacy groups that have long fought for it quickly vowed to fight.

Expert Analysis

  • Recent Cases Suggest ESG Means 'Ever-Shifting Guidelines'

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    U.S. courts have recently handed down a number of contradictory decisions on important environmental, social and governance issues, adding to an already complex mix of conflicting political priorities, new laws and changing regulatory guidance — but there are steps that companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Pepperdine Case Highlights Shift In Collegiate IP Landscape

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    A complaint filed by Pepperdine University against Netflix and Warner Bros. two weeks ago alleges that a comedy series unlawfully copies the school's trademarks, and the decision could reshape the portrayal of collegiate athletics on screen and the legal tools schools use to defend their emblems, says Mindy Lewis at Michelman & Robinson.

  • What To Know About Insurance Coverage For Greenwashing

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    As the number of public and private lawsuits relating to greenwashing dramatically grows, risk managers of companies making environmental claims should look to several types of insurance for coverage in the event of a suit, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • 7 Tips For Associates To Thrive In Hybrid Work Environments

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    As the vast majority of law firms have embraced some type of hybrid work policy, associates should consider a few strategies to get the most out of both their in-person and remote workdays, says James Argionis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Series

    Playing Beach Volleyball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My commitment to beach volleyball has become integral to my performance as an attorney, with the sport continually reminding me that teamwork, perseverance, professionalism and stress management are essential to both undertakings, says Amy Drushal at Trenam.

  • Considering The Future Of AI Regulation On Health Sector

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    As Texas looks to become the next state to pass a comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence, the healthcare industry should consider how AI regulation will continue to evolve in the U.S. and how industry members can keep up with compliance considerations, say attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.

  • Opinion

    California Climate Lawsuit Bill Is Constitutionally Flawed

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    A bill in the California Legislature that would let victims of climate-related disasters like the Los Angeles wildfires sue oil and gas producers for spreading misinformation about climate change is too vague, retroactive and focused on one industry to survive constitutional scrutiny, says Kyla Christoffersen Powell at the Civil Justice Association of California.

  • How Law Firms Can Counteract The Loneliness Epidemic

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    The legal industry is facing an urgent epidemic of loneliness, affecting lawyer well-being, productivity, retention and profitability, and law firm leaders should take concrete steps to encourage the development of genuine workplace connections, says Michelle Gomez at Littler and Gwen Mellor Romans at Herald Talent.

  • What's At Stake In High Court's Class Member Standing Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s eventual decision in Labcorp v. Davis could significantly alter how parties prosecute and defend class actions in federal court, particularly if the court determines some proof of member standing is required before a class may be certified, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Opinion

    DOJ's HPE-Juniper Challenge Is Not Rooted In Law

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    Legal precedents that date back as far as 1990 demonstrate that the U.S. Department of Justice's recent challenge to the proposed $14 billion merger between Hewlett Packard and Juniper is misplaced because no evidence of collusion or coordinated conduct exists, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.

  • 5 Keys To Building Stronger Attorney-Client Relationships

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    Attorneys are often focused on being seen as the expert, but bonding with clients and prospects by sharing a few key personal details provides the basis for a caring, trusted and profoundly deeper business relationship, says Deb Feder at Feder Development.

  • Notable Q4 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    In a continuation of trends in property and casualty insurance class actions, last quarter insurers struggled with defending the merits and class certification of sales tax and fee suits, and labor depreciation cases, but succeeded in dismissing privacy class actions at the pleading stages, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.

  • How Crypto Firms Should Approach Patchwork Of State Laws

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    The Money Transmission Modernization Act was designed to create uniformity across state digital regulations, but the reality remains far from consistent — as demonstrated by the patchwork of laws in states like Texas, Vermont, New York and California — so as state legislatures convene in the coming weeks, crypto firms should watch closely for developments that could shape the regulatory landscape, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Opinion

    NFT Bill Needs Refining To Effectively Regulate Digital Assets

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    A recent bill in the U.S. House proposing to regulate nonfungible tokens as digital assets would leave key concepts undefined until the U.S. comptroller general completes an after-the-fact study of NFTs, showing it needs more work before it is comprehensive enough to meaningfully protect the market, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • Series

    Racing Corvettes Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I use when racing Corvettes have enhanced my legal practice in several ways, because driving, like practicing law, requires precision, awareness and a good set of brakes — complete with the wisdom to know how and when to use them, says Kat Mateo at Olshan Frome.

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