California

  • January 28, 2025

    Pearl Cohen Expands To Bay Area Via IP Firm Merger

    Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer Baratz LLP has merged with San Francisco-based intellectual property firm Vierra Magen Marcus LLP, the firm has announced.

  • January 28, 2025

    Shook Hardy Litigator Jumps To K&L Gates In Orange County

    K&L Gates LLP is expanding its California litigation team, announcing Tuesday it is bringing in a Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP trail attorney with a specialty in science as a partner in its Orange County office.

  • January 28, 2025

    Judge Temporarily Halts Trump's Funding Freeze

    A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a Trump administration freeze on federal spending that was set to go into effect at 5 p.m., as a group of nearly two dozen attorneys general filed a separate case challenging what they described as an illegal and potentially catastrophic move.

  • January 28, 2025

    Calif. Bill Targets Oil Cos. For Climate Disaster Costs

    A Democratic lawmaker in California has introduced a bill aimed at improving insurance affordability in the state by allowing insurers and victims of natural disasters to pursue action against oil and gas companies for their role in fueling the climate crisis.

  • January 27, 2025

    Palo Alto Networks Inside-Trader Wins Resentencing At 9th Circ.

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday upheld securities fraud convictions of a former Palo Alto Networks engineer for raking in $7 million by trading on stolen inside information but remanded the case for resentencing, saying a lower court was wrong to use his trading gains to estimate the cybersecurity company's loss.

  • January 27, 2025

    ​​​​​​​States Back In Spotlight As Feds Exit Net Neutrality Debate

    The Sixth Circuit might have recently hammered the last nail into the coffin of federal net neutrality rules, but states are poised to fill the void — just as some did when the last Trump administration tanked a previous broadband regulatory regime.

  • January 27, 2025

    Google Ireland Says $1.3B Russia Suit Belongs In Arbitration

    An Irish Google affiliate is pressing a California federal court to halt a former Russian Google affiliate from pursuing litigation in Moscow seeking a $1.3 billion judgment in a dispute ostensibly challenging certain underlying contracts, saying the matter belongs in arbitration in the Golden State.

  • January 27, 2025

    SoCal Edison To Leave Power Off Amid Eaton Fire Litigation

    Southern California Edison agreed Monday that it won't re-energize the power lines leading to the site of this month's deadly Eaton Fire for three more weeks, after plaintiffs' firm Edelson PC obtained a video that appears to show electrical sparks near the utility's equipment just before the fire began.

  • January 27, 2025

    Jury Will Decide $140M Intuitive Robo-Surgery Antitrust Case

    A federal judge on Monday rejected dueling requests for directed verdicts at the wrap of a $140 million antitrust trial over claims that Intuitive Surgical abused its market power in barring a repair provider's refurbished part for Intuitive's surgery robot, saying there's "substantial evidence" for jurors to decide on the parties' claims and counterclaims.

  • January 27, 2025

    Obesity-Focused Metsera Leads Biotech Firms Eyeing IPOs

    Obesity-focused drug developer Metsera launched plans on Monday for an estimated $275 million initial public offering, joined by kidney-disease focused Maze Therapeutics, both of which plan to tap the markets this week under combined guidance of four law firms.

  • January 27, 2025

    Gerber, Nestle Sued Over Claims Of Metal In Baby Food

    A mother has filed suit against baby food manufacturers, including Gerber Products Co., Beech-Nut Nutrition Co. and Walmart Inc., claiming her child developed autism after consuming their products, which were tainted with heavy metals, and she is seeking to join the larger multidistrict litigation.

  • January 27, 2025

    Fill-In Nurses, Staffing Agency Strike Deal To End Wage Suit

    An agency that provides nurses to hospitals when their employees go on strike reached a deal Monday with 42 nurses who accused the company of stiffing them on wages when they were sent to work at a Kaiser Permanente medical center, a filing in Colorado federal court said.

  • January 27, 2025

    9 Charged In Alleged $200M Chinese Smuggling Scheme

    Nine people were charged by Los Angeles federal prosecutors with scheming to smuggle as much as $200 million worth of counterfeit luxury items into the United States through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

  • January 27, 2025

    Justices Won't Review $90M Facebook Privacy Settlement

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a case involving a $90 million settlement for claims Facebook illegally tracked logged-out users' browsing activity, rejecting an argument from an objector who challenged plaintiff service awards and $26.1 million in attorney fees.

  • January 27, 2025

    Drone Co., Media Biz And Tire-Maker Announce SPAC Mergers

    Three overseas companies spanning industries from drones to fashion media and tire manufacturing announced plans on Monday to go public in the U.S. by merging with special purpose acquisition companies in deals projected to exceed $1.1 billion in value, guided by at least eight law firms.

  • January 27, 2025

    Broadcom Unit Loses Patent In Netflix Fight At Fed. Circ.

    A Broadcom subsidiary had no luck at the Federal Circuit on Monday in breathing new life into data caching patent claims that were asserted in the chipmaker's legal war with Netflix, but later rejected by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • January 27, 2025

    Walmart Hit With False Ad Suit Over Instant Mac And Cheese

    Walmart Inc. was hit with a putative false advertising class action in California federal court by customers who say the retail giant falsely markets its Great Value brand of instant macaroni and cheese products as containing no artificial preservatives and flavors, despite citric acid being part of the ingredients list.

  • January 27, 2025

    LA Sued Over Closed-Door Meetings About Homeless Camps

    The Los Angeles City Council violated state law by holding closed-door meetings about homeless camps in the city, according to a suit filed by advocates for low-income and homeless LA residents in California state court.

  • January 27, 2025

    Influencing 101: Attorneys' Tips For Content Creators

    Content creators and influencers are part of a nearly $500 million industry that presents them with a host of business opportunities — and legal risks. Here, lawyers who advise this growing group of clients share four tips with Law360 on best practices for content creators.

  • January 27, 2025

    'Guesswork' Dooms Class Cert. In Meta Privacy Antitrust Suit

    A California federal judge has refused to certify a class of consumers who say Meta would have to pay users for their data if it didn't lie about privacy safeguards, finding that the motion was undone by the opinions of an economist who cannot get from general economics to market reality.

  • January 27, 2025

    Tesla Too Late To DQ Judge In Crash Suit, Court Told

    A woman suing Tesla Inc. over a crash that resulted in the amputation of her legs is urging a California federal court not to disqualify the judge assigned to her product liability case, saying the automaker has no excuse for waiting nearly a year and a half, until just before trial, to call for his disqualification.

  • January 27, 2025

    California's Oldest Indy Bookstore Gets Ch. 11 Lifeline

    A California bankruptcy judge on Monday gave the Golden State's oldest independent bookstore chain, Books Inc., approval on a raft of first-day motions to ease its navigation through a Chapter 11 case the company launched to address burdensome rent and lower profits in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • January 24, 2025

    SEC Gets Kraken's Major Questions Doctrine Defense Axed

    A California federal judge on Friday partially granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's bid to ax some of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken's key defenses to allegations it violated securities laws by offering crypto assets without proper registration, saying the case wasn't the type to implicate the so-called major questions doctrine defense.

  • January 24, 2025

    Musk Can't Yet Appeal Twitter Investors' Cert., 9th Circ. Says

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday rebuffed Elon Musk's request to immediately appeal a California federal judge's decision to certify a class of thousands of Twitter investors over claims the billionaire businessman fraudulently tweeted about the social media company's alleged bot problem to get out of his $44 billion acquisition.

  • January 24, 2025

    Intuitive Doesn't Owe 'Free-Riding' Firm $140M, Expert Says

    Robotic surgery pioneer Intuitive Surgical isn't a monopolist since it competes with other surgery options and a "free-riding" surgical repair company isn't due up to $140 million in profits allegedly lost due to Intuitive blocking its unauthorized part-refurbishment service, an economist testified Friday in a California antitrust trial.

Expert Analysis

  • The Malpractice Perils Of Elder Abuse Liability

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    Recent cases show that the circumstances under which an attorney may be sued for financial elder abuse remain unsettled, but practitioners can avoid these malpractice claims altogether by taking proactive steps, like documenting the process of evaluating a client's directives under appropriate standards, says Edward Donohue at Hinshaw & Culbertson.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity

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    Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Permitting, Offtake Among Offshore Wind Challenges In 2024

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    Although federal offshore wind development started to pick up this year, many challenges to the industry became apparent as well — including slow federal permitting, the pitfalls of restarting permits after changes in project status, and the difficulties of negotiating economically viable offtake agreements, say attorneys at Liskow & Lewis.

  • Series

    Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.

  • Nevada Justices Could Expand Scope Of Subrogation Claims

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    The Nevada Supreme Court's recent decision to hear North River Insurance v. James River Insurance could expand the scope of equitable subrogation claims in the state by aligning with the California standard, which doesn't require excess insurers to demonstrate damages, says Daniel Heidtke at Duane Morris.

  • Federal Embrace Of Crypto Regs Won't Lower State Hurdles

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    Even if the incoming presidential administration and next Congress focus on creating clearer federal regulatory frameworks for the cryptocurrency sector, companies bringing digital asset products and services to the market will still face significant state-level barriers, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: Ballpark Lessons For MDLs

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    The baseball offseason has provided some time to ponder how multidistrict litigation life resembles the national pastime, including with respect to home-field advantage, major television markets and setting records, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

  • What New Calif. Law Means For Cannabis Lounges

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    With a recently enacted California law authorizing licensed cannabis retailers and microbusinesses to prepare and sell noncannabis food and beverages, the door opens for a more sustainable business model — but challenges related to costs and liability remain, says Tracy Gallegos at Duane Morris.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • What Fed. Circ. Ruling Means For Patent Case Dismissals

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    ​​​​​​​The Federal Circuit's recent decision in UTTO v. Metrotech is significant because it specifically authorizes district courts to dismiss patent infringement lawsuits without a separate Markman hearing, but only when the meaning of a claim term is clear and case-dispositive, says Peter Gergely at Merchant & Gould.

  • 2 Cases Show DAOs May Face Increasing Legal Scrutiny

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    Two ongoing cases that recently survived motions to dismiss in California federal courts concerning Compound DAO and Lido DAO threaten to expand the potential liability for activity attributed to decentralized autonomous organizations — and to indirectly create liability for their participants, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

  • The Fashion Industry Should Prep Now For State PFAS Bans

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    New York and California have each passed legislation regulating PFAS in apparel and other textiles, so retailers should consult with manufacturers and suppliers and obtain the requisite certification documents as soon as possible to avoid disruptions in supply chains, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Rank-And-File DOJ Attorneys Will Keep Calm And Carry On

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    Career prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice often pride themselves on their ability to remain apolitical in order to ensure consistency and keep the department’s mission afloat, and the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to upend this tradition, says Michael Landman at Bird Marella.

  • Expect More State Scrutiny Of PE In Healthcare M&A

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    While a California bill that called for increased antitrust scrutiny of many healthcare private equity transactions was recently vetoed by the governor, state legislatures are likely to continue introducing similar laws, particularly if the Trump administration eases federal enforcement, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

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