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Washington
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December 23, 2025
Intent Not Needed To Boost ID Theft Sentence, 9th Circ. Says
Federal prosecutors need not show that a defendant intended to commit fraud with stolen materials that have authentication features, such as driver's licenses, for courts to apply a sentencing enhancement for possessing those materials, the Ninth Circuit has held.
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December 23, 2025
Farm To Pay $1M To Settle Claims It Favored Foreign Workers
Washington state apple and hops producer Cornerstone Ranches and associated companies will pay $1 million to resolve claims by Attorney General Nick Brown that the farm fired local agricultural workers in favor of hiring temporary, foreign employees, according to a consent decree announced by the attorney general's office on Tuesday.
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December 23, 2025
Full 9th Circ. Won't Hear Ex-Theranos Exec Balwani's Appeal
A Ninth Circuit panel rejected ex-Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani's en banc hearing request to reconsider his 12-count conviction and nearly 13-year prison sentence, while also amending its opinion to clarify that there was "ample evidence" to convict Balwani, even if prosecutors failed to correct a witness's testimony.
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December 23, 2025
OCC Wants To Preempt State Mortgage Escrow Interest Laws
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has unveiled a pair of proposals aiming to, among other things, preempt state laws requiring banks it regulates to make interest payments for escrow accounts connected to certain types of residential mortgage loans, calling it a "critical tool for reducing unnecessary burden."
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December 23, 2025
IP Lawyer Aims To Toss Amazon's Claims Of Trademark Abuse
A U.S. intellectual property lawyer living in Japan asked a Washington federal court on Tuesday to throw out Amazon.com Inc.'s lawsuit accusing him of conspiring with a Chinese company to use his legal credentials to circumvent a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rule requiring that foreign trademark applicants be represented by U.S. counsel.
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December 23, 2025
Justices Urged To Review 'Bike+' TM Suit Against Peloton
A fitness company with a cycling app called Bike+ has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision dismissing its trademark infringement claims against Peloton, saying the appeals court erred in assessing the likelihood of confusion and should have let a jury decide the matter.
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December 23, 2025
Shuttered Network Co. Gets One More Chance Against AWS
A shuttered network optimization startup has one more chance to fix market definition and other failings in its antitrust case accusing Amazon Web Services Inc. of deliberately sabotaging its work to drive it out of business, after a Washington federal judge gutted most of the suit Monday.
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December 23, 2025
State Telecom Roundup: AGs Step Up War On Robocalls
Americans have been pummeled by more than 2.5 billion robocalls every month this year, and stanching the onslaught has become one of the more bipartisan issues in national politics. Federal and state authorities also agree on the magnitude of the issue, and the nation's attorneys general are teaming up for battle across the country at the state level.
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December 23, 2025
Amazon Escapes Suit Over Conn. Construction Site Nooses
A Connecticut federal judge has dismissed a racial discrimination lawsuit against Amazon by five electricians who said they found eight nooses displayed in a warehouse being built, finding the online retailer did not have enough control over the premises while it was under construction to face possible liability.
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December 23, 2025
Federal Agencies Urge 9th Circ. To Lift Layoff Freeze
The U.S. government urged the Ninth Circuit to stay a court order barring agencies from laying off workers through next month under the shutdown deal, saying the court intruded on federal labor panels' territory and the funding resolution didn't bar layoffs agencies had in the works.
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December 23, 2025
DHS Ordered To Restore $233M Grants To 'Sanctuary' States
A Rhode Island federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate $233 million in funding to immigration "sanctuary jurisdictions," finding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had illegally terminated the grants for political reasons.
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December 22, 2025
Christian University Loses Challenge To Wash. Bias Law
A Seattle federal judge has disposed of a private Christian university's lawsuit claiming a Washington anti-discrimination law interferes with its First Amendment rights to only hire job candidates who share similar religious views, ruling the university hasn't provided evidence it faces realistic danger of injury from the statute.
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December 22, 2025
9th Circ. Sides With Wash. Professor In Free Speech Case
A split Ninth Circuit panel has determined that the University of Washington violated a professor's First Amendment rights by punishing him for mocking a suggested Native American land acknowledgment, concluding in a new published opinion that "student discomfort" alone is not enough to warrant restrictions on academic free speech.
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December 22, 2025
21 AGs Support Gun Ban For Cannabis Users
A federal law that prohibits habitual drug users from possessing firearms is constitutional and necessary for public safety, a coalition of attorneys general from 20 states and Washington, D.C., told the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the justices to overturn a finding that the law violates the Second Amendment except when a user is actively intoxicated.
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December 22, 2025
Wash. AG Urges New Laws After Rape Test Backlog Cleared
The Washington State Attorney General's Office has released a report detailing how it eliminated a decadeslong backlog of more than 10,000 untested sexual assault test kits and provided state legislators with a list of recommendations to support victims of sexual assault.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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Defeating Estoppel-Based Claims In Legal Malpractice Actions
State supreme court cases from recent years have addressed whether positions taken by attorneys in an underlying lawsuit can be used against them in a subsequent legal malpractice action, providing a foundation to defeat ex-clients’ estoppel claims, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.
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Trade Secret Rulings Reveal The Cost Of Poor Preparation
Two recent federal appellate decisions show that companies must be prepared to prove their trade secrets with specificity, highlighting how an asset management program that identifies key confidential information before litigation arises can provide the clarity and documentation that courts increasingly require, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Series
The Biz Court Digest: How It Works In Massachusetts
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.
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Viral 'Brewers Karen' Incident Teaches Employers To Act Fast
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.
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Why Appellees Should Write Their Answering Brief First
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.
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Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
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.
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Series
Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy
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.
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Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata
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.
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How 9th Circ. Ruling Deepens SEC Disgorgement Circuit Split
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.
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When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action
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.
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Justices' LabCorp Punt Leaves Deeper Class Cert. Circuit Split
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.
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Lessons From Del. Chancery Court's New Activision Decision
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.
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Opinion
Courts Must Continue Protecting Plaintiffs In Mass Arbitration
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.
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Series
Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.