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It has been two years since the Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct., 141 S. Ct. 1017 (2021), holding that Ford could be subject to personal jurisdiction in Minnesota and Montana because the suit “related to” the company’s contacts with the states, even though there was not a causal relationship between Ford’s contacts with the forum and plaintiffs’ claims.
Continue Reading Celebrating the Two-Year Anniversary of Ford – The Ninth Circuit’s Recent Personal Jurisdiction Decision Shows It’s Not “Anything Goes”

The U.S. Supreme Court has voted to hear an appeal of the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Varela v. Lamps Plus, Inc. The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether workers can pursue their claims through class-wide arbitration when the underlying arbitration agreement is silent on the issue.
Continue Reading SCOTUS to Review Right to Class Arbitration in Silent Agreements

On January 3, 2018, the Ninth Circuit found unconstitutional a California law barring retailers from imposing surcharges on customers using credit cards. The ruling has important implications for retailers operating in California and potentially for retailers operating in several other states with similar bans on credit card surcharges. …
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Clears the Way for Surcharges on Credit Card Payments in California

The Ninth Circuit will decide whether Great Lakes Reinsurance must defend clothing company, In and Out, against a trademark infringement suit by Forever 21. The dispute focuses on exclusionary language in the general liability policy issued by Great Lakes to In and Out, which broadly bars coverage for claims stemming from violations of intellectual property rights, but which also excepts from the exclusion claims for copyright, trade dress and slogan infringement occurring in the company’s advertisements. …
Continue Reading Ninth Circuit to Decide Whether IP Exclusion Applies to Forever 21 Trademark Suit

Two recent decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit – one involving a rare written dissent from the denial of a petition for rehearing en banc – demonstrate the continuing difficulties courts are facing in determining what constitutes a concrete injury under Spokeo. …
Continue Reading Eleventh Circuit Decisions Demonstrate Difficulties in Analyzing Standing Following Spokeo

On April 18, 2017, the state of Washington passed House Bill 1493, which sets forth requirements for businesses who collect and use biometric identifiers for commercial purposes. Under HB 1493, a biometric identifier includes a fingerprint, voiceprint, retina, iris or other unique biological patterns or characteristic used to identify a specific individual.
Continue Reading Washington State Passes New Legislation on Collection and Use of Biometric Identifiers