Jonathan Bilyk News
Appeals court: Not too late for Mendocino County to subject completed Ukiah gun club project to enviro review
A state appeals panel has ruled Mendocino County wrongly let a gun club in Ukiah move forward with a project to build a new gun range without environmental review under state CEQA law, so a nearby resort can continue to sue to force the club to make potentially costly changes
Appeals panel: Local density caps OK'd by voters don't defeat state law allowing denser housing
California appeals judges said Senate Bill 10, which allows cities and counties to approve certain higher-density housing developments, don't violate the state constitution by overriding local voter initiatives setting housing density caps.
'De facto invisible': High costs, state rules, lack of online access can block public from monitoring 'public' court proceedings
A settlement has resolved a class action vs federal courts over fees charged to access online court documents. But high costs for certain records and varying court rules about public access to court records in Illinois and elsewhere create a legal patchwork that mostly limits public view into the courts
Meta can't escape class action claiming Facebook 'Potential Reach' for ads misled advertisers
A majority on a split panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said it should only matter that Facebook allegedly inflated the "Potential Reach" of "boosted" ads, not by how much individual advertisers may have been misled, if at all
Tenderloin residents, biz sue SF city hall, say city abandoned their streets to crime, homeless, drugs
The plaintiffs have asked a federal court to order the city and county of San Francisco to end an unwritten policy to "contain" criminal activity in the Tenderloin, which they say has created a drug-filled, unsanitary, violent and unlivable neighborhood, violating their constitutional rights
Realtors to pay $418M to end home seller commission class action; Big changes coming to home sale process
Lawyers who brought the lawsuits could be in for a big payday, as well, potentially claiming $140 million from the deal, plus $69 million from earlier settlements with large real estate brokerages facing similar claims of alleged collusion to boost real estate agent commissions
Disability rights advocates say California must allow voters with 'print disabilities' to vote electronically from home
A group of California voters who are blind or otherwise have "print disabilities" have joined with disability rights advocate organizations to sue the state of California, claiming California's vote-by-mail program discriminates against them because they must print and mail their completed ballots
Class action: OpenAI should pay for 'scraping' data to train GPT AI, come under outside control
A lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court asserts OpenAI has violated privacy laws in developing its GPT group of AIs, while allegedly disregarding safeguards that take into consideration the risk of its AIs to humanity
Prop E appears poised to pass, giving police more ability to fight crime in SF
The ballot measure would loosen restrictions on officers' ability to pursue criminal suspects; allow for police leadership to have a greater say in future policy changes; and enable police to use tech, including drones and surveillance cameras, to patrol in high-crime areas.
Objectors to Sacramento marijuana shop owner residency rule win chance to press constitutional claims
A federal appeals panel ruled that a federal district judge had wrongly attempted to duck the thorny constitutional questions by citing the deep conflict between federal and California state marijuana laws
CA Supreme Court says car buyers can demand to keep trade-in credits under 'lemon law' verdicts
Automaker Stellantis/FCA had argued such a ruling would essentially allow car buyers to profit when they buy defective cars, trade them in toward the purchase of other vehicles, and then sue under the lemon law for a full refund.
San Diego judge slashes 90% off $332M verdict awarded to man in Roundup trial
The judge said $325 million in punitive damages was excessive, compared to the $7 million in compensatory damages the jury awarded plaintiff Mike Dennis. The judge cut punitive damages to $21 million. Monsanto still plans to appeal
California remains one of top spots for ADA disability access lawsuits in America
An analysis by the Seyfarth firm placed California No. 2, behind New York, as the top state for new lawsuits filed in federal court under ADA Title III in 2023. Many such lawsuits have been likened by prosecutors to "shakedowns" of small businesses
Biden administration, left-wing allies 'colluding' to shove court fight over immigration past November, judge says
A federal appeals court judge in San Francisco blasted the Biden administration and his fellow judges for allowing left-wing activists to help the president quietly tuck from public view a court fight over the politically fraught crisis at the southern border
California cities can't bring class action to force Netflix, Hulu, other streamers to pay cable TV franchise fees
A state appeals court has pulled the plug, for now, on efforts by trial lawyers and California cities to force streaming entertainment services, like Netflix, to pay the fees normally levied by state law on cable TV companies
California can't enforce minor gun ad ban law while court case plays out over speech restrictions
The full U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said it won't grant the Attorney General's request for a review of a three-judge panel's decision to slap an injunction on AB2571, which they said amounted to an unconstitutional 'muzzling of speech'
Appeals court: Lowe's can't escape PAGA class action by enforcing arbitration clause vs lead plaintiff
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the California Supreme Court's interpretation of the state's controversial PAGA law holds sway over that of the U.S. Supreme Court
Carano sues Disney over firing from 'Mandalorian,' says retaliated against her over politics
TV and film star Gina Carano says Disney illegally attempted to blast her career from orbit over conservative online speech, costing her untold millions of dollars in future career opportunities built on her popular recurring character on Star Wars series, 'The Mandalorian'
Class action lodged vs LDS for allegedly misleading about use of $1.4B of tithes for Salt Lake mall
The class action builds on appellate decision in favor of wealthy ex-Mormon James Huntsman, now seeks payouts on behalf of all LDS tithes-paying members
SF sued for discrimination in transgender guaranteed income program
Lawsuit says the city illegally prioritizes biological male Black or Latino transgender people to receive up $21,600 each from city treasury every 18 months