Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Intellectual Property, Litigation

Koi Design v. Marron Lawyers — Professional-conduct breaches can support malpractice and fiduciary-duty claims

automatic / August 6, 2026

The Ninth Circuit revived Koi Design’s malpractice claims, holding that professional-conduct violations and evidence of failed disclosure and supervision could support breach and causation.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Litigation

Inland Empire Waterkeeper v. Corona Clay — Sackett requires another Clean Water Act trial

automatic / August 5, 2026

The Ninth Circuit ordered a new trial on whether Temescal Creek remains covered by the Clean Water Act after Sackett narrowed federal water jurisdiction.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Committee for a Better Arvin v. EPA — feasibility cannot dilute Clean Air Act contingency measures

automatic / August 5, 2026

EPA could not read a feasibility exception into the Clean Air Act’s mandatory contingency-measure requirement for the San Joaquin Valley.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Intellectual Property, Litigation

VIP Products v. Jack Daniel’s — Dog-toy parody does not tarnish famous whiskey marks

automatic / August 4, 2026

The Ninth Circuit vacated Jack Daniel's injunction because its evidence did not show that the Bad Spaniels parody was likely to harm the reputation of its famous marks.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Intellectual Property, Litigation

Amazon v. Perplexity AI — User-directed shopping agent likely does not “access” Amazon under hacking laws

automatic / August 4, 2026

The Ninth Circuit vacated an injunction against Perplexity's shopping assistant because users, not the AI company, likely accessed Amazon's computers.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law

Przybocki v. USDA — Consumers and Food Sellers Can Pursue First Amendment Challenges to FODMAP Label Restrictions

automatic / August 3, 2026

The Ninth Circuit found standing for consumers and food sellers challenging federal restrictions on FODMAP label information.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law

United States v. Ridley-Thomas — Ninth Circuit Upholds Los Angeles Public-Corruption Convictions

automatic / August 3, 2026

The Ninth Circuit upheld Mark Ridley-Thomas’s bribery and honest-services fraud convictions based on a $100,000 funneling arrangement.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Civil Procedure

Shenzhen Zehuijin Investment Center v. Yingkui — Physical Presence Supports Personal Jurisdiction Without In-Person Service

automatic / August 3, 2026

Physical presence supports personal jurisdiction even without in-person service, and a separate service objection can be waived.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Ridley-Thomas — Ninth Circuit affirms Los Angeles bribery convictions

automatic / August 3, 2026

The Ninth Circuit upheld Mark Ridley-Thomas’s bribery and honest-services convictions based on an indirect $100,000 benefit for his son.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Banking & Finance, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Pover v. Capital Group — ERISA plan-wide claims cannot be stripped by arbitration waiver

automatic / July 30, 2026

The Ninth Circuit refused to enforce an arbitration provision that prevented a retirement-plan participant from seeking plan-wide ERISA relief.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Intellectual Property, Litigation

Multiple Energy Technologies v. Casden — Corporate officer keeps interference immunity despite self-interest

automatic / July 30, 2026

A corporate officer does not lose California agent immunity merely because actions benefiting the company also advance the officer’s own financial interests.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration, Litigation

Rodriguez Vazquez v. Bostock — Interior Immigration Arrests Do Not Trigger Mandatory Detention

automatic / July 30, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that noncitizens arrested in the interior after entering without inspection are not automatically subject to mandatory detention and may seek bond consideration.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Serenity Investments v. Sun Hung Kai — Conversion Defendants May Seek Equitable Indemnity

automatic / July 29, 2026

The Ninth Circuit predicts that California treats conversion as strict liability, allowing a conversion defendant to seek equitable indemnity from negligent joint tortfeasors.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law, Litigation

United States v. Yates — Prosecutors Retain Broad Control Over Third Acceptance Point

automatic / July 29, 2026

Prosecutors may withhold the third acceptance-of-responsibility point after a stipulated trial, and federal judges must exercise discretion when classifying uncharged California wobbler conduct.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law, Family Law

United States v. Lopez — California domestic-violence convictions are not categorical crimes of violence

automatic / July 28, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that Penal Code section 273.5 does not categorically require the mental state needed for a federal crime-of-violence enhancement.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Anten — Federal Threat Statute Requires Objective Threat and Subjective Fault

automatic / July 27, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that the federal interstate-threat statute requires both an objectively threatening communication and a culpable subjective mental state.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Healthcare Law, Labor & Employment Law

Weiss v. Permanente Medical Group, Inc. — Religious-Objection Notice Was Sufficient at the Pleading Stage

automatic / July 24, 2026

The Ninth Circuit revived a medical employee's religious-accommodation claims, holding that her allegations plausibly gave the employer notice of a conflict between her faith and its COVID-19 vaccination policy.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law, Immigration

Diaz-Boyzo v. Blanche — Assaulting a Spouse in Front of Children Is a Removable Child-Abuse Offense

automatic / July 23, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that Oregon felony assault committed in front of a household child categorically qualifies as a removable child-abuse offense.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Pereda — GPS and On-Scene Facts Supported Parole Searches of a Trailer and Truck

automatic / July 23, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that GPS history and on-scene facts gave officers probable cause to search a supervisee’s trailer and pickup under his warrantless-search condition.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Torres-Casas v. Blanche — Child who turns 21 during BIA appeal stops qualifying for cancellation hardship

automatic / July 22, 2026

Child who turns 21 during BIA appeal stops qualifying for cancellation hardship.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

United States v. Colar — Failure to Investigate an Alternate Juror’s Express Bias Requires a New Trial

automatic / July 21, 2026

The Ninth Circuit ordered a new trial because the district court delayed and inadequately investigated an alternate juror who had expressly prejudged the defense.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Garcia Demetrio v. Blanche — Age-based asylum social groups are legally immutable

automatic / July 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that age-based asylum groups are immutable as a matter of law and ordered the BIA to reconsider the applicant's claims.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Holcomb — Officers Must Halt a Computer Search When Probable Cause Dissolves Mid-Execution

automatic / July 17, 2026

A divided Ninth Circuit holds that police executing a computer search warrant must stop searching when evidence they discover negates the probable cause underlying the warrant—and that the good-faith exception does not save evidence found after probable cause dissolves.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Knife Rights, Inc. v. Bonta — Ninth Circuit Denies En Banc Review, Upholding California Switchblade Regulations

automatic / July 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denied panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in a Second Amendment challenge to California's switchblade knife regulations, leaving intact a panel ruling that California's ban on the concealed carry of switchblade knives survives a facial constitutional challenge under the Bruen framework.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Banking & Finance, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Relator LLC v. Erskine — Ninth Circuit Revives PPP Fraud Whistleblower Suit, Holds Mortgage Company’s Own Website Is Not “News Media” Under False Claims Act

automatic / July 15, 2026

The Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a False Claims Act qui tam suit alleging PPP fraud by a California mortgage company, holding that a NAICS industry code alone does not publicly disclose fraud and that a company's own website does not qualify as 'news media' for purposes of the Act's public disclosure bar.