A recent Ninth Circuit decision, Rushing v. Williams-Sonoma, Inc., 2026 WL 2731408 (9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2026), confirms that defendants seeking to compel arbitration based on internet contracts must do more than submit exemplar screenshots of webpages containing arbitration-related disclosures.  Rather, to meet their evidentiary burden, defendants must tie that visual evidence to the specific users at issue—showing that the webpages actually appeared as depicted in the exemplars at the time those users accessed them.

In Rushing, the plaintiffs brought a putative class action alleging false advertising related to the thread count of defendants’ bedding products.  After the district court certified a class of California consumers, the defendants moved to compel arbitration of claims by class members who had purportedly agreed to defendants’ arbitration agreement.  In support, defendants submitted declarations and accompanying exemplar screenshots of checkout and account sign-up processes on their webpages that contained language disclosing that taking some action on the page constituted agreement to defendants’ terms and conditions, which included an arbitration agreement.

Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Emphasizes Importance of Connecting Visual Proof to Class Members for Motions to Compel Arbitration

The Sixth Circuit’s recent en banc decision in Clippinger v. State Farm Auto. Ins. Co., 173 F.4th 817 (6th Cir. 2026), continues to shape class action litigation involving breach-of-contract claims. In Nichols v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co., 2026 WL 2581605 (S.D. Ohio Sept. 1, 2026), the Southern District of Ohio denied class certification in a putative class action challenging the method State Farm used to calculate “actual cash value” payments for totaled vehicles.

Continue Reading Ohio Federal Court Denies Class Certification in Contract Dispute, Illustrating Strategies For Defeating Similar Claims

On August 28, 2026, the California Legislature passed SB 690, a significant bill aimed at curbing the flood of demand letters and lawsuits asserting “pen register” claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”). If enacted, the bill would eliminate the private right of action for website-based pen register claims and could affect many pending lawsuits filed since January 1, 2025.

Continue Reading California Legislature Passes CIPA Pen Register Reform Bill and Sends It to Governor

The Ninth Circuit recently confirmed that when a putative class alleges that a marketing representation is deceptive because it is inconsistent with industry standards, plaintiffs must offer common, class-wide proof of deception.  See Rusoff v. The Happy Group, Inc., No. 24-7706 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2026).

In Rusoff…

Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Hatches New Opinion Confirming False Advertising Plaintiffs Must Offer Common Proof of Deception

Does class certification strip a defendant of its right to compel arbitration against unnamed class members?  The Third Circuit recently held that it does not, unless the party seeking arbitration has waived that right by expressly or impliedly demonstrating an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of it.  Salvatora v. XTO Energy, Inc., ___ F.4th ___, *3 (3d Cir. 2026).  What, then, constitutes such a demonstration?

Continue Reading Preserving the Right to Arbitrate Against Unnamed Class Members

In a recent decision challenging Google’s Gemini AI features, a California federal court held that allegations concerning an AI tool’s capabilities, without facts showing actual access or use of plaintiffs’ data, were insufficient to demonstrate the “concrete” harm required for Article III standing.  Thele v. Google LLC, 2026 WL…

Continue Reading Gemini Tracking Allegations Fall Short of Article III Standing

In a decision highlighting the importance of testing standing through discovery, a Florida federal court dismissed privacy claims at the class-certification stage after concluding that neither named plaintiff could establish Article III standing.  Although the plaintiffs’ allegations survived a motion to dismiss, discovery later exposed their “utter disregard” for the allegedly private information at issue, leaving them with nothing more than “a bare statutory violation.”  Cobbs v. PetMed Express, Inc., 2026 WL 2234135 (S.D. Fla. July 31, 2026).

Continue Reading Letting the Cat Out of the Bag: Named Plaintiffs’ Own Conduct Defeats Privacy Claims

The Third Circuit recently vacated and remanded a district court’s decision granting class certification for a class of third-party payors (“TPPs”) pursuing Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) claims against GlaxoSmithKline LLC (“GSK”). See In re Avandia Mktg., Sales Pracs. & Prod. Liab. Litig., 2026 WL 2093904 (3d Cir. July 21, 2026). The TPPs’ claims are based on GSK allegedly misrepresenting Avandia’s cardiovascular risks and benefits.

The central issue on appeal was whether the class of TPPs satisfied Rule 23’s requirements for class certification.

Continue Reading Third Circuit Raises the Bar for Proving Causation Through Statistical Evidence in RICO Pharmaceutical Fraud Class Actions

Owning a product that might malfunction isn’t enough for Article III standing—the defect must actually manifest. That’s the message from Glasscock v. Sig Sauer, Inc., __ F.4th __, 2026 WL 2054200 (8th Cir. July 16, 2026), where the Eighth Circuit vacated class certification and dismissed the case after the named plaintiff admitted his firearm had never malfunctioned.

Continue Reading No Misfire, No Case: Eighth Circuit Decertifies Gun-Defect Class Action Over Standing

On July 1, 2026, a California legislative committee advanced amendments to SB 690 that would eliminate private suits asserting website-based “pen register” claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”), leaving enforcement exclusively to the California Attorney General.  The amendments come amid a surge of lawsuits and demand letters challenging the use of website technologies under the pen register provision, which the committee described as a “poster child for abusive lawsuits.”  According to the committee analysis, “[b]ecause the potential liability can be staggering,” businesses often settle quickly, thereby “encouraging vexatious litigants to continue blasting out demand letters.”

Continue Reading California Legislature Advances Bill Targeting Wave of CIPA Pen Register Lawsuits