Commercial Contracts

  • January 10, 2025

    Funkadelic Keyboardist Fights Sanctions Bid In Royalty Dispute

    The widow of Parliament-Funkadelic's founding keyboardist told a Michigan federal judge Friday that she should not be sanctioned in a royalty dispute with bandleader George Clinton, saying she didn't try to hide what she said is an irrelevant settlement agreement with a record company.

  • January 10, 2025

    Marlins, Collector Near Deal Over Ohtani's Historic Base

    The Miami Marlins appear close to resolving a federal suit brought by a baseball collector who claimed that the team reneged on a deal to sell him a base used in the game that saw Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani eclipse 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season, according to a Friday court filing.

  • January 10, 2025

    Defunct Nursing School Inks $5M Deal To End Consumer Suits

    The operators of Stone Academy, a defunct, private, for-profit nursing school in Connecticut, have agreed to a $5 million settlement to end two student-led lawsuits and another suit by the state, Attorney General William M. Tong said Friday.

  • January 10, 2025

    Hog Supplier's Contract Tussle With Smithfield OK'd For Trial

    A former hog supplier in North Carolina can take some of its breach of contract claims to trial in a lawsuit alleging Smithfield Foods Inc.'s pricing practices were a death knell for the supplier's swine operations, according to a newly unsealed state Business Court opinion.

  • January 10, 2025

    Off The Bench: Venu Deal Off, Fox Suit, Gender Rules Wobble

    In this week's Off The Bench, a last-minute merger ends litigation over the new sports streaming service Venu, only for its backers to mothball the project entirely, Fox Sports is rocked by lurid sexual harassment claims, and a federal judge knocks down an attempt to expand transgender discrimination protections.

  • January 10, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen legal services group RBG Holdings face a winding-up petition from founder Ian Rosenblatt amid soured talks about the group's leadership, J.P. Morgan file a fresh claim against WeRealize, retailer Asda face an intellectual property claim over a specific type of mandarin and financier Nathaniel Rothschild sue German entrepreneur Lars Windhorst and his investment vehicle Tennor International. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • January 10, 2025

    Law Firm's Fee Suit Can't Proceed In Ga., Investment Co. Says

    A Michigan-based investment firm has asked a Georgia federal judge to toss a suit accusing it of failing to pay more than $180,000 in legal fees owed to an Atlanta-area law firm, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction under the state's long-arm statute.

  • January 10, 2025

    Feds Say Rocket Mortgage Can't Avoid Race Bias Suit

    The federal government has pushed back against Rocket Mortgage LLC's motion to dismiss a racial discrimination suit accusing the company and other parties of undervaluing a Black woman's Denver duplex after she applied for refinancing.

  • January 10, 2025

    ESPN, Fox, Warner Bros. Abruptly Scrap Sports Streaming JV

    ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery called off their Venu joint live sports streaming venture Friday, just days after ESPN parent company The Walt Disney Co. used the acquisition of a majority stake in streaming startup FuboTV Inc. to nix Fubo's challenge to Venu on the courthouse steps.

  • January 09, 2025

    Amazon Loses Bad Faith Claims Against Nokia At ITC

    A U.S. International Trade Commission judge has shot down Amazon's arguments that Nokia failed to offer reasonable or nondiscriminatory patent license terms, ruling instead that Amazon was infringing a series of Nokia patents related to video technology.

  • January 09, 2025

    Tribe's Atty Looks To Ax Remaining Claims In $14.6M Suit

    An attorney who has represented the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma as general counsel has asked a federal judge in a $14.6 million racketeering and breach of contract dispute against a computer management company to toss the case or pause it pending a circuit court appeal.

  • January 09, 2025

    Amazon Can't Cancel Audible Auto-Enrollment Suit

    A Washington federal judge declined to toss a California consumer's proposed class action over Amazon's Audible auto-enrollment practices on Wednesday, emphasizing the plaintiff has now specified she never received any emails outlining the terms of the subscription she was allegedly registered for after redeeming a promotional offer.

  • January 09, 2025

    Texas Oil Well Operator's Ch. 11 Plan Approved With Releases

    Oil well operator Independence Contract Drilling received approval Thursday from a Texas bankruptcy judge for its Chapter 11 reorganization plan, which includes consensual third-party releases.

  • January 09, 2025

    5 Things Executive Pay Attys Should Keep An Eye On In 2025

    Tesla chief executive Elon Musk will be seeking a green light for a $56 billion pay package while a new administration in the White House may scuttle proposed incentive pay regulations and a ban on noncompete agreements. Here, Law360 looks at five things executive compensation lawyers will be following in the new year.

  • January 09, 2025

    DirecTV, Dish Say Sports Streamer Harmful Despite Fubo Deal

    DirecTV and Dish are hoping to pump the brakes on any immediate plans to unwind a New York federal court's injunction stopping the ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery joint sports venture from hitting the market after Disney announced its majority acquisition of the deal's biggest challenger, Fubo, this week.

  • January 09, 2025

    College Hoopers Ask NC Justices To Hear Free Speech Row

    Eight former Lenoir-Rhyne University women's basketball players and their team manager urged the North Carolina Supreme Court to take up their case claiming the school breached its contracts by removing them from its team for speaking up about racial issues.

  • January 09, 2025

    NJ Firm Accused Of Malpractice Hid Facts, Insurer Says

    An insurer has told a New Jersey federal court that a law firm it insured had no coverage for malpractice allegations because it knew its attorney was accused of bilking a man's heirs out of estate assets years before the firm was sued for wrongdoing, but never told the insurer.

  • January 09, 2025

    Yale Wins Info Battle In $435M Hospital Sale Contract Fight

    Three Connecticut property owners must hand over internal analyses and communications to Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. as it seeks evidence in support of its bid to back out of a $435 million deal to purchase hospitals from Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., a state court judge ruled.

  • January 09, 2025

    White And Williams Elevates New Subrogation Dept. Chair

    White and Williams LLP has elevated a longtime subrogation partner to chair of the firm's subrogation department, in which he has practiced for more than 30 years.

  • January 09, 2025

    Musk Could Dodge Some Claims In X Severance Suit

    Six former Twitter employees who alleged they weren't paid severance benefits after Elon Musk took over the company shouldn't be able to proceed with their claims under Texas law, a Delaware federal magistrate judge said, but he recommended that claims under California and New York law be given a second chance.

  • January 09, 2025

    Rooftop Owner Can't Strike Out Chicago Cubs' Ticket Suit

    A rooftop venue owner accused of selling tickets to Chicago Cubs games and other events without a license cannot ditch the lawsuit and redirect its claims to arbitration because he brought the wrong motion to do so, an Illinois federal judge said Tuesday.

  • January 08, 2025

    Group Alleges $10M 'Sham' In Fla. Plant-Based Co. Stock Deal

    A Canadian investment group has sued two Delaware corporations in Florida federal court over a "sham" stock deal, alleging it was fraudulently induced to sell its plant-based food technology company and later cheated out of $10 million worth of cash and common stock it was promised.

  • January 08, 2025

    2nd Circ. Weighs FIFA Verdicts In Light Of High Court Rulings

    Brooklyn federal prosecutors on Wednesday urged the Second Circuit to reverse a lower court's controversial decision to overturn the bribery convictions of a former 21st Century Fox television executive and an Argentine marketing company, disputing that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent corruption rulings impact the massive FIFA corruption ordeal.

  • January 08, 2025

    Bankrupt Ligado Sues Over $1.7B Cooperation Deal Breach

    Satellite communications company Ligado Networks accused a satellite service provider of breaching a $1.7 billion cooperation deal aimed at facilitating Ligado's terrestrial network operations by failing to upgrade its own satellite terminals and deliver portions of its spectrum.

  • January 08, 2025

    Judge Reverses His Own Ruling In Chicago Hotel Zoning Fight

    An Illinois federal judge ruled against the owners of a historic Chicago hotel Tuesday, dialing back an earlier victory he had granted them last year in a zoning suit against the city.

Expert Analysis

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • NC Ruling Takes Practical Approach To Duty-To-Defend Costs

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    In Murphy-Brown v. Ace American Insurance, a case of first impression, the North Carolina Business Court adopted the commonsense rationale of many state courts in holding that policyholders' defense costs should be deemed presumtively reasonable when a insurer breaches its duty to defend, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Testing The Waters As New Texas Biz Court Ends 2nd Month

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    Despite an uptick in filings in the Texas Business Court's initial months of operation, the docket remains fairly light amid an apparent wait-and-see approach from some potential litigants, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • How DOJ's Visa Debit Monopolization Suit May Unfold

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recently filed Section 2 monopolization suit against Visa offers several scenarios for a vigorous case and is likely to reveal some of the challenges faced by antitrust plaintiffs following the U.S. Supreme Court's split 2018 American Express decision, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • There's No Crying In Property Valuation Baseball Arbitration

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    The World Series is the perfect time to consider how the form of arbitration used for settling MLB salary disputes — in which each side offers competing valuations to an arbitrator, who must select one — is often ideal for resolving property valuation disputes, say Sean O’Donnell at Herrick Feinstein and Mark Dunec at FTI Consulting.

  • Navigating Fla.'s Shorter Construction Defect Claim Window

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    In light of recent legislation reducing the amount of time Florida homeowners have to bring construction defect claims, homeowners should be sure to understand their rights and responsibilities regarding maintenance, repairs and inspections set forth in developer-drafted documents, say Brian Tannenbaum and Nicholas Vargo at Ball Janik.

  • Why Diversity Jurisdiction Poses Investment Fund Hurdles

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    Federal courts' continued application of the exacting rules of diversity jurisdiction presents particular challenges for investment funds, and in the absence of any near-term reform, those who manage such funds should take action to avoid diversity jurisdiction pitfalls, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • Webuild Ruling Complicates Arb. Award Enforcement In US

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    A Delaware federal court's recent decision in Sociedad Concesionaria Metropolitana de Salud v. Webuild, if read literally, could undercut the United States' image as a proarbitration jurisdiction by complicating creditors' efforts to enforce awards against property in this country, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

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