Commercial Contracts

  • December 17, 2024

    Mountain West Conference Hit With New Suit Over Exit Fees

    Two schools sued the Mountain West Conference on Tuesday, alleging its punishing exit fees are stifling their ability to join the rival Pac-12 Conference, echoing Pac-12's antitrust case against Mountain West over supposed efforts to stifle Pac-12 recruitment.

  • December 17, 2024

    Visa Says 'Contradictory' Debit Card Market Dooms DOJ Suit

    Visa Inc. formally asked a New York federal judge Monday to nix the U.S. Department of Justice monopolization lawsuit accusing it of paying off would-be debit network rivals and penalizing the use of alternate payment systems, arguing the government cannot mix-and-match its way into claiming the company holds a dominant market share.

  • December 17, 2024

    Stanford Profs Say Roche's Trade Secret Claims Time-Barred

    Stanford University's trustees and three of its professors have asked a California federal court to dismiss trade secret theft claims bought by subsidiaries of F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, arguing that the allegations are time-barred because the companies were on notice of the purported misappropriation for over three years before filing suit.

  • December 17, 2024

    Supplier Wins $3.5M In Case That Shook Up Auto Contracts

    A Michigan state judge invoked both "The Godfather" and the ancient Greek king Pyrrhus of Epirus in a decision awarding a rubber manufacturing company $3.5 million, finding it was strong-armed by erroneous court orders into selling parts at a loss.

  • December 17, 2024

    Heartland Payment Settles Florida School Lunch Card Suit

    Parents from Florida and elsewhere have settled a proposed federal class action with a payment processor over alleged unfair surcharges collected after depositing lunch money onto school-sponsored reloadable cards used by their kids.

  • December 17, 2024

    Colo. Atty Accused Of Poaching Seeks State Justices' Take

    It's time for Colorado's Supreme Court to weigh whether law firms may prohibit attorneys from soliciting co-workers to depart their firm together, a lawyer accused of soliciting BigLaw firms to poach her department from a Denver personal injury firm argued Monday, asserting the case is a matter of first impression.

  • December 17, 2024

    Insurer Settles Coverage Row Over Conn. Plane Crash

    An aviation insurer seeking to avoid coverage for a 2021 crash that killed all four passengers aboard a Cessna private jet settled its suit with the owners and operators of the jet, according to a notice in Connecticut state court.

  • December 17, 2024

    Connecticut Gallery Wants To Erase Most Of 'Fake' Art Suit

    A Connecticut art gallery has asked for a judge's permission to seek summary judgment on most counts in a lawsuit alleging that it sold a fake Keith Haring chalk drawing for $165,000 after vouching for its authenticity, writing in a proposed memorandum that the plaintiff's remedies are limited to rescission of the purchase agreement and a refund.

  • December 16, 2024

    BNY Scores Exit In Mutual Fund Conflict Of Interest Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge on Monday granted The Bank of New York Mellon's bid to toss a proposed class action claiming that it failed to disclose conflicts of interest when funneling client assets into mutual funds and other investment vehicles that favored the bank, ruling that the claims are preempted by the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act.

  • December 16, 2024

    Lye Indirect Buyers Can't Certify Price Fixing Class

    A New York federal judge denied a bid for class certification from indirect buyers of lye who allege manufacturers of the chemical colluded to inflate prices, saying Monday they didn't show common questions predominate for their proposed classes or that most members suffered an injury due to the alleged cartel.

  • December 16, 2024

    Texas Bitcoin Mining Enterprise's Investors Accuse It Of Fraud

    Founders of a Texas-based bitcoin mining company are being accused of fraud by several investors in a new lawsuit claiming they attempted to conceal the sale of the company's operational facilities to a competitor, which led to the company's filing for bankruptcy earlier this year.

  • December 16, 2024

    Amazon Judge Again Doubts Late-Delivery Refund Claim

    A Washington federal judge suggested Monday an Amazon.com customer paying extra for a specific delivery time should expect their package to arrive within that time frame, but she questioned why the putative class action plaintiff never requested a refund of the shipping fees.

  • December 16, 2024

    Vegetable Co. Seeks $5M Policy Limit For Facility Fire

    A Pacific Northwest vegetable processor said its insurer owed the full $5 million limit of its policy after a fire broke out at a Washington state facility and caused over $73 million in property damage and business income losses combined, according to a complaint removed to federal court.

  • December 16, 2024

    Court Approves Mandated $115M Door Factory Sale

    A Virginia federal court has approved the planned $115 million sale of a door-skin manufacturing plant after a landmark order forced Jeld-Wen to unload the factory in a long-running private antitrust case by rival Steves & Sons Inc.

  • December 16, 2024

    Boeing Says Records Loss Should Get 737 Max Suit Tossed

    The Boeing Co. is asking a Washington federal court to throw out a suit from a defunct African airline over fallout from a 737 Max airplane deal, saying that the plaintiff airline's loss of records was intentional and warrants sanctions.

  • December 16, 2024

    Disney, Fox And Warner Bros. Can't Duck Fubo's Antitrust Suit

    A New York federal court refused dismissal bids Friday from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery as they tried to duck an antitrust case over their sports-only streaming service, and also denied Fox's motion to sever the claims against it and transfer the venue to the Central District of California.

  • December 16, 2024

    The Biggest Patent Decisions Of 2024

    This year's notable patent decisions from the Federal Circuit provided clearer guidelines on double patenting and opened the door for new ways to invalidate design patents. Here's a look at the cases from 2024 that will shape patent litigation going forward.

  • December 16, 2024

    Ecuador Banana Co. Prez Ordered To Jail Over $6.9M Award

    A Miami federal judge issued an arrest order for the president of an Ecuadorian banana company that ignored court orders to turn over financial information at the request of Chiquita Brands International, which is trying to enforce a $6.9 million arbitration award.

  • December 16, 2024

    NJ Judge Approves Settlement In Artificial Turf MDL

    A New Jersey federal judge has granted final approval to a proposed nationwide settlement to end a multidistrict litigation brought by consumers who purchased retired artificial fields from FieldTurf USA Inc.

  • December 16, 2024

    Blindsided Developer Says $112K Legal Bill Should Be $25K

    A real estate developer fighting a $112,000 legal bill from Conrad & Scherer LLP testified in a Florida state court Monday that he hired the firm for its banking regulation expertise but not for trial work in a lawsuit over a luxury house in Colorado.

  • December 13, 2024

    OpenAI Slams Musk's 'Evidence-Free' Bid To Block For-Profit

    OpenAI urged a California federal judge Friday to reject Elon Musk's bid to block the artificial intelligence research organization from transitioning into a for-profit enterprise, scoffing at Musk's assertions of anticompetitive practices and arguing that the injunctive motion is "just another evidence-free effort to harass a competitor."

  • December 13, 2024

    NCAA, Pac-12, USC Say Reggie Bush Filed NIL Suit Too Late

    The NCAA, the University of Southern California and the Pac-12 Conference urged a Los Angeles state court to toss former USC star running back Reggie Bush's lawsuit accusing them of profiting off his fame without compensating him, saying Bush waited "far too long" to sue.

  • December 13, 2024

    Prindle Goetz Says Attys Took Trade Secrets To Rival Firm

    Prindle Goetz Barnes & Reinholtz LLP sued two former nonequity partners in California state court Thursday, accusing them of taking its confidential billing, compensation and client listing information with them in late 2022 before jumping to a rival law firm launched by a former equity owner at the law firm.

  • December 13, 2024

    US Bank Fails To Beat RMBS Suit From Commerzbank

    A New York federal judge has ruled that Commerzbank AG's suit against U.S. Bank may proceed, rejecting U.S. Bank's argument that presuit notification to certain residential mortgage-backed securities trust parties was unnecessary due to their alleged involvement in the misconduct.

  • December 13, 2024

    NHTSA Publishes Whistleblower Program Final Rule

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized its whistleblower program, which could award as much as 30% of monetary sanctions to a worker of an auto manufacturer who calls out bad behavior.

Expert Analysis

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • The Effects Of New 10-Year Limitation On Key Sanctions Laws

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    Recently enacted emergency appropriations legislation, doubling the statute of limitations for civil and criminal economic sanctions violations, has significant implications for internal records retention, corporate transaction due diligence and government investigations, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Supply Chain Considerations For Companies Deploying AI

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    Many businesses will risk failure by embracing artificial intelligence without fully understanding the risks, and the value of a five-step AI supply chain analysis cannot be overstated, say Brooke Berg and Nathan Staffel at Nardello & Co.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • Key Lessons From Recent Insurance Policy Reform Litigation

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    A review of recent case law reveals the wide range of misunderstandings that may arise between insurers and policyholders in the purchase and renewal of insurance policies, as well as the utility — and the limits — of reformation and related remedies for these misunderstandings, say Jad Khazem and Seth Tucker at Covington.

  • Compliance Considerations For New Data Protection Law

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    Sam Castic at Hintze Law discusses how to determine if your organization is covered by the newly enacted Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, the scope of the law's restrictions, and how to go about compliance as its June 23 effective date approaches.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Affirms NY Law's Creditor-Friendly Approach

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    The Second Circuit’s recent ruling in 245 Park Member v. HNA International provides creditors with some reason for optimism that debtors in New York may face rejection in court for aiming to keep creditors at arm’s length by transferring personal assets into an LLC, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • Diving Deep Into Sweeping NY Financing Bill — And Its Pitfalls

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    A New York bill seeking to impose state usury limits onto a broader variety of financing arrangements and apply lender licensing requirements to more diverse entities would present near-insurmountable compliance challenges for lenders and retailers, say Kate Fisher and Tom Quinn at Hudson Cook.

  • When Oral Settlements Reached In Mediation Are Enforceable

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    A recent decision by the New Jersey Appellate Division illustrates the difficulties that may arise in trying to enforce an oral settlement agreement reached in mediation, but adherence to certain practices can improve the likelihood that such an agreement will be binding, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

  • What Transactional Attys Must Know About Texas Biz Courts

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    As Texas prepares to launch its new business courts, transactional attorneys — especially those involved in commercial, securities and internal governance matters — should keep several issues in mind when considering use of the state's business court system to facilitate deals and settle disputes, say attorneys at Katten.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • Behind Court Challenges To The FTC's Final Noncompete Rule

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent final rule banning noncompetes may not go into effect any time soon amid a couple of Texas federal court challenges seeking to bar the rule's implementation, which will likely see appeals all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, says Michael Elkins at MLE Law.

  • Can Chatbot Interactions Lead To Enforceable Contracts?

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    The recent ruling in Moffatt v. Air Canada that found the airline liable for the representations of its chatbot underscores the question of whether generative artificial intelligence chatbots making and accepting offers can result in creation of binding agreements, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • The Opportunities, Risks And Rewards Of AI Acquisitions

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    As artificial intelligence acquisitions become an increasing area of focus for investors and technology buyers, entities should pay special attention to target identification, due diligence and more when structuring and executing a transaction with a company that has an AI-centric business model, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate

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    With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.

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