Food & Beverage

  • February 13, 2025

    Fla. Judge Denies Drinks Co. Ex-CEO Bid To Ax Monster Liens

    A Florida federal bankruptcy judge on Thursday declined to rule on a bid to dismiss all Monster Energy Company's claims and liens against the former CEO of the corporation that produces Bang Energy drinks, saying he lacks jurisdiction to resolve issues between two non-debtors.

  • February 13, 2025

    Wash. Justices Wary Of Pay Transparency Law Stances

    Washington's highest court grilled attorneys on both sides of a debate over state pay transparency law on Thursday, with some justices suggesting the employer's stance put too much onus on workers while another expressed doubt the protections should extend to people who apply for jobs they have no chance to get.

  • February 13, 2025

    Packaging Co. To Pay $6.25M Over Shuttered NC Paper Mill

    Food and beverage packaging company Pactiv Evergreen has agreed to pay $6.25 million to settle the state of North Carolina's lawsuit seeking to recoup $12 million in financial incentives to keep a local mill operating in the town of Canton, after suddenly closing its facility in 2023.

  • February 13, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Defaulted Notes, EB-5 Investor Fraud

    The North Carolina Business Court has been handed in the first half of February a receivership case involving a defaulted $17.5 million promissory note, a fraud suit by Chinese EB-5 investors and a request to depose the chief legal officer of Smithfield Foods Inc.

  • February 13, 2025

    2nd Circ. Trims Ex-NY County Official's Corruption Verdict

    The Second Circuit on Thursday undid part of the bribery conviction of a former Long Island county official accused of accepting kickbacks in return for helping a restaurateur secure a loan, saying his role as Nassau County executive did not make him an "agent" of a local municipality.

  • February 12, 2025

    Calif. Panel Upends Bakery's Bias Suit Win Over Gay Wedding

    A California appeals court on Tuesday reversed a California bakery's trial court victory in a discrimination lawsuit challenging its refusal to sell a wedding cake to a lesbian couple, finding that a wedding cake design standard the bakery had leaned on was facially discriminatory.

  • February 12, 2025

    Sea Salt Co. Sued Over Lead And Arsenic Levels

    A salt company was hit with a proposed class action Tuesday in California federal court over allegations that its salt contains arsenic and lead, asserting that there is no safe level of lead.

  • February 12, 2025

    Insurer Says Gun Clause Blocks Deadly Shooting Coverage

    An insurer has said a firearms exclusion in a Washington state sports pub's policy bars coverage in a pair of wrongful death lawsuits stemming from a shooting more than three years ago that left three people dead.

  • February 12, 2025

    Blind Vendors Fight Dismissal Of Military Retailer Dispute

    Vendors challenging a military retailer's alleged violation of a law requiring federal agencies to prioritize businesses owned by the blind have pushed back at a magistrate judge's recommendation to toss their suit, saying they shouldn't be made to exhaust administrative remedies first.

  • February 12, 2025

    Poultry Producers Can't Dodge Bid-Rigging Claims In MDL

    An Illinois federal judge trimmed on Tuesday some conspiracy claims from a massive antitrust case against chicken producers, including Pilgrim's Pride and over a dozen others, but kept intact other bid-rigging allegations, finding that a class of restaurants and other direct buyers plausibly alleged the companies increased prices in parallel.

  • February 12, 2025

    Albertsons To Face Reduced Claims Over Tech Theft

    A Washington federal judge has cleared software company Replenium Inc. to pursue trade secret and promissory estoppel claims against Albertsons, finding it plausibly alleged the grocer misused confidential information from their software partnership to build a competing auto-replenishment platform.

  • February 12, 2025

    Tobacco Fee Couldn't Have Injured Worker, Campbell's Says

    The Campbell's Co. urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a suit from a former worker alleging the company's tobacco-free wellness program is violating federal benefits law by making workers who use tobacco pay more for health insurance, arguing the ex-employee can't bring his claims because he never enrolled in the program.

  • February 12, 2025

    $180M Deals In Poultry Process Wage-Fixing Row Get First OK

    A Maryland federal judge gave her blessing to several settlements totaling approximately $180 million in a suit accusing a slew of poultry companies of conspiring to keep wages low at their plants, greenlighting what the workers called "a historic recovery."

  • February 12, 2025

    Starbucks Accused Of Flouting Mass. Polygraph Hiring Law

    Starbucks is ignoring a Massachusetts law requiring employers to inform job-seekers that the state doesn't allow the use of lie detector tests in employment decisions, according to a putative class action filed in state court.

  • February 11, 2025

    Logan Paul Co. Won't Fight Messi's Absence In Drink IP Suit

    Logan Paul's company told a New York federal judge it won't object to Lionel Messi's absence in an upcoming settlement conference in a trademark dispute due to the soccer legend's unavailability, after Messi's counsel claimed Monday the demand for the athlete's attendance appears to be designed "solely to harass" him.

  • February 11, 2025

    FTC Says Small Stores Pay Southern Glazer's Up To 67% More

    The Federal Trade Commission's price discrimination case against Southern Glazer's accuses the wine and spirits distributor of routinely charging small retailers up to 67% more for the same products as large chain stores, according to newly unsealed redactions.

  • February 11, 2025

    Factual Dispute Keeps Walmart BIPA Suit In Court, For Now

    An Illinois jury will determine whether a driver for Walmart's grocery delivery platform Spark signed an arbitration agreement during his onboarding before a federal judge can decide whether his underlying biometric privacy claims should be redirected away from court, the judge said Tuesday.

  • February 11, 2025

    Proskauer-Led Rocktree Buys Atria, Secures $350M Financing

    Infrastructure service provider Rocktree Logistics Group has agreed to buy a group of South American port services companies called Atria Soluciones Logisticas from private equity shop Southern Cross Group in a deal built by three law firms, and has secured $350 million in private credit financing in connection with the deal.

  • February 11, 2025

    Peet's Coffee, Splenda Maker Settle Sweetener TM Row

    Peet's Coffee Inc. and Splenda maker Heartland Consumer Products LLC said Tuesday they have agreed to settle a trademark dispute over the coffee retailer's alleged use of Splenda labels to identify non-Splenda sweeteners, according to a one-page order in California federal court.

  • February 11, 2025

    Sen. Pushes USDA Nominee On Plan To Deal With Egg Prices

    A Democratic senator from New Mexico has questioned Brooke Rollins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture secretary-designate, on her plan to address the rising cost of eggs driven by a highly contagious bird flu outbreak.

  • February 11, 2025

    Starbucks Fights Fla. Defamation Suit Over Atty's Statements

    Coffee giant Starbucks Corp. wants out of a lawsuit brought by a patent-licensing company executive's defamation lawsuit, arguing its attorney was not speaking for the company when she made allegedly defamatory statements in an October news article.

  • February 10, 2025

    Models Say Atlanta Bar Ripped Off Images For Promo Nights

    An Atlanta bar was accused Monday of ripping off the likenesses in its ads of five Los Angeles-based models who are represented by a firm that has taken establishments around the country to court on similar Lanham Act claims.

  • February 10, 2025

    Mexico Lodges Bid To Resolve US Biotech Corn Fight

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has applauded a pair of policy changes in Mexico aimed at complying with a dispute settlement panel's decision that faulted the country's biotechnology corn regulations.

  • February 10, 2025

    Former Palm GC's Racial Bias Claim Should End, Judge Says

    A New York federal judge has recommended dismissing a race discrimination claim brought by an ex-general counsel for The Palm steakhouse chain's owner while allowing her retaliation and breach of contract claims to proceed to arbitration, concluding that the company's onetime top lawyer had not shown the restaurant had "discriminatory intent."

  • February 10, 2025

    Little Caesars Cheated Workers Out Of OT, Suit Claims

    Pizza chain Little Caesars didn't pay workers for the time they spent responding to texts and phone calls outside their scheduled shifts, a former co-manager said in a proposed class and collective action filed in Michigan federal court on Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege

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    Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.

  • What's Next For State Regulation Of Hemp Cannabinoids

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    Based on two recent federal court cases that indisputably fortify broad state authority to regulate intoxicating hemp cannabinoid products, 2025 will feature continued aggressive state regulation of such products as industry stakeholders wait for Congress to release its plans for the next five-year Farm Bill, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • National Bank Act Rulings Facilitate More Preemption Analysis

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    Two recent National Bank Act preemption decisions from an Illinois federal court and the Ninth Circuit provide the first applications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, opening the potential for several circuit courts to address the issue this year, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • Opinion

    New DOJ Leaders Should Curb Ill-Conceived Prosecutions

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    First-of-their-kind cases have seemingly led to a string of overly aggressive prosecutions in recent years, so newly sworn-in leaders of the U.S. Department of Justice should consider creating reporting channels to stop unwise prosecutions before they snowball, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

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    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example

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    Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

  • Perspectives

    Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines

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    KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Foreign Trade Zones Can Help Cos. With Tariff Exposure

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    Companies navigating shifts in global trade — like the Trump administration’s newly levied tariffs on Chinese goods — should consider whether the U.S. Department of Commerce's poorly understood foreign trade zone program could help reduce their import costs, says James Grogan at FTI Consulting.

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

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    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

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    In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

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    Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Why Trump's FTC May Not U-Turn On Robinson-Patman

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent revival of Robinson-Patman Act enforcement may well be here to stay under the Trump administration — albeit with some important caveats for businesses caught in the government's crosshairs, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.

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