Food & Beverage

  • December 05, 2024

    Medical Pot Group Sues NY Over New $20M Licensing Fee

    The New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association Inc. is suing the state's cannabis regulators, saying a new $20 million fee to convert operators' licenses from medical to adult use is an unconstitutional and punitive tax aimed at keeping them out of the adult-use market.

  • December 04, 2024

    Quaker Beats 'Simply Granola' False Ad Suit, For Now

    An Illinois federal judge has freed the Quaker Oats Company from a putative class action alleging it deceived consumers into believing its "Simply Granola" product contained only oats, honey, raisins and almonds, saying no reasonable consumer would conclude those were the only ingredients based on the products' label.

  • December 04, 2024

    Hemp Farmers Say Bid To Nix $200M Suit Is A Smoke Screen

    Two Colorado hemp growers have urged a federal judge to keep alive their lawsuit alleging that a solar energy company's construction on nearby leased land caused more than $200 million in crop damage, arguing that contractors and subsidiaries involved in the construction don't have to be added to the suit.

  • December 04, 2024

    DEA Judge Sets Pot Rescheduling Hearings

    The Drug Enforcement Administration will kick off six weeks of hearings in late January on the merits of the attorney general's proposal to loosen restrictions on marijuana, an agency administrative law judge said Wednesday.

  • December 04, 2024

    Starbucks Brass Face Derivative Suit Over 'Reinvention' Flop

    Officers and directors of coffee chain Starbucks are facing shareholder derivative claims over the company's so-called Triple Shot Reinvention strategy after the company disappointed the markets in April with updates about the plan.

  • December 04, 2024

    Hoopa Valley Tribe Wants In On Trinity River Water Row

    The Hoopa Valley Tribe is looking to intervene in a challenge to the Bureau of Reclamation over its operation of California's Trinity River water flows in an effort to dismiss the case, arguing that the litigation can't proceed without it, due to its federal property interests in the dispute.

  • December 04, 2024

    Amazon, Stanley Tumbler Maker Sue Alleged Counterfeiters

    Amazon and the maker of the popular "Stanley" tumbler are suing several marketplace vendors in Washington federal court, accusing them of peddling counterfeit drink ware in the e-commerce platform's latest legal push to crack down on brand-stealing sellers.

  • December 04, 2024

    Mich. Justices Mull If Pizza Driver Deal Bars Franchise Claim

    A woman suing Jet's Pizza told the Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday that she should be able to continue suing the pizza franchise after settling with the delivery driver who rear-ended her, pushing the justices to cast aside what she described as an antiquated rule that extinguished her claims.

  • December 04, 2024

    Potent Cannabis Oils Violate Ill. Laws, Suits Say

    Four proposed classes are suing several cannabis product makers and sellers, alleging that products made with Rick Simpson Oil and other potent types of cannabis oils go far beyond Illinois' and other states' legal limits, and the companies fail to warn customers that they're illegal.

  • December 04, 2024

    Worker Accuses Delivery Robot Maker Of Wage Violations

    A former operations coordinator sued a California robotics company making food delivery in partnership with Uber Eats, claiming in his proposed class action in state court that the company cheated workers out of wages and failed to provide meal and rest breaks.

  • December 03, 2024

    Pizza Chain Insurer Owes Share Of Salmonella Deal, Suit Says

    An insurer told a Washington federal court that a Liberty Mutual subsidiary must contribute to a settlement reached by their mutual insured, a "take 'n' bake" pizza restaurant, arising out of allegations that customers purchased raw cookie dough tainted with Salmonella bacteria.

  • December 03, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Trump-Era Rule On Genetically Engineered Crops Tossed

    A California federal judge on Monday vacated a 2020 Trump-era rule that a group of agricultural and environmental organizations alleged significantly reduced government oversight over genetically engineered crops, grasses and trees, granting the groups a partial summary judgment win due to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's inadequate explanations for the rule.

  • December 03, 2024

    Cheese Co. Can't Give Whey Trial The Slip, Nutrition Co. Says

    A nutritional supplement company has asked a Connecticut federal judge to reject giving Colorado-based cheese giant Leprino Foods a summary win in a fight over a whey protein deal, arguing that the motivation behind Leprino's decision to abruptly cut off supply is a key factual dispute.

  • December 03, 2024

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    December's appellate forecast calls for a squall of showdowns in a tiny time period before the holidays, including arguments involving recent U.S. Supreme Court cases, Big Tech's patents and popular purveyors of health food. In addition, winds of change are swirling around the White House's litigation posture and judicial nominations, and we'll quiz you on the latter in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing.

  • December 03, 2024

    AIG Unit Seeks Payback For $2.9M BJ's Injury Payouts

    An AIG unit asked a New York federal court to force another insurer to cover at least part of the $2.9 million it spent settling two construction injury suits after ironworkers fell off ladders while building a Brooklyn, New York, BJ's Wholesale Club in 2014.

  • December 03, 2024

    AmEx Loses Arbitration Bid Due To 'Ironic' Unpaid $17M Bill

    A Rhode Island federal judge on Monday rejected sending a proposed antitrust class action over American Express Co.'s swipe-fee rules back to arbitration after the company refused to pay arbitration fees totaling $17 million, observing that AmEx's actions created its own "ironic dilemma: a credit card company not paying its bills."

  • December 03, 2024

    FDA Issues Guidance On Potential Infant Formula Shortages

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has put forth draft guidance on how the country's infant food manufacturers should tell the agency about permanent or temporary stoppages in the making of infant formula, several years after an outbreak and a national shortage.

  • December 03, 2024

    Judge Trims Fraud Claims From Mead Johnson Formula Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Monday partially granted a bid by Mead Johnson to toss a class action alleging at least seven types of infant formula it sold contained undisclosed heavy metals, throwing out some warranty and fraud claims and claims related to products the lead plaintiff didn't purchase, but allowing the rest of the complaint to move forward.

  • December 02, 2024

    Philadelphia Accused Of Anti-Asian Liquor Law Enforcement

    Groups representing Asian American and Arab American business owners claim the city of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement are violating their rights with state and local ordinances cracking down on "stop and go" liquor establishments and convenience stores, which happen to be predominantly owned by racial minorities.

  • December 02, 2024

    Trial Begins In Trader Joe's Vendor's Fight With Poultry Supplier

    Employees of a poultry producer cracked vulgar jokes about the quality of the meat while packaging raw chicken tainted with bone fragments, a Washington-state grocery store vendor told a federal jury on Monday, blaming the meatpacker for the demise of the Chili Lime Chicken Burgers previously made exclusively for Trader Joe's.

  • December 02, 2024

    McDonalds Can't Nix $10B Bias Suit Despite 'Close Call'

    A California federal judge has refused to hand a summary judgment win to either party in Byron Allen's $10 billion lawsuit alleging that McDonald's Corp. discriminates against Black-owned media companies, finding that the discrimination allegations are a "close call" involving factual disputes that must be decided at trial.

  • December 02, 2024

    Judge OKs Fla. Law Firm's $229K Fee In Chiquita MDL

    A Florida federal judge on Monday approved a fee of more than $229,000 to a law firm for its work in reaching a settlement in the long-running multidistrict litigation over Chiquita Brands International Inc.'s funding of Colombian paramilitaries following a recommendation from a magistrate.

  • December 02, 2024

    EPA Pitches Partial Ban On Food Crop Pesticide Chlorpyrifos

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it is proposing a rule to revoke tolerances over the use of chlorpyrifos on foods, a year after the Eighth Circuit said the agency hurriedly instituted a ban and didn't fulsomely consider the possibility of allowing some beneficial uses to continue.

  • December 02, 2024

    DEA Asserts Its Role As Proponent Of Pot Rescheduling Plan

    The Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday affirmed it was acting as the proponent of a proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, and the administrative law judge said supporters of rescheduling would not get an opportunity to cross-examine DEA witnesses.

  • December 02, 2024

    3 Firms Guide UAE Food Delivery App's Landmark $2B IPO

    Shares in Talabat, a food delivery app based in the United Arab Emirates, are set to begin trading next week following a $2 billion initial public offering that marked the largest global technology IPO this year, under guidance from three law firms.

Expert Analysis

  • Defense Insights As PFAS Consumer Product Claims Rise

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    Amid the recent proliferation of lawsuits seeking damages for failure to disclose the presence of PFAS in consumer products, manufacturers, distributors and consumer product companies should follow the science and consider a significant flaw in many of the filings, say attorneys at Farella Braun.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • Recent Listeria Outbreaks Hold Key Compliance Lessons

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    Listeria outbreaks in ready-to-eat foods from Boar's Head and other companies, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration responses to these outbreaks, should be closely evaluated from an overall compliance and risk management perspective by food manufacturers, retailers and industry investors, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • What Cos. Can Learn from Water Microplastics Class Actions

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    Class actions against companies whose bottled spring water allegedly contains microplastics, challenging claims such as "natural" and "100% spring water," seem to be drying up — but these cases serve as a good reminder to other businesses to review regulatory standards, and carefully vet plaintiff allegations at the outset, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • What's Next For The CFTC After The Election

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    While much of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's enforcement actions in line with its traditional priorities will continue as usual in the near term, postelection leadership changes at the CFTC and new congressional priorities may alter the commission's regulatory framework in 2025 and beyond — particularly its oversight of crypto, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Why K-Cup Claims Landed Keurig In Hot Water With SEC

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent settlement with Keurig Dr. Pepper for making incomplete statements regarding the recyclability of K-cup pods highlights the importance of comprehensive corporate disclosures, particularly with respect to ESG matters, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Legislation Most Likely To Pass In Lame Duck Session

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    As Congress begins its five-week post-election lame duck session, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig break down the legislative priorities and which proposals can be expected to pass.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • The 3rd-Party Bankruptcy Release Landscape After Purdue

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    In its Purdue Pharma ruling prohibiting nonconsensual third-party releases, the U.S. Supreme Court did not comment on criteria to render a third-party release consensual, opening a debate in the bankruptcy courts on the permissibility of opt-out versus opt-in releases, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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