Commercial Contracts

  • August 13, 2024

    Tort Report: Disney Blasted For 'Absurd' Arbitration Bid

    A Disney unit's unconventional bid to arbitrate a wrongful death suit and a hefty crash suit verdict out of California lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

  • August 13, 2024

    United Customer's Greenwashing Suit Preempted, Judge Says

    A Maryland federal judge ruled Tuesday that federal law preempts a proposed class action alleging United Airlines misled customers by deceptively marketing its use of sustainable aviation fuels and its efforts to be green and carbon-neutral.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ga. Justices To Weigh Arbitrator's Closed-Door Discussions

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to weigh if an arbitrator's ex parte communications with BioTek Services LLC in an allergy testing payment dispute warranted vacating BioTek's $1.7 million arbitration award over compensation for its testing of patients from Docs of CT LLC.

  • August 13, 2024

    Colo. Atty Says Prior Firm Took Clients, Retained Funds

    A lawyer has sued a small law office in Colorado state court, alleging it asked his clients to switch counsel right before the attorney was set to leave the firm and that the law office is trying to get around a provision of his employment agreement that said he could take the clients, as well as their retainer, upon his departure.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ex-McCarter & English Client Wants To Undo Malpractice Loss

    A New Jersey pharmaceutical business is urging a New Jersey state court to reconsider its decision to throw out the company's malpractice case against McCarter & English LLP, saying the firm "brazenly" misstated part of the timeline of the case's lengthy history.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ski Resort, Insurer End COVID Closure Suit Days Before Trial

    Colorado ski resort company Alterra and its insurer agreed to settle a lawsuit over coverage for coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, shortly after a state judge limited Alterra's potential recovery to $1 million.

  • August 13, 2024

    Conn. Trial Attys Back McCarter's Bid For Punitive Award

    The Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association has asked the state Supreme Court for permission to file a friend-of-court brief supporting McCarter & English LLP's bid for a punitive payout after winning multimillion-dollar judgments in a contract dispute with a former client.

  • August 13, 2024

    Insurer Owes $18M For Lost Wind Farm Deals, Suit Says

    Belgium-based insurer QBE Europe SA/NV should be held liable for more than $18 million in losses suffered by former partners in a now-scuttled joint venture with a Danish company to build vessels for the wind farm industry, as it failed to make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute, a lawsuit filed Monday in Massachusetts federal court contends.

  • August 12, 2024

    Nasdaq Isn't Immune From Racial Bias Claims, Investor Says

    The Nasdaq Stock Market isn't immune from racial discrimination claims because such claims are "simply too different" from the claims it actually is protected from as a self-regulatory organization, an investor in a minority-led special purpose acquisition company has argued.

  • August 12, 2024

    PE Firms Aim To Escape RICO Suit Over Inadequate Claims

    Investment firms Advantage Capital Holdings and 777 Partners separately have asked a federal judge in New York to toss a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations suit whose allegations include fraud, saying the plaintiff failed to sufficiently plead its claims.

  • August 12, 2024

    Ogborn Mihm Says Ex-Clients Won't Pay Fees On $2M Win

    Ogborn Mihm LLP accused two former clients Friday of refusing to pay the full $800,000 contingency fee for their $2 million personal injury suit settlement.

  • August 12, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Rethink Upending Sutter Health Antitrust Win

    The Ninth Circuit refused Monday to reconsider a panel's split decision overturning Sutter Health's defeat of insurance plan purchasers' $400 million antitrust suit, summarily rejecting hospital system arguments that the court wrongly put in play corporate "purpose" and decades-old communications.

  • August 12, 2024

    WWE Accuser Says Doc's Lawsuit Threat Meant To Silence Her

    A celebrity doctor with alleged ties to World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and ex-CEO Vince McMahon should be sanctioned for filing a "vexatious" presuit discovery request in an effort to intimidate the woman who claimed the company and former executives sexually abused and trafficked her, she argued in a Monday motion.

  • August 12, 2024

    Tesla Subcontractors Didn't Violate FCA, 9th Circ. Rules

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday refused to revive two foreign workers' whistleblower suit against companies tapped to provide a Tesla construction project with laborers, ruling in a published opinion that the companies didn't defraud the government by seeking cheaper work visas.

  • August 12, 2024

    Navy Federal, Recording Software Co. Want Privacy Suit Nixed

    Navy Federal Credit Union customers can't bring an invasion of privacy class action over the credit union's use of artificial intelligence software to analyze and record customer calls, in part because its recording practices were appropriately disclosed, the nation's largest credit union has argued.

  • August 12, 2024

    Ryan LLC Gets HR Group Assist In Noncompete Fight

    The Society for Human Resource Management threw its weight behind Dallas-based tax company Ryan LLC in the company's ongoing fight to preserve noncompete agreements, saying in a Texas federal court Monday that without nationwide relief, HR professionals and companies will suffer damages "that cannot be fully calculated."

  • August 12, 2024

    Colo. Brewery And Ex-Manager Settle Embezzlement Suit

    A Colorado brewery and its ex-manager accused of embezzling more than $600,000 for his own business agreed to permanently dismiss a lawsuit, one day after a state judge let the brewery seek punitive damages in the case. 

  • August 12, 2024

    Gamers Freed From Arbitration Take On Valve's 30% Cut

    Valve, the operator of the dominant PC game marketplace Steam, is facing a new proposed class action accusing the company of monopolizing the gaming market to artificially inflate prices, this time from a group of plaintiffs who say they have overcome the company's arbitration agreements.

  • August 12, 2024

    UMich Sued By Reseller Over Football Season Ticket Revamp

    A ticket reseller alleges that the University of Michigan used deceptive business practices to entice the company to funnel millions of dollars into the school in exchange for certain season ticketholder perks, only to abruptly reverse course, costing the plaintiff millions in future revenue.

  • August 12, 2024

    Markel Says No Coverage For Film-Financing Scheme Claims

    A Markel unit said it has no duty to defend or indemnify a wealth manager or his companies against underlying claims that they misled investors into financing various film projects, telling an Illinois federal court that their policy bars coverage for claims arising out of the sale of securities. 

  • August 12, 2024

    Construction Co. Says Tribe Can't Escape $1.9M Wage Suit

    A New York construction company is fighting a bid by an entity created by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe to dismiss a $1.9 million wage dispute for work done on an $11.75 million Cape Cod, Massachusetts, housing project, arguing that sovereign immunity can't protect it from the litigation.

  • August 12, 2024

    Proofpoint Seeks To Double $13.5M IP Trial Win At 9th Circ.

    Software company Proofpoint urged the Ninth Circuit to find the lower court erred in denying it exemplary damages that could have doubled its $13.5 million trade secret theft verdict, arguing that a jury should've decided the issue and the ruling violated Proofpoint's Seventh Amendment rights to a jury trial.

  • August 12, 2024

    NC Court Won't Stop 'Ultimate Relief' In Mogul's $524M Case

    The North Carolina Court of Appeals refused on Monday to issue an immediate halt to a court-ordered receiver being appointed to manage the assets of convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg, saying it would consider blocking the appointment after further court proceedings.

  • August 12, 2024

    Lending Co. Best Egg Can Arbitrate Interest Rate Dispute

    Online lender Best Egg can force arbitration of a proposed class action claiming it charged borrowers unlawfully high interest rates, with a Pennsylvania federal judge ruling an online checkbox is enough to indicate borrowers' consent to arbitrate.

  • August 12, 2024

    Philly Shop Blames HVAC Contractor For Fire

    A boutique operating on the ground floor of a Masonic meeting hall in Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill neighborhood has filed a lawsuit in state court blaming an HVAC contractor for a 2022 fire that severely damaged the building and its business.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Addressing Dispositive Motions

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    Stephanie Magnell and Bret Marfut at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Claims and the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals that provide interesting takeaways about the nuances of motion practice utilized by the government to dispose of cases brought under the Contract Disputes Act prior to substantive litigation

  • What 2 Rulings On Standing Mean For DEI Litigation

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    Recent federal court decisions in the Fearless Fund and Hello Alice cases shed new light on the ongoing wave of challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opposite conclusions on whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • Arbitration Implications Of High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Coinbase v. Suski ruling not only reaffirmed the long-standing principle that arbitration is a matter of contract, but also established new and more general principles concerning the courts' jurisdiction to decide challenges to delegation clauses and the severability rule, say Tamar Meshel at the University of Alberta.

  • A Look At Calif. Contract Considerations In Fiji Water Ruling

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    A California appellate court's recent decision in Carolina Beverage v. Fiji Water, that a party may not seek contractual recovery on the basis of constructive termination, offers a look at contract construction and other considerations on negotiating distribution agreements, says Michael Laszlo at Clark Hill.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Practical Private Equity Lessons From 2 Delaware Deals

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    A pair of Delaware Chancery Court cases remind private equity sponsors that specificity is crucial through the lens of deal certainty, particularly around closing conditions and agreement sections of acquisition agreements, say Robert Rizzo and Larissa Lucas at Weil Gotshal and William Lafferty at Morris Nichols.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • How Uyghur Forced Labor Law Affects Importing Companies

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    Amid a growing focus on forced labor in supply chains and a likely increase in enforcement under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, companies may face costly import delays unless they develop and implement compliance best practices, say Thad McBride and Lauren Gammer at Bass Berry.

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