Commercial Contracts

  • September 23, 2024

    Helicopter Co. Used Code Names To Oust Supplier, Jury Hears

    Under the code name "Project Cicada," Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. worked for years to replace California-based digital avionics equipment supplier Rogerson Aircraft Corporation with a competitor, a jury heard in a Texas state court Monday, using Rogerson's trade secrets to prep the rival for the eventual shift.

  • September 23, 2024

    Gordon Rees Gets Insurer's Wash. Malpractice Suit Trimmed

    A Washington judge issued a mixed order in a lawsuit brought by the insurer for a climbing equipment manufacturer over allegations that misconduct by a Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP attorney — coupled with another insurer's decision to yank coverage — forced the manufacturer into a settlement over a climber's fall.

  • September 23, 2024

    Petco, Shareholders Battle In Chancery Over Controller Clout

    Attorneys for Petco Health & Wellness Co. Inc. face an "uphill battle" in branding as "wrongly decided" a landmark Court of Chancery ruling earlier this year that struck down an agreement giving a company's controlling stockholder board-trumping power, Delaware's chancellor cautioned on Monday.

  • September 23, 2024

    Toyota Accused Of 'Rotten' Forklift Emissions Compliance

    Toyota has been misrepresenting the true emissions levels of the engines in its forklifts and construction machinery, leading businesses to believe the engines were far more environmentally friendly than they actually were, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

  • September 23, 2024

    Medical Records Co. Accused Of Blocking Data Access

    A company that helps insurance providers access patient data on Monday accused medical records company Epic Systems Corp. of violating antitrust law by using its monopoly over electronic health records to squash an emerging competitor.

  • September 23, 2024

    Paxton Urges Firearms Ban Reversal Before State Fair Opens

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked a state appeals court Monday for emergency relief prohibiting the State Fair of Texas from enforcing its new policy banning firearms on fairgrounds, writing that the entity is "forcing thousands of law-abiding Texans to choose" between their constitutional rights and attendance at the state tradition, which opens Friday.

  • September 23, 2024

    Del. Justices Uphold Bankrupt Byju's US Lender Takeover

    A panel of Delaware Supreme Court justices on Monday affirmed a lower court's ruling that the American arm of Indian educational technology business Byju's was in default under a $1.2 billion loan and that lenders had the authority to install new directors.

  • September 23, 2024

    Adjuster Has No Duty To Insured In La. Hurricane Row

    A Louisiana federal judge ruled Monday that an insurance adjuster can't be dragged into a third-party demand by a nursing facility property owner over Hurricane Ida damage to its New Orleans location, finding that only "in very rare circumstances" would the adjuster have any duty to an insured.

  • September 23, 2024

    Jury Finds MGA Owes T.I. $71.4M For Ripping Off IP With Dolls

    A California federal jury handed rapper T.I. a victory Monday in the third trial over his claims against MGA Entertainment, awarding his side more than $71.4 million in compensatory and punitive damages for infringing the trade dress and publicity rights of the OMG Girlz pop group he co-owns with seven of MGA's O.M.G. dolls.

  • September 23, 2024

    Boston Globe Secures Key Depo In Exec's Firing Suit

    A Massachusetts state judge has OK'd The Boston Globe's request for a subpoena it hopes will show a fired executive had a habit of questionable corporate spending.

  • September 23, 2024

    Mass. General Asks Court To End Fat Removal Patent License

    Massachusetts General Hospital is asking a judge to rule that a patent license agreement for a fat removal system it developed has been terminated, after the licensee allegedly defaulted on its payment obligations.

  • September 23, 2024

    Natural Gas Co. Must Pay $6.8M To Ex-Trader In Bonus Fight

    A Colorado state judge has entered a $6.8 million judgment against a natural gas marketing company for its failure to pay an ex-trading director a bonus on lucrative trades he made during a 2021 winter storm, a sum that includes more than $2.5 million in penalties for the company's intentional violation of a state wage law.

  • September 23, 2024

    Warner Bros. Fights To Keep NBA Streaming Suit In Court

    Warner Bros. Discovery, whose subsidiary has been a broadcast partner with the National Basketball Association since 1988, has told a New York state court that the league acted in bad faith in structuring its new $76.7 billion rights deal specifically to circumvent a contractual matching rights clause.

  • September 23, 2024

    Security Co.'s Fatal Shooting Suits Not Covered, Insurer Says

    An insurer has said it doesn't owe coverage to a security guard service company in underlying negligence lawsuits stemming from a fatal shooting that occurred at a North Carolina truck stop where the company staffed security guards, citing certain policy exclusions.

  • September 23, 2024

    Davis Polk Vows Ex-Clerk Won't Touch Crypto Merger Suit

    Local counsel for Galaxy Digital Holdings Inc. has told a Delaware vice chancellor that Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP will ensure that an incoming associate who clerked for the state's Supreme Court won't share information with attorneys defending the digital assets company in a merger suit that the state's highest court revived in May.

  • September 23, 2024

    Holland & Knight Adds Former Treasury Adviser In DC

    A former adviser for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and counsel for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has moved his practice to Holland & Knight's office in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.

  • September 23, 2024

    Hawaii Judge Says Tenants Must Arbitrate Water Pollution Suit

    The named plaintiffs in a proposed class of Hawaii tenants must arbitrate the individual claims in their water contamination case against a landlord while their other claims are paused, an Aloha State federal judge has ruled.

  • September 23, 2024

    Conn. Reaches $5M Deal To Resolve Vision Solar Case

    Connecticut is asking a judge to sign off on a judgment that would impose a $5 million civil penalty against Vision Solar LLC to resolve the state's unfair trade practices complaint against the bankrupt company.

  • September 20, 2024

    Arbitration Unlikely For Nursing Home Poison Death Suit

    A California state appeals court has all but affirmed the denial of arbitration in a suit alleging a nursing home caused the poisoning death of a resident who was mistakenly served industrial cleaner left in a pitcher, saying the trial court must first review the validity of the arbitration agreement.

  • September 20, 2024

    T.I.'s Fight With MGA Over Pop Group IP Goes To Jury Again

    An attorney for hip hop moguls T.I. and Tiny Harris told a California federal jury during closing arguments Friday that "common sense" should lead them to find that MGA Entertainment's line of O.M.G. dolls infringed the trade dress and misappropriated the name, likeness and identity of the OMG Girlz pop group.

  • September 20, 2024

    Judge Won't Toss Fraud Suit Against Crypto-Forex Co. Execs

    A Florida judge decided that the CEO and a founding shareholder of purported foreign exchange currency broker FxWinning Ltd. have sufficient ties to Florida to keep them among the defendants of a suit alleging the business and its operators perpetrated a multimillion-dollar fraud.

  • September 20, 2024

    5th Circ. Says Tribunal Properly Slashed $10.6M Gas Award

    A lower court improperly vacated an arbitral tribunal's decision slashing some $4 million from a $10.6 million award issued to a Colorado-based exploration company following a dispute over a Cameroonian natural gas project, the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday in a published opinion.

  • September 20, 2024

    FERC Opens Enbridge Rate Probe Amid Overcharging Fears

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has opened a rate probe into a gas pipeline co-owned by Enbridge Inc. and DT Midstream, saying the pipeline may be overcharging its customers.

  • September 20, 2024

    JPMorgan Chase Sued Again Over Cash 'Sweep' Program

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. was hit with another proposed class action in California federal court claiming the bank's cash sweep investment program funnels customer funds into low-interest bearing accounts at its affiliate Chase Bank, a move that benefits the financial giant while depriving customers of the chance to earn the market-rate interest.

  • September 20, 2024

    Entrepreneur Says Partners Stiffed Him On Testing Site Deal

    A Pittsburgh entrepreneur says he had a deal with three Omaha, Nebraska-based businessmen to help them open COVID-19 testing labs in Ohio and Pennsylvania in the early days of the pandemic, but is still owed $2 million, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Pennsylvania state court.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Considerations For Evaluating An AI Vendor

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    As artificial intelligence technology advances across industries, businesses can mitigate risks, while maximizing the value of their investment, by evaluating technology, expertise, support services, transparency and more when selecting an AI vendor, say Rahul Kapoor and Shokoh Yaghoubi at Morgan Lewis.

  • A Closer Look At Novel Jury Instruction In Forex Rigging Case

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    After the recent commodities fraud conviction of a U.K.-based hedge fund executive in U.S. v. Phillips, post-trial briefing has focused on whether the New York federal court’s jury instruction incorrectly defined the requisite level of intent, which should inform defense counsel in future open market manipulation cases, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.

  • A Refresher On Alcohol Sponsorships Before The Super Bowl

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    As millions of people will see in Super Bowl commercials Sunday, celebrity sponsorships continue to be a valuable tool for alcohol beverage marketers — and those looking to better target audiences must understand how regulation of the alcohol industry affects these deals, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Compliance Tips On State Automatic Renewal Contract Laws

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    Brian Casey at Locke Lord and Travis Moore at the Service Contract Industry Council consider the challenges in operationalizing compliance faced by extended warranty businesses and whether extended warranties are exempt from laws covering automatic renewal contracts.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Series

    Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.

  • Considering A Practical FRAND Rate Assessment Procedure

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    As the debate over a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory rate continues inside and outside courtrooms, a practical method may assess whether the proposed FRAND rate deviates significantly from what is reasonable, and ensure an optimal mix of assets for managers of standard-essential patent portfolios, says consultant Gordon Huang.

  • How Poor Governance, Weak Contracts Harm Cannabis Cos.

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    Decades into cannabis decriminalization and legalization, many companies in the industry still operate on a handshake basis or fail to keep even minimally required records, which can have devastating effects and lead to costly, business-killing litigation, says Griffen Thorne at Harris Bricken.

  • How Biotech Cos. Can Utilize Synthetic Royalty Financing

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    Synthetic royalty transactions have been on the rise as a funding structure for biotechnology companies, but questions have arisen surrounding how such transactions work, and structuring them correctly requires a nuanced understanding, say Todd Trattner and Ryan Murr at Gibson Dunn.

  • Key Maritime Law Issues In 2024: Election-Year Unknowns

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    In the final installment of this three-part article reviewing the top challenges for the maritime industry this year, Sean Pribyl at Holland & Knight examines how the uncertainty surrounding the forthcoming U.S. election may affect the maritime sector — especially companies involved in offshore wind and deep-sea mining.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

  • Key Maritime Law Issues In 2024: Environmental Challenges

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    In the second installment of this three-part article examining key concerns for the maritime sector this year, Sean Pribyl at Holland & Knight considers how the industry will be affected by environmental concerns — including the growing push for decarbonization, and regulatory scrutiny around greenwashing and ESG issues.

  • 5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money

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    As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.

  • How Biotech Deals May Help Competition, Despite FTC View

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    The Federal Trade Commission's complaint against Sanofi's proposed partnership with Maze Therapeutics highlights increasing skepticism of so-called killer acquisitions, but a closer look reveals potentially legitimate reasons behind why entities might decide to delay or abandon the development of acquired products, say consultants at Analysis Group.

  • Key Maritime Law Issues In 2024: Geopolitics And Sanctions

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    Major challenges are on the horizon for the U.S. maritime sector in 2024, including geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea and ever-evolving sanctions targeting Iran and Russia — which may lead to higher shipping costs and greater compliance burdens for stakeholders, says Sean Pribyl at Holland & Knight.

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