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Commercial Contracts
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August 07, 2024
SEC Accuses Urban Commons REIT Founders Of $70M Fraud
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused the founders of the Urban Commons real estate investment trust of running a pair of fraud schemes involving investments in U.S.-based hotels that the regulator said collectively cost investors $70 million.
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August 07, 2024
NC Biz Court Bulletin: The Battles Making Summer Sizzle
A 1983 championship basketball team's intellectual property rights and a public feud between Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and its insurer are among the legal battles that have kept North Carolina Business Court judges and Tar Heel state private practice attorneys busy this summer. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.
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August 07, 2024
Fund Seeks Forced Sale Of Long-Stalled Baltimore Project
A Boston-based investment fund that backs development projects in disadvantaged communities is seeking to recoup $13 million it poured into a stalled mixed-use project in Baltimore, including through a forced sale, according to a complaint filed in Massachusetts state court.
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August 07, 2024
Lender Says Mogul's Privacy Concerns Stymying Trial Prep
Attorneys for a lending agent pursuing a $127 million judgment from an auto parts mogul asked a Michigan federal judge Tuesday to deny the mogul and his bankrupt company's attempts to keep key documents private, saying the inability to share relevant information with their clients is hindering their ability to prepare for trial.
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August 07, 2024
WWE Accuser May Be Liable For Defamation, Doctor Says
The woman who accused World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and former executives including ex-CEO Vince McMahon of sexually trafficking and abusing her may be liable for defaming a celebrity doctor that she targeted with a bid for discovery in Connecticut Superior Court, according to a complaint from Dr. Carlon Colker and his company.
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August 07, 2024
2nd Circ. Affirms Yale's Win In COVID-19 Tuition Refunds Fight
The Second Circuit on Wednesday affirmed Yale University's win in a student's proposed class action challenging the university's refusal to issue tuition refunds after switching to virtual classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding the student's implied contract with Yale gave the university discretion to respond to such "force majeure" public-health events.
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August 07, 2024
6 Swipe Fee Plaintiffs 'Arbitrarily' Picked For 2025 Trial
Six retailers including department store giant Target will go to trial in 2025 on claims that Visa and Mastercard overcharged them, a Manhattan federal judge said Wednesday, explaining that he arbitrarily chose from among 60 plaintiffs in a long-running, multibillion-dollar antitrust battle.
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August 07, 2024
Chancery Urges Bickering Journey Bandmates To Open Arms
Attorneys for deadlocked Journey band members Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon should keep the focus on "counseling rather than litigating" and go to trial in September only if they can't find another way to resolve their dispute over company management, a Delaware Chancery Court judge said Wednesday.
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August 07, 2024
5th Circ. Grapples With 'Ridiculous' $100M Arbitration
A Fifth Circuit panel struggled to make sense out of a "ridiculous" arbitration proceeding that produced four contradictory arbitration awards in a legal malpractice dispute, one awarding $100 million, pressing both sides during oral arguments Wednesday to give answers about how the "spectacle" unfolded.
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August 07, 2024
CFPB Backs Homeowners In Nationstar Mortgage Fee Suit
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asked a Washington federal court to allow it to file a brief in support of a proposed class action accusing Nationstar Mortgage of illegally charging fees whenever homeowners request payoff statements for their loans.
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August 07, 2024
5th Circ. Tosses Passengers' Suit Over Southwest TSA Fees
The Fifth Circuit has sided with Southwest Airlines Co. in a suit alleging it breached passengers' contracts by giving them travel credits instead of refunds for Transportation Security Administration security fees, finding the claims were correctly preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act.
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August 06, 2024
Zelle Fraud Victims Seek Class Cert. In BofA Refunds Suit
Consumers suing Bank of America NA for allegedly stiffing them on reimbursement for Zelle fraud and scam losses asked a California federal judge to grant class action status to their case, seeking certification for several classes of customers with denied refund claims from the past four years.
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August 06, 2024
Cadwalader Slams Lloyd's For 'Needless' Disclosure, Mockery
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP has opposed a bid by a Lloyd's of London syndicate to unseal the law firm's complaint seeking $1 million of coverage for a November 2022 data breach, telling the North Carolina Business Court that Lloyd's has chosen to "mock and insult their own customer" while exposing confidential information in its filing to the court.
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August 06, 2024
Louis Vuitton Slams 'Prolific' TM Infringement At Conn. Market
French luxury brand Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS is seeking statutory damages of up to $2 million per counterfeited mark from the operator of a Connecticut flea market where fake goods were repeatedly sold despite a June 2018 agreement to cease such activity, according to a federal lawsuit.
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August 06, 2024
Ex-Mayor's Fight With Law Firm No RICO Case, 5th Circ. Told
Counsel for convicted fraudster and former Texas Mayor Laura Maczka-Jordan said it's significant that a law firm accusing her and her husband of racketeering represented itself during oral arguments before the Fifth Circuit Tuesday, arguing that the case deals with a lease dispute rather than a racketeering scheme.
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August 06, 2024
Houston Partially Escapes Pappas Restaurants' Airport Suit
A state appeals court agreed Tuesday with Houston's argument that a concessions contract with the William P. Hobby Airport did not require the city to follow the Texas Government Code's competitive bidding requirements, partially tossing a suit brought by Pappas Restaurants over its loss of the 2023 agreement.
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August 06, 2024
Horse Trainer Says Conn. Club Stiffed Him, Sues For $275K
A historic Connecticut country club stopped reimbursing the head of its horse-riding program for expenses he paid out of his own pocket, ceased paying his salary and fees, and canceled his membership, according to a breach-of-contract suit filed in state court.
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August 06, 2024
Fifth Third Bank Faces MDL Bid Over Allegedly Hidden Costs
A group of consumers is urging the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to centralize in New Jersey five proposed class actions alleging Fifth Third Bank NA's solar panel financing business hid loan costs from consumers.
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August 06, 2024
Feds Seek $3.5M Premerger Penalty From Sporting Events Biz
Federal prosecutors have struck a deal requiring sports and entertainment event company Legends Hospitality to pay a $3.5 million penalty to settle allegations that it illegally conducted business with acquisition target ASM Global Inc. before finalizing the deal.
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August 06, 2024
Miss. Casino Says License Dispute Belongs In State Court
A lawsuit challenging the gambling license awarded to the Cherokee Nation's entertainment business should be sent back to state court where it was originally filed, a Mississippi casino operator told an Arkansas federal judge Monday.
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August 06, 2024
NC Panel OKs Short-Term Rentals In Luxury Home Community
A North Carolina state appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that an Asheville-area neighborhood's ban on short-term rentals is unreasonable, finding the community's covenants don't explicitly outlaw that type of real estate arrangement.
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August 06, 2024
10th Circ. Says Union Contract Legally Imposed On Okla. Co.
An Oklahoma electric company must accept the successor contract imposed on it by an arbitration board, the Tenth Circuit said Tuesday, upholding an Oklahoma federal court's decision that the pact between Brent Electric Co. and an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local was imposed lawfully.
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August 06, 2024
Wash. Appeals Court Reverses On Gas Chain Owing State Tax
A Pacific Northwest gas station chain that issued fuel cards to customers must pay the Washington state business tax when cardholders purchase gas from other participating gas station chains as well as from nonparticipating chains, a state appeals court panel said Tuesday, reversing an earlier opinion.
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August 06, 2024
Penn Says BioNTech Owes Royalties For COVID-19 Vax
BioNTech was hit with a breach of contract suit Monday in Pennsylvania federal court by the University of Pennsylvania over alleged unpaid royalties on global net sales of its blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, which was developed using the school's crucial messenger RNA patents and has made more than $75 billion.
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August 06, 2024
Cargo Airline, Workers Forge Settlement In ESOP Battle
A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday agreed to stay a suit against Western Global Airlines and an investment manager after workers who alleged that their employee stock ownership plan was mishandled told the court they had reached a settlement.
Expert Analysis
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Behind Court Challenges To The FTC's Final Noncompete Rule
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.
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Can Chatbot Interactions Lead To Enforceable Contracts?
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.
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The Opportunities, Risks And Rewards Of AI Acquisitions
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.
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Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate
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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Insurance Types That May Help Cos. After Key Bridge Collapse
Following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, businesses that depend on the bridge, the Port of Baltimore and related infrastructure for shipment and distribution of cargo should understand which common types of first-party insurance coverage may provide recoveries for financial losses, say Bert Wells and Richard Lewis at Reed Smith.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Businesses Should Take Their AI Contracts Off Auto-Renew
When subscribing to artificial intelligence tools — or to any technology in a highly competitive and legally thorny market — companies should push back on automatic renewal contract clauses for reasons including litigation and regulatory risk, and competition, says Chris Wlach at Huge Inc.
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What To Know About NIGC's Internal Review Process
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
If the National Indian Gaming Commission disapproves of a tribal management contract for gaming operations, it's important to properly go through the commission's internal hearing mechanism before litigating in federal court, or else an action may be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, says Rebecca Chapman at the University at Buffalo School of Law.
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What The Justices' Copyright Damages Ruling Didn't Address
While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Warner Chappell v. Nealy clarified when a copyright owner may recover damages in jurisdictions that apply the so-called discovery rule, it did not settle the overriding question of whether the Copyright Act even permits applying the rule, say Ivy Estoesta and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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7 Effects Of DOL Retirement Asset Manager Exemption Rule
The recent U.S. Department of Labor amendment to the retirement asset manager exemption delivers several key practical impacts, including the need for managers, as opposed to funds, to register with the DOL, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Del. Rulings Make Clear That 'Arbitrator' Isn't A Magic Word
Recent decisions by the Delaware Chancery Court clarify that calling a process an "expert determination" or "arbitration" in a purchase agreement is not sufficient to define it as such, so practitioners must consider how to structure dispute resolution provisions to achieve their clients’ desired result, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Protecting IP May Be Tricky Without Noncompetes
Contrary to the Federal Trade Commission's view, trade secret law cannot replace noncompetes' protection of proprietary information because intellectual property includes far more than just trade secrets, so businesses need to closely examine their IP protection options, say Aimee Fagan and Ching-Lee Fukuda at Sidley.
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A Look At FERC's Plan To End Reactive Power Compensation
A recent notice of proposed rulemaking indicates that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is likely to eliminate compensation for reactive power within the standard power factor range — causing significant impacts for the electric power industry, which relies on income from providing this service, say Norman Bay and Matthew Goldberg at Willkie and Vivian Chum at Wright & Talisman.