Commercial Contracts

  • October 11, 2024

    Boston Dynamics 'Took Advantage' Of Partner's Robotics IP

    Robot maker Boston Dynamics engaged in a "flagrant and secretive" breach of its nondisclosure agreement with a manufacturer by enabling a competitor to "reverse engineer" components it had built for the Massachusetts company, according to a state court lawsuit.

  • October 11, 2024

    Xcel, Colo. Co-Op Reach Deal To End Power Plant Appeal

    Xcel Energy and a Colorado electric cooperative have told an intermediate state appellate court that they've reached a settlement in principle to avoid further appeals of a $26 million jury verdict against Xcel in a fight over the closure of a power plant.

  • October 11, 2024

    Fox Rothschild Aims To Exit Malpractice Suit Over Land Row

    Fox Rothschild LLP has called on a New Jersey state court to throw out malpractice claims leveled against it by two siblings who accused a lawyer at the firm of bungling a 1984 property deed and 1993 trust belonging to their stepfather, arguing the sisters are trying to improperly hold it responsible for purported, decades-old negligence by other law firms.

  • October 11, 2024

    Nelson Mullins Can't Beat DQ In Foreign Exchange Fraud Suit

    A Florida state appeals court panel unanimously sided with a trial court Friday in deciding that Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP can't represent the defendant in a lawsuit accusing him of duping the plaintiff into doing business with online foreign exchange platform FxWinning Ltd. because the firm previously represented the plaintiff in a "substantially related" suit against the company.

  • October 11, 2024

    Indicted NJ Power Broker Says Civil Suit Belongs In Biz Court 

    Indicted Garden State power broker George E. Norcross III has asked a New Jersey state judge to transfer the civil racketeering suit brought against him and his attorney brother by a Philadelphia developer to the state's complex business litigation program.

  • October 11, 2024

    RTX Warned By Judge Over 'Troubling' Settlement Delay

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday chided RTX for slow-walking the finalization of a settlement the defense contractor struck with a Connecticut company just before trial in a trade secrets dispute.

  • October 11, 2024

    'Bloodsport' Poaching Case To Mediate After Disputed Verdict

    An exasperated Boston federal judge on Friday talked two rival medical aesthetic device companies into a round of mediation with a magistrate judge to see if they could wrap up the fiercely litigated poaching case that's already resulted in a contested eight-figure verdict.

  • October 11, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen billionaire Lakshmi Mittal sue steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta in a long-running clash to claw back €140 million ($153 million) of debt, a high-profile AI researcher take action against the Intellectual Property Office to register his software as a listed patent inventor and troubled housing trust Home Reit face a claim by a real estate developer. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • October 10, 2024

    Ejudicate Ran 'Bogus' Student Loan Arbitrations, CFPB Says

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thursday that it has banned private dispute resolution platform Ejudicate from arbitrating disputes about consumer financial products, saying the company misled student borrowers about its neutrality and initiated "bogus" arbitration proceedings.

  • October 10, 2024

    Ousted Chair's Claims To Go Before Arbitrator, Judge Says

    A New York federal judge ruled that an arbitrator must decide whether the ousted former chairperson of software investment company The Resource Group International Ltd., who was forced to resign in late 2021 following a widely reported sexual harassment scandal, can pursue some of his claims in arbitration.

  • October 10, 2024

    OpenAI Calls Musk's Fraud, RICO Suit A Harassing Biz Move

    OpenAI asked a California federal judge to toss Elon Musk's claims that the artificial intelligence venture and its top brass engaged in fraud by deciding to make OpenAI a for-profit company, claiming Musk "has been trying to leverage the judicial system for an edge" since launching a competing AI company.

  • October 10, 2024

    Contractor Slams Stay Bid In $13M Lake Ontario Awards Fight

    Geotechnical contractor Soletanche Bachy Canada Inc. has asked a Texas federal court not to pause its suit looking to enforce arbitral awards of $13 million against an infrastructure construction corporation, saying the construction company misrepresents an appeal proceeding in Ontario.

  • October 10, 2024

    Vape Co. Missed Cutoff To Toss $892K Arb. Loss, 9th Circ. Says

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday affirmed a Washington distributor's $892,000 arbitration award in a dispute with vape company Avid Holdings, in an order siding with a district court judge who determined Avid waited too long to dispute the arbitrator's decision.

  • October 10, 2024

    Colo. Hemp Farm Says Solar Co. Work Caused $200M Loss

    Two Colorado hemp growers are suing a subsidiary of energy company AES Corp. for $200 million, claiming it damaged their water lines while constructing a solar panel project, ultimately causing most of their crop to die.

  • October 10, 2024

    Yale Hospital Says Pension Liens Breach $435M Sale Deal

    A hospital operator's purported $4 million pension liability has saddled its properties with liens that breach a $435 million sale contract, Yale New Haven Health told a Connecticut state judge Wednesday in a letter suggesting it may add claims to litigation over its deal with Prospect Medical Holdings Inc.

  • October 10, 2024

    Faulty New Balance Shoes Killed Olympian's Career, Suit Says

    An athlete, who previously competed in two Summer Olympics, claims she missed this year's Paris Games after suffering a "career-ending injury" due to defective running shoes provided by her sponsor, New Balance, according to a lawsuit filed in Rhode Island federal court.

  • October 10, 2024

    Cigna Says NJ Plastic Surgeons Fraudulently Billed $8.5M

    Two Cigna units said a New Jersey-based plastic and reconstructive surgery group billed excessively high fees and then waived patient cost-shares, fraudulently obtaining just over $8.5 million from the insurer in a scheme that dates back nearly a decade.

  • October 10, 2024

    Suppliers' $7.6M Deal To End Daily Harvest Leek Claims OK'd

    A New York federal judge has given the go-ahead to a $7.6 million settlement with suppliers for meal kit delivery service Daily Harvest Inc. to end claims from buyers that a lentil and leek meal caused gastrointestinal illness.

  • October 10, 2024

    SeaWorld Wraps Up Suit Over COVID Severance Pay

    SeaWorld has inked settlements with two employees to resolve a California federal court suit claiming the business ignored its policies by failing to pay employees severance when they were furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • October 10, 2024

    Proskauer Adds Akin Knowledge Management Ace In NY

    Proskauer Rose LLP is expanding its private funds team, bringing in an Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP knowledge management expert as a partner in its New York office.

  • October 10, 2024

    Rock Climbing School Not Covered In Fall Suit, Insurer Says

    An insurer said it doesn't owe coverage to a rock climbing school in an underlying suit brought by the family of a teenager who was injured after he fell 35 feet while climbing, telling a North Carolina federal court that the policy does not provide coverage for joint ventures.

  • October 10, 2024

    Pa. Justices Vexed By Mall's Bid To Dodge Store's Legal Bill

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday questioned Harrisburg Mall's argument that it should be let off the hook for Bass Pro Shops' legal bills after the retailer sank a customer's trip-and-fall suit, with one justice suggesting that the alleged need for proof or a judgment incentivized the tenant to lose the case. 

  • October 10, 2024

    Houston Firm Says 'Scurrilous' Ex-Atty Not Entitled To Fees

    A Houston law firm is urging a state court to dismiss a lawsuit from a disbarred attorney seeking fees for cases he worked on before going to prison for fraud, arguing that paying him the $3.84 million he is asking for would run afoul of ethics rules and a Texas Supreme Court order.

  • October 10, 2024

    Investor Connected To Texas AG Seeks To Ax Fraud Case

    Nate Paul, a real estate investor at the heart of the failed impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has moved to dismiss federal wire fraud and conspiracy charges against him, arguing that the indictment does not claim that he acted willfully when allegedly ripping off lenders and investors.

  • October 10, 2024

    Ex-NFLer Can't Get Sanctions For Dropped Sexual Abuse Suit

    A Colorado state judge on Wednesday denied awarding attorney fees to a former NFL player-turned-reptile-shipper as a sanction, concluding it wasn't clear that the now-dismissed lawsuit by a former employee who accused him of sexually abusing her and then firing her was brought in bad faith or without any factual foundation.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • What 11th Circ. Fearless Fund Ruling Means For DEI In Courts

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent backing of a freeze on the Fearless Fund's grants to women of color building new companies marks the latest major development in litigation related to diversity, equity and inclusion and may be used to question other DEI programs targeted at providing opportunities to certain classes of individuals, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Opinion

    Paid Noncompetes Offer A Better Solution Than FTC's Ban

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    A better alternative to the Federal Trade Commission's recent and widely contested noncompete ban would be a nationwide bright-line rule requiring employers to pay employees during the noncompete period, says Steven Kayman at Rottenberg Lipman.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Cyber Takeaways For Cos. From Verizon Data Breach Report

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    Camilo Artiga-Purcell at Kiteworks analyzes the key findings of the 2024 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report from a legal perspective, examining the implications for organizations' cybersecurity strategies and compliance efforts.

  • Foreign Discovery Insights 2 Years After ZF Automotive

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    Although an Arizona federal court decision last month demonstrates that Section 1782 discovery may still be available to foreign arbitral parties, the scope of such discovery has narrowed greatly since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision in ZF Automotive, and there are a few potential trends for practitioners to follow, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Rare Robinson-Patman Ruling Exhibits Key Antitrust Risk

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    A rare federal court decision under the Robinson-Patman Act, which prohibits certain kinds of price discrimination, highlights the antitrust risks faced by certain suppliers and is likely to be cited by future plaintiffs and enforcement officials calling for renewed scrutiny of pricing and discounting practices, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • Beware Shifting Provisions In Middle-Market Loan Documents

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    In recent years, many credit facility provisions previously considered to be market standard have been negotiated, often turning in favor of borrowers, demanding renewed diligence from workout officers and restructuring counsel operating in the middle market, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In May

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    A look at recent cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court provide guidance on how to succeed on appeal by clarifying the obviousness analysis of design patents, the finality of a judgment, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Shows Lies Must Go To Nature Of Bargain

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Milheiser decision, vacating six mail fraud convictions, clarifies that the key question in federal fraud cases is not whether lies were told, but what they were told about — thus requiring defense counsel to rethink their strategies, say Charles Kreindler and Krista Landis at Sheppard Mullin.

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