Commercial Contracts

  • March 17, 2025

    Judge Ends Ex-Ga. Tech Prof's Suit Over Finance Probe

    Two Georgia Tech auditors have escaped a malicious prosecution suit from a former professor over allegedly suspicious financial dealings by his startup that they flagged, as a Georgia federal judge said the professor "failed to provide evidence" his rights were violated.

  • March 17, 2025

    Wayne Gretzky Suing Co-Investor For Malicious Prosecution

    NHL legend Wayne Gretzky and his wife filed a lawsuit in California state court against a co-investor in a failed weight-loss business, whom he alleges lodged a meritless suit against him in 2022 to "score a quick payday" after accusing him of contributing to the demise of the company.

  • March 17, 2025

    Exxon Committed 'Straightforward Fraud,' Investors Say

    Exxon Mobil Corp. investors told a Texas federal court that the energy giant's antics surrounding its operations in Kearl Lake amount to a "straightforward fraud," and that the court should reject Exxon's bid for judgment as a matter of law.

  • March 17, 2025

    ITC Hears Strong Views On Import Bans For Essential Patents

    As the U.S. International Trade Commission reviews a case where a judge said Amazon infringed Nokia standard-essential patents, tech giants told the ITC that import bans should rarely be issued for such patents, while patent advocates said such orders are "unquestionably" allowed.

  • March 17, 2025

    Amazon Beats Investor Suit Over Third-Party Seller Practices

    A Washington federal judge on Monday tossed a consolidated proposed securities class action claiming Amazon and its top brass duped investors about the company's fulfillment capacity and third-party seller practices, finding the lawsuit doesn't sufficiently allege the executives were deliberately reckless or motivated to deceive shareholders.

  • March 17, 2025

    Burger King Workers Defend Revived No-Poach Case

    Burger King employees are defending their proposed class action over the fast-food chain's past use of no-poach provisions in its franchise agreements, as the restaurant urges a Florida federal court to toss the claims despite an appeals court reviving them in 2022.

  • March 17, 2025

    Wash. AG Backs Tribe's $400M Trespass Win Against BNSF

    The state of Washington has said the Ninth Circuit should uphold a trial judge's ruling that BNSF Railway Co. owes nearly $400 million for years of illegally running oil cars across tribal territory, arguing in an amicus brief the railroad must be held accountable for perpetuating "a pattern of disregard for the sovereignty of Native people."

  • March 17, 2025

    Insurer Drops Claims That Lamp Cos.' Negligence Caused Fire

    A Detroit cannabis farm and its insurance company have agreed to drop a lawsuit alleging a host of lighting and gardening equipment manufacturers negligently designed and marketed their products, after a grow lamp malfunction led to a fire that caused more than $8.5 million of damage at a grow facility.

  • March 17, 2025

    X Says Nonprofit Is Using Calif. Court To Evade Texas Suit

    X Corp. told a Texas federal judge a left-leaning media watchdog was trying to use a California court to weasel out of a suit accusing the nonprofit of running defamatory articles, saying Monday it was first to file and that the suit should stay in the Lone Star State.

  • March 17, 2025

    Yale Unit Questions Prospect Medical's Ch. 11 Sale Plan

    Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. is questioning whether bankrupt hospital owner Prospect Medical Holdings Inc.'s attempt to sell its three Connecticut facilities through a Texas Chapter 11 proceeding will affect Yale New Haven's rights under a $435 million asset purchase agreement covering the same properties.

  • March 17, 2025

    Vague Settlement Can't Free Insurer From Asbestos Claims

    An insurer that says its policies' limits were exhausted while paying over $5 million toward an asbestos injury settlement on behalf of BNSF Railway failed to show it actually went over its limits, a Texas appeals court found. 

  • March 17, 2025

    Drake 'Lost A Rap Battle That He Provoked,' UMG Tells Court

    Universal Music Group urged a New York federal judge Monday to throw out Aubrey Drake Graham's lawsuit over the hit Kendrick Lamar diss track "Not Like Us," saying Drake cannot claim defamation for hyperbolic insults that came out of a rap battle "in which he willingly participated."

  • March 17, 2025

    Illinois Cannabis Social Equity Licensee Sued By Backer

    A company that backs entrepreneurs qualified for social equity cannabis licenses alleged in a new federal lawsuit that a business owner it partnered with reneged on their agreement when he attempted to sell his retail marijuana license to another party.

  • March 17, 2025

    Yale Says Researcher's Omissions Doom $28M Incubator Suit

    Yale University told a Connecticut state court that it sufficiently pled its counterclaims against a researcher who accused it of destroying his "life's work" by unplugging an incubator filled with $28 million in grants and private money's worth of genetic materials, arguing the researcher lied to get his job.

  • March 17, 2025

    Ex-Freshpet Seller Wins Breakup Fee But May Still Owe $8M

    Pet food maker Freshpet is liable for $5 million for aborting a distribution agreement it had with an animal food distributor, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Monday, reasoning that there was no dispute that the contract had been breached.

  • March 17, 2025

    Pot Staffing Co. Wants COVID-19 Relief Contract Wiped Out

    A cannabis industry online staffing company and its parent company are suing a consultant in Colorado state court, alleging that it failed to do any work on a contract to win COVID-19 relief from the IRS but is demanding $474,000 in payments.

  • March 17, 2025

    Filmmaker Questions Netflix Defense In IP Suit Over 'Rez Ball'

    A filmmaker who alleges that Netflix, NBA superstar LeBron James and others lifted elements from one of his scripts to make the streaming service's movie "Rez Ball" has urged a California federal court to deny the defendant's bid to file an early summary judgment motion, saying comprehensive discovery is needed first.

  • March 17, 2025

    Yale Can Examine Student's Electronics In AI Cheating Probe

    Yale University can examine a laptop and other devices to defend against an injunction sought by a student who claims officials used unreliable artificial intelligence tools to catch pupils using AI to cheat, a Connecticut federal judge ruled Monday.

  • March 17, 2025

    4th Circ. Tosses HOA Closing Fees Suit

    The Fourth Circuit tossed a North Carolina property owner's proposed class action alleging that a property management company unlawfully charged excessive closing fees when she sold two properties.

  • March 14, 2025

    Fannie, Freddie Can't Avoid $612M Investor Win, Judge Rules

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday upheld a $612.4 million jury verdict against the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ruling that the jury was provided with "ample evidence" that reasonably led to its conclusion that FHFA improperly amended stock purchase agreements related to the companies.

  • March 14, 2025

    Williams Kastner Accused Of Malpractice After $128M Payout

    An insurer wouldn't have been forced to pay 64 times its policy limit after a deadly crane collapse in Seattle were it not for its attorneys at Williams Kastner, the carrier told a Washington state court, accusing its counsel of malpractice that caused it to pay $128 million.

  • March 14, 2025

    Antitrust Questions Earn Belt Line Deal A Deep Dive

    The Surface Transportation Board isn't going to let Norfolk Southern get away with calling its attempt to procure the remainder of a rail line a minor transaction, since it's been locked in antitrust litigation over the control of that line for years, according to an order Friday that deemed the transaction "significant."

  • March 14, 2025

    Texas Judge Rejects Ex-GloriFi CEO's Bid To Stop Claims Sale

    A Texas federal judge shot down an alleged attempt by the former CEO of bankrupt conservative-centered fintech startup GloriFi to preserve the ability to sue investors like Ken Griffin's Citadel LLC and Vivek Ramaswamy, saying Friday the bankruptcy judge got it right.

  • March 14, 2025

    PE Fund Accuses Ex-CEO Of Stealing To Pay Divorce Atty

    A former private equity CEO has been sued by a Denver-based fund in Colorado state court for allegedly using its money to pay his divorce lawyer and for other personal expenses, following a settlement earlier this year with federal securities regulators over claims he improperly charged two other funds.

  • March 14, 2025

    Boeing NASA Tech IP Claims Survive Dismissal In Wash.

    A Washington federal judge has narrowed a Colorado firm's suit accusing The Boeing Co. of using stolen technology to support NASA's Artemis moon exploration program, preserving some claims for copyright and trade secret theft while dismissing trademark and counterfeiting allegations.

Expert Analysis

  • Navigating Title IX Compliance In The NIL Era

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    As universities push to move more name, image and likeness activity in-house, it's unclear how the NCAA and its members will square implementation of the House settlement with Title IX requirements, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • DeepSeek AI Investigation Could Lead To IP Law Precedents

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    The investigation by OpenAI and Microsoft into DeepSeek's artificial intelligence model raises interesting legal concerns involving intellectual property and contract law, including potential trade secret appropriation and fair use questions, say Saishruti Mutneja and Raghav Gurbaxani.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

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    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example

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    Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

  • What Contractors Can Do To Address Material Cost Increases

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    In light of the Trump administration's plans to increase tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, construction industry players should proactively employ legal strategies to mitigate the impacts that price increases and uncertainty may have on projects, says Brenda Radmacher at Seyfarth Shaw.

  • Del. Ruling Further Narrows Scope Of 'Bump-Up' Exclusion

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    The recent Delaware Superior Court ruling in Harman International v. Illinois National Insurance offers a critical framework for interpreting bump-up exclusions in management liability insurance policies, and follows the case law trend of narrow interpretation of such exclusions, says Simone Haugen at Tressler.

  • Perspectives

    Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines

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    KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Poetic Justice? Drake's 'Not Like Us' Suit May Alter Music Biz

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    Drake v. Universal Music Group, over Kendrick Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us," represents a pivotal moment in the intersection of music, law and corporate accountability, raising questions about the role of record labels in shaping artist rivalries and the limits of free speech, says Enrico Trevisani at Michelman & Robinson.

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

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    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

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    In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Likely Doomed CFPB Contract Rule Still Has Industry Pointers

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    While the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's January proposal on consumer financial contract provisions is unlikely to be finalized under the new administration, its provisions are important for industry to recognize, particularly if state attorneys general decide to take up the enforcement mantle, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • What To Expect From Trump's Deputy Labor Secretary Pick

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    President Donald Trump's nominee for deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, Keith Sonderling, has a track record of prioritizing clear guidance on both traditional and cutting-edge issues, which can provide insight into what employers can expect from his leadership, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Series

    Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.

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