Food & Beverage

  • February 05, 2025

    DOL Scores Partial Win In Farmworker Union Wage Rate Fight

    A Washington federal judge has granted the U.S. Department of Labor a partial win in a farmworker union's challenge to federal policies that have allegedly depressed farmworker wages, concluding that some claims challenge DOL actions that aren't final agency actions.

  • February 05, 2025

    The Wonderful Co. Hits Rival With TM Suit Over Wonderspread

    The Wonderful Co. sued a competitor for trademark infringement in California federal court Wednesday, accusing it of mimicking its "Wonderful" marks and trying to sow consumer confusion by selling nut-based products in packaging that features similar names, "Wonderspread" and "Wondersquare." 

  • February 05, 2025

    Dickinson Wright Continues IP Growth With Chicago Hire

    Dickinson Wright PLLC said Wednesday that it had hired a named member of the small Illinois intellectual property firm formerly known as Bishop Diehl & Lee Ltd., marking the latest of the firm's many recent investments into the practice.

  • February 05, 2025

    Chancery Tosses Challenge To $1.1B Smart & Final Sale

    Writing that nothing in a "grab bag" of stockholder claims amounted to disclosure failures, Delaware's chancellor dismissed a suit challenging the $1.1 billion April 2019 sale of Smart & Final Stores Inc. — formerly controlled by funds of Ares Management Corp. — to interests of Apollo Global Management.

  • February 05, 2025

    Modelo, Constellation Urge Judge To Block 'Counterfeit' Beer

    Modelo and Constellation Brands have asked a Texas federal court to stop a beer distribution company from importing and selling "counterfeit" beers that have labels similar to those of Modelo, Corona and other beverages.

  • February 05, 2025

    China Hits Trump Tariffs With Mostly Symbolic WTO Challenge

    The Chinese government has challenged the Trump administration's new 10% tariff at the World Trade Organization, alleging violations of key global trade rules, even as years of U.S.-led gridlock has rendered the Geneva body mostly defunct as a dispute resolution forum.

  • February 05, 2025

    Food Slicer Patent Case Ends In Mistrial After 6 Days

    A Missouri federal judge has declared a mistrial on day six of a trial between two companies that accused each other of infringing food slicing patents.

  • February 05, 2025

    Justices' Ruling Nixes Md. Court's FLSA Order, 4th Circ. Told

    A Maryland federal court's decision imposing a stricter standard for an employer to claim an overtime exemption is no longer valid after the U.S. Supreme Court said the heightened evidence standard isn't necessary, an international food distributor told the Fourth Circuit.

  • February 05, 2025

    Ex-CBD Co. Franchisee Says Magistrate Can't Rule On DQ Bid

    A former franchisee for CBD company American Shaman Franchise System LLC on Wednesday objected to an order from a magistrate judge rejecting his bid to disqualify her, saying that a magistrate judge has no authority to decide on a posttrial motion.

  • February 04, 2025

    JBS Inks $83.5M Deal Over Ranchers' Beef Price-Fixing Claims

    One of the nation's biggest meat producers has reached an $83.5 million deal to end claims it conspired with others in the industry to suppress the price ranchers are paid for raising feeder cattle.

  • February 04, 2025

    Whirlpool Sinks Customer's Suit Over Service Plan Repair

    A Washington federal judge has tossed a customer's proposed class action over a dishwasher warranty for good, finding no "reasonable consumer" would have been misled to believe the terms covered the full cost of any repair given the "caveats" on marketing materials.

  • February 04, 2025

    Calif. Women Drops Bindle Bottle Suit Over Lead

    A maker of water bottles will not have to face an Oakland woman's lawsuit accusing it of selling products with high levels of lead after a California federal judge approved a request by both sides to permanently dismiss her claims.

  • February 04, 2025

    Calif. Agency's Individual Claims Against Grocer May Be Axed

    A California state judge on Tuesday told attorneys with the California Civil Rights Department that she doesn't think the law allows it to seek individual damages on behalf of the roughly 1,000 applicants it says were illegally denied jobs by a supermarket chain due to their criminal history, calling it a "problem" with the case. 

  • February 04, 2025

    Ex-Celsius VP Cops To Insider Trading In Florida Case

    A former vice president and head accountant of Celsius Holdings Inc. pled guilty to insider trading Tuesday in Florida federal court, admitting that he used confidential information about sales expectations to buy securities in the energy drink company and sold them a month later at a profit.

  • February 04, 2025

    Southern Glazer's Wants FTC Unfair Pricing Suit Canned

    Southern Glazer's asked a California federal judge Monday to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission's first price discrimination lawsuit in 25 years, arguing that even if the "mistaken economic theory" undergirding it holds true, dissents from the FTC's Republicans illustrate why the case fails anyway.

  • February 04, 2025

    Insurer Points To Limits In McDonald's Franchisees' Policies

    An insurer told a Washington federal court that it owes limited coverage to two McDonald's franchisees it insures in suits accusing them of illegally withholding specific pay figures in job postings. 

  • February 04, 2025

    'Is This A Joke?' Judge Denies Atty Fees For Grocery Patrons

    A California federal judge had so little tolerance for shoppers claiming victory and seeking attorney fees from the abandoned Kroger-Albertsons merger that in tossing their motion and underlying lawsuit he noted with incredulity, "Plaintiffs are actually making these arguments."

  • February 04, 2025

    Steptoe & Johnson Adds Business Duo In Dallas

    Steptoe & Johnson PLLC has bolstered its business department in Dallas with a pair of corporate attorneys, one who joined from Carrington Coleman Sloman & Blumenthal LLP and one who arrived from Cowles & Thompson PC.

  • February 03, 2025

    5th Circ. Panel Split On NLRB Case After Post-Loper Remand

    Members of a Fifth Circuit panel appeared split Monday about whether to once again uphold a National Labor Relations Board decision letting its acting prosecutor pull a pending suit in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year to scale back courts' deference to federal agencies.

  • February 03, 2025

    Canada, Mexico Would Likely Get 'Symbolic' Wins On Tariffs

    Canada and Mexico inked deals with the Trump administration on Monday to win a 30-day reprieve on a blanket 25% tariff slated to be imposed on nearly all of their U.S.-bound exports. But if the tariffs are eventually enacted and the United States' North American neighbors seek out relief from international tribunals, experts say Washington would probably lose — but that result probably wouldn't change much.

  • February 03, 2025

    Canada Gets Trump Tariffs Paused After Retaliation Threats

    Canada and the U.S. have agreed to pause planned tariffs for at least 30 days while the two countries try to work out an agreement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump said late Monday afternoon, an announcement that came after Canada floated retaliatory tariffs earlier in the day and said it would rip up a contract with Elon Musk's Starlink.

  • February 03, 2025

    Food Plant Says AIG, Others Stalling Fire Payout

    A Massachusetts food plant that sustained extensive damage in two fires 10 days apart last year says its insurers, led by AIG, have covered just 1% of its losses and appear to want the company to pay two deductibles totaling nearly $10 million, despite findings that the two fires were connected.

  • February 03, 2025

    Kroger, Albertsons No-Poach Suit Back In Colo. Court

    A proposed class action accusing Kroger Co. and Albertsons of brokering an illegal no-poach agreement that hurt wage negotiations during a strike in Colorado is back in state court, after a grocery store worker dropped a federal court lawsuit and refiled her claims in Denver District Court.

  • January 31, 2025

    McDonald's Settles Suit Over Latino College Scholarships

    McDonald's told a Tennessee federal court on Friday that it is revising its Latino scholarship program to get rid of requirements for applicants to be of Hispanic or Latino heritage, ending a lawsuit lodged by a group that had successfully sued Harvard University over its affirmative action policies.

  • January 31, 2025

    $577M In Virus Fraud Cases At Risk Unless Congress Acts: IG

    The federal government's top pandemic relief watchdog has issued an urgent plea for Congress to save his agency from imminent closure, warning that hundreds of millions of dollars in ongoing fraud investigations hang in the balance.

Expert Analysis

  • Fluoride Ruling Charts Path To Bypass EPA Risk Evaluations

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    A California federal court's recent ruling in Food and Water Watch v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ordering the agency to address the public health risks of fluoridated drinking water, establishes a road map for other citizen petitioners to bypass the EPA's formal risk evaluation process, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Why Diversity Jurisdiction Poses Investment Fund Hurdles

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    Federal courts' continued application of the exacting rules of diversity jurisdiction presents particular challenges for investment funds, and in the absence of any near-term reform, those who manage such funds should take action to avoid diversity jurisdiction pitfalls, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Budding Lessons From Landmark Plant Seed Patent Battle

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    The Corteva v. Inari case involving intellectual property rights in genetically modified plants is now proceeding through discovery and potentially to trial, and will raise critical questions that could have a major impact on the agriculture technology industry, say Tate Tischner and Andrew Zappia at Troutman Pepper.

  • Election Unlikely To Overhaul Antitrust Enforcers' Labor Focus

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    Although the outcome of the presidential election may alter the course of antitrust enforcement in certain areas of the economy, scrutiny of labor markets by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice is likely to remain largely unaffected — with one notable exception, say Jared Nagley and Joy Siu at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • 5th Circ. DOL Tip Decision May Trigger Final 80/20 Rule Fight

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    A recent Fifth Circuit decision concerning a Labor Department rule that limits how often tipped employees can be assigned non-tip-producing duties could be challenged in either historically rule-friendly circuits or the Supreme Court, but either way it could shape the future of tipped work, says Kevin Johnson at Johnson Jackson.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • CFPB School Lunch Focus Could Expand E-Payment Scrutiny

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent spotlight on payment processing systems used to add funds to school lunch accounts shows its continued ambitions to further expand its supervisory power in the payments industry, all the way down to the school lunch market, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • What To Make Of Dueling Corporate Transparency Act Rulings

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    Although challenges to the Corporate Transparency Act abound — as highlighted by recent federal court decisions from Alabama and Oregon taking opposite positions on its constitutionality — the act is still law, so companies should comply with their filing requirements or face the potential consequences, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

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