Food & Beverage

  • May 31, 2024

    Dunkin' Near Tossing Milk-Alternative Bias Case, For Now

    A California federal judge indicated Friday she's inclined to dismiss a proposed class action claiming Dunkin Donuts LLC violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by charging extra for beverages with nondairy milk, but said she'll likely allow the plaintiff customers to amend their complaint.

  • May 31, 2024

    Martinelli & Co. Sued Over Arsenic In Apple Juice

    A consumer hit S. Martinelli & Co. with a proposed class action in New York federal court Friday over allegations that the company failed to disclose that its apple juice contains arsenic, saying a recent recall campaign has been "a complete and abject failure."

  • May 31, 2024

    DC Judge Takes Dim View Of Proposed 'Surfside' TM Deal

    A D.C. federal judge has refused to enforce a scrapped settlement in a trademark dispute between a Mexican restaurant operator and a distilling company over the name "Surfside," saying there wasn't ever an enforceable deal.

  • May 31, 2024

    Group Sued Over Immigrants' Benefits Too Late, Panel Holds

    A Michigan state appeals court has nixed a nonprofit's challenge to the court's ruling that working while unauthorized is a crime and that immigrant workers are not entitled to benefits once their unauthorized status is discovered, saying the group brought the lawsuit in an untimely manner.

  • May 31, 2024

    Trade Court Orders Commerce Redo Of Brazilian Honey Duties

    The U.S. Court of International Trade ordered the U.S. Department of Commerce to reconsider substituting certain facts for information the department said a Brazilian honey producer withheld, saying the producer did provide the requested information.

  • May 31, 2024

    Haleon Sued Over 'Natural Flavors' Emergen-C Labels

    Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings, now Haleon PLC, was hit with a proposed class action in California federal court by two consumers who allege the company falsely labels its vitamin C drink mix as containing natural flavors even though its made with artificial ingredients.

  • May 31, 2024

    NY Appeals Court Backs Trimming Of 50 Cent Liquor Spat

    A New York appeals court has said a lower court rightly dismissed some components of a suit brought by a fine liquors company owned by rapper 50 Cent, allowing Jim Beam and its parent company to escape the rapper's claims they aided a fraud and rejecting his request for punitive damages and attorney fees.

  • May 31, 2024

    Kroger's $6M BIPA Deal With 6K Workers Gets Final OK

    An Illinois federal judge granted final approval to a class of about 6,000 Food4Less employees on their $6 million settlement resolving claims Kroger Co. subsidiary Ralphs unlawfully stored and used their biometric data after requiring them to scan their fingerprints to clock in and out of their shifts. 

  • May 31, 2024

    Colo. Judge Will Consider Kroger Divestiture Plan

    A Colorado state judge ruled Friday that Kroger Co. can discuss its latest divestiture plan at a hearing on the attorney general's request to temporarily block a $24 billion proposed merger with Albertsons, saying federal courts have not excluded such evidence from similar injunction proceedings.

  • May 31, 2024

    DOL Asks To Wait To Disclose Workers In Fishery Wage Case

    The U.S. Department of Labor urged a Mississippi federal court to halt the disclosure of the identities of some migrant workers who helped in the department's investigation of a fish farm, saying that it plans to ask the court to reconsider ordering the disclosure.

  • May 30, 2024

    Okla. Tribes Say Bills Won't Deter Poultry Biz From Polluting

    The Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes says two bills working their way through the Oklahoma Legislature don't go far enough to deter the poultry industry from polluting and threaten to undo decades of progress toward improving water quality.

  • May 30, 2024

    USDA Should Redo $44M Software Order Again, GAO Says

    The Government Accountability Office publicly released a decision on Thursday in support of a company's protest of a $44.2 million Department of Agriculture task order for software support for conservation-related programs, concluding the order was not properly issued.

  • May 30, 2024

    Honduran Workers Say Carnival Overworked, Underpaid Them

    Two Honduran seasonal workers have filed suit in a Virginia federal court, saying they were forced to work 80 hours a week assembling and disassembling rides for a traveling carnival for only a little more than $400 a week.

  • May 30, 2024

    Divided FTC Won't Delay Kroger-Albertsons In-House Case

    The Federal Trade Commission's three Democrats refused Wednesday to delay the agency in-house challenge to Kroger's $24.6 billion purchase of Albertsons, blaming the grocery giants for their scheduling challenges and drawing a sharp dissent from the FTC's two Republicans.

  • May 30, 2024

    Grocery Automation Biz Files Ch. 11 With $13M In Debt

    E-grocery automation system maker Takeoff Technologies filed for Chapter 11 protection Thursday in Delaware bankruptcy court with nearly $13 million in debt, saying that, after eight years in business, it had been unable to generate the cash flow it needed to turn a profit.

  • May 30, 2024

    Wine Distribution Giants Must Face Provi's Antitrust Suit

    The nation's two largest wine and distilled spirits distributors must face unfair competition claims from an online marketplace accusing them of illegally trying to stifle competition and shut it out of the market, an Illinois federal judge determined Thursday.

  • May 30, 2024

    Commerce Pours Up 203% Duties For Chinese Wine Bottles

    The U.S. Department of Commerce set early duties of 202.70% on wine bottles made by eight Chinese manufacturers who did not respond to the agency's questions, while the lone cooperator landed a preliminary rate of 21.14%.

  • May 30, 2024

    Bottler Says It's Owed Defense In Wine Contamination Dispute

    A wine bottler told a California federal court its insurer must reimburse defense costs it incurred while fighting a now-settled suit seeking to hold the company liable for a $1.2 million wine contamination, arguing the lawsuit didn't specifically allege what the bottler's actions were nor the cause of contamination.

  • May 29, 2024

    5th Circ. Sends Hain Toxic Baby Food Suit To State Court

    Grocery store chain Whole Foods Market Inc. and international food company Hain Celestial Group Inc. can't escape a lawsuit seeking to hold them liable for the mental and physical decline of a toddler, allegedly caused by tainted baby food they sold, the Fifth Circuit ruled, saying the case was improperly removed to federal court.

  • May 29, 2024

    Russian Subway Franchisee Can't Tank Arbitral Awards

    A Manhattan federal judge said he won't let a Russian Subway franchise owner win its contract dispute with the sandwich giant, instead granting the fast-food chain's petition to confirm two arbitral awards while denying the franchisee's bid to vacate them.

  • May 29, 2024

    Barilla Pasta Buyers Win Class Cert. In Italy Labeling Suit

    A California federal judge on Tuesday certified a class action alleging Barilla falsely labels its pasta as being made in Italy after she rejected the company's argument the class is insufficiently defined since it removed the challenged representation in 2022, finding a well-defined class can include those who suffered no injury.

  • May 29, 2024

    Kansas Gov. Sets June Special Session On Taxes

    The Republican-led Kansas Legislature will meet in a special session June 18 to consider tax relief legislation, the state's governor said Wednesday, calling for compromise following her veto of a bill to reduce income tax rates.

  • May 29, 2024

    Commerce Readies 250% Duty For Cambodian Paper Bags

    The U.S. Department of Commerce determined a nearly 250% final anti-dumping duty rate for certain Cambodia-origin paper shopping bags, saying a company hindered the department's probe into whether the bags were hurting the U.S. through unfairly priced imports.

  • May 29, 2024

    Anheuser-Busch, Tilray Fight Beer Sale Injunction Bid

    Anheuser-Busch InBev and Tilray Brands Inc. want a New York federal court to deny an injunction to a distributor alleging they are interfering with its contract to exclusively export craft beers, saying the contract is unenforceable and the potential harm is only speculative.

  • May 28, 2024

    Ranchers' Claims Again Tossed From Beef Price-Fixing MDL

    A Minnesota federal judge has once again thrown out beef price-fixing claims brought by ranchers who raise cattle and calves, ruling Tuesday that the ranchers still haven't clearly established they are directly affected by the alleged scheme.

Expert Analysis

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • The Corporate Disclosure Tug-Of-War's Free Speech Issues

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    The continuing conflict over corporate disclosure requirements — highlighted by a lawsuit against Missouri's anti-ESG rules — has important implications not just for investors and regulated entities but also for broader questions about the scope of the First Amendment, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.

  • 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.

  • Opinion

    Food Safety Bill Needed To Protect Kids From Heavy Metals

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    The recent announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that hundreds of children may have been exposed to unsafe lead levels in applesauce highlights the continuing failure by Congress to pass legislation that would require baby food manufacturers to ensure safer levels of heavy metals in their products, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • What Brands Must Know For Calif. Recycle Label Compliance

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    A brand that stamps nonrecyclable packaging with the chasing arrows symbol could face liability under California's new law on labeling recyclable material, so brand owners should keep an eye on the state's pending survey process to identify which materials meet the criteria before requirements go into effect, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 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.

  • Zimbabwe Ruling Bolsters UK's Draw As Arbitration Enforcer

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    An English court's recent decision in Border Timbers v. Zimbabwe, finding that state immunity was irrelevant to registering an arbitration award, emphasizes the U.K.'s reputation as a creditor-friendly destination for award enforcement, say Jon Felce and Tulsi Bhatia at Cooke Young.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Brazil

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    Environmental, social and governance issues have increasingly translated into new legislation in Brazil since 2020, and in the wake of these recently enacted regulations, we are likely to see a growing number of legal disputes in the largest South American country related to ESG issues such as greenwashing if companies are not prepared to adequately adapt and comply, say attorneys at Mattos Filho.

  • Vagueness In Calif. Climate Law Makes Compliance Tricky

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    California's recently enacted Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act requires companies making claims of carbon neutrality, or significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions, to disclose information supporting those claims — but vague and conflicting language in the statute poses multiple problems for businesses, say John Rousakis and Chris Bowman at O'Melveny.

  • 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.

  • Harmonizing Agricultural And Clean Energy Goals

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    Congress' extension of the Farm Bill offers a chance to more thoroughly consider innovation and investments that could transform the competition between farmers and solar developers into synergistic agrivoltaic systems, which use land for both agriculture and solar energy generation, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • What's At Stake In High Court NLRB Injunction Case

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    William Baker at Wigdor examines the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to hear Starbucks v. McKinney — where it will consider a long-standing circuit split over the standard for evaluating National Labor Relations Board injunction bids — and explains why the justices’ eventual decision, either way, is unlikely to be a significant blow to labor.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Series

    Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.

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