Food & Beverage

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    A Maryland federal court's decision imposing a stricter standard for an employer to claim an overtime exemption is no longer valid after the U.S. Supreme Court said the heightened evidence standard isn't necessary, an international food distributor told the Fourth Circuit.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

  • January 31, 2025

    En Banc Pa. Court Restores $2.3M Injury Award Against Domino's

    A Pennsylvania appellate court said the Domino's pizza chain can indeed be held liable for a $2.3 million verdict in a suit accusing a franchisee's delivery driver of causing a motorcyclist's severe injuries, saying the company had sufficient control over the franchisee's operations.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • How Biden Admin Has Used Antitrust Tools, And What's Next

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    The last four years have been marked by an aggressive whole-of-government approach to antitrust enforcement using a broad range of tools, and may result in lasting change regardless of the upcoming presidential election result, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits

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    Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Challenge To Ill. Card Fee Law Explores Compliance Hurdles

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    A recent federal lawsuit challenging an Illinois law that will soon forbid electronic payment networks from charging fees for processing the tax and tip portions of card transactions, fleshes out the glaring compliance challenges and exposure risks financial institutions must be ready to face next summer, says Martin Kiernan at Amundsen Davis.

  • Harris Unlikely To Shelve Biden Admin's Food Antitrust Stance

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    A look at Vice President Kamala Harris' past record, including her actions as California attorney general, shows why practitioners should prepare for continued aggressive antitrust enforcement, particularly in the food and grocery industries, if Harris wins the presidential election, says Steve Vieux at Bartko.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • The Complex Challenges Facing Sustainable Food Packaging

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    More and more states are requiring recycled content to be used in product packaging, creating complex technological and regulatory considerations for manufacturers who must also comply with federal food safety requirements, say Peter Coneski and Natalie Rainer at K&L Gates.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • 5th Circ. Shows Admin Rules Can Survive Court Post-Chevron

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    The Fifth Circuit's textual analysis of the Fair Labor Standards Act, contributing to its recent affirming of the U.S. Department of Labor’s authority to set an overtime exemption salary threshold, suggests administrative laws can survive post-Chevron challenges, say Jessi Thaller-Moran and Erin Barker at Brooks Pierce.

  • How Patent Litigation Is Changing Amid Decline In Filings

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    Marked by a notable decline in case filings and preferred venue shifts, patent litigation has undergone significant changes over the last decade and litigation hot spots have shifted, encouraging a more strategic approach to patent disputes, says Saishruti Mutneja at Winston & Strawn.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Enviro Policy Trends That Will Continue Beyond The Election

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    Come October in a presidential election year, the policy world feels like a winner-take-all scenario, with the outcome of the vote determining how or even whether we are regulated — but there are several key ongoing trends that will continue to drive environmental regulation regardless of the election results, say J. Michael Showalter and Samuel Rasche at ArentFox Schiff.

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