Food & Beverage

  • July 26, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen U.K. band The 1975 face action by Future Sound Asia after its performance in Malaysia resulted in a festival's cancelation, Spectrum Insurance hit by The Motoring Organization following their dispute over information misuse, and a former police constable pursue defamation against a colleague for allegedly instigating a campaign of harassment against her. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • July 25, 2024

    Blue Bottle Won't Be Sanctioned Or Pay Atty Fees In TM Row

    Blue Bottle won't be sanctioned nor ordered to pay $1.15 million in fees for losing its trademark suit against a company selling "Blue Brew" brand accessories, with a California federal judge ruling Wednesday that its infringement claims weren't frivolous and that its likelihood of confusion argument was "rooted in good faith."

  • July 25, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs Penn. Jury Invalidating Sherwin-Williams IP

    A Pennsylvania federal judge rightfully invalidated claims of several Sherwin-Williams Co. paint coating patents after a jury trial, and properly barred inconsistent assertions from the company, the Federal Circuit held Thursday.

  • July 25, 2024

    AIP Buys AGCO's Grain & Protein Biz In $700M Cash Deal

    Agricultural machinery company AGCO Corp., advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, on Thursday announced plans to sell the majority of its grain and protein business to industrial investor American Industrial Partners, led by Sidley Austin LLP, in an all-cash deal valued at $700 million.

  • July 25, 2024

    Trade Commission Affirms Pea Protein Import Harms

    The U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Thursday to find that pea protein imports from China have harmed the domestic industry, clearing the U.S. Department of Commerce to levy antidumping and countervailing duties on the goods.

  • July 25, 2024

    1st Circ. Leery Of Fishing Industry Challenge To Wind Farm

    A First Circuit panel on Thursday appeared unlikely to disturb a district court's rulings affirming a series of approvals for a massive wind farm off the coast of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, questioning procedural claims by fishing industry groups and whether they have standing to sue.

  • July 25, 2024

    Iowa Hemp THC Law Remains In Force As Injunction Bids Fail

    Iowa's hemp law that imposed new restrictions on hemp-derived THC consumables can continue uninterrupted, after a federal judge on Thursday rejected two bids by the hemp industry seeking to block the statute on claims that it was unconstitutionally vague.

  • July 25, 2024

    CFPB Wary Of 'Junk Fees' As Lunch Money Goes Digital

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday flagged concerns about "junk fees" that school-contracted payment processors are charging parents to put money on their children's cafeteria accounts, casting it as part of a broader trend toward more digital payments in school settings.

  • July 25, 2024

    Plaintiffs Can't Expand Beef Price Fixing Suit, Court Told

    Beef producers defending against antitrust claims are telling a Minnesota federal judge that a proposed class of ranchers are too late to take their newest proposed complaint to court, arguing that the case should be permanently tossed after two failed attempts to get past the pleading stage.

  • July 25, 2024

    USDA Drops Push To Certify Contractors' Labor Compliance

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday scrapped from a proposed rule requirements for federal contractors to attest that they were following federal and state labor laws, tossing President Barack Obama's efforts an earlier version of the rule revamped.

  • July 25, 2024

    Vintage Wine Estates Can Tap Into $60.5M DIP Financing

    Bankrupt wine producer and processor Vintage Wine Estates received permission Thursday from a Delaware bankruptcy judge to begin borrowing under a $60.5 million debtor-in-possession financing package being provided by its prepetition lenders.

  • July 25, 2024

    Web Designer Seeks $2M Atty Fees After High Court Win

    A Christian web designer and her company have asked a Colorado federal court to award her nearly $2 million in legal fees, arguing that their journey to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled the state can't force the designer to make wedding websites for same-sex couples, was "long, complex and ground-breaking."

  • July 25, 2024

    Chicken Soup's Atty Wants Out Of $3M Conn. Pet Food Feud

    The Graubard Miller attorney defending Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Inc. in a manufacturer's $3 million contract suit asked a Connecticut state court to let her leave the case, writing in her motion to withdraw that Chicken Soup has refused to cooperate on the case.

  • July 25, 2024

    Deals Rumor Mill: Wiz-Google, Daily Telegraph, Medline IPO

    Cybersecurity startup Wiz has rebuffed a buyout offer from Google, former British finance minister Nadhim Zahawi is preparing a $773 million bid for the Daily Telegraph, and medical supplies giant Medline is preparing an initial public offering for 2025. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • July 25, 2024

    Calif. Justices Rule Prop 22 Is Constitutional

    The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Proposition 22 statewide ballot measure from 2020 that exempts certain app-based drivers from the state's independent contractor classification law, a ruling that could have widespread consequences for the gig economy and driver litigation.

  • July 25, 2024

    7-Eleven Settles TM Suit Against Seven Eleven Law Group

    7-Eleven Inc. and a Chicago-based law practice called Seven Eleven Law Group have settled the trademark complaint the convenience store chain filed in November, alleging the firm was infringing its mark and causing consumer confusion.

  • July 25, 2024

    Kroger, Albertsons Agree To Delay $25B Merger Closing

    Kroger Co. and Albertsons said Thursday they agreed to delay closing on their $25 billion merger until after a judge rules on the merits of Colorado regulators' antitrust case, allowing the companies to avoid a two-week hearing next month.

  • July 24, 2024

    PepsiCo, Frito-Lay Sued Over Flamin' Hot Cheetos Origin Story

    A retired Frito-Lay executive previously touted as the inventor of Flamin' Hot Cheetos is suing the snack giant and its parent company PepsiCo in California state court for defamation and racial discrimination, claiming there's a "smear campaign" to discredit him that has derailed his motivational speaker career and a planned documentary.

  • July 24, 2024

    Eggland's Best Accused Of Lying About Hens' 'Pleasant' Digs

    Egg brand Eggland's Best was hit with a lawsuit accusing it of misleading consumers by describing living conditions for certain laying hens as "pleasant" when in reality those chickens allegedly "live in typical factory farming conditions."

  • July 24, 2024

    Safeway Gets Early Win In Floor Co.'s SEIU Conspiracy Suit

    A floor cleaning company can't pursue its claim that Safeway took part in a civil conspiracy with a Service Employees International Union affiliate to award a contract to a competitor, a California federal judge ruled.

  • July 24, 2024

    Peanut Allergy Death Suit Returns To Conn. State Court

    Settling accusations of procedural "gamesmanship," a federal judge has approved an agreement to return to Connecticut state court a lawsuit against the Stew Leonard's grocery store chain by the estate of an Ailey School-trained ballet dancer who allegedly died from eating mislabeled peanut-laden cookies manufactured by another company.

  • July 24, 2024

    Last Holdouts Avoid Trial With Deal Over Chicken Price-Fixing

    Chicken buyer plaintiffs say they've reached a settlement with Mountaire Farms and Koch Foods in their suit against the country's biggest broiler chicken producers for allegedly conspiring to raise prices, telling an Illinois federal judge to call off the trial that had been scheduled for September.

  • July 24, 2024

    Hemp Cos. Get Stay Of DEA Subpoenas Seeking Records

    A Texas federal judge on Wednesday stayed enforcement of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration subpoenas seeking financial and other records from a group of hemp and vape sellers, who had argued earlier this week that the subpoenas were overbroad and unlinked to any federal investigation.

  • July 24, 2024

    Red Lobster Accused Of Shorting Wages With Tip Credit

    Red Lobster has not been paying its tipped employees all their wages owed, a worker claimed in a proposed collective action in Maryland federal court, saying the seafood chain made them perform excessive non-tip-generating work that drove their take-home pay below minimum wage.

  • July 24, 2024

    Vintage Wine Estates Hits Ch. 11 With Intent To Sell Assets

    Vintage Wine Estates, which owns 30 wine brands in California, Oregon and Washington, filed for Chapter 11 protection Wednesday with a plan to sell its assets after post-pandemic wine demand dropped.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Navigating The New Rise Of Greenwashing Litigation

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    As greenwashing lawsuits continue to gain momentum with a shift in focus to carbon-neutrality claims, businesses must exercise caution and ensure transparency in their environmental marketing practices, taking cues from recent legal challenges in the airline industry, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Constitutional Protections For Cannabis Companies Are Hazy

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    Cannabis businesses are subject to federal enforcement and tax, but often without the benefit of constitutional protections — and the entanglement of state and federal law and conflicting judicial opinions are creating confusion in the space, says Amber Lengacher at Purple Circle.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Anticipating Disputes In Small Biz Partnerships And LLCs

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    In light of persistently high failures of small business partnerships and limited liability companies, mediator Frank Burke discusses proactive strategies for protecting and defining business rights and responsibilities, as well as reactive measures for owners.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • How Cannabis Rescheduling May Affect Current Operators

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    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's proposal to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III provides relief in the form of federal policy from the stigma and burdens of Schedule I, but commercial cannabis operations will remain unchanged until the federal-state cannabis policy gap is remedied by Congress, say Meital Manzuri and Alexis Lazzeri at Manzuri Law.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

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