Food & Beverage

  • March 03, 2025

    National Gaming Chair Gets Pause In Alaskan Casino Suit

    A federal judge has paused litigation against acting National Indian Gaming Commission Chairwoman Sharon M. Avery until the court can determine if an Alaskan Native village is a required party in the dispute that looks to block plans for a 58,000-square-foot casino in Anchorage.

  • March 03, 2025

    Enviro Groups Say DOGE Teams Are Violating Transparency Law

    Five federal agencies are violating their legal obligations to provide transparency about their connection to the Elon Musk-headed entity that's leading the Trump administration's effort to reduce government staffing and spending levels, environmentalists said in a D.C. federal lawsuit filed Monday.

  • March 03, 2025

    Kirkland-Led Garnett Station Partners Clinches $1.2B Fund

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP-advised Garnett Station Partners on Monday announced that it wrapped its fifth fund after securing $1.2 billion from investors, which will be used to invest across the New York-based firm's core sectors of consumer and business services, health and wellness, automotive, and food and beverage.

  • March 03, 2025

    Smoothie King Wins $374K Judgment From Ex-Franchisees

    Following a bench trial in Georgia federal court last December, Smoothie King Franchises Inc. won a $374,000 judgment Friday against a company accused of ripping off its products after setting up shop in a former Gwinnett County franchise location.

  • March 03, 2025

    Activist Investor Nominates 2 Candidates To Portillo's Board

    Activist investor Engaged Capital LLC on Monday unveiled its slate of directors to stand for election to Portillo's Inc.'s board ahead of the company's annual meeting, saying that the Chicago street food-focused restaurant chain's performance has been suffering due to outdated restaurant operations.

  • February 28, 2025

    Galaxy Gas Hides A Dangerous Buzz, Class Action Says

    Galaxy Gas, the maker of a popular line of flavored nitrous oxide dispensers, was hit with a putative class action Friday accusing the company of pushing a commonly abused, addictive, dangerous, and perfectly legal recreational drug under the guise of a "culinary tool."

  • February 28, 2025

    Kraft Heinz Beats Ex-R&D Worker's Vaccine Bias Claims

    A former Kraft Heinz research and development manager cannot go to trial over claims the company discriminated against her religious beliefs by rejecting her COVID-19 exemption request, with an Illinois federal judge saying on Friday her concerns were not religious in nature.

  • February 28, 2025

    Curaleaf Sold Assets Before $32M Verdict, Pot Farm Says

    Two subsidiaries of Curaleaf Holdings Inc. must be forced to immediately pay a $36.8 million jury verdict plus interest owed to a Michigan cannabis farm, the cultivator told a federal judge in a scathing motion, saying the companies feign poverty while spending considerable sums in legal representation.

  • February 28, 2025

    NJ Out-Of-State Wine Sale Limits Are Justified, 3rd. Circ. Says

    The Third Circuit on Friday upheld a New Jersey law barring out-of-state sellers to directly ship wine to in-state consumers, saying that to grant a New York retailer's challenge would "shake the foundations" of New Jersey's three-tiered system for regulating alcohol.

  • February 28, 2025

    Dartmouth Wants Fed. Circ. To Ax Fees After Vitamin IP Loss

    Dartmouth College is appealing a Delaware federal court's $9.1 million fee award after losing a fight over milk vitamins patented by a biochemist at the school, telling the Federal Circuit that there is no reason it should have presumed that the patents it asserted were "worthless."

  • February 28, 2025

    Steakhouse Workers Score Collective Cert. In Tips Row

    Servers and bartenders claiming that a steakhouse known for its 72-ounce steak challenge cheated them out of tips and didn't reimburse them for their uniforms can move forward as a collective, a Texas federal judge ruled, while saying the limitation period clock will start ticking later.

  • February 28, 2025

    Beyond Meat Fries Investors' Fast-Food Production Woes Suit

    A Los Angeles federal judge has tossed, for good, a reworked investor class action accusing Beyond Meat of concealing major problems with its efforts to scale production on plant-based meat substitutes for fast-food chains like McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut.

  • February 28, 2025

    Coverage Claims Trimmed For Faulty Non-GMO Grain Silos

    A grain storage company's insurer has no duty to cover some damages a grain seller is seeking over its leaky grain bin claims, an Indiana federal judge ruled, though finding the insurer can't yet avoid covering damages directly related to the allegedly faulty harvest itself and certain lost profits.

  • February 28, 2025

    Shake Shack Sued Over 'Deceptive' Delivery Fees

    Shake Shack Inc. charges its customers "deceptive fees" when they use the fast casual chain's website and app to order food delivery, according to a proposed class action removed to California federal court.

  • February 28, 2025

    Aimmune Shareholders' $27.5M Deal Over Sale To Nestle OK'd

    Aimmune Therapeutics Inc. stockholders won preliminary approval in California federal court on Friday for a $27.5 million settlement of their securities fraud class action alleging that Aimmune was falsely undervalued before its merger with Nestlé Health Science SA.

  • February 28, 2025

    SuperValu Complains About Falsity Question In FCA Case

    Whistleblowers claiming SuperValu overcharged the government by $123 million for prescriptions can ask witnesses a single question alluding to a bitterly contested legal finding in the False Claims Act case in Illinois federal court, the grocer revealed in a motion objecting to the judge allowing that question.

  • February 28, 2025

    3M Wants Texas 'Forever Chemical' Suit Tossed

    3M Co. told a Texas federal judge that the Lone Star State's lawsuit accusing chemical manufacturers of selling forever chemical-containing products despite knowing they present health risks to humans should be tossed because the court doesn't have jurisdiction over the companies.

  • February 27, 2025

    Feds Can't Dodge Firefighting Foam Suits Yet, SC Judge Rules

    A South Carolina federal judge on Thursday denied the U.S. government's push to escape dozens of suits over contamination allegedly stemming from its use of forever chemical-containing firefighting foams, saying cases involving a military base in New Mexico showed its global motion to dismiss to be inappropriate.

  • February 27, 2025

    Food Startup Owes $575K In TM Fight With Jaden Smith's Co.

    A disagreement over how food startup Eat Just capitalized on the word "Just" in branding will cost it over half a million dollars after a California federal court decided its conduct went against the company's agreement with the Just Water brand started by celebrity Jaden Smith and his actor dad, Will Smith.

  • February 27, 2025

    Abbott Beats Ill. Customers' Similac Metals Suit

    Similac customers who say Abbott Laboratories illegally failed to warn the public about heavy metals in its infant formula cannot take those claims to trial because they haven't established damages, an Illinois federal judge said Wednesday.

  • February 27, 2025

    Conn. Supreme Court Snapshot: Water Rates, Judicial Attacks

    An Eversource unit's request to offset inflation and $42 million in new infrastructure projects through rate hikes will top the Connecticut Supreme Court's March docket, with the justices examining another in a list of challenges to state regulators' attempts to keep a lid on customer costs.

  • February 27, 2025

    Starbucks, Patent Exec Reach Deal In Atty Defamation Case

    A patent-licensing company executive and Starbucks Corp. on Thursday settled a defamation suit over statements made by an attorney for Starbucks just days after the plaintiffs fired back on the company's attempt to exit the suit.

  • February 27, 2025

    Farmworker Union Sues Over Calif. Border Patrol Raid

    A farmworker union and Kern County, California, residents accused U.S. Border Patrol agents of carrying out an unlawful, nearly weeklong immigration enforcement sweep to arrest people of color who appeared to be farmworkers regardless of their immigration status.

  • February 27, 2025

    Anthropic Could Hit $62B Valuation, And More Deal Rumors

    AI startup Anthropic is close to securing funding at a $61.5 billion valuation, Bain Capital is mulling a sale of Rocket Software at a $10 billion valuation, and various additional private equity players are considering transactions across food, healthcare and finance. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • February 27, 2025

    7-Eleven Owner Says $58B Bid Is Off Due To Financing Hitch

    Seven & i Holdings Co. said Thursday that a buyout offer from an executive and one of his companies, said to be worth about $58 billion, has fallen through after the bidding party was unable to secure necessary financing, putting a prior bid from Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. back into focus. 

Expert Analysis

  • NLRB One-Two Punch Curbs Employer Anti-Organizing Tools

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    The National Labor Relations Board’s recent decisions in Siren Retail and Amazon, limiting employer speech about the impact of unionization and outlawing captive audience meetings, severely curtail employers' arsenal of tools to combat an organizing campaign — though this may soon change under a new administration, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • What Trump's Next Term May Mean For Biz Immigration

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    Leonard D'Arrigo at Harris Beach discusses the employment-based immigration policies businesses can potentially expect during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, based on policies enacted during his first administration, statements made during his campaign and proposals in Project 2025.

  • Defense Insights As PFAS Consumer Product Claims Rise

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    Amid the recent proliferation of lawsuits seeking damages for failure to disclose the presence of PFAS in consumer products, manufacturers, distributors and consumer product companies should follow the science and consider a significant flaw in many of the filings, say attorneys at Farella Braun.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • Recent Listeria Outbreaks Hold Key Compliance Lessons

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    Listeria outbreaks in ready-to-eat foods from Boar's Head and other companies, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration responses to these outbreaks, should be closely evaluated from an overall compliance and risk management perspective by food manufacturers, retailers and industry investors, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • What Cos. Can Learn from Water Microplastics Class Actions

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    Class actions against companies whose bottled spring water allegedly contains microplastics, challenging claims such as "natural" and "100% spring water," seem to be drying up — but these cases serve as a good reminder to other businesses to review regulatory standards, and carefully vet plaintiff allegations at the outset, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • What's Next For The CFTC After The Election

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    While much of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's enforcement actions in line with its traditional priorities will continue as usual in the near term, postelection leadership changes at the CFTC and new congressional priorities may alter the commission's regulatory framework in 2025 and beyond — particularly its oversight of crypto, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Why K-Cup Claims Landed Keurig In Hot Water With SEC

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent settlement with Keurig Dr. Pepper for making incomplete statements regarding the recyclability of K-cup pods highlights the importance of comprehensive corporate disclosures, particularly with respect to ESG matters, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Legislation Most Likely To Pass In Lame Duck Session

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    As Congress begins its five-week post-election lame duck session, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig break down the legislative priorities and which proposals can be expected to pass.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

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