Commercial Contracts

  • October 23, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge Suggests Equity Pact Counts As Wash. Loan

    A Ninth Circuit judge said Wednesday he was "struggling with" a company's stance that its equity-sharing agreement with two homeowners in Washington state doesn't amount to a loan covered by state laws regulating reverse mortgages, saying the arrangement appears to check the boxes of the statutory definition.

  • October 23, 2024

    NJ City Permitted Bigger Project To End Suit, Opponent Says

    A property owner's nonprofit has brought a new lawsuit claiming that the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, gave a developer more than $50 million in project benefits in a settlement that could nearly double the scope of a pair of mixed-use developments along the scenic Palisades cliffs.

  • October 23, 2024

    Jersey Shore Attractions Sued For Pay Over Iconic Phrase

    The woman whose voice has been played in a recording along a New Jersey shore town's boardwalk for over 45 years alleged in a revised state court complaint Wednesday she has never been paid more than few free tram car tickets despite it becoming an iconic slogan for the popular destination.

  • October 23, 2024

    How FINRA Filings Led To A $29M Defamation Verdict In Pa.

    Two firms that specialize in injury, employment and fraud matters teamed up for an unusual case that posed a tricky task: boiling down the technicalities of securities law in order to convince a Pennsylvania state jury that regulatory filings were misused for defamation.

  • October 23, 2024

    Del. Judge Won't Yet Revisit $242K Atty Sanctions In Ch. 7

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Wednesday that he won't, for now, set aside more than $242,000 in legal fees he ordered a lawyer representing the owners of an insolvent government contractor to pay in a clawback lawsuit, saying that since the sanctions order was appealed to the district court, he doesn't have jurisdiction.

  • October 23, 2024

    Trial Consulting Firm Says Ex-Worker Stole Trade Secrets

    Jury analysis firm Jury-X has accused a former employee of taking off with its trade secrets and exploiting a "backdoor" she put in the company's data tables to start her own competing juror selection services business that also copied her old employer's appearance online.

  • October 23, 2024

    Kirkland Adds Freshfields Atty To Boost Private Credit Bench

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP has welcomed an expert in leveraged finance from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, saying Wednesday that his diverse practice will strengthen the firm's liability management and opportunistic credit practices and support its position in the growing private credit sector.

  • October 22, 2024

    Texas Firm 'Tortured' Barratry Case, Appeals Court Hears

    A Texas law firm accused of ambulance chasing told a state appeals court that the opposition had "tortured" the case, saying during oral arguments Tuesday that Bandas Law Firm PC pursued the case merely as an extortion racket.

  • October 22, 2024

    Fraud Detector Inks $500K Deal In Webster Bank Breach Probe

    A fraud detection vendor servicing Webster Bank NA will pay $500,000 to settle an investigation into a data breach that exposed the personal information of nearly 158,000 Connecticut residents, the state attorney general's office has announced.

  • October 22, 2024

    Colo. Justices Suggest Remanding 'Half-Baked' Privilege Case

    Colorado Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant Tuesday to do more than remand a case over whether attorney-client privilege protects communications by an insurance company's lawyers with engineers hired for processing a claim, with two justices calling the appeal "half-baked" since the trial judge admitted she used the wrong standard.

  • October 22, 2024

    Hagens Berman Says Vorys 'Opportunistically' Seeking Lead

    Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is fighting a bid by Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP to take the lead in a proposed consolidated class action against gaming giant Valve Corp., saying that after they defeated Valve's arbitration provision Vorys sought to "opportunistically" seize the leadership role.

  • October 22, 2024

    'A Lot Of Nerve': Judge Slams Ex-Sparks Owners' Fee Claim

    A California judge overseeing a suit by former Los Angeles Sparks basketball team co-owners claiming they're owed free game tickets for life said their argument that they also deserve attorney fees because the lawsuit serves the public interest is potentially frivolous, adding, "Somebody in my view has a lot of nerve."

  • October 22, 2024

    Judge Tells Firm To Tighten Up Testimony In Nassar Fee Trial

    A Michigan federal judge cautioned a local personal injury firm Tuesday to reel in the head of the firm on the witness stand, warning he was losing the jury in a long "inside baseball" legal discussion in his efforts to get a greater cut of fees from a Colorado firm for work on a Larry Nassar abuse settlement.

  • October 22, 2024

    Supervisor Could've Prevented Electrician's Death, Widow Says

    The widow of a man who was electrocuted told a Texas appeals court during oral arguments Tuesday that it wouldn't matter if there was a supervisor looking over the deceased man's shoulder, claiming the question never came up because there wasn't a qualified supervisor on site.

  • October 22, 2024

    IQVIA, Veeva Blast Summary Judgment Bids In Secrets Suit

    Life sciences data giant IQVIA Inc. and competitor Veeva Systems Inc. slammed each other's summary judgment bids made public Tuesday in a trade secrets lawsuit in New Jersey federal court, with Veeva arguing that IQVIA's purported trade secrets are hardly confidential and IQVIA saying Veeva's assertions are "a last-ditch effort to avoid liability."

  • October 22, 2024

    10th Circ. Affirms Energera Broke Deal By Filing Patent Suits

    The Tenth Circuit has ruled that both basic logic and "ordinary grammar" support the finding that a covenant not to file any further patent infringement lawsuits was broken by Colorado oil field equipment supplier Energera when it continued to sue Fuel Automation's future customers over "related" patents.

  • October 22, 2024

    NY Judge Trims HOA's Nuisance Suit Against Queens Stadium

    A New York state court judge has pared a Forest Hills, Queens, homeowners association's nuisance suit against a local stadium owner accused of disturbing the neighborhood with lots of noise, traffic and crowds.

  • October 22, 2024

    Paramount Again Foils Suit Over 'Romeo & Juliet' Nude Scene

    Paramount Pictures again defeated a lawsuit by two actors challenging the redistribution of the 1968 film adaptation of "Romeo & Juliet" that contained a nude scene, because a California judge said a prior court already decided the film's distribution was protected activity and, accordingly, the actors are barred from relitigating the issue.

  • October 22, 2024

    Judge Skeptical Amgen Can't Sue Over Colo. Drug Price Caps

    A Colorado federal judge on Tuesday seemed to doubt the state could short-circuit drugmaker Amgen's challenge to the state's drug price cap system, pressing the state to explain why limiting what consumers ultimately pay does not affect what companies like Amgen can charge.

  • October 22, 2024

    BP Unit Says Mexican Cos. Owe It $46M For Natural Gas

    Oil and gas giant BP's Mexican unit has asked a Texas federal court to enforce approximately $46 million in arbitral awards against subsidiaries of steelmaker Ternium SA after they allegedly bought natural gas during 2021's Winter Storm Uri and refused to pay.

  • October 22, 2024

    The 2024 Prestige Leaders

    Check out our Prestige Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their financial performance, attractiveness to attorneys and law students, ability to secure accolades and positive legal news media representation.

  • October 22, 2024

    How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status

    For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.

  • October 22, 2024

    In-House Counsel For Veeva, SingleStore Joins Stoel Rives

    Stoel Rives LLP has hired the former in-house counsel for technology companies SingleStore and Veeva Systems Inc. in Boise, Idaho, positioning the firm to better serve the increasing demand for sophisticated transactional representations in the area.

  • October 22, 2024

    DraftKings, Former Exec Eye Settlement Over Noncompete

    DraftKings and a former vice president accused of violating a noncompete agreement by jumping to competitor Fanatics are attempting to settle their differences, according to a Tuesday filing in Massachusetts federal court.

  • October 21, 2024

    Rocket Mortgage Faces DOJ Suit Alleging Refi Race Bias

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday sued Rocket Mortgage and two appraisal companies in Colorado federal court for allegedly undervaluing a woman's Denver home because she was Black, asserting that the mortgage company then canceled her refinancing application when she reported the alleged discrimination.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: FTC's 'Unfair Competition' Actions In Jeopardy

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's decision ending Chevron deference will have limited effect on the Federal Trade Commission's merger guidelines, administrative enforcement actions and commission decisions on appeal, it could restrict the agency's expansive take on its rulemaking authority and threaten the noncompete ban, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Expect The Unexpected: Contracts For Underground Projects

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    Recent challenges encountered by the Mountain Valley Pipeline project underscore the importance of drafting contracts for underground construction to account for unexpected site conditions, associated risks and compliance with applicable laws, say Jill Jaffe and Brenda Lin at Nossaman.

  • 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.

  • 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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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • 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.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Addressing Dispositive Motions

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    Stephanie Magnell and Bret Marfut at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Claims and the U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals that provide interesting takeaways about the nuances of motion practice utilized by the government to dispose of cases brought under the Contract Disputes Act prior to substantive litigation

  • What 2 Rulings On Standing Mean For DEI Litigation

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    Recent federal court decisions in the Fearless Fund and Hello Alice cases shed new light on the ongoing wave of challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opposite conclusions on whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • 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.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • Arbitration Implications Of High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Coinbase v. Suski ruling not only reaffirmed the long-standing principle that arbitration is a matter of contract, but also established new and more general principles concerning the courts' jurisdiction to decide challenges to delegation clauses and the severability rule, say Tamar Meshel at the University of Alberta.

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