Commercial Contracts

  • August 07, 2024

    Lender Says Mogul's Privacy Concerns Stymying Trial Prep

    Attorneys for a lending agent pursuing a $127 million judgment from an auto parts mogul asked a Michigan federal judge Tuesday to deny the mogul and his bankrupt company's attempts to keep key documents private, saying the inability to share relevant information with their clients is hindering their ability to prepare for trial.

  • August 07, 2024

    WWE Accuser May Be Liable For Defamation, Doctor Says

    The woman who accused World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and former executives including ex-CEO Vince McMahon of sexually trafficking and abusing her may be liable for defaming a celebrity doctor that she targeted with a bid for discovery in Connecticut Superior Court, according to a complaint from Dr. Carlon Colker and his company.

  • August 07, 2024

    2nd Circ. Affirms Yale's Win In COVID-19 Tuition Refunds Fight

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday affirmed Yale University's win in a student's proposed class action challenging the university's refusal to issue tuition refunds after switching to virtual classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding the student's implied contract with Yale gave the university discretion to respond to such "force majeure" public-health events.

  • August 07, 2024

    6 Swipe Fee Plaintiffs 'Arbitrarily' Picked For 2025 Trial

    Six retailers including department store giant Target will go to trial in 2025 on claims that Visa and Mastercard overcharged them, a Manhattan federal judge said Wednesday, explaining that he arbitrarily chose from among 60 plaintiffs in a long-running, multibillion-dollar antitrust battle.

  • August 07, 2024

    Chancery Urges Bickering Journey Bandmates To Open Arms

    Attorneys for deadlocked Journey band members Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon should keep the focus on "counseling rather than litigating" and go to trial in September only if they can't find another way to resolve their dispute over company management, a Delaware Chancery Court judge said Wednesday.

  • August 07, 2024

    5th Circ. Grapples With 'Ridiculous' $100M Arbitration

    A Fifth Circuit panel struggled to make sense out of a "ridiculous" arbitration proceeding that produced four contradictory arbitration awards in a legal malpractice dispute, one awarding $100 million, pressing both sides during oral arguments Wednesday to give answers about how the "spectacle" unfolded.

  • August 07, 2024

    CFPB Backs Homeowners In Nationstar Mortgage Fee Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asked a Washington federal court to allow it to file a brief in support of a proposed class action accusing Nationstar Mortgage of illegally charging fees whenever homeowners request payoff statements for their loans.

  • August 07, 2024

    5th Circ. Tosses Passengers' Suit Over Southwest TSA Fees

    The Fifth Circuit has sided with Southwest Airlines Co. in a suit alleging it breached passengers' contracts by giving them travel credits instead of refunds for Transportation Security Administration security fees, finding the claims were correctly preempted by the Airline Deregulation Act.

  • August 06, 2024

    Zelle Fraud Victims Seek Class Cert. In BofA Refunds Suit

    Consumers suing Bank of America NA for allegedly stiffing them on reimbursement for Zelle fraud and scam losses asked a California federal judge to grant class action status to their case, seeking certification for several classes of customers with denied refund claims from the past four years.

  • August 06, 2024

    Cadwalader Slams Lloyd's For 'Needless' Disclosure, Mockery

    Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP has opposed a bid by a Lloyd's of London syndicate to unseal the law firm's complaint seeking $1 million of coverage for a November 2022 data breach, telling the North Carolina Business Court that Lloyd's has chosen to "mock and insult their own customer" while exposing confidential information in its filing to the court.

  • August 06, 2024

    Louis Vuitton Slams 'Prolific' TM Infringement At Conn. Market

    French luxury brand Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS is seeking statutory damages of up to $2 million per counterfeited mark from the operator of a Connecticut flea market where fake goods were repeatedly sold despite a June 2018 agreement to cease such activity, according to a federal lawsuit.

  • August 06, 2024

    Ex-Mayor's Fight With Law Firm No RICO Case, 5th Circ. Told

    Counsel for convicted fraudster and former Texas Mayor Laura Maczka-Jordan said it's significant that a law firm accusing her and her husband of racketeering represented itself during oral arguments before the Fifth Circuit Tuesday, arguing that the case deals with a lease dispute rather than a racketeering scheme.

  • August 06, 2024

    Houston Partially Escapes Pappas Restaurants' Airport Suit

    A state appeals court agreed Tuesday with Houston's argument that a concessions contract with the William P. Hobby Airport did not require the city to follow the Texas Government Code's competitive bidding requirements, partially tossing a suit brought by Pappas Restaurants over its loss of the 2023 agreement.

  • August 06, 2024

    Horse Trainer Says Conn. Club Stiffed Him, Sues For $275K

    A historic Connecticut country club stopped reimbursing the head of its horse-riding program for expenses he paid out of his own pocket, ceased paying his salary and fees, and canceled his membership, according to a breach-of-contract suit filed in state court.

  • August 06, 2024

    Fifth Third Bank Faces MDL Bid Over Allegedly Hidden Costs

    A group of consumers is urging the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to centralize in New Jersey five proposed class actions alleging Fifth Third Bank NA's solar panel financing business hid loan costs from consumers.

  • August 06, 2024

    Feds Seek $3.5M Premerger Penalty From Sporting Events Biz

    Federal prosecutors have struck a deal requiring sports and entertainment event company Legends Hospitality to pay a $3.5 million penalty to settle allegations that it illegally conducted business with acquisition target ASM Global Inc. before finalizing the deal.

  • August 06, 2024

    Miss. Casino Says License Dispute Belongs In State Court

    A lawsuit challenging the gambling license awarded to the Cherokee Nation's entertainment business should be sent back to state court where it was originally filed, a Mississippi casino operator told an Arkansas federal judge Monday.

  • August 06, 2024

    NC Panel OKs Short-Term Rentals In Luxury Home Community

    A North Carolina state appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that an Asheville-area neighborhood's ban on short-term rentals is unreasonable, finding the community's covenants don't explicitly outlaw that type of real estate arrangement.

  • August 06, 2024

    10th Circ. Says Union Contract Legally Imposed On Okla. Co.

    An Oklahoma electric company must accept the successor contract imposed on it by an arbitration board, the Tenth Circuit said Tuesday, upholding an Oklahoma federal court's decision that the pact between Brent Electric Co. and an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local was imposed lawfully.

  • August 06, 2024

    Wash. Appeals Court Reverses On Gas Chain Owing State Tax

    A Pacific Northwest gas station chain that issued fuel cards to customers must pay the Washington state business tax when cardholders purchase gas from other participating gas station chains as well as from nonparticipating chains, a state appeals court panel said Tuesday, reversing an earlier opinion.

  • August 06, 2024

    Penn Says BioNTech Owes Royalties For COVID-19 Vax

    BioNTech was hit with a breach of contract suit Monday in Pennsylvania federal court by the University of Pennsylvania over alleged unpaid royalties on global net sales of its blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, which was developed using the school's crucial messenger RNA patents and has made more than $75 billion.

  • August 06, 2024

    Cargo Airline, Workers Forge Settlement In ESOP Battle

    A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday agreed to stay a suit against Western Global Airlines and an investment manager after workers who alleged that their employee stock ownership plan was mishandled told the court they had reached a settlement.

  • August 06, 2024

    Blank Rome Adds Closed Insurance Boutique's Managing Atty

    Blank Rome LLP has brought on an insurance partner from now-shuttered boutique Pasich LLP to join its insurance recovery group, the firm announced Monday. 

  • August 06, 2024

    Woman Drops Sex Abuse Suit Against Ex-NFL Player In Colo.

    The former controller for a former NFL player's reptile shipping business has, for now, dropped her lawsuit claiming the ex-linebacker sexually abused her at work and fired her after his wife discovered the conduct, apparently accepting the court's condition that she pay the player's costs and certain attorney fees.

  • August 06, 2024

    Lowe's Must Face Retail Logistics Co.'s Software IP Suit

    Lowe's Home Centers LLC lost its bid to dismiss a retail logistics company's claims it ripped off a merchandise return management software and breached its contract with that software's manufacturer, with a North Carolina federal judge declining to fully toss any of the claims but flagging that some contradicted each other.

Expert Analysis

  • Managing Legal Risks After University Gaza Protests

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    Following the protests sparked by the war in Gaza, colleges and universities should expect a long investigative tail and take steps to mitigate risks associated with compliance issues under various legal frameworks and institutional policies, say Wiley's Diana Shaw and Colin Cloherty.

  • Debate Over CFPB Definition Of Credit Is Just Beginning

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recently worked to expand the meaning of credit, so anyone operating on the edges of the credit markets, or even those who assumed they were safely outside the scope of this regulatory perimeter, should pay close attention as legal challenges to broad interpretations of the definition unfold, says John Coleman at Orrick.

  • Abu Dhabi Ruling Hints At More Arbitration-Friendly Approach

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    The international and comparative rationale an Abu Dhabi onshore court used to decide that an arbitration agreement referencing a defunct arbitration center was still enforceable suggests that the UAE judiciary may be adopting a more flexible, pro-arbitration framework and stabilizing Dubai's arbitration landscape, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • DC Circ. Ruling Heightens HHS Contract Pharmacy Challenges

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    The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling that the Section 340B program does not bar manufacturers from restricting deliveries of discounted drugs to contract pharmacies represents a second strike against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' current contract pharmacy policy and raises the stakes surrounding an upcoming Seventh Circuit ruling on the same issue, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Trending At The PTAB: Real Party In Interest And IPR

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    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s recent Luminex v. Signify decision, finding a complaint seeking indemnification may be treated as a public demand sufficient to establish a real party-in-interest, shows that the board continues to apply a broad and expansive definition to that term, say Yicong (Eve) Du and Yieyie Yang at Finnegan.

  • How Employers, Attorneys Can Respond To Noncompete Ban

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    As the Federal Trade Commission's recently issued noncompete ban faces ongoing legal challenges, now is a good time for employers to consider whether they want to take a wait-and-see approach before halting use of noncompetes and for practitioners to gain insight into other tools available to protect their clients' business interests, says Jennifer Platzkere Snyder at Dilworth Paxson.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • CFPB's Expanding Scope Evident In Coding Bootcamp Fine

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent penalty against a for-profit coding bootcamp that misrepresented its tuition financing plans is a sign that the bureau is seeking to wield its supervisory and enforcement powers in more industries that offer consumer financing, say Jason McElroy and Brandon Sherman at Saul Ewing.

  • 4 Arbitration Takeaways From High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's May 23 decision in Coinbase v. Suski, which provides clarity to parties faced with successive contracts containing conflicting dispute resolution provisions, has four practical impacts for contracting parties to consider, say Charles Schoenwetter and Eric Olson at Bowman and Brooke.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

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