Commercial Contracts

  • July 24, 2024

    Atty Who Put Settlement In Spouse's Account Loses Appeal

    A Texas appellate court ruled Wednesday against an attorney seeking to overturn a ruling from a trial court barring him from practicing law for 18 months, saying the man clearly breached his ethical obligations by moving settlement funds through his spouse's personal bank account.

  • July 24, 2024

    Packaging Co. Can't Limit Rival's Sales In NC Biz Spat

    The North Carolina Business Court on Wednesday refused to limit the clientele of a packaging company facing sales-poaching claims by a competitor, reasoning that the rival's lawsuit isn't likely to succeed.

  • 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

    Conn. Cannabis Co.'s Income Loss Not Covered, Insurer Says

    An insurer said it has no obligation to cover a cannabis company's business income loss stemming from a February 2020 fire, telling a Connecticut federal court that the loss was not caused by a suspension of operations but rather damage to marijuana plants that aren't covered.

  • July 24, 2024

    Byju's Asks Del. Justices To Undo Lenders' Chancery Win

    The bankrupt U.S. arm of India-based educational technology giant Byju's told the Delaware Supreme Court Wednesday that its dispute with a consortium of lenders belongs in New York and argued that the state's Chancery Court was wrong to find the lenders had validly taken over the company after several defaults.

  • July 24, 2024

    Pawnshop Co. Says Military Law Doesn't Back CFPB's Suit 

    National pawnshop company FirstCash says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should drop certain claims in a suit accusing it of subjecting military families to predatory lending, arguing that the bureau has admitted it has no authority to bring certain claims under the law undergirding the allegations.

  • July 24, 2024

    Navajo Coal Co. Appeals FINRA Arbitration Order In $11M Fight

    A Navajo coal-mining company has wasted no time in appealing a Pennsylvania federal judge's order refusing to grant the tribe-owned business's bid to halt arbitration proceedings against a private equity firm in an $11 million dispute over their financing agreement.

  • July 24, 2024

    NBA's Pelicans Seek To Recoup Crypto Co.'s Sponsor Fees

    The NBA's New Orleans Pelicans asked a Louisiana federal court to force cryptocurrency mining company PrimeBlock Operations LLC to either pony up the sponsorship fee it failed to deliver years ago or make good on a subsequent $500,000 settlement offer.

  • July 24, 2024

    Connecticut Justices Won't Certify 'Slum' Tenant Class

    A Connecticut state court judge was under no obligation to redefine a proposed class of low-income tenants in order to help them meet the certification requirements in a fraud and unfair trade practices lawsuit against their corporate landlord and property manager, the state Supreme Court hs ruled.

  • July 24, 2024

    Minor League Hockey Team Settles Contract Breach Suit

    A former minor league hockey team in Illinois has settled its breach of contract suit against the independent professional ice hockey league it was once a part of, according to a notice filed in North Carolina federal court.

  • July 24, 2024

    McCarter & English Beats Biotech Malpractice Suit In NJ

    McCarter & English LLP defeated a New Jersey biotechnology company's legal malpractice suit this week, following a New Jersey state judge's finding that the malpractice claims should have been brought in an earlier round of litigation over unpaid legal fees.

  • July 24, 2024

    Chancery OKs $6M Deal Recovery After 'Voidness' Ruling

    The Delaware Supreme Court's partial reversal last year of a vice chancellor's findings that upheld an investment company's foreclosure on $50 million in co-founder equity units cleared the way on Wednesday for the same company to recoup more than $6 million in damages and expenses.

  • July 24, 2024

    Ozy Media Ends Trade Secrets Suit After Ex-CEO's Conviction

    News startup Ozy Media has dropped its trade secrets theft suit against Buzzfeed, its former editor-in-chief Ben Smith and the media company he co-founded, Semafor Inc., about a week after Ozy and its former CEO were convicted of lying to banks and investors to secure tens of millions of dollars to fund the multimedia business.

  • July 23, 2024

    Microsoft Calls FTC Price Hike Claims 'Misleading' At 9th Circ

    Microsoft pushed back against the Federal Trade Commission's contention that an increase in the company's gaming subscription pricing is evidence of the anticompetitive effects of the software giant's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc., calling the commission out for trying to "reinvent" its case against the merger on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

  • July 23, 2024

    Chancery Ends Challenge To $12.5B Qualtrics' SAP Sale

    Saying it was not reasonably conceivable that he would find software giant SAP and Qualtrics International Inc. directors liable for damages after Qualtrics' $12.5 billion sale to Silver Lake Capital despite a superficially better offer, a Delaware vice chancellor on Tuesday dismissed a stockholder challenge to the deal.

  • July 23, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Madonna Tells DC Judge Late Show Suit Already Failed In NY

    Madonna and venue management company Monumental Sports & Entertainment asked a D.C. federal judge to toss a lawsuit claiming that the pop singer kept concert attendees waiting for hours before taking the stage in Washington, D.C., saying the proposed class action should fare no better than a similar suit in New York that was dropped last month.

  • July 23, 2024

    Yamaha Sinks Defective WaveRunner Watercraft Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday threw out a proposed class action alleging Yamaha Motor Corp. USA sold WaveRunner-brand personal watercraft with defective fuel gauges and trip computers, saying the complaint fails to properly allege a breach of warranty or fraud.

  • July 23, 2024

    Judge Won't Force Meta To Run Bankrupt Rubio's Ads

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday denied a temporary restraining order requested by fast-casual seafood chain Rubio's Coastal Grill against Meta Platforms Inc., which alleged Meta violated an automatic stay in the Chapter 11 case by not running Rubio's ads after the company didn't pay fees it had incurred prepetition. 

  • July 23, 2024

    Regional Electric Co-Op Sues Power District Over Unpaid Bills

    A regional electric cooperative based in Colorado has filed a lawsuit in Colorado federal court against a Nebraska public power district, alleging the Nebraska entity is refusing to pay for more than $1 million of electricity it bought from the regional cooperative this year.

  • July 23, 2024

    USA Pickleball Whacks Paddle Design Contract Suit

    USA Pickleball Association has asked a Maryland federal judge to toss a fraud and negligence suit filed by a paddle manufacturer, arguing it was not vindictiveness that kept it from approving the company's design, but changing standards.

  • July 23, 2024

    Philly Judge Won't Block FTC Noncompete Ban

    A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Tuesday to temporarily block the Federal Trade Commission's impending ban on employment noncompete agreements, a victory for commission authority that could be short-lived as the agency awaits a final decision from a Texas federal judge who's already indicated an inclination to stop the regulation.

  • July 23, 2024

    'Surface Water' Stumps Mass. Justices In Loss For Insurers

    The top court in Massachusetts on Tuesday ruled in favor of a hospital seeking insurance coverage stemming from a severe rainstorm, saying it's unclear if water that pooled on the hospital's roof should be considered "surface water" that would trigger policy limits on flood damage.

  • July 22, 2024

    Chicago Firm Seeks $2M For Ex-Atty's Alleged Client Poaching

    Chicago firm Loftus & Eisenberg Ltd. has filed suit in Illinois state court accusing a former attorney's new firm of helping the lawyer poach clients by encouraging them to leave with him, even though the new firm couldn't support his practice.

  • July 22, 2024

    Fla. Jury Says Insurance Broker Owes $3M For Worker Poaching

    A Florida federal jury has awarded more than $3 million in damages to a New York insurance brokerage in a trial over employment contracts, finding that a competitor interfered with its business by helping two employees breach fiduciary duties when they switched jobs and brought client lists with them.

  • July 22, 2024

    Gazprom Unit Illegally Seized Helium Containers, Linde Says

    Linde Inc. sued RusChemAlliance and Gazprom in New York federal court Friday alleging they illegally seized helium containers in Russia as collateral in an unrelated contractual fight they have with nonparty engineering firm Linde GmbH over gas plant projects shuttered amid expanded sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

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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