Commercial Contracts

  • November 25, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Reverse Amber Heard's Loss In Coverage Suit

    The Ninth Circuit upheld an insurer's favorable ruling Monday in its legal dispute with actress Amber Heard, affirming that she had no right to independent counsel paid for by New York Marine and General Insurance Co. in a defamation suit by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp.

  • November 25, 2024

    Pitt Ordered To Disclose Docs Jolie Says Will Prove Abuse

    A California judge overseeing a dispute between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie over a multimillion-dollar French winery ruled Monday that Pitt must disclose documents and communications that Jolie says will prove he sought to cover up his domestic violence against her and their children.

  • November 25, 2024

    Gov't Defends EB-5 Rule That Hikes Up Petition Fees

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency pushed for an early win in Texas federal court against a suit challenging increases for filing fees for petitions related to USCIS' EB-5 immigrant investor program.

  • November 25, 2024

    Credit Bureaus Freed From VantageScore Antitrust Suit

    An Illinois federal judge has ruled there is no evidence the three major credit bureaus conspired with the Fair Isaac Corporation to engage in a monopoly, reasoning there was no impetus for them to do so, but also found that credit score buyers sufficiently backed some of their antitrust claims against FICO. 

  • November 25, 2024

    Conn. Athlete Training Firm Ends Feud With Ohio Ex-Worker

    A Connecticut company that orchestrates military-style team-building events for corporations and university athletic teams on Monday settled a short-lived employment lawsuit with an Ohio man it had accused of attempting to poach or meddle with its collegiate accounts in at least seven states.

  • November 25, 2024

    Judge Bemoans 'Chaotic' Contracts In Jack Nicklaus IP Case

    The New York state judge presiding over golf legend Jack Nicklaus' intellectual property lawsuit on Monday signaled he may not be able to untangle a set of contradictory contracts, which could lead to a trial over who can use the "Golden Bear's" name and likeness.

  • November 25, 2024

    Colo. Judge Won't Keep SJSU Trans Athlete From Tournament

    A Colorado federal judge on Monday refused to prohibit a San Jose State University transgender volleyball athlete from competing, shutting down a bid from a group of female players in the sport hoping to secure a preliminary injunction against the Mountain West Conference.

  • November 25, 2024

    Hormone Therapy Co. Jilted Actress Over Image Use, Suit Says

    A commercial actress has accused a hormone treatment company and its affiliates of improperly using her image and likeness in promotional materials touting its therapies, telling a Texas state court the business "blatantly misappropriated" her personal brand.

  • November 25, 2024

    Construction Co. Seeks Coverage For $1.9M Email Spoof

    A construction company told an Alaska federal court that a Travelers unit acted in bad faith by refusing to provide directors and officers coverage for an email spoofing scheme that caused the company to wire roughly $1.9 million of a partner construction company's funds to an "imposter."

  • November 25, 2024

    Tesla Nears Deal In Trade Secret Suit Against EV Rival Rivian

    Tesla said in a notice filed in California state court that it would be settling its lawsuit accusing rival electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive of recruiting its employees, who allegedly took Tesla's trade secrets with them to the defendant to use for its plans to release an electric truck.

  • November 25, 2024

    TMX Moves For Emergency Block On $52M Pa. Fine Hearing

    An affiliate of TMX Finance asked a Texas federal court to pause Pennsylvania regulators' efforts to enforce the state's anti-usury laws against it, claiming it faced a "Hobson's choice" of responding to an enforcement proceeding whose legality was being questioned, or waiving its arguments and facing a $52.7 million fine.

  • November 25, 2024

    Final Buzzer Sounds On NBA Fraud Case With Doc's Sentence

    A Manhattan federal judge hit a Seattle-area doctor with five years in prison Monday for joining with the ringleader of the NBA's $5 million health billing fraud ring to submit fake invoices, the final sentencing in the sprawling case.

  • November 25, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds Nixing Convention Center's Coverage Suit

    The Ninth Circuit backed the dismissal of a Seattle convention center operator's suit seeking coverage for pandemic-related losses, saying Monday that COVID-19 and resulting government shutdown orders did not cause the requisite physical loss or damage to the center to trigger coverage.

  • November 25, 2024

    Pashman Stein Seeks Win In Fees Dispute With NJ Atty

    Pashman Stein Walder Hayden PC has moved for summary judgment in New Jersey state court in a fee dispute with a former client who hired the firm to represent him in a fight with his former law partners about the shutdown of their previous firm.

  • November 25, 2024

    Ex-Fox Rothschild Corp. Head Ends Bias Suit Against Firm

    Fox Rothschild LLP has resolved a discrimination lawsuit with a former head of its corporate department who claimed he was pushed out of the firm after nearly three decades because of his age, according to a stipulation of dismissal filed Monday in New Jersey state court.

  • November 25, 2024

    Colo. Firm Sued Amid Ownership Battle For Mental Health Co.

    In a fight over control of a business that provides mental health services to adopted children, the widow of one of the business' founders claims that a Denver law firm committed malpractice and unjustly enriched itself when it advised her rivals in the company's board of directors to file "baseless" lawsuits against her and ran up more than $1 million in bills.

  • November 25, 2024

    Solar Co. Ex-CEO Attys Say DQ Request 'Untethered To Facts'

    Lawyers representing the former CEO of a now-defunct solar energy company against fraud and racketeering claims have told a Michigan federal judge that their previous in-house work for the company is not grounds to disqualify them from the suit, calling the plaintiffs' attempt to have them removed "untethered to facts" and improperly delayed.

  • November 25, 2024

    Justices Turn Away Suit Over Data Extraction Award

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to take up a petition asking it to resolve whether a court or an arbitrator should decide the preclusive effect of a prior judgment, in a case stemming from a soured data extraction services contract involving a mortgage industry data analytics firm.

  • November 22, 2024

    Sirius XM Cancellation Policies Flout Federal Law, Judge Says

    A New York state judge held that Sirius XM Radio Inc.'s account cancellation policies, while not fraudulent, violate federal law by forcing consumers to call customer service and listen to drawn-out discount pitches before they're able to unsubscribe.

  • November 22, 2024

    Wellness Software Co. Not Immune From IP Suit, Judge Says

    A federal judge in San Antonio says the Patent Act's immunity protecting physicians from patent lawsuits is "broad, but it is not limitless," and it does not extend to a wellness software licensing company that "only licenses its product to medical providers."

  • November 22, 2024

    High Court Bar's Future: Sullivan & Cromwell's Morgan Ratner

    Morgan L. Ratner has emerged as a leader of the U.S. Supreme Court bar's next generation, and she attributes her ascent to brilliant mentors, a laid-back argument style, an aversion to overconfidence and a firm commitment to clear principles in every case — even if that means reluctantly telling the chief justice, as she once did, that a hypothetical cat stuck in a tree shouldn't be saved.

  • November 22, 2024

    Lenders File Suit To Repossess 600 Crypto ATMs As Payment

    Two holding companies are asking a Pennsylvania federal judge to appoint a receiver to help them take possession of nearly 600 digital currency kiosk machines that their defaulted borrowers pledged as collateral for loans totaling $5 million.

  • November 22, 2024

    Service Fees Not 'Incidental' To Debt Collection, 11th Circ. Told

    Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reverse two Florida lower court judgments finding it violated debt collection practices with a fee to process phone or internet payments, saying it's not an illegal "incidental" charge because the borrower is paying for an optional service.

  • November 22, 2024

    Procter & Gamble Unit's Hair Oil Causes Hair Loss, Suit Says

    The Procter & Gamble Co. and its unit Mielle Organics LLC are deceptively marketing their brand of hair oil as being safe to use, even though it has caused hair loss in some users, a putative class action filed Thursday in Illinois federal court alleged. 

  • November 22, 2024

    Kraft, Others Say No Need To Stay Atty Fees After $53.3M Win

    Kraft, Kellogg, Nestle and General Mills have urged an Illinois federal judge not to delay deciding attorney fees following their $53.3 million judgment against egg producers and industry groups, saying further stalling would only prolong the already 13-year-old case.

Expert Analysis

  • 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 37 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.

  • A Look At Calif. Contract Considerations In Fiji Water Ruling

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    A California appellate court's recent decision in Carolina Beverage v. Fiji Water, that a party may not seek contractual recovery on the basis of constructive termination, offers a look at contract construction and other considerations on negotiating distribution agreements, says Michael Laszlo at Clark Hill.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Practical Private Equity Lessons From 2 Delaware Deals

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    A pair of Delaware Chancery Court cases remind private equity sponsors that specificity is crucial through the lens of deal certainty, particularly around closing conditions and agreement sections of acquisition agreements, say Robert Rizzo and Larissa Lucas at Weil Gotshal and William Lafferty at Morris Nichols.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • How Uyghur Forced Labor Law Affects Importing Companies

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    Amid a growing focus on forced labor in supply chains and a likely increase in enforcement under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, companies may face costly import delays unless they develop and implement compliance best practices, say Thad McBride and Lauren Gammer at Bass Berry.

  • Revisiting Morals Clauses In The Age Of Deepfakes

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    Deepfakes and other forms of misrepresentation powered by artificial intelligence have complicated the traditional process of reputation management for companies entering into talent agreements with celebrities, bringing new considerations for the morals clauses that usually shield against these risks, say attorneys at Pryor Cashman.

  • 4 Tips For Drafting Earnouts To Avoid Disputes

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    Amid slowed merger and acquisition activity, buyers and sellers are increasingly turning to earnout provisions to get deals done, but these must be carefully drafted to avoid interpretative differences that can lead to later disputes, say attorneys at Cooley.

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