Commercial Contracts

  • January 31, 2025

    Conn. Justices Let McCarter Ex-Client Off $3.6M Hook

    Answering a certified question from a federal judge, the Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday ruled that McCarter & English LLP can't claw an additional $3.6 million in common law punitive damages from a nutritional supplement maker as part of a protracted fee feud, holding that the firm should have pleaded and proven an "independent tort" if it wanted to pursue the money.

  • January 31, 2025

    Seasoned Patterson Belknap Trial Team Joins Linklaters In NY

    Linklaters LLP announced Friday it has brought aboard a high-profile team of litigation partners from Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, including one who is the current president of the New York City Bar Association and a lawyer former President Joe Biden had nominated to the Third Circuit.

  • January 31, 2025

    NJ Firm Blasts Pier Investment Suit As 'Shameless Fiction'

    Hankin Sandman Palladino Weintrob & Bell has urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a Garden State couple's legal malpractice lawsuit over their investment in an Atlantic City Boardwalk amusement park, arguing that their claims are barred by the state's entire controversy doctrine and are "premised on knowing falsities and fail on the merits."

  • January 31, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen another claim by Woodford investors against Hargreaves Lansdown in the widening £200 million ($248 million) dispute over the fund's collapse, a solicitor barred for his role in a suspected advance fee fraud face action by a Swiss wholesaler, and The Resort Group, which markets investments in luxury hotel resorts, hit with a claim by a group of investors. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • January 30, 2025

    Merck Can't Ditch Worker's Race Bias Suit Ahead Of Trial

    A New York federal judge on Wednesday refused to enter judgment for Merck & Co. in a Black former information technology director's suit alleging the company discriminated against him by firing him after he had a contractor removed from his project, teeing up the case for trial.

  • January 30, 2025

    Paramount Settles Fee Suit Over Pacquiao-Mayweather Fight

    Paramount Global has settled a nearly decade-old lawsuit over a finder's fee for the lucrative 2015 boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., according to a Thursday notice in California state court.

  • January 30, 2025

    Lower Court Altered Contract Reading, Texas Justices Told

    An Energy Transfer subsidiary told the Texas Supreme Court that a lower court upended the way contracts are interpreted in the state when it found no remedy for alleged losses from a soured $1 billion deal with an Exxon Mobil Corp. unit.

  • January 30, 2025

    Perdue Loses Bid To Halt DOL's Whistleblower Process

    Perdue can't block the U.S. Department of Labor's administrative proceedings for whistleblower complaints, a North Carolina federal judge has concluded, saying the chicken producer failed to show why the proceedings should be stopped urgently.

  • January 30, 2025

    Ex-Partners Used Co. Money For Other Biz Ventures, Suit Says

    A Colorado restaurant company is suing two former managing members for "brazen and wide-ranging fraud" against the company, alleging the members used company coffers to fund employees and expenses for their own business ventures.

  • January 30, 2025

    Semiconductor Co. Eyeing $5M Award Can't Get Asset Freeze

    A California federal judge has denied a Chinese semiconductor company's request to bar a commodity trading firm from dissipating its assets while the two are locked in an arbitration battle over a contract for lithography machines, saying the trader, now aware of the litigation, had not sold off its assets or indicated an intention of doing so.

  • January 30, 2025

    Historic Soda Co. Says Ex-Officer's Lease Suit Is 'Revenge'

    Foxon Park Beverages Inc., a century-old soft drink maker in Connecticut, has asked a state court judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that it entered into an unfair lease agreement with another company owned by the same family, arguing that the entities' former president brought it for an improper purpose.

  • January 30, 2025

    Panel Passes On Snowboarder's Version Of Ski Waiver Ruling

    A Colorado state appeals court on Thursday said it didn't need to touch an injured snowboarder's argument that precedent limiting the reach of ski resort liability waivers also applies to his lawsuit over a snowmobile collision, because the snowboarder released any legal claims when he later purchased a resort pass.

  • January 30, 2025

    Food Co. Says Ex-Manager Hoodwinked Customers For Rivals

    The former general manager of a chicken processing plant allegedly double-crossed his employer by working with two competing food distributors to poach customers through deceptive sales pitches and pocketing company funds through off-the-book rental agreements, according to a newly designated North Carolina Business Court complaint.

  • January 30, 2025

    Ligado Creditor Pans 'Exorbitant' Fees For $115M DIP Loan

    Satellite communications company Ligado Networks LLC's largest unsecured creditor asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to reject the company's proposed $115 million Chapter 11 financing package, saying Ligado's secured lenders were seeking to help themselves to $100 million in fees as part of the deal.

  • January 30, 2025

    WB's 'The Pitt' Is 'Absolutely' An 'ER' Reboot, Crichton Says

    Counsel for the widow of "ER" creator Michael Crichton urged a California state judge on Thursday not to toss allegations that Warner Bros. Discovery's new medical drama "The Pitt" is an unauthorized reboot, saying the now-streaming show's development history proves it "absolutely derived" from the 1990s and early 2000s hit.

  • January 30, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Sanctions Miss, Philip Morris Refund

    In the second half of January, the North Carolina Business Court tussled with sanctions against a biogas company, heard claims an insurer tried to deliberately embarrass Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and ordered an $11 million tax refund for Philip Morris.

  • January 30, 2025

    Ex-Charter Communications IT Exec Says Noncompete Is Void

    A former Charter Communications Inc. executive has asked a Connecticut federal judge to throw out the company's trade secrets claims against him or at least transfer the case to Colorado, arguing that his ex-employer has failed to say what secrets he allegedly took to his new job and that his noncompete agreement is void.

  • January 30, 2025

    Broker Sues Builder After Condo Plan Ditched For Apartments

    A brokerage contracted to market condominiums in Denver says a developer is refusing to pay commission and other costs after deciding to convert the project into an apartment complex, according to a lawsuit filed in Colorado state court.

  • January 30, 2025

    Storage Co. Says Rothman Gordon Left Behind Files, Big Bills

    The defunct Pittsburgh law firm Rothman Gordon PC has left thousands of file boxes in storage at a contractor's warehouse without paying, and is insisting that the contractor go through the stored records to return files to former clients, according to a lawsuit the storage company filed in Pennsylvania state court.

  • January 29, 2025

    Fla. Yacht Owner Seeks Depo At Courthouse After Shooting

    A yacht owner has urged a Florida state court to allow a deposition in a lawsuit over an ownership dispute to be taken at the downtown Miami courthouse, saying he fears for his safety following threats on his life and a shooting that almost killed him.

  • January 29, 2025

    Spotify Beats Suit Challenging 'Bundling' Royalty Structure

    A New York federal judge tossed a challenge to Spotify's new method for calculating artist royalties Wednesday, finding that the streaming giant followed the law in "bundling" a premium subscription that gives users access to both music and audiobooks.

  • January 29, 2025

    Apple Will Appeal Denial Of Bid To Defend Google Search Deal

    Apple said Wednesday that it will appeal an order refusing to let it intervene in the government's search monopolization case against Google to defend a multibillion-dollar revenue-sharing deal that makes Google the default search engine for the Safari browser.

  • January 29, 2025

    $17M Punitive Award Reversed In Miami Hotel's Noise Suit

    A Florida state appeals court on Wednesday upheld sanctions against the owner of two Miami Beach hotels for committing fraud on the court in a commercial landlord-tenant dispute, but the court threw out a $17.4 million punitive damages award and ordered a new trial on that issue.

  • January 29, 2025

    Dentons Taps SEC Enforcement Vet From Morrison Cohen

    Dentons has brought on a former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney from Morrison Cohen LLP, where his work made headlines when he won a rare sanctions order against the regulator over its handling of a case against a client, the crypto project known as Debt Box. 

  • January 29, 2025

    Mich. Judge Doubts Discovery Dispute Should DQ Firm

    A Michigan federal judge on Wednesday said a law firm's alleged "bad behavior" doesn't necessarily mean it can't represent a former CEO of a solar energy company, telling residents who sought to disqualify the firm because of a supposed conflict that their complaints may be better dealt with through discovery motions.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Key Territory-Split Licensing Lessons For Life Sciences Cos.

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    Territory-split deals can allow life sciences companies to maximize products' potential across a range of geographic areas, but these deals also present unique challenges requiring highly bespoke structures that can make or break the value of an asset, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Total loss valuation cases and labor depreciation cases dominated the past quarter of insurance class actions, with courts continuing to reject challenges to condition adjustments in the former, and a pro-insured trend persisting in the latter, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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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.

  • Opinion

    In Visa Case, DOJ Continues To Misapply The Sherman Act

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    The recent U.S. Department of Justice debit market monopolization case against Visa fuels concerns that a misguided Biden administration DOJ is inappropriately expanding its interpretation of the Sherman Antitrust Act beyond the demonstrable economic effects that business conduct has on consumers, says Shubha Ghosh at Syracuse University.

  • 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. 

  • Key Legal Considerations After Supply Chain Disruptions

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    After U.S. supply chain disruptions — like the recent port workers' strike, and Hurricanes Helene and Milton — stakeholders should look to contractual provisions to mitigate losses, and keep in mind that regulators will be watching closely for unfair shipping practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Why Secured Lenders Must Mind The Gap In UCC Searches

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    If not adequately addressed, the Uniform Commercial Code filing indexing gap can interfere with a lender's expected lien priority, but taking appropriate preclosing actions and properly timing searches can eliminate this risk, says Robert Wonneberger at Barclay Damon.

  • The Fed. Circ. In October: Aetna And License-Term Review

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision that Aetna's credit card licensing agreement with AlexSam did not give the insurer immunity from patent infringement claims serves to warn licensees to read their contracts carefully, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • Reading Tea Leaves In Fed. Circ. Deep Dive On Review Scope

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    Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer investigates why a recent Federal Circuit opinion spent six pages explaining its unsurprising conclusion on proper scope of review — that no deference need be afforded to the trial court in a case dismissed for failure to state a claim.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

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