Commercial Contracts

  • November 08, 2024

    1st Circ. Affirms Order Ending Jet Blue-American Partnership

    The First Circuit backed a lower court decision blocking a partnership between JetBlue and American Airlines that it found substantially diminished competition in the domestic air travel market, saying it found no error in the district judge's thorough review of the deal that could revive the venture.

  • November 08, 2024

    Crypto Co. Seeks Freeze Of $4M In Contract Fight

    A group of companies known within the cryptocurrency industry as the Bixin Group has filed for an emergency motion to freeze a bank account of Alopex Advisors LLC holding a $4 million security deposit as it pursues arbitration in Hong Kong against Alopex over an agreement to help Bixin navigate the Icelandic property and energy markets.

  • November 08, 2024

    PPG Seeks $23M Fees In Sherwin-Williams Coating IP Suit

    PPG Industries told a Pennsylvania federal judge Friday that Sherwin-Williams should pay it $23 million in attorney fees after the Federal Circuit backed a jury's verdict invalidating five paint coating patents, saying the litigation was "premised on directly contradicting" admissions Sherwin made to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  • November 08, 2024

    Fla. Apparel Distributor Sues Gap Over $378M Bait-And-Switch

    A South Florida-based apparel distribution company has brought a $378 million counter-complaint against Gap Inc. in California state court, alleging the clothing retailer threatened to sabotage an initial public offering after pulling a bait-and-switch by sending millions of dollars of oversized, unsellable garments and ruin relationships with existing customers.

  • November 08, 2024

    Off The Bench: Mo. Betting, NCAA Budges, New Ohtani Drama

    In this week's Off The Bench, Missouri becomes the latest state to legalize sports betting, an antitrust class action forces more changes to the NCAA's eligibility rules, and Shohei Ohtani's historic season spurs another memorabilia lawsuit.

  • November 08, 2024

    Payments Co. Never Returned $1.5M, Tribal Authority Claims

    An Oklahoma tribal financial services authority has sued two owners of a payment processor, alleging that they defrauded the authority out of $1.5 million by confiscating funds purportedly held in reserve before the termination of their relationship.

  • November 08, 2024

    Boeing Wins Discovery Spat In African Airline's 737 Max Suit

    A Washington federal judge has sided with Boeing in a discovery dispute stemming from a lawsuit over fallout from a 737 Max deal, finding the aerospace giant has cited "tangible evidence" that a now-defunct South African airline failed to retain records "obviously relevant" to its claims that it was deceived regarding the jet's safety.

  • November 08, 2024

    Water Utility Hits PVC Pipe Makers With Price-Fixing Suit

    A public water utility on Friday hit some of the nation's largest PVC pipe manufacturers with a class action accusing them of using a commodity pricing service to exchange information and illegally fix prices, claiming the companies reaped "historic profits" at the expense of public utilities.

  • November 08, 2024

    Pawn Shop Must Face CFPB's Military Law Claims, Judge Says

    In a matter of first impression, a Texas federal judge has ruled that national pawn shop company FirstCash Inc. cannot use a "bona fide error" defense to argue that its alleged violation of the Military Lending Act was an unintentional mishap, saying the defense only applies to private borrower claims, not federal agency suits.

  • November 08, 2024

    Chancery Tosses Microchip Co.'s Tech Licensor Challenge

    A Delaware vice chancellor on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Swiss microchip maker u-blox AG against tech licensor InterDigital Inc., finding among other points that u-blox was barred from moving forward with potentially unsettled claims arising from the same issues in a California federal court case.

  • November 08, 2024

    Colo. City Says Software Co. Trying To Dodge $20M Verdict

    A city in Colorado has urged a federal court to force a software developer to turn over customer contracts and other documents to prove the company is not transferring assets to avoid paying a $20 million judgment, accusing the firm of playing a "corporate shell game."

  • November 08, 2024

    Landowners Ink $6.5M Deal To Cap Inactive Gas Wells

    A group of landowners is asking a West Virginia federal court to approve a proposed settlement that would have Diversified Energy Co. more than quadruple its commitment to plugging inactive gas wells that it obtained from EQT Corp., meaning that it will cap off at least 2,600 wells in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Tennessee by 2035.

  • November 08, 2024

    US Exec To Sell Homes In Settlement With Swedish Airgun Co.

    The chief executive of a North Carolina airgun company left in shambles over allegations of gross mismanagement has agreed to fork over $950,000 by selling two residences as part of a settlement ending the contentious yearlong litigation brought by his Swedish partner.

  • November 08, 2024

    3rd Circ. Unsure Progressive Can Undo Car Value Suit Cert.

    A Third Circuit panel on Friday grappled with whether an adjustment that Progressive Specialty Insurance Co. did every time it calculated the value of a totaled vehicle was enough to warrant class certification for a lawsuit claiming the adjustment was unfair, or if classwide treatment was inappropriate when each class member could have a different outcome of that assessment.

  • November 08, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen collapsed German airline Air Berlin take action against its former auditor KPMG, the associate editor at The Spectator hit with a libel claim by a mosque over the far-right riots that took place in August and British licensing authority the Performing Right Society sue Parklife Manchester and four other festival organizers. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • November 08, 2024

    Katten Adds Private Credit Partner From Weil In NY

    Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has added a former Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP banking and finance counsel, who joined the team in New York as a private credit partner.

  • November 07, 2024

    3rd Circ. Says Tainted Bayer Antifungals Clearly 'Worth Less'

    Four of the nine named plaintiffs in a proposed class action over Bayer's 2021 recall of potentially benzene-tainted antifungal sprays can revive their claims against the company on the grounds that they'd paid for an effectively worthless product, a Third Circuit panel ruled Thursday.

  • November 07, 2024

    Overstock.com Ex-CEO Looks To Slash Hunter Biden's Claims

    The former CEO of Overstock.com has asked a California federal court to block various damages and all opposing expert testimony in Hunter Biden's upcoming defamation trial against him over alleged false statements that Biden was working with a foreign government.

  • November 07, 2024

    Flagstar Customer Asks 6th Circ. To Revive Overdraft Fee Suit

    A Flagstar Bank customer has urged the Sixth Circuit to revive her class claims alleging the bank charged surprise overdraft fees, arguing that a Michigan district court failed to follow the "settled rules" dictating that ambiguous contract terms should be interpreted against the drafter.

  • November 07, 2024

    Privilege Overruled In Firm's Suit Against Drinks Co. Founder

    A Florida state court judge Thursday ordered the founder of the company that makes Bang Energy drinks to sit for a deposition in a lawsuit over unpaid fees brought by counsel who formerly represented him in a bankruptcy case, overruling attorney-client privilege asserted in a previous attempt to depose him.

  • November 07, 2024

    Ore. Judge Denies CBD Co's Bid To Freeze Bank Assets

    An Oregon federal judge won't freeze accounts tied to the founders of a "neobank" that went belly up and failed to return nearly $127,000 in deposits made by a cannabis company, saying the accounts are operated by a bank that is not a party to the litigation.

  • November 07, 2024

    Sutter Health Could Face Retrial On Antitrust Claims In March

    Sutter Health is headed back to trial after the Ninth Circuit said "highly relevant" evidence was excluded from the 2022 trial where the hospital chain defeated claims that it had driven up the cost of insurance, and the court overseeing the matter says March is the earliest it can do.

  • November 07, 2024

    NC Contractor Says DR Horton Owes It Millions

    A contractor claimed that homebuilding giant D.R. Horton Inc. stiffed it out of more than $5.5 million after it did site work for residential real estate projects in North and South Carolina.

  • November 07, 2024

    Colo. Says Man Sold $3M In Unregistered Securities

    Colorado securities regulators filed a lawsuit in state court alleging a man sold more than $3 million of unregistered securities to investors, many of them friends, students or women he met through dating apps, while withholding important information or misrepresenting the investments.

  • November 07, 2024

    Wash. COVID Tuition Class Contract Claim Cleared For Trial

    A Washington state judge has narrowed a student class action against the University of Washington seeking tuition reimbursement from the COVID-19 campus shutdown, nixing some claims while saying a jury should decide whether the school's "marketing materials, course descriptions and historical practice" amounted to an implied contract for in-person learning.

Expert Analysis

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Testing The Waters As New Texas Biz Court Ends 2nd Month

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    Despite an uptick in filings in the Texas Business Court's initial months of operation, the docket remains fairly light amid an apparent wait-and-see approach from some potential litigants, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • How DOJ's Visa Debit Monopolization Suit May Unfold

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recently filed Section 2 monopolization suit against Visa offers several scenarios for a vigorous case and is likely to reveal some of the challenges faced by antitrust plaintiffs following the U.S. Supreme Court's split 2018 American Express decision, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • There's No Crying In Property Valuation Baseball Arbitration

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    The World Series is the perfect time to consider how the form of arbitration used for settling MLB salary disputes — in which each side offers competing valuations to an arbitrator, who must select one — is often ideal for resolving property valuation disputes, say Sean O’Donnell at Herrick Feinstein and Mark Dunec at FTI Consulting.

  • Navigating Fla.'s Shorter Construction Defect Claim Window

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    In light of recent legislation reducing the amount of time Florida homeowners have to bring construction defect claims, homeowners should be sure to understand their rights and responsibilities regarding maintenance, repairs and inspections set forth in developer-drafted documents, say Brian Tannenbaum and Nicholas Vargo at Ball Janik.

  • Why Diversity Jurisdiction Poses Investment Fund Hurdles

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    Federal courts' continued application of the exacting rules of diversity jurisdiction presents particular challenges for investment funds, and in the absence of any near-term reform, those who manage such funds should take action to avoid diversity jurisdiction pitfalls, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • Webuild Ruling Complicates Arb. Award Enforcement In US

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    A Delaware federal court's recent decision in Sociedad Concesionaria Metropolitana de Salud v. Webuild, if read literally, could undercut the United States' image as a proarbitration jurisdiction by complicating creditors' efforts to enforce awards against property in this country, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Bristol-Myers Win Offers Lessons For Debt Security Holders

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    A New York federal judge's recent dismissal of a $6.4 billion lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb, due to plaintiff UMB Bank's lack of standing, serves as an important reminder to debt security holders to obtain depositary proxies before pursuing litigation, say attorneys at Milbank.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

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