Food & Beverage

  • September 20, 2024

    Entrepreneur Says Partners Stiffed Him On Testing Site Deal

    A Pittsburgh entrepreneur says he had a deal with three Omaha, Nebraska-based businessmen to help them open COVID-19 testing labs in Ohio and Pennsylvania in the early days of the pandemic, but is still owed $2 million, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Pennsylvania state court.

  • September 20, 2024

    Panera Can't Delay Trial Over Shook Hardy Attys' Schedule

    A Pennsylvania federal judge denied Panera Bread's repeated requests to delay a wrongful death trial, finding the restaurant chain will not be prejudiced if its desired Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP counsel cannot attend, as "plenty" of Shook Hardy lawyers can stand in, the judge said.

  • September 19, 2024

    Safeway Touts Bogus Wine Discounts For Members, Suit Says

    Safeway faces a proposed false advertising class action filed Wednesday in California federal court alleging it advertises bogus, limited-time offers of discounted prices on wine sold at its stores for its rewards program members, which misleads customers into thinking they're scoring a bargain. 

  • September 19, 2024

    Wash. Justices Strike Down County's Rural Winery Regs

    The Washington State Supreme Court has struck down an Evergreen State county's regulations for wineries and tasting rooms on rural land near Seattle, saying Thursday the local government violated long-term planning and land use law by downplaying potential environmental consequences of the rules before passing them.

  • September 19, 2024

    Food Safety Org Says EPA Stalling On Sharing Pesticide Info

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is illegally failing to provide important records about how it assesses pesticides' ecological impact and human health risks, the Center for Food Safety said in a new lawsuit.

  • September 19, 2024

    Hormel Foods Can't Beat Retirement Fund Management Suit

    Hormel Foods Corp. can't avoid a proposed class action claiming it failed to remove high-cost investment options with poor return rates from its $1.2 billion retirement plans, with a Minnesota federal judge ruling the worker leading the suit identified suitably comparable funds that performed better.

  • September 19, 2024

    Tyson Foods Hit With Greenwashing Suit For 'Net-Zero' Claim

    Tyson Foods Inc. has been slapped with a complaint by the Environmental Working Group in D.C. Superior Court, accusing the country's second-largest meat company of falsely claiming it will be net-zero by 2050 and misrepresenting its industrial beef products as "climate-smart."

  • September 19, 2024

    Tupperware Gears Up For Lender Fight Over Ch. 11 Plans

    Iconic food storage brand Tupperware received a Delaware bankruptcy judge's approval Thursday to keep its bank account systems operating as it prepares to fight off objections to most of its first-day motions next week from a group of secured lenders looking to dismiss its Chapter 11 bankruptcy and foreclose on its assets.

  • September 19, 2024

    Feds Defend At-Sea Monitoring Rule Despite Chevron Demise

    The federal government is defending its power to require fishermen to partially fund the cost of compliance monitors aboard their ships, arguing to the D.C. Circuit that the demise of the so-called Chevron deference doesn't change the fact that federal law authorizes the at-sea monitoring rules.

  • September 19, 2024

    Nantucket Festival Owner Says Rival Exploiting Discovery

    The longtime operator of a wine and food festival on Nantucket says a competitor who started a similarly named event is now trying to take advantage of a court order by making "improperly broad and harassing discovery requests" to further undermine her business.

  • September 19, 2024

    11th Circ. Asked To Revisit Coverage Ruling Over Comma

    Food company owner ECB USA Inc. is asking the Eleventh Circuit to reconsider a decision clearing a Chubb insurance unit from covering a $4.2 million settlement agreement over the lack of a comma in a professional services policy, arguing the ruling misapplied New Jersey law.

  • September 18, 2024

    Mich. Justices Continue To Fight Over Minimum Wage Ruling

    Michigan's minimum wage will rise to $12.48 an hour in February, the state Supreme Court confirmed Wednesday in an order that settled a debate over how to calculate the new wage floor, but rehashed internal disagreements over the court's July decision to increase the minimum wage.

  • September 18, 2024

    Modelo Says Texas Beer Co. Ripping Off Corona, Other Brands

    Modelo and Constellation Brand have sued a Texas-based beer distribution company in federal court, accusing it of selling and advertising beer products that imitate the names, color schemes and marks of their beers, including Corona, Pacifico, Barrilito and Victoria.

  • September 18, 2024

    Mexican Parts Maker Rehires Worker To End USMCA Probe

    A Mexican parts manufacturer rehired a worker fired allegedly for conducting union activities and agreed to train its workforce on collective bargaining rights to end an investigation under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement into claims that the plant violated workers' organizing rights, the U.S. Trade Representative has announced.

  • September 18, 2024

    3rd Circ. Digs Into NLRB's Power To Punish Starbucks

    A Third Circuit panel on Wednesday struggled to find agreement between Starbucks Corp. and the National Labor Relations Board on the scope of the agency's power to penalize companies for violating employees' rights, as it considered the coffee chain's challenge to the agency's penalties over its firing of two unionizing workers.

  • September 18, 2024

    Jury Finds Eatery Owner Guilty Of COVID Fraud, Tax Crimes

    A San Diego restaurant owner who worked with food delivery services during the pandemic and saw his business improve was convicted by a California federal jury of tax crimes and lying on loan applications to obtain more than $1.7 million in COVID-19 funds meant for struggling businesses.

  • September 18, 2024

    Parent Of UK's TGI Fridays Falls Into Administration

    The British restaurant group that operates TGI Fridays' UK stores has collapsed into administration on Wednesday, along with its plans to sell its 87 restaurants in the UK, the company said after it nixed a deal to acquire U.S. stores earlier this month.

  • September 18, 2024

    House Panel Members Question Legitimacy Of Axed Tip Rule

    A U.S. House panel chair criticized Wednesday a tip credit rule that the Fifth Circuit recently vacated, calling it burdensome and out of touch.

  • September 18, 2024

    Federal Judge Won't Abstain From Pot Payment Co. Dispute

    A Nevada federal judge has declined to abstain from a dispute between a pair of investment firms over the collapse of their joint venture, saying while one company is a subsidiary of a cannabis payment processing company, the dispute can be resolved without dipping into the murky waters of cannabis's federal illegality.

  • September 18, 2024

    Campari Buys Stake In Whisky Brands Owner For £69.6M

    Italian drinks maker Campari Group said it has bought a 14.6% stake in Capevin Holdings Proprietary Ltd., the South African owner of a whisky producer, for £69.6 million ($92 million) in cash.

  • September 17, 2024

    Hawkers Asian Restaurant Chain Files For Ch. 11 In Fla.

    Florida-based pan-Asian restaurant chain Hawkers Asian Street Food and Craft Cocktails became the latest casual dining enterprise to file for Chapter 11 protection Tuesday, as the industry continues to deal with a tricky combination of rising costs and tightening consumer pocketbooks.

  • September 17, 2024

    JM Smucker Says Rival Is Spreading Uncrustable Lies

    A Los Angeles-based online snack retailer is smearing the image of J.M. Smucker Co.'s signature Uncrustables sandwiches through defamatory social media posts and false claims that its own products are nutritionally superior, the jam giant alleged Monday in an Ohio federal court complaint.

  • September 17, 2024

    Scope Of High Court's Jarkesy Ruling Tested In H-2A Visa Suit

    A Kentucky business is testing the scope of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision restricting the power of administrative courts, alleging in a new lawsuit that a proceeding over findings of H-2A visa violations is infringing its constitutional right to a jury trial.

  • September 17, 2024

    US Growers Say Chilean Grapes A Threat Under Rule Change

    A group of California grape growers has hit the U.S. Department of Agriculture with a suit in California federal court alleging the agency's approval of a "systems approach" for importing Chilean grapes abandons traditional safeguards and exposes U.S. grape producers to significant risks and costs.

  • September 17, 2024

    GC Base Salaries At Big Companies On The Rise

    General counsel base salaries at companies making $5 billion or more in revenue has increased from last year, while their total compensation has decreased, according to a report released Tuesday by the Association of Corporate Counsel and Empsight International LLC.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

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    The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

  • 8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

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    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

  • Justices Clarify FAA But Leave Behind Important Questions

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Bissonnette v. LePage firmly shuts the door on any argument that the Federal Arbitration Act's Section 1 exemption is limited to transportation workers whose employers transport goods on behalf of others, but two major issues remain unresolved, say Joshua Wesneski and Crystal Weeks at Weil.

  • PE In The Crosshairs Of Public And Private Antitrust Enforcers

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    A series of decisions from a California federal court in the recently settled Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, as well as heightened scrutiny from federal agencies, serve as a reminder that private equity firms may be exposed to liability for alleged anti-competitive conduct by their portfolio companies, say attorneys at Axinn.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • A Recipe For Growth Equity Investing In A Slow M&A Market

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    Carl Marcellino at Ropes & Gray discusses the factors bolstering appetite for growth equity fundraising in a depressed M&A market, and walks through the deal terms and other ingredients that set growth equity transactions apart from bread-and-butter venture capital investing.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • Microplastics At The Crossroads Of Regulation And Litigation

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    Though there are currently not many federal regulations specifically addressing microplastics as pollutants, regulatory scrutiny and lawsuits asserting consumer protection claims are both on the rise, and manufacturers should take proactive steps to implement preventive measures accordingly, say Aliza Karetnick and Franco Corrado at Morgan Lewis.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Data Shows H-2B Wages May Be Skewed High By Sample Size

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    Occupational Wage and Employment Statistics wage data from April illustrates that smaller sample sizes from less populated areas may be skewing prevailing wages for H-2B visas artificially high, potentially harming businesses that rely on the visa program, says Stephen Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.

  • Series

    Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • The Secret Sauce For Trademarking Viral Food Products

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    Three recent high-profile trademark disputes in the food industry illustrate the importance of protecting brands early — especially for any company aiming for viral fame — and underscore the value of intent-to-use applications, say Elliot Gee and Matthew Dowd at Dowd Scheffel.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Breaking Down EPA's Rule On PFAS In Drinking Water

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    Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized the first enforceable federal drinking water regulation for PFAS, which, along with reporting and compliance requirements for regulated entities, will have a number of indirect effects, including increased cleanup costs and the possible expansion of existing Superfund sites, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals

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    Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.

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