Food & Beverage

  • June 26, 2024

    Pilgrim's Pride Settles Grower Pay Antitrust Case

    An Oklahoma federal judge hit the brakes Wednesday on a lawsuit seeking nearly $3 billion in damages from Pilgrim's Pride Corp. over claims it conspired with other chicken producers to suppress farmer compensation after the sides reached a settlement.

  • June 26, 2024

    Nantucket Festival Owner Sues Over Alleged Imposter Event

    The longtime operator of Nantucket's Wine and Food Festival says a former vendor has set up a competing event with a similar name, misleading potential participants into believing the original event was acquired and that the new name was merely a "rebrand."

  • June 26, 2024

    Unfinished Glycine Factory Supports Evasion, Says US Co.

    A U.S. glycine producer urged the U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday to affirm the government's renewed finding that importers dodged tariffs, pointing to photographs of an Indonesian factory still under construction while it was allegedly producing exports for the suppliers.

  • June 26, 2024

    NJ Shore Town Asks Court To End Bar's Teen Night

    A Garden State beach town asked a New Jersey federal judge to put an end to a popular bar's Teen Night after the establishment said it will continue to hold the twice-weekly events despite a borough ordinance banning them, claiming the events lead to raucous and illegal behavior.

  • June 26, 2024

    Olo Moots Investor's Chancery Suit By Axing Free Takeover

    Directors of New York-based online food-ordering venture Olo have mooted a proposed class challenge to a company stock buyback program by effectively barring moves that would give the company's top investor majority control of the business, Delaware's chancellor ruled on Monday. 

  • June 26, 2024

    Squire Patton Adds Epstein Becker Healthcare Atty In DC

    An experienced healthcare and life sciences industries attorney has jumped from Epstein Becker Green PC to Squire Patton Boggs LLP in Washington, D.C., the latter firm has announced.

  • June 26, 2024

    5 Indicted In 'Feeding Our Future' Jury Bribery Scheme

    Five people have been indicted in Minnesota for trying to bribe a juror with a Hallmark gift bag containing $120,000 in cash in a failed attempt to influence the first trial of the sprawling "Feeding Our Future" $250 million pandemic fraud case, which recently ended with five convictions and two acquittals.

  • June 26, 2024

    UK Man Avoids Jail In $13M Whiskey, Wine Investment Scam

    A London native was sentenced to three years of probation by an Ohio federal judge after pleading guilty to cold-calling elderly people and falsely promising large returns for investing in wine and whiskey.

  • June 26, 2024

    Some Asian Paper Plates May See Duties Over 300%

    The U.S. Department of Commerce teed up preliminary countervailing duties on Chinese and Vietnamese paper plates exceeding 300%, finding that producers are likely receiving government subsidies giving them an unfair advantage in the U.S. market.

  • June 26, 2024

    Mass. Dunkin' Managers Can Sue For OT As Collective

    A Massachusetts federal judge granted an unopposed request to certify a collective action brought by managers at 60-plus Dunkin' Donuts locations who claim they were required to work more than 40 hours a week without overtime pay.

  • June 26, 2024

    Whole Foods Resolves Time-Shaving Class Action

    Whole Foods has resolved a proposed class action alleging the grocer trimmed workers' paychecks if they came back slightly late from breaks.

  • June 25, 2024

    NFL Moves To Sack Commercial Class In Sunday Ticket Trial

    An attorney for the NFL argued on the eve of closing arguments Tuesday that jurors shouldn't be allowed to consider damages for one of two plaintiff classes in a multibillion-dollar antitrust trial over the league's DirecTV Sunday Ticket television package. 

  • June 25, 2024

    Tuna Buyers Settle $1B Price-Fixing Claims Before July Trial

    Tuna buyers seeking $1 billion in damages over allegations that StarKist, its parent company and a private investment firm that put money into Bumble Bee Foods conspired to hike the price of the tinned fish have reached settlements just ahead of trial, according to a California federal judge's order Tuesday.

  • June 25, 2024

    Coffee Chain Dutch Bros Beats Investor Suit For Good

    A New York federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a suit alleging drive-through coffee chain Dutch Bros and two of its executives weren't honest with investors about the impact inflation was having on the company after its 2021 initial public offering, saying the shareholders have failed to plead any actionable misstatements or omissions.

  • June 25, 2024

    Pappas Restaurants 'Invented' Causes In Houston Airport Suit

    The city of Houston told a state appeals court Tuesday that it should be shielded from a suit filed by Pappas Restaurants that alleges its procurement process caused Pappas to unfairly lose a 2023 contract with the William P. Hobby Airport because the contract for airport concessions did not require the city to spend any money.

  • June 25, 2024

    USDA Tackles 'Inconsistent' Court Handling Of Packers Suits

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture sought Tuesday to empower itself, and perhaps individual farmers, in lawsuits against allegedly unfair practices in the livestock, meat and poultry industries, by proposing a new rule that would replace the current case-by-case adjudication of what counts as a violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act.

  • June 25, 2024

    NY Judge Rejects Visa, Mastercard Fee Deal

    A New York federal judge handling multidistrict litigation over Visa and Mastercard merchant fees rejected a proposed settlement for equitable relief and recommended a case from Grubhub be sent back to Illinois, making good on a suggestion she shared at a previous hearing.

  • June 25, 2024

    Plant Based Food Group Has No Injury From Okla. Meat Law

    An Oklahoma federal judge has thrown out a suit from Plant Based Foods Association challenging an Oklahoma law about labeling plant-based meat products, saying neither they nor their member company co-plaintiff have demonstrated that they have been, or will be, injured by enforcement of the law.

  • June 25, 2024

    Judge Stays Food Supplier's Wastewater Suit Against Ga. City

    A Georgia federal judge on Monday agreed to stay a lawsuit in which a food supplier alleged the city of Dawsonville, Georgia, and seven city officials threatened to shut off water and sewage service to its poultry plant based on $1.5 million in illegally assessed wastewater discharge penalties.

  • June 24, 2024

    5th Circ. Weighs 'Binding Authority' Of Gulf Fishery Council

    A Fifth Circuit panel on Monday pushed back against the government's assertion that members of a council tasked with regulating fishing in federal waters do not count as federal officers, saying the council's ability to limit changes to federal rules "sounds like a legally binding authority."

  • June 24, 2024

    Harvard Prof Calls NFL Sunday Ticket 'Highly Anticompetitive'

    A Harvard law professor testified Monday in a multibillion-dollar antitrust lawsuit over the NFL's Sunday Ticket that pooling teams' television rights into exclusive deals is not like Beyoncé having an exclusive music distributor — as an NFL expert testified — but like Beyoncé, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish pooling rights.

  • June 24, 2024

    Nev. Restaurant Co.'s COVID Suit Is Kept Alive

    A group of insurers can't avoid a restaurant holding company's bid for coverage of COVID-19-related losses, a Nevada state court ruled, finding that the state supreme court's ruling on the subject didn't control the action because of an infectious disease endorsement in the company's policies.

  • June 24, 2024

    Mars Beats Dove Chocolate False Ad Suit At 9th Circ.

    The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal Monday of a proposed class action claiming that a Mars subsidiary falsely advertised its Dove dark chocolate products as being made without using child slave labor or contributing to rainforest deforestation, finding that the candy packages' "Rainforest Alliance Certified farms" labeling isn't misleading.

  • June 24, 2024

    $12.8M Deal Ending Some Chiquita MDL Claims Gets Approval

    A Florida federal judge said Monday he would sign off on a proposed $12.8 million settlement between Chiquita Brands International Inc. and some of the victims suing the banana company over its funding of Colombian paramilitary groups.

  • June 24, 2024

    Paper Bag Imports Found To Have Harmed US Industry

    The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that paper shopping bags from eight countries harmed the domestic industry, providing the final green light for the U.S. Department of Commerce to enact countervailing and anti-dumping duties on the products.

Expert Analysis

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • Why Biz Groups Disagree On Ending Chevron Deference

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    Two amicus briefs filed in advance of last month's U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo highlight contrasting views on whether the doctrine of Chevron deference promotes or undermines the stable regulatory environment that businesses require, say Wyatt Kendall and Sydney Brogden at Morris Manning.

  • Key Lessons After A Rare R&W Insurance Ruling

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    The recent New York state court decision in Novolex Holdings v. Illinois Union Insurance is noteworthy as one of the rare judicial opinions arising in the context of representations and warranties insurance, serving to remind parties entering into R&W insurance policies that they may not be immune from some doctrines unfavorable to insurers, say attorneys at Kramer Levin.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • Legislative And Litigation Trends In Environmental Advertising

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    Companies that tout their products' environmental benefits can significantly reduce the risk that they will face allegations of greenwashing by staying up to date on related Federal Trade Commission guidance, state requirements and litigation trends, say Raqiyyah Pippins and Kelsie Sicinski at Arnold & Porter.

  • What's On The Horizon In Attorney General Enforcement

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    A look at recent attorney general actions, especially in the areas of antitrust and artificial intelligence, can help inform businesses on what they should expect in terms of enforcement trends as 10 attorney general races play out in 2024, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Reducing The Risk Of PFAS False Advertising Class Actions

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    A wave of class actions continues to pummel products that allegedly contain per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances, with plaintiffs challenging advertising that they say misleads consumers by implying an absence of PFAS — but there are steps companies can take to minimize risk, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.

  • Aldi Design Infringement Case Highlights Assessment Issues

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    The forthcoming English Court of Appeal decision in Marks and Spencer v. Aldi, regarding the alleged infringement of design rights, could provide practitioners with new guidance, particularly in relation to the relevant date for assessment of infringement and the weight that should be attributed to certain design elements in making this assessment, say Rory Graham and Georgia Davis at RPC.

  • USCIS Fee Increases May Have Unintended Consequences

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    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ new fee schedule, intended to provide the agency with needed funds while minimizing the impact of higher fees on individual immigrants and their families, shifts too much of the burden onto employers, say Juan Steevens and William Coffman at Mintz.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • How Recent Laws Affect Foreign Purchase Of US Real Estate

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    Early diligence is imperative for U.S. real estate transactions involving foreign actors, including analysis of federal and state foreign investment laws implicated by the transaction, depending on the property's nature and location, the parties' citizenship, and the transaction's structure, say Massimo D’Angelo and Anthony Rapa at Blank Rome.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • The Corporate Disclosure Tug-Of-War's Free Speech Issues

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    The continuing conflict over corporate disclosure requirements — highlighted by a lawsuit against Missouri's anti-ESG rules — has important implications not just for investors and regulated entities but also for broader questions about the scope of the First Amendment, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.

  • A Refresher On Alcohol Sponsorships Before The Super Bowl

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    As millions of people will see in Super Bowl commercials Sunday, celebrity sponsorships continue to be a valuable tool for alcohol beverage marketers — and those looking to better target audiences must understand how regulation of the alcohol industry affects these deals, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    Food Safety Bill Needed To Protect Kids From Heavy Metals

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    The recent announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that hundreds of children may have been exposed to unsafe lead levels in applesauce highlights the continuing failure by Congress to pass legislation that would require baby food manufacturers to ensure safer levels of heavy metals in their products, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

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