Food & Beverage

  • May 13, 2024

    CFTC Sues Over $161M Cattle Ponzi Scheme After SEC Deal

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued two Texas men who allegedly ran a $161 million Ponzi scheme involving cattle trading, saying investor cash lined the men's pockets and went to paying off obligations to previous investors.

  • May 13, 2024

    Texas Farming Couple Owe $1.9M, Tax Court Says

    An oral surgeon and his wife who raised large deer and bass for hunting and ecotourism in Texas are on the hook for nearly $1.9 million in taxes, as a U.S. Tax Court decision issued Monday found that they weren't entitled to farming deductions.

  • May 13, 2024

    Vietnamese Fish Exporter Sues Over 'Vague' Duty Instructions

    A Vietnamese frozen fish fillet producer filed suit at the U.S. Court of International Trade, claiming the U.S. Department of Commerce erroneously calculated an anti-dumping duty rate for its products and then issued instructions subjecting it to a higher rate.

  • May 13, 2024

    False Ad AriZona Suit Not In Bad Faith, Fee Opposition Argues

    A plaintiff represented by an attorney known for false advertising suits against food and drink companies is asking an Illinois federal judge not to award attorney fees to AriZona Beverages USA LLC after the court threw out claims that it falsely advertised some of drinks as "lite," saying there was no bad faith in pursuing the suit.

  • May 13, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Sunken treasure, recycled plastics, questionable denim and dog food all made appearances in Chancery Court dockets last week, along with developments in cases involving Qualcomm, Tesla Inc., and Truth Social. In case you missed it, here's the latest from Delaware's Chancery Court.

  • May 10, 2024

    Bakery To Face Ex-Worker's Finger Scan Suit In State Court

    An Illinois judge has remanded most of a suit accusing Gold Standard Baking Inc. of unlawfully collecting biometric data for timekeeping purposes, finding that claims related to fingerprint scans collected while she was a temporary worker could stand while captures made after she became a company employee were preempted by federal labor-contract law.

  • May 10, 2024

    McDonald's Workers Want Class Cert. In Sex Harassment Suit

    A pair of McDonald's workers claiming that the company has allowed sexual harassment to run rampant in its stores asked an Illinois federal judge to certify classes of thousands of women and girls who've worked at Florida locations, arguing that class treatment is the best way to evaluate whether McDonald's has a pattern of tolerating harassment.

  • May 10, 2024

    Oil Giants Say Tribal Climate Change Row Must Stay Federal

    Several giant oil companies are fighting a bid by two Native American tribes to remand their consolidated case to state court, telling a Washington federal district court that the claims brought by tribes have always been governed by federal law.

  • May 10, 2024

    Farm Gets 2nd Go At H-2A Extension After Worker's Aneurysm

    A U.S. Department of Labor appeals board has revived a farm's request to extend two foreign workers' employment to finish up work that was delayed after a co-worker suffered a brain aneurysm, saying a certifying officer shouldn't have flat-out denied the extension request.

  • May 10, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says Subway Texts Don't Trigger Autodial Law

    A divided Second Circuit panel upheld the dismissal of a suit claiming that the sandwich chain Subway illegally spammed consumers' phones with automated texts, finding that a Connecticut federal judge was right in ruling that the marketing campaign didn't use an autodialer as defined by federal law.

  • May 10, 2024

    Insurers Don't Owe Chiquita Coverage In Terrorism Settlement

    An Ohio state appeals court ruled Friday that Chiquita Brands International Inc. is not owed coverage by a group of insurers for a settlement with families of six Americans killed by a terrorist group Chiquita had paid for protection, saying any errors the trial court made were harmless because it came to the correct conclusion.

  • May 10, 2024

    Dollar Tree Parent Sued Over Alleged Lead In Cinnamon

    Dollar Tree Inc.'s parent company and a New York family-owned food business were hit Thursday with a proposed class action in New York federal court alleging that the chain sold cinnamon that was contaminated with lead, following U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalls of lead-tainted cinnamon.

  • May 10, 2024

    Fox Theatre Let Sex Harassment Go Unchecked, Suit Says

    A former worker at Atlanta's Fox Theatre filed a lawsuit this week accusing the historic venue of allowing sexual harassment to run rampant among its ranks, refusing to discipline employees who made lewd comments — and worse — while retaliating against those who complained.

  • May 10, 2024

    Logan Paul Energy Drinks Have Excess Caffeine, Suit Says

    A proposed class of energy drink buyers is suing YouTube celebrity Logan Paul's Prime Hydration LLC, alleging the drinks contain significantly more than the 200 milligrams of caffeine they advertise.

  • May 10, 2024

    Pepperidge Farm Drivers Not Employees, 3rd Circ. Affirms

    Three delivery drivers for Pepperidge Farm are independent contractors, not employees, and thus cannot sue the company for state wage and hour law violations, a Third Circuit panel ruled Friday, saying the drivers' daily responsibilities make it clear they are self-employed.

  • May 10, 2024

    SEC Targets Fatburger's Parent Co. In $27M Loan Scheme

    The restaurant company that owns Fatburger and Fazoli's made illegal loans to its director and former chief executive, who spent $27 million in company money on himself while skirting taxes and leaving the company struggling, the Securities and Exchange Commission told a California federal court Friday. 

  • May 10, 2024

    NJ Attys Settle Malpractice Suit Over Wawa Injury Claim

    Attorneys at a New Jersey law firm have settled a malpractice lawsuit from a former client who claimed they caused him to lose his chance to sue convenience store chain Wawa over an on-the-job injury, according to a letter submitted Thursday to state court.

  • May 10, 2024

    PF Chang's Allowed To Keep 6K-Worker Wage Deal Concealed

    P.F. Chang's can file settlement papers with dollar amounts shielded from public view as the restaurant chain looks to resolve a 5-year-old suit accusing it of cheating more than 6,000 tipped servers out of wages, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled.

  • May 09, 2024

    Ex-Minor Leaguer Settles With SEC Over Del Taco Deal Tip Off

    A former minor league baseball player has agreed to pay more than $58,000 to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission insider trading allegations involving burger chain Jack in the Box's $575 million acquisition of its fellow chain Del Taco.

  • May 09, 2024

    Chicken Farmers Win Cert. Of 24K Class In No-Poach Suit

    An Oklahoma federal judge has certified a class of more than 24,000 broiler chicken farmers accusing Pilgrim's Pride of conspiring with others to suppress grower compensation through no-poach agreements, noting the plaintiffs provided direct and circumstantial evidence to show the existence of an antitrust conspiracy affecting all farmers.

  • May 09, 2024

    Award Increased to $13.4M In Pabst Asbestos Death Suit

    A Wisconsin appeals court has increased a mesothelioma wrongful death award against Pabst Brewing Co. to $13.4 million, rejecting the beer company's argument that the jury shouldn't have found fault at all, while finding that the trial court wrongly applied the state's punitive damages statute.

  • May 09, 2024

    EPA Defends Factory Farm Water Pollution Regs At 9th Circ.

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday urged the Ninth Circuit to toss green groups' lawsuit seeking to revive their petition for new, stronger Clean Water Act regulations for large animal feeding facilities.

  • May 09, 2024

    4th Circ. Mulls Scope Of Farm Bill In Virginia Hemp Fight

    A Fourth Circuit panel on Thursday pushed attorneys for the state of Virginia and a group of hemp companies and customers to define precisely how much power states have to restrict the production and sale of intoxicating products derived from federally legal hemp.

  • May 08, 2024

    Kroger Must Keep Fighting Metal-Tainted Baby Food Claims

    An Ohio federal judge Wednesday refused to throw out a proposed class action accusing the Kroger Co. and its subsidiaries of selling baby food tainted with toxic metals, ruling that the mothers who sued have plausibly alleged that they wouldn't have purchased the product had they known the truth.

  • May 08, 2024

    Vietnam's Labor Issues Mar Bid For Market Economy Status

    Representatives from U.S. industry, organized labor, and human rights advocacy urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to reject Vietnam's bid for market economy status Wednesday, denouncing its track record on labor rights.

Expert Analysis

  • Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • IP Suits Over Brand Owner Font Use Offer Cautionary Tales

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    Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme and Mallory Chandler at Pryor Cashman consider the history of fonts and point to recent court decisions that show how brand owners can avoid legal typeface troubles.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Mexico

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    ESG has yet to become part of the DNA of the Mexican business model, but huge strides are being made in that direction, as more stakeholders demand that companies adopt, at the least, a modicum of sustainability commitments and demonstrate how they will meet them, says Carlos Escoto at Galicia Abogados.

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • FTC Warning Letters Note 5 Mistakes For Influencers To Avoid

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently sent warning letters to two trade associations and 12 health influencers over their social media posts, offering insight into how the agency plans to enforce its updated endorsement guides and highlighting five concerns to keep in mind for marketing campaigns, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

  • Ohio Voters Legalize Cannabis — What Comes Next?

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    This month, voters approved a citizen-initiated statute that legalizes marijuana for recreational use in Ohio, but the legalization timeline could undergo significant changes at the behest of the state's lawmakers, say Daniel Shortt and David Waxman at McGlinchey Stafford.

  • Opinion

    A Telecom Attorney's Defense Of The Chevron Doctrine

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    The Chevron doctrine, which requires judicial deference to federal regulators, is under attack in two U.S. Supreme Court cases — and while most telecom attorneys likely agree that the Federal Communications Commission is guilty of overrelying on it, the problem is not the doctrine itself, says Carl Northrop at Telecommunications Law Professionals.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • What Cos. Should Know About FTC's Proposed Junk Fee Rule

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    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced a notice of proposed rulemaking targeting junk fees and how businesses may advertise prices to consumers — and since it would give the agency powers to seek monetary penalties against businesses that do not comply, companies should look to get ahead now, say Phyllis Marcus and Nicole Johnson at Hunton Andrews.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: South Korea

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    Numerous ESG trends have materialized in South Korea in the past three years, with impacts ranging from greenwashing prevention and carbon neutrality measures to workplace harassment and board diversity initiatives, say Chang Wook Min and Hyun Chan Jung at Jipyong.

  • Employer Takeaways From 2nd Circ. Equal Pay Ruling

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    The Second Circuit 's recent decision in Eisenhauer v. Culinary Institute of America reversed a long-held understanding of the Equal Pay Act, ultimately making it easier for employers to defend against equal pay claims brought under federal law, but it is not a clear escape hatch for employers, say Thelma Akpan and Katelyn McCombs at Littler.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • Rite Aid's Reasons For Ch. 11 Go Beyond Opioid Suits

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    Despite opioid-related lawsuits being the perceived reason that pushed Rite Aid into bankruptcy, the company's recent Chapter 11 filing reveals its tenuous position in the pharmaceutical retail market, and only time will tell whether bankruptcy will right-size the company, says Daniel Gielchinsky at DGIM Law.

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