Retail & E-Commerce

  • June 13, 2024

    Vt. Gov. Blocks 'Outlier' Data Privacy Bill With Lawsuit Trigger

    Vermont's governor on Thursday vetoed a legislative proposal that would have given consumers not only new data privacy rights but also the rare opportunity to sue large businesses for certain violations, expressing concerns with the significant "risks" created by the "outlier" measure and urging the Legislature to instead embrace the model adopted by Connecticut and more than a dozen other states.

  • June 13, 2024

    Costco Hides Lower In-Store Prices, Online Shopper Says

    Costco was hit with a proposed class action in Washington federal court Wednesday alleging the warehouse retailer falsely promises online shoppers it'll notify them when an item sold online is more expensive than the same item available for in-store purchase, but regularly fails to do so.

  • June 13, 2024

    NYC Sued Over Policy Targeting Unlicensed Pot Stores

    More than two dozen New York City retailers have launched a proposed federal class action against the city alleging that enforcement of a new policy targeting stores for selling cannabis without a license has resulted in the unconstitutional closing of hundreds of businesses.

  • June 13, 2024

    Chinese Officials Promise Response On EV Tariffs

    A Chinese Foreign Ministry official told reporters on Thursday that Beijing "will take all measures necessary" to combat planned European Union tariffs on its electric-vehicle exports, after Brussels announced preliminary countervailing duty rates of up to 38.1%.

  • June 13, 2024

    Apple Wants Discovery Hearing Closed In IPhone Class Action

    Apple is asking a California federal judge to close the courtroom during an upcoming discovery hearing in the ongoing antitrust class action it's facing from consumers, arguing that the proceeding is likely to reveal consumer data and billing information that should be kept out of public view.

  • June 13, 2024

    Wawa Beats Suit By Man Who Lost Leg In Crash Outside Store

    A New Jersey appellate court handed a victory to Wawa on Thursday, ruling that the convenience store didn't own the area outside the store where a customer lost his leg in a car accident while jaywalking and thus was not liable.

  • June 13, 2024

    New Hampshire Bill To Legalize Marijuana Dies In State House

    An effort to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use in the state of New Hampshire is effectively dead after the state House of Representatives on Thursday voted narrowly to table the bill for the remainder of the session.

  • June 13, 2024

    Hemp Co. Sues SD Gov. Over New Cannabinoid Law

    A South Dakota hemp company on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against the state's governor and attorney general over a new law due to take effect next month that would ban the processing of hemp derivatives into intoxicating products.

  • June 13, 2024

    Express Picks Stalking Horse Bidder As Ch. 11 Buyer

    A stalking horse bidder offering $136 million in cash for the assets of clothing retailer Express Inc. will be the buyer in the debtor's competitive sale process, after its offer was deemed to be the only qualified bid to acquire the assets as a going-concern.

  • June 13, 2024

    DOE Can't Limit Water Usage In Dishwashers, Shoppers Say

    Two men sued the U.S. Department of Energy in Texas federal court over the agency's new rules that govern how efficiently household appliances need to manage water usage, saying in a Thursday complaint that the agency surpassed its statutory authority and flouted a previous Fifth Circuit decision.

  • June 13, 2024

    CVS Dodges Discovery Audit In Generic Drug Collusion Suit

    A federal judge declined to make CVS hire a forensic auditor to evaluate its compliance with information demands in a lawsuit alleging it colluded with drugmakers to keep Medicare beneficiaries from accessing certain generic drugs, despite a whistleblower bemoaning "woefully deficient" discovery on the pharmacy chain's part.

  • June 13, 2024

    Tesla Shareholders Approve Musk's Compensation Package

    Tesla's shareholders voted to approve a multibillion-dollar compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk, the company's top lawyer announced Thursday during a meeting in which investors also approved moving the company's incorporation from Delaware to Texas.

  • June 13, 2024

    House Re-Ups Bill Targeting Counterfeit Online Goods

    Federal lawmakers should approve a proposal to tackle the explosion of counterfeit goods sold online that are harmful to the safety of consumers, according to the leader of the U.S. House of Representatives' subcommittee that centers on intellectual property issues.

  • June 13, 2024

    Mass. Court Blesses Broad Liability In BMW Dealer Wage Suit

    An intermediate Massachusetts appellate panel on Thursday ruled that a BMW dealership employee can sue not only her direct employer for wage law violations, but also a separate company that manages the dealership.

  • June 13, 2024

    Supreme Court Tightens NLRB Injunction Test

    The U.S. Supreme Court made it tougher for the National Labor Relations Board to win injunctions against employers Thursday in a case involving Starbucks, directing courts to strictly apply a four-factor test when the board sues to stem alleged unfair labor practices.

  • June 13, 2024

    Justices Say 'Trump Too Small' TM Denial No Speech Violation

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday concluded "Trump Too Small" cannot be a registered trademark because it would violate a federal prohibition on using a living person's name without their consent, ruling against a California attorney who said using the phrase should be considered protected political speech.

  • June 12, 2024

    'Repugnant To Civility': Judge Rips, Yet Won't DQ Taft Stettinius

    A Michigan state judge slammed law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP for keeping ex-client MGM in the dark about its merger with another firm and called Taft Stettinius' assertion MGM should have figured it out "repugnant to civility," but nonetheless said he wouldn't disqualify Taft Stettinius from representing MGM's opponent in an arbitration.

  • June 12, 2024

    Apple Gets PTAB To Cut Some Voice Recognition IP Claims

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invalidated the vast majority of claims in a series of Zentian Ltd. patents related to voice recognition technology but upheld some claims in challenges from Apple and Amazon.

  • June 12, 2024

    '83 Wolfpack Suit May Throw NIL Peace For A Loop

    As the NCAA cheered a settlement aimed at marshaling payments to athletes for their names, images and likenesses last week, experts say a new suit from one of college basketball's most historic teams illustrates the shortcomings of a hasty effort to right past wrongs.

  • June 12, 2024

    Trade Group Wants Out Of Mattress Conspiracy Suit

    A trade association for mattress manufacturers has asked a Utah federal court to dismiss it from an antitrust suit alleging the spread of false information from an importer that has landed back in the Utah court from a trip to the Tenth Circuit.

  • June 12, 2024

    FTC's Amazon Prime Trial Moved To June 2025 Amid Doc Fight

    A Washington federal judge agreed Wednesday to push back to June 2025 a high-stakes bench trial over the Federal Trade Commission's claims Amazon.com Inc. tricks consumers into enrolling in its Prime service, delaying the trial by months after the FTC accused Amazon of delaying discovery production.

  • June 12, 2024

    NM Pot Store Chain Unlawfully Keeps Tips, Budtenders Say

    A cannabis retail chain in New Mexico is accused of unlawfully taking tips from its budtenders under the premise that the money would be donated to a charity, according to a proposed class action filed Wednesday in federal court.

  • June 12, 2024

    Wash. Urges 9th Circ. To Toss Pot Licensure Challenge

    Washington's cannabis authority has asked the Ninth Circuit to reject an effort by an out-of-state retailer to block the state's social equity program from awarding retail licenses, arguing that a motion for preliminary injunction is moot now that the trial court has tossed the entire lawsuit with prejudice.

  • June 12, 2024

    Judge Says Biden Admin Must Allow Show Loophole, For Now

    A Texas federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to stop enforcing a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule that seeks to close what is known as the gun show loophole by requiring many private sellers to register as dealers and perform background checks before transacting gun sales.

  • June 12, 2024

    Something Fishy With Conagra's '100% Whole Fish,' Suit Says

    Customers alleged in Illinois federal court Tuesday that Conagra misled them by marketing its popular Van de Kamp's and Mrs. Paul's frozen fish products as "100% whole fish," despite artificially adding weight to those fish with an industrial filler and extra water.

Expert Analysis

  • The Corporate Transparency Act Isn't Dead Yet

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    After an Alabama federal court's ruling last week rendering the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, changes to the law may ultimately be required, but ongoing compliance is still the best course of action for most, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

  • New FinCEN Guide Provides Useful BOI Context For Banks

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    Financial institutions should review a new Financial Crimes Enforcement Network compliance guide for helpful details about how the agency's beneficial ownership information database should be used, though questions remain about the access rule and whether it will truly streamline bank borrowers' Corporate Transparency Act due diligence, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • 2 Emerging Defenses For Website Tracking Class Actions

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    Putative class actions premised on state wiretapping statutes that bar website activity tracking continue to be on the rise, but they are increasingly being dismissed on two procedural grounds, says Sheri Pan at ZwillGen.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power

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    In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Gulf Cooperation Council

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    The Gulf Cooperation Council is in the early stages of ESG policy implementation, but recent commitments by both states and corporations — including increases in sustainable finance transactions, environmental commitments, female representation on boards and human rights enforcement — show continuing progress toward broader ESG goals, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Steps For Companies New To Sanctions Compliance

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    Businesses newly required to implement compliance programs due to the increased breadth of mandatory sanctions and export controls, including 500 additional Russia sanctions announced last Friday, should closely follow the guidance issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and other regulators, say Jennifer Schubert and Megan Church at MoloLamken.

  • Using Arbitration And Class Waivers As Privacy Suit Tools

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    Amid a surge in data breach class actions over the last few years, several federal court decisions indicate that arbitration clauses and class action waiver provisions can be possible alternatives to public court battles and potentially reduce the costs of privacy litigation, say Mark Olthoff and Courtney Klaus at Polsinelli.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.

  • 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.

  • Retailers Must Be Mindful Of Sale Ads As Class Actions Rise

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    A recent uptick in class actions filed against retailers over a breadth of allegedly deceptive pricing practices — including misleading reference prices for sales and discounts offered on a perpetual basis — show no sign of slowing down, indicating that class counsel are laser-focused on challenging advertising strategies, say Louis DiLorenzo and Paavana Kumar at Davis+Gilbert.

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