Retail & E-Commerce

  • March 27, 2025

    CFPB Says It Will Scrap Buy Now, Pay Later Policy

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will withdraw guidance that asserted buy-now, pay-later products were subject to some of the same federal safeguards as traditional credit cards, the regulator said in a court filing in a suit challenging the interpretive rule.

  • March 27, 2025

    Minn. Pot Regulators Submit Proposed Rules For Retail Sale

    The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management, or OCM, has submitted draft rules for the retail sale of adult-use cannabis products to an administrative law judge for final approval.

  • March 27, 2025

    Guo Trustee Settles Clawbacks From Versace, Firms

    The Chapter 11 trustee handling convicted Chinese exile Miles Guo's estate has asked a Connecticut bankruptcy judge to approve 10 clawback settlements with Hodgson Russ LLP, BakerHostetler, luxury retailer Versace and others, ending claims totaling $8.6 million but keeping the terms under wraps for six months.

  • March 27, 2025

    Curaleaf Units Slam Pot Farm's Sanctions Bid In $32M Suit

    Two Curaleaf units are pushing back on a Michigan farm's bid for sanctions following a $32 million verdict in its favor, saying the farm is the party dragging proceedings out by seeking sanctions over a disagreement on the law.

  • March 27, 2025

    Gastropub Chain Bar Louie Hits Second Chapter 11 In 5 Years

    Texas-based gastropub chain Bar Louie filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware, listing nearly $70 million of debt, about five years after the chain sold itself to creditors in a previous bankruptcy.

  • March 26, 2025

    Sotomayor Urges Caution On Nondelegation Doctrine Revamp

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor cautioned her colleagues during oral arguments Wednesday against using a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's administration of a broadband subsidy program as a way to resurrect the long-dormant nondelegation doctrine. Several conservative justices, however, seemed willing to disregard that admonition.

  • March 26, 2025

    Pepperidge Farm Can't Outswim Goldfish False Ad Suit

    Pepperidge Farm can't escape a proposed class action alleging it falsely labels its Goldfish crackers as containing no artificial flavors or preservatives, despite citric acid being part of the ingredients list, after a New York federal judge said Wednesday the plaintiff demonstrated the statement could be deceptive to reasonable consumers.  

  • March 26, 2025

    Apple Cites Amazon Ruling To Toss Web App Antitrust Suit

    Apple is hoping the Ninth Circuit will allow it to wash its hands of a proposed antitrust class action accusing it of preventing iPhones from running web-based apps for the same reason the court just refused to revive a consumer antitrust action over Amazon's fulfillment service, according to a recent filing.

  • March 26, 2025

    Judge Knocks Amazon For Mislabeled Docs In Antitrust Suits

    Amazon.com Inc. must hand over dozens of records previously flagged as confidential to the consumers in a series of class actions alleging antitrust violations, a Washington federal judge has ruled, concluding that the e-commerce giant wrongly marked the documents as "attorney-client communications or attorney-work product."

  • March 26, 2025

    Ex-IATSE Officer's Discipline Claims Over Porn Issue Survive

    A New Mexico federal court on Wednesday sustained some claims from a former vice president for an International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees affiliate who said he was wrongly disciplined after raising concerns about another officer's name appearing on porn websites, while dismissing other allegations under federal racketeering and state laws.

  • March 26, 2025

    Walgreens Receipt Standing Fight Set For Illinois' Main Stage

    Illinois' top court on Wednesday accepted Walgreens' request to review an intermediate appellate panel's ruling affirming class certification in an Arizona customer's proposed class lawsuit targeting overdisclosed debit card numbers.

  • March 26, 2025

    Walgreens, Kroger Claim Takeda Cut Illegal TWi Generics Deal

    Walgreens, Kroger, Albertsons and H-E-B hit Takeda and TWi Pharmaceuticals with an antitrust suit in California federal court Tuesday, accusing the pharmaceutical companies of conspiring to delay the release of the generic version of Takeda's heartburn medication Dexilant, causing the retailers to pay more for the brand-name drug.

  • March 26, 2025

    Judge Blocks Build-A-Bear's Bid To Inspect 3K Squishmallows

    A California federal judge has rejected an attempt from Build-A-Bear Workshop to physically inspect thousands of Squishmallows stuffed toys in order to defend itself against trade dress infringement claims by the company that makes them, saying the defendant's request is overbroad and unnecessary.

  • March 26, 2025

    Whirlpool's Mixer TM Award Of $27M Is Enough, Judge Says

    A Texas federal judge has permanently barred two Chinese companies from infringing the exterior design of Whirlpool's iconic KitchenAid stand mixer but denied Whirlpool's request to increase a $27 million award it recently won at trial, saying Whirlpool's award, along with the permanent injunction, was more than enough.

  • March 26, 2025

    Sysco Can't Tap Out Of $50M Price-Fix Deal With JBS

    Sysco can't back out of a $50 million agreement it made with JBS for the meat producer to exit sprawling litigation accusing it of working to fix the price of poultry, beef and pork, even though Sysco has since signed away its interest in the antitrust claims, a federal court has ruled.

  • March 26, 2025

    Worker Says Koch Foods Fails To Pay For Off-Clock Tasks

    Koch Foods refused to pay workers for the time they spent putting on and taking off protective gear, and it deducted money from their paychecks if they needed items replaced during a workweek, a proposed class action filed in Illinois federal court said.

  • March 26, 2025

    2nd Circ. Finds Pieces Missing From Lego IP Ruling

    The Second Circuit instructed a Connecticut federal judge Wednesday to rethink his decision that an injunction blocking the sale of a Lego competitor's figurines also applies to a later design, saying the lower court's failure to explain its decision suggests it "may have simply imported its prior reasoning."

  • March 26, 2025

    Medical Pot Center Not Exempt From 2017 Michigan Sales Tax

    A Michigan appeals panel has rejected a medical cannabis provisioning center's argument that it was exempt from sales tax in 2017, saying it is not entitled to the same exemption as primary caregivers and could not rely on a 2011 nonbinding letter in its argument.

  • March 26, 2025

    UK Antitrust Arm Probing Food Services Merger

    Britain's antitrust watchdog has launched an initial enforcement order into global catering giant Aramark Group's acquisition of Entier, a Scottish rival, over concerns the transaction could result in a "substantial lessening of competition" in the food services sector.

  • March 26, 2025

    Dollar Tree Selling Family Dollar For $1B To PE Firms

    Dollar Tree said Wednesday it has agreed to sell its Family Dollar business for just over $1 billion to two private equity firms, after the Davis Polk-guided discount retailer revealed strategic review plans to sell the cash-strapped unit in June.

  • March 25, 2025

    Coupang Must Face Ex-In-House Atty's Whistleblower Suit

    A Washington federal judge on Tuesday said e-commerce retailer Coupang can't escape a whistleblower complaint brought by a former in-house attorney who alleges he was fired after bringing attention to alleged unlawful transactions with Iran in 2021.

  • March 25, 2025

    Amazon Slams 'Alternative Reading' Of ERISA In Worker Suit

    Amazon on Monday urged a Washington federal court to throw out a worker's proposed class action alleging that Amazon used abandoned retirement plan funds to offset its own contributions, arguing that the suit's "alternative reading" of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act "flies in the face of" the well-established practice.

  • March 25, 2025

    PTAB Leader Explains Denial Policy After Withdrawn Memo

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's chief judge has provided guidance to the board's other members on how to decide whether to use discretion to deny review of patents based on related litigation, after a previous memo on the issue was withdrawn last month.

  • March 25, 2025

    Mondelez, Ghost Beat Suit Over Candy-Flavored Energy Drink

    An Illinois federal judge has tossed out parents' claims that Mondelez and energy drink maker Ghost illegally deceive consumers into thinking Ghost's "Sour Patch Kids"-flavored beverages are suitable for children, saying no reasonable adult consumer would interpret the labels that way.

  • March 25, 2025

    Philly Beats Curfew Suit By Minority-Owned Liquor Stores

    A Pennsylvania federal judge dismissed, for now, a constitutional challenge by Asian American and Arab American business owners who alleged Philadelphia city officials unfairly targeted their shops with arbitrary late-night curfews and nuisance ordinances, ruling Monday they lacked standing since none of them received fines or were ordered to shut down.

Expert Analysis

  • Critical Steps For Navigating Intensified OFAC Enforcement

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    The largely overlooked SkyGeek settlement from the end of 2024 heralds the arrival of the Office of Foreign Assets Control's long anticipated enhanced enforcement posture and clearly demonstrates the sanctions-compliance benefits of immediately responding to blocked payments, says Jeremy Paner at Hughes Hubbard.

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

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    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • Managing Transatlantic Antitrust Investigations And Litigation

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    As transatlantic competition regulators cooperate more closely and European antitrust investigations increasingly spark follow-up civil suits in the U.S., companies must understand how to simultaneously juggle high-stakes multigovernment investigations and manage the risks of expensive new claims across jurisdictions, say lawyers at Paul Weiss.

  • Cos. Must Prepare For Heightened Trade Enforcement Risks

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    Recent trade enforcement cases — including criminal prosecutions for tariff evasion — as well as statements from the Trump administration make it clear that companies must assess their risk profiles, review compliance programs and communication policies, and consider protocols for responding to subpoenas, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

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    In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Drug Cartels' Terrorist Label Raises Litigation Risk For Cos.

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    President Donald Trump's planned designation of some Latin American drug-trafficking groups as foreign terrorist organizations creates an additional and little-noticed source of legal exposure: U.S. civil litigation risk involving terrorism claims by victims of those groups, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

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    Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Parsing 3rd Circ. Ruling On Cannabis, Employee Private Suits

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    The Third Circuit recently upheld a decision that individuals don't have a private right of action for alleged violations of New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act, but employers should stay informed as the court encouraged the state Legislature to amend the law, say attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett.

  • Why Trump's FTC May Not U-Turn On Robinson-Patman

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent revival of Robinson-Patman Act enforcement may well be here to stay under the Trump administration — albeit with some important caveats for businesses caught in the government's crosshairs, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations

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    In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.

  • The Implications Of E-Cigarette Cos. Taking Suits To 5th Circ.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds over the definition of an "adversely affected" person under the Tobacco Control Act, and the justices' ruling will have important and potentially wide-ranging implications for forum shopping claims, says Trillium Chang at Zuckerman Spaeder.

  • Del. Dispatch: Lessons From Failed Albertsons-Kroger Merger

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    The allegations in Albertsons' lawsuit against Kroger following the grocery stores' blocked merger demonstrate how a target company can best ensure that a buyer timely and effectively complies with its obligations to pursue the necessary regulatory approvals for a deal, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Series

    Adventure Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Photographing nature everywhere from Siberia to Cuba and Iceland to Rwanda provides me with a constant reminder to refresh, refocus and rethink the legal issues that my clients face, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.

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