Retail & E-Commerce

  • November 19, 2024

    Simpson Thacher-Led Blackstone Makes $8B Jersey Mike's Deal

    Private equity giant Blackstone said Tuesday it has agreed to buy a majority stake in Jersey Mike's Subs in a deal that values the fast-casual submarine sandwich outlet at about $8 billion, including debt, according to a person familiar with the matter.

  • November 19, 2024

    College Decor Co. Dormify Hits Ch. 11 With Up To $50M Debt

    Dormify Inc., a retailer that sells college gear and decor for dorms, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, estimating between $10 million and $50 million in debt less than a week after a Pennsylvania federal court entered a default judgment against it in a lawsuit from an affiliate marketing firm.

  • November 18, 2024

    5th Circ. Indicates DOT Airline Fees Rule May Need Reworking

    A pair of Fifth Circuit judges signaled Monday that the U.S. Department of Transportation may have to rework its rule requiring airlines to more clearly disclose add-on fees upfront, suggesting that it might be too costly for airlines to comply with the mandate and consumers would be overloaded with information.

  • November 18, 2024

    Target Downs Investor Suit Over Inventory Glut For Good

    A Minnesota federal judge has tossed for good a proposed class action alleging Target Corp. and its top executives misled shareholders by hiding that the big-box retailer had "abandoned its customer-focused purchasing strategy" in favor of "indiscriminately buying large quantities of inventory" that consumers did not want.

  • November 18, 2024

    Ex-AutoZone CEO Must Face $1M 'Short-Swing' Profit Suit

    A Tennessee federal judge said a former AutoZone Inc. CEO must face an investor suit seeking to recover over $1 million in alleged "short-swing" trading profits on behalf of the company, saying the shareholder has plausibly alleged that the ex-CEO's trades were not exempt from certain insider trading rules.

  • November 18, 2024

    Netgear Says Huawei Engaging In Global Patent 'Warfare'

    Router maker Netgear urged a California federal judge Monday to hold a mini-trial to determine a reasonable royalty rate for licensing Wi-Fi technology patents from Huawei, which Netgear claims is engaging in anticompetitive behavior and a "scorched earth worldwide litigation campaign" to extract excessive royalties.

  • November 18, 2024

    9th Circ. Judges Seem Split In Trans Woman's Spa Bias Case

    Ninth Circuit judges debated Monday whether a nude Korean spa's ban on patrons who "present" as male discriminates against transgender women without gender-affirming surgery, with one judge asking how it was different from barring Black patrons and another who went to a similar spa as a boy in Korea seeming to suggest customers had a right to choose whom to be naked in front of.

  • November 18, 2024

    Live Nation Says Ticket Buyers Must Arbitrate Antitrust Suit

    Live Nation moved to arbitrate a proposed consumer antitrust class action alleging it monopolizes concert promotions and secondary ticketing services for major venues, arguing in New York federal court Friday the customers agreed to arbitrate any dispute each time they logged in to their accounts or accepted secondary ticket transfers.

  • November 18, 2024

    Brokerage Startup Defends Suit Over NAR Listing Rules

    A residential brokerage startup defended its antitrust lawsuit from dismissal motions filed by the National Association of Realtors and multiple brokerages, arguing in Utah federal court that it has standing to bring its suit "as an excluded competitor" and that it's not required to make specific claims about the roles of the defendants in the alleged antitrust conspiracy.

  • November 18, 2024

    Texas Judge Suggests Letting Influencers Battle Over 'Beige' IP

    A federal magistrate judge has declared that a "feud between social media influencers" in Texas is the first of its kind in the country, as it's an intellectual property dispute over replicating a rival's "neutral, beige, and cream aesthetic."

  • November 18, 2024

    FCC's Carr Likely To Test Agency's Ability To Rein In Big Tech

    Brendan Carr's selection as the next Federal Communications Commission chair prompted a wave of plaudits from industry and some dismay from liberal groups, but one thing stands out among experts: He will push to counter what he sees as out-of-control conduct by tech platforms.

  • November 18, 2024

    Electronics Co. Hit With Default In $2B Price Fixing Case

    A California federal court will enter a default judgment against Irico Group on claims that could total $2 billion in damages in long-running litigation over an alleged conspiracy to fix cathode ray tube prices after finding the Chinese electronics company failed to preserve evidence.

  • November 18, 2024

    Judge Surprised Circle K Fired Clerk Who Touched Robber

    A Tenth Circuit judge appeared stunned Monday that Circle K dismissed an elderly convenience store clerk after its management concluded the worker violated company policy when she physically confronted an armed robber.

  • November 18, 2024

    $100M Deal In Suit Over Walgreens Rx Prices Gets First OK

    An Illinois federal judge gave an initial blessing Monday to a $100 million deal resolving claims from consumers and unions that Walgreens unlawfully overcharged insured consumers for prescription drugs while allowing members of its cost savings club to pay less.

  • November 18, 2024

    5th Circ. Eyes Procedure In 1st NLRB Constitutionality Cases

    The Fifth Circuit appears poised to punt — for now — on the issue of the National Labor Relations Board's constitutionality after a panel questioned on Monday whether SpaceX and Amazon have valid challenges to "effective" denials of their efforts to thwart prosecution for alleged labor violations.

  • November 18, 2024

    Dad Drops From Conn. Death Suit After Attys Tried To Dump Him

    A Connecticut man has dropped his claims against Target Corp. and the maker of a recalled infant cushion over the death of his baby daughter, but the girl's mother and estate administrator will continue pursuing the federal product liability lawsuit, court records showed Monday.

  • November 18, 2024

    CPSC Fines Canadian Co. $16M Over Wall Beds

    The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Monday that a Canadian furniture-maker has agreed to pay up to a $16 million civil penalty over allegations that it failed to report a defect in its wall beds that resulted in injuries and one death.

  • November 18, 2024

    Rust-Oleum Falsely Touted Spray Paint Coverage, Suit Claims

    Paint manufacturer Rust-Oleum Corp. has been hit with proposed class claims in Illinois federal court by customers who claim the paint manufacturer misled them by advertising its "2x" spray paint line as providing twice the coverage of other general purpose paints, when its own data contradicts those label claims.

  • November 18, 2024

    Amazon Worker Can't Add Retaliation Claim To December Trial

    A federal judge in Washington state has rejected a worker's eleventh-hour bid to amend his lawsuit accusing Amazon of passing him up for a promotion after he took protected military leave, saying the operations manager cannot "ambush" the e-commerce giant with fresh retaliation allegations just weeks before a trial in December.

  • November 18, 2024

    Walgreens, Grocer Accused Of Flouting Lie Detector Law

    Walgreens and New England supermarket chain Shaw's are violating a Massachusetts law requiring that job applicants be advised that the state does not allow the use of lie detector tests in employment decisions, a pair of proposed class actions filed Monday allege.

  • November 18, 2024

    Trade Court Orders Rethink Of Brazilian Lemon Juice Duties

    The U.S. Court of International Trade has ordered trade officials to reconsider duties on Brazilian lemon juice, finding they failed to acknowledge that a Brazilian supplier and a Louis Dreyfus Co. subsidiary were reliant on each other.

  • November 18, 2024

    Justices Pass On Coverage Row Over Wood Treatment Injury

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up an insurer's argument that a wood treatment product maker's policy excludes coverage of an underlying suit over a man's cancer diagnosis following decades of exposure to the chemical.

  • November 15, 2024

    Sake Co.'s 'Tipsy' TM Fight Can't Find Its Footing In Calif.

    A California federal judge has determined that a Los Angeles sake brand can't litigate a trademark dispute in the Golden State with a similarly named wine store in Brooklyn, saying a cease and desist letter wasn't enough to establish jurisdiction.

  • November 15, 2024

    Tech Co. Urges Judge To Trim Starbucks' IP Counterclaims

    A patent-licensing company has said that an inventor connected to the business shouldn't have been dragged into its suit claiming that Starbucks infringed its patent on meal ordering technology, saying the coffee chain is trying to wrongly expand the case.

  • November 15, 2024

    Rawlings Can't Block Softball Coach From New Job, Suit Says

    A hall-of-fame softball coach and former employee of Rawlings Sporting Goods said in a Washington state lawsuit that the company is illegally trying to block him from working for a rival by threatening to sue him under New Hampshire state law.

Expert Analysis

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Planning For Cyber Incident Reporting Requirements In Sports

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    Attorneys at Wiley discuss the proposed rules under the Cybersecurity Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act that would impose extensive reporting requirements on professional and collegiate athletic organizations, universities and sports venues, including defining a covered entity and analyzing the types of events that would trigger reporting.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling May Signal Software Patent Landscape Shift

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    The Federal Circuit's recent ruling in Broadband iTV, despite similarities to past decisions, chose to rely on prior cases finding patent-ineligible claims directed to receiving and displaying information, which may undermine one of the few areas of perceived predictability in the patent eligibility landscape, say attorneys at King & Wood.

  • FDIC Guidance Puts Next-Gen ATMs In Regulatory Spotlight

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    The boring existence of ATMs is changing thanks to the emergence of new-age interactive teller machines, prompting the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to sound off in a potentially influential August letter to branches on which services might need regulatory approval, says Thomas Walker at Jones Walker.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Amazon Holiday Pay Case Underscores Overtime Challenges

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    The recent Hamilton v. Amazon.com Services LLC decision in the Colorado Supreme Court underscores why employers must always consult applicable state law and regulations — in addition to federal law — when determining how to properly pay employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek, says James Looby at Vedder Price.

  • Understanding New ACH Network Anti-Fraud Rules

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    Many of the National Automated Clearing House Association’s recent amendments to ACH network risk management rules went into effect this month, so financial institutions and corporations must review and update their internal policies as needed, says Aisha Hall at Taft.

  • Opinion

    It's Time To Sound The Alarm About Lost Labor Rights

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    In the Fifth Circuit, recent rulings from judges appointed by former President Donald Trump have dismantled workers’ core labor rights, a troubling trend that we cannot risk extending under another Trump administration, say Sharon Block and Raj Nayak at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy.

  • Election Unlikely To Overhaul Antitrust Enforcers' Labor Focus

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    Although the outcome of the presidential election may alter the course of antitrust enforcement in certain areas of the economy, scrutiny of labor markets by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice is likely to remain largely unaffected — with one notable exception, say Jared Nagley and Joy Siu at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms

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    In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

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