Retail & E-Commerce

  • 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.

  • November 15, 2024

    Colo. Judge Nixes Debtor's Transfer Try For Not Conferring

    A Colorado federal judge on Friday struck a motion to transfer a putative class action suit against a bankrupt truck rental company to the Delaware court handling the business's Chapter 11 case, saying the company had failed to consult with the plaintiffs before filing the motion.

  • November 15, 2024

    Texas Judge Won't Halt CFPB Small-Biz Rule As Banks Appeal

    A Texas federal judge has declined to stay the compliance date of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small-business lending data collection rule while a coalition of bank trade groups appeals his decision to uphold the rule's data collection requirements, saying no circumstances justify such "extraordinary relief."

  • November 15, 2024

    DEA Judge Nixes Vet Group's Bid To Take Part In Pot Hearings

    An administrative law judge with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday denied a veterans group's bid to participate in upcoming hearings on a proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana.

  • November 15, 2024

    Hot Topic Shoppers' Info Stolen By 'Satanic' Hacker, Suit Says

    Hot Topic and its retail affiliates were hit with a proposed class action Wednesday in California federal court alleging an unknown hacker with the username "Satanic" infiltrated their databases containing personal information belonging to 350 million customers and offered to sell the information on an internet forum last month.

  • November 15, 2024

    Pennsylvania AG Can't Stop Glass Plant From Moving To Ohio

    A Pennsylvania federal judge denied the Keystone State attorney general's bid to stop a private equity firm from shutting down a Pyrex plant it purchased and moving its operations to Ohio, ruling that "there is simply insufficient evidence presented" to show that the move will be anticompetitive.

  • November 15, 2024

    Penn State Asks To Keep Defendant In Vintage Brand TM Trial

    In the middle of a closely watched trademark infringement trial, the Pennsylvania State University asked a federal judge Friday to reconsider his decision to dismiss one of the defendants, arguing that Sportswear Inc.'s role as the exclusive manufacturer and distributor of Vintage Brand merchandise means Sportswear can be liable for infringement.

  • November 15, 2024

    Coffee Shop Agrees To Stop Using Dior Name After Suit

    A Western Massachusetts coffee shop will stop using the name "Café Dior," settling a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by French luxury brand Christian Dior, according to a Friday filing.

  • November 15, 2024

    Monsanto Cleared In Philly's 7th Roundup Trial

    A Philadelphia jury on Friday cleared Bayer AG unit Monsanto of liability in a woman's lawsuit alleging she developed cancer by using the weedkiller Roundup, delivering the agrochemical giant its third victory in the city's mass tort.

  • November 15, 2024

    Wilson Sonsini Atty To Produce Docs In Under Armour Row

    Emails sent by a Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati attorney to employees of a Pittsburgh-area minor league baseball team he co-owns are not covered by attorney-client privilege and should be provided to Under Armour as part of discovery in an antitrust suit filed against the sports apparel giant, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled this week.

  • November 14, 2024

    Chinese Amazon Sellers Say Firm Botched Settlement Talks

    A group of Chinese electronics sellers have slapped a small New York law firm with a $6.4 million malpractice lawsuit, saying the firm torpedoed a potential settlement with Amazon after the online behemoth deactivated their seller accounts and withheld millions of dollars of their profits.

  • November 14, 2024

    Trump's RFK Jr. Pick For HHS Draws Its Share Of Critics

    The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — well-known for his opposition to vaccines — as the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is President-elect Donald Trump's latest controversial pick for his administration, and one that could disrupt the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and its mission.

  • November 14, 2024

    Pinterest Investor Attys Get $2.5M More After Deal Monitoring

    A California federal judge on Thursday awarded an additional $2.5 million in fees to attorneys who've been monitoring Pinterest's compliance with a deal that ended investors' claims the company fostered a culture of race and sex discrimination, ruling that he's "satisfied" with both parties' efforts in the wake of the settlement.

  • November 14, 2024

    Judge Vows Atty Fee Trims For Handling Of $90M Google Deal

    A California federal judge overseeing Google's $90 million antitrust deal with Play Store developers on Thursday blasted counsel representing smaller developer plaintiffs and the administration company handling the settlement, criticizing the administrator's work as "the worst performance I've seen" and vowing to trim the attorney fees "substantially."

  • November 14, 2024

    3 Firms Guide UAE Grocery Giant Lulu's $1.7B Market Debut

    United Arab Emirates grocery chain Lulu Retail Holdings PLC's shares closed flat in debut trading Thursday following an upsized, $1.7 billion initial public offering that marked the largest UAE listing of 2024, guided by three law firms.

  • November 14, 2024

    'The World Has Changed': Google's $700M Deal Gets 2nd Look

    The California federal judge considering Google's $700 million antitrust deal with states and consumers told plaintiffs' counsel Thursday to review the settlement terms to ensure that they comport with Google Play store changes he ordered in Epic Games' separate lawsuit, saying "the world has changed" since they struck the deal.

  • November 14, 2024

    Hasbro's Excess Toy Inventory Tanked Stock, Suit Says

    Toy and entertainment company Hasbro Inc. has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action alleging it falsely portrayed high inventory levels as a protective measure against supply chain issues despite knowing its inventory far exceeded actual consumer demand.

Expert Analysis

  • Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where

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    During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Remedy May Be Google's Biggest Hurdle Yet In Antitrust Case

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    There are difficulties ahead in the remedies phase of the antitrust case against Google in District of Columbia federal court, including the search engine giant's scale advantage and the fast-moving nature of the tech industry, setting the stage for the most challenging of the proceedings so far, says Jonathan Rubin at MoginRubin.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • How Calif. Justices' Prop 22 Ruling Affects The Gig Industry

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    The California Supreme Court's recent upholding of Proposition 22 clarifies that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other companies in the gig industry can legally classify their drivers as independent contractors, but it falls short of concluding some important regulatory battles in the state, says Mark Spring at CDF Labor.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Vendor Rights Lessons From 2 Chapter 11 Cases

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    A Texas federal court’s recent critical vendor order in the Zachry Holdings Chapter 11 filing, as well as a settlement between Rite Aid and McKesson in New Jersey federal court last year, shows why suppliers must object to critical vendor motions that do not recognize creditors' legal rights, says David Conaway at Shumaker.

  • Lessons From Rising Fake Discount Consumer Class Actions

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    Ellen Robbins and Scott Allbright at Akerman discuss the rise of false reference price consumer class actions and outline key strategies to minimize legal risk and protect businesses.

  • Classwide Calculations May Get Price Premium Damages Wrong

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    In many consumer class actions, plaintiffs assert that they overpaid for a product because of a misrepresented or defective product feature, and that a single price premium estimate can be applied classwide — but failure to account for differences in price premiums across a putative class may lead to improper damage awards, say economists at Ankura Consulting.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Reaffirms Short-Swing Claims Have Standing

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    The Second Circuit's recent ruling in Packer v. Raging Capital reversing the dismissal of a shareholder's Section 16(b) derivative suit seeking to recover short-swing profits for lack of constitutional standing settles the uncertainty of the district court's decision, which could have undercut Congress' intent in crafting Section 16(b) in the first place, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Illinois BIPA Reform Offers Welcome Relief To Businesses

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    Illinois' recent amendment to its Biometric Information Privacy Act limits the number of violations and damages a plaintiff can claim — a crucial step in shielding businesses from unintended legal consequences, including litigation risk and compliance costs, say attorneys at Taft.

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