Retail & E-Commerce

  • February 12, 2025

    11th Circ. Upholds Win For Smucker's In Worker's Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a ruling freeing J.M. Smucker Co. and Big Heart Pet Brands from a technician's suit alleging she was unfairly held to a higher standard at work and punished more severely in regard to policy violations because she is a Black woman.

  • February 12, 2025

    Colo. Judge Tosses Online Fax Co.'s Junk Ad Suit

    A Colorado federal judge dismissed an online fax service provider's Telephone Consumer Protection Act suit alleging a group of companies overwhelmed its system with "junk" faxes, finding in a Wednesday order that the law's prohibition specifically applies to a "machine" that receives and prints faxes.

  • February 12, 2025

    4th Circ. Keeps Class Cert. Nixed In Coupon Service Case

    Class certification remains off the table in a lawsuit accusing Inmar Inc. of fixing shipping prices for coupon processing services, after a Fourth Circuit panel sided Wednesday with district court findings that none of the three proffered ways to identify a class of manufacturer plaintiffs holds up.

  • February 12, 2025

    Cannabis Vape Cos. Accused Of Price-Fixing Scheme

    A Chinese cannabis vape manufacturer and a slew of its U.S.-based distributors have been hit with a proposed class action alleging they maintained an unlawful anticompetitive arrangement that kept the price of marijuana vapes artificially high for close to a decade.

  • February 12, 2025

    Willkie DQ'd Out Of Franchise Group Ch. 11

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday denied retail chain operator Franchise Group Inc.'s request to retain Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in its Chapter 11, saying issues stemming from a transaction it worked on before the bankruptcy are too central to the company's reorganization plans.

  • February 12, 2025

    Poultry Producers Can't Dodge Bid-Rigging Claims In MDL

    An Illinois federal judge trimmed on Tuesday some conspiracy claims from a massive antitrust case against chicken producers, including Pilgrim's Pride and over a dozen others, but kept intact other bid-rigging allegations, finding that a class of restaurants and other direct buyers plausibly alleged the companies increased prices in parallel.

  • February 12, 2025

    Gore-Tex Maker Accused Of Greenwashing Waterproof Fabric

    W.L. Gore & Associates has been slapped with a proposed class action in Washington federal court accusing it of embarking on a "greenwashing" campaign by touting its Gore-Tex waterproof fabric as being environmentally sound, while concealing from customers it uses forever chemicals in manufacturing the material.

  • February 12, 2025

    Albertsons To Face Reduced Claims Over Tech Theft

    A Washington federal judge has cleared software company Replenium Inc. to pursue trade secret and promissory estoppel claims against Albertsons, finding it plausibly alleged the grocer misused confidential information from their software partnership to build a competing auto-replenishment platform.

  • February 12, 2025

    Colo. City Asks State Justices To Revive Pot Ballot Question

    The city of Colorado Springs is asking the Colorado Supreme Court to revive a ballot initiative that a district court struck from an upcoming election that would repeal an initiative passed in November authorizing the retail sale of cannabis in city limits.

  • February 12, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Duties On Italian Co.'s Chinese-Made Tires

    The Chinese arm of an Italian tire manufacturer must pay significant duties, according to a precedential ruling from the Federal Circuit, which found that the U.S. Department of Commerce correctly determined the company could be influenced by the Chinese government.

  • February 12, 2025

    Nike Asks 9th Circ. To Claw Back Workplace Harassment Docs

    A lawyer for Nike urged a Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday to block an Oregon local newspaper from publishing workplace harassment questionnaires provided by plaintiffs' attorney in pay equity litigation against the athletic apparel giant.

  • February 12, 2025

    Joann To Close Over 500 US Stores In Second Ch. 11

    Joann Inc., a fabrics and crafts retailer that reentered bankruptcy in January, asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge Wednesday for permission to close more than 500 underperforming stores throughout the country that the company said potential buyers of the business aren't interested in taking on.

  • February 12, 2025

    Fried Frank Faces Sanctions Bid Over RICO Suit

    Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP and its client, Tristar Products Inc., are facing a sanctions bid for bringing a RICO lawsuit against Telebrands Corp., with the defendant saying the complaint makes the company and its attorney seem like "alleged criminal masterminds."

  • February 12, 2025

    Meta User Antitrust Suit Gets Nov. 17 Trial Date

    A California federal judge has set a Nov. 17 trial date for accusations that Meta monopolized the social media advertising market weeks after he declined to certify a class of Facebook users that would have numbered in the millions.

  • February 12, 2025

    KPMG Taps Walmart Executive For General Counsel

    A top executive for Walmart is leaving the retail giant at the end of the month to join the leadership ranks of KPMG LLP, one of the Big Four accounting firms, as general counsel.

  • February 12, 2025

    $180M Deals In Poultry Process Wage-Fixing Row Get First OK

    A Maryland federal judge gave her blessing to several settlements totaling approximately $180 million in a suit accusing a slew of poultry companies of conspiring to keep wages low at their plants, greenlighting what the workers called "a historic recovery."

  • February 12, 2025

    Starbucks Accused Of Flouting Mass. Polygraph Hiring Law

    Starbucks is ignoring a Massachusetts law requiring employers to inform job-seekers that the state doesn't allow the use of lie detector tests in employment decisions, according to a putative class action filed in state court.

  • February 11, 2025

    Wash. Health Privacy Law Debuts In Amazon Tracking Suit

    A Washington resident has launched the first claims under the state's groundbreaking health privacy law, as part of a proposed class action accusing Amazon of unlawfully harvesting location data from tens of millions of mobile phone users through third-party apps that are running the company's software development kit. 

  • February 11, 2025

    Kratom Producers Hid 'Addictive' Risks, Consumers Say

    Companies that make kratom are facing a proposed class action in New York federal court over sales of kratom, standing accused of not disclosing that the substance is just as addictive as opioids.

  • February 11, 2025

    High Court Urged To Skip Amazon Patent Program Fight

    A maker of electric outlet covers has told the U.S. Supreme Court that a jurisdictional victory it scored last year at the Federal Circuit over patent infringement allegations initially brought through Amazon's patent evaluation program was "unremarkable" and should not be considered further.

  • February 11, 2025

    Orion Telescope Partly Revives $4M Fraudulent Transfer Suit

    A California appellate court on Monday partially revived Orion Telescope's suit accusing rival Celestron Acquisition of orchestrating a fraudulent $4.2 million transfer to help another company avoid paying a judgment owed to Orion, ruling that Orion indeed adequately alleged conspiracy or aiding and abetting a fraudulent transfer.

  • February 11, 2025

    Logan Paul Co. Won't Fight Messi's Absence In Drink IP Suit

    Logan Paul's company told a New York federal judge it won't object to Lionel Messi's absence in an upcoming settlement conference in a trademark dispute due to the soccer legend's unavailability, after Messi's counsel claimed Monday the demand for the athlete's attendance appears to be designed "solely to harass" him.

  • February 11, 2025

    Patent Attys Can Be Liable For Fees Too, Justices Told

    The tech and retail industries are endorsing an effort by Dish Network aiming to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to potentially expand the personal liability of lawyers who file failed patent cases that are found to be "exceptional" by the courts. 

  • February 11, 2025

    PFAS Litigation Finds A New Frontier: Consumer Products

    Smartwatch wristbands, adhesive bandages, tampons and juice containers — what do they all have in common? In a growing trend, plaintiffs attorneys allege the products contain toxic forever chemicals and that manufacturers misled consumers about it.

  • February 11, 2025

    FTC Says Small Stores Pay Southern Glazer's Up To 67% More

    The Federal Trade Commission's price discrimination case against Southern Glazer's accuses the wine and spirits distributor of routinely charging small retailers up to 67% more for the same products as large chain stores, according to newly unsealed redactions.

Expert Analysis

  • Review Shipping Terms In Light Of These 3 Global Challenges

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    Given tensions in the Middle East, labor unrest at U.S. ports and the ongoing consequences of climate change, parties involved in maritime shipping must understand the relevant contract provisions and laws that may be implicated during supply chain disruptions in order to mitigate risks, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits

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    Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • 2nd Circ. Provides NY Pathway For Fighting Foreign Infringers

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    A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit provides a road map for expeditiously obtaining personal jurisdiction in New York against foreign trademark infringers based on a single purchase of counterfeit goods, meaning the Second Circuit could now be the preferred venue for combating foreign infringement, says Jeffrey Ratinoff at Spencer Fane.

  • Challenge To Ill. Card Fee Law Explores Compliance Hurdles

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    A recent federal lawsuit challenging an Illinois law that will soon forbid electronic payment networks from charging fees for processing the tax and tip portions of card transactions, fleshes out the glaring compliance challenges and exposure risks financial institutions must be ready to face next summer, says Martin Kiernan at Amundsen Davis.

  • Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures

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    Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • New Law May Move Calif. Toward Fashion Sustainability

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    California’s recently signed Responsible Textile Recovery Act seeks to increase sustainability innovation in the fashion industry, but it could also create compliance hurdles for brands, especially smaller fashion houses that do not have ample resources, say Warren Koshofer and Maggie Franz at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Antitrust In Retail: Why FTC Is Studying 'Surveillance Pricing'

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    The Federal Trade Commission's decision to study targeted "surveillance pricing" should provide greater clarity into the nature of the data aggregation industry, but also raises several issues, including whether these practices are in fact illegal under any established interpretations of U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • The Trade And Tax Issues Behind US-Canada Digital Tax Clash

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    The new Canadian digital services tax recently went into effect despite objections from the U.S., a controversy that represents an unusual mix of trade and tax policy, and many companies have been pondering how it will affect their e-commerce businesses, says Damon Pike at BDO.

  • Secret Service Failures Offer Lessons For Private Sector GCs

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    The Secret Service’s problematic response to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this summer provides a crash course for general counsel on how not to handle crisis communications, says Keith Nahigian at Nahigian Strategies.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

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