Overall
Key cases
Industries
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Corporate
Practice Areas
Commercial Contracts
Follow Commercial Contracts Law360
-
April 23, 2014
Houston Atty Sued Over Salt Dome Collapse Settlement Advice
The Painter Law Firm was slapped with a suit in Texas state court Tuesday by former clients who say the firm bungled litigation against an oil field saltwater disposal company that allegedly damaged several privately owned underground salt dome caverns.
-
April 23, 2014
Al Jazeera Says Public Doesn't Need Details Of AT&T Dispute
Al Jazeera America LLC urged Delaware's Supreme Court on Wednesday to reverse a decision requiring the network to file a largely unredacted version of its complaint against AT&T Services Inc., saying the company would be damaged financially if details of the contract dispute are made public.
-
April 23, 2014
Forest Oil Wants $24.5M Enviro Damage Award Tossed
Forest Oil Corp. asked a Texas appeals court on Wednesday to throw out a $24.5 million judgment the company was slapped with for allegedly contaminating a contracted landowner’s property with radioactive material and other waste, arguing that a member of the arbitration panel that issued the award was biased.
-
April 23, 2014
Miami Music Promoters Sue Sony, World Cup Songwriter
A group of Miami-based music promoters claim in a lawsuit filed Monday in Florida state court that musician Elijah King, winner of a Sony Corp.-sponsored World Cup song contest, and the entertainment giant conned them into releasing King from his contract without providing promised compensation.
-
April 23, 2014
Calif. Appeals Court Urged To Send BevMo Suit To Arbitration
Beverages & More Inc. on Wednesday urged a California appeals court to send a potential wage-and-hour class action suit to arbitration, saying a lower court had erred in ruling that an arbitration clause in the plaintiff's employment agreement with the liquor retailer was too ambiguous to enforce.
-
April 23, 2014
Sandisk Denies Retail Deals Created SD Card Monopoly
Sandisk Corp. urged a California federal judge on Wednesday to toss accusations that Sandisk’s exclusive sales agreements with retailers created an illegal monopoly in the SD memory card market, arguing in the suit, which also disputes Sandisk's patent licensing, that the agreements don't prohibit other manufacturers from competing.
-
April 23, 2014
Meadowbrook Wants 2nd Shot In 6th Circ. Fight With AIG
Meadowbrook Insurance Group units pressed the Sixth Circuit to rethink its reversal of a ruling that froze an ongoing reinsurance arbitration with an American International Group Inc. subsidiary, arguing Wednesday that the appeals court's take conflicted with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
-
April 23, 2014
Safeway Urges Pa. Court To Slash $18M Lease Breach Award
A Safeway Inc. unit on Wednesday pushed the Pennsylvania Superior Court to slash an $18 million judgment over its cancellation of a shopping center lease, telling an en banc panel of the court that the money and interest awarded must be reduced to present value.
-
April 23, 2014
Calif. Panel Passes 'Yelp Bill' To Protect Customer Reviews
The California Assembly’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday waved through the so-called Yelp bill, which would prohibit companies from stifling consumer reviews unless a consumer has expressly waived his or her right to give an opinion.
-
April 22, 2014
Mitsubishi Can't Win Judgment In Trade Secrets Suit
A California appeals court decided Tuesday that a lower judge did not err when he ordered a new trial after tossing a jury's $124 million finding that Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA Inc. breached a nondisclosure agreement over a confidential design for computer memory chips.
-
April 22, 2014
MetWest Loses $12.5M Wilshire Bank Deal, Suit And Appeal
A California appeals court upheld a lower court's decision that MetWest Ventures LLC can't enforce Wilshire State Bank's letter of intent to sell seven subperforming loans to MetWest for $12.5 million, ruling Monday that the letter lacks essential terms including for interest and repayment.
-
April 22, 2014
ETP Seeks $1B Judgment In Pipeline Partnership Fight
Energy Transfer Partners LP on Monday asked a Texas state judge for a more than $1 billion judgment against Enterprise Products Partners LP after a jury found Enterprise breached a partnership agreement for a crude oil pipeline.
-
April 22, 2014
Dean Foods Settles Antitrust Battle Over Milk Sales
An Illinois-based dairy distributor on Monday agreed to drop a suit accusing Dean Foods Co. of breaching of a distribution contract and violating antitrust law, though the dismissal won’t be final until the distributor has satisfied its outstanding debts to a Dean subsidiary.
-
April 22, 2014
The Accidental Advocate: Judge John E. Jones III
Pennsylvania Middle District Judge John E. Jones III talks to Law360 about the surreal aftermath of his divisive ruling against intelligent design as he prepares for yet another potentially explosive trial over Pennsylvania's same-sex marriage ban.
-
April 22, 2014
GSK Slams Mylan's Bid For $3.1M Interest In Paxil Row
GlaxoSmithKline LLC on Monday slammed Mylan Inc.'s bid for $3.1 million in prejudgment interest stemming from the $106.7 million verdict Mylan won after a jury found that GSK breached an exclusive licensing contract arising from an antitrust settlement, saying in New Jersey federal court that the company overstated the amount.
-
April 22, 2014
Gaming Motherboard Makers Face False Ad Class Action
Three computer component manufacturers were hit with a proposed class action on Monday in California federal court, claiming they oversold the performance capabilities of their motherboards to appeal to video gamers in violation of state consumer protection and competition laws.
-
April 22, 2014
11th Circ. Revives Telecom Contract Suit Against Belize
The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday reversed a lower court’s dismissal of GDG Acquisitions LLC’s lawsuit accusing the government of Belize of breaching a contract for the lease of office telecommunications equipment, saying the district court should have consulted the agreement’s clause for forum selection.
-
April 22, 2014
SunTrust Can Reopen Case To Enforce Sanctions, Judge Says
A Florida federal judge on Monday reopened a putative class action against SunTrust Bank over suspensions of home equity lines of credit for the purpose of enforcing the court’s sanctions award against counsel for the plaintiffs.
-
April 22, 2014
Claims Against BP, Home Depot Pared In Solar Panel Row
A California federal judge on Monday trimmed state residents' proposed class action alleging Home Depot USA Inc. and defunct BP Solar International Inc. sold defective solar panels, dismissing claims for breach of warranty because the defects manifested after the warranty period.
-
April 21, 2014
ERG Wants Rival Buyer Back In $100M Suit Over Lost Deal
Independent oil and gas operator ERG Resources LLC told the Texas Supreme Court on Friday that a Canadian rival has a sufficient connection to the state to subject it to a $100 million suit over the companies’ battle to acquire a Nabors Industries Ltd. subsidiary.
Expert Analysis
-
Texas' Atty Fee Statute — Elevating Form Over Substance?
Section 38.001 of the Texas Civil Practice Remedies Code is cited as a basis for the recovery of attorneys' fees in virtually every breach of contract action asserted under Texas law. However, the statute’s brevity raises several questions regarding its scope and application, including who qualifies as an “individual or corporation” against whom such a fee award may be entered. The issue was tackled head-on in Fleming & Associates v. Barton, says James Holbrook III of Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP.
-
Mandatory Pro Bono Is Not The Answer For Practitioners
The State Bar of California has decided to follow New York's lead and require prospective attorneys to record 50 hours of pro bono service in order to be eligible for admission. While we applaud the intentions behind these initiatives, there are a number of reasons why state bars should limit any mandatory pro bono requirement to this context, rather than extend it to licensed attorneys as some have suggested, say attorneys with the Association of Pro Bono Counsel.
-
Let The Frequent Flyer Beware: Airlines Can Nix Memberships
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in Northwest Inc. v. Ginsberg that the Airline Deregulation Act preempts a state-law claim for breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing if the claim seeks to enlarge the contractual obligations of parties. The practical result is that any airline can terminate a frequent flyer membership according to the terms of its contract, without fear of implied duties being applied to it, says Marie Williams of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.
-
Fla. Court Tips Scales In Favor Of Involuntary Bankruptcy
In light of a recent Florida state court decision in Sargeant v. Al-Saleh, there is now a question as to whether a Florida court has authority to direct a Florida judgment debtor to turn over any asset physically located outside the state, thus tipping the scales in favor of filing involuntary bankruptcy petitions as a method to invoke the broad powers of a bankruptcy court, says James Leshaw of Leshaw Law PA.
-
Potential Pitfalls To Avoid In Drilling Provisions
Oftentimes with oil and gas leases, a continuous drilling provision, which allows for a temporary cessation of production without automatically resulting in the termination of a lease beyond its primary term, goes overlooked. Based on case law, only one thing appears to be consistent — whether a cessation of production is temporary is a question of fact that depends on the individual circumstances, says David Hatch of Holland & Hart LLP.
-
The State Of Arbitration Enforcement In Calif.
Even with the judicial impact of several U.S. Supreme Court opinions, beginning with AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, the predicament for the practitioner and client is that any provision that seeks to enforce arbitration of labor and consumer remedy statutes, or that makes the cost of arbitration too one-sided, runs a significant risk of not being enforced in a California state court, say Neil Bardack and Shannon Nessier of Hanson Bridgett LLP.
-
The Future Of Law Firm PR: The Good, Bad And Ugly
There has been a dramatic change in how public relations professionals interact with the news media to promote or protect a law firm’s brand and reputation. But content is queen and has a bright future in law firm PR — it all begins with a plan that should include goals, performance indicators and a system of assessment, say Paul Webb, director of marketing at Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP, and Kathy O'Brien, senior vice president at Jaffe PR.
-
Employers: Take Care In Crafting Confidentiality Clauses
Employers are often surprised to learn that policies explicitly prohibiting employees from discussing salaries are in violation of Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, as was recently affirmed in Flex Frac Logistics LLC v. NLRB. However, employers are still entitled to take precautions in order to protect their confidential proprietary information and trade secrets from disclosure by their employees, say Christopher Bacon and Ashlee Grant of Vinson & Elkins LLP.
-
Calif.'s Prevailing Wage Law Will Punish The Noncompliant
California’s prevailing wage law may not be the oldest in the country, but it may be the most complex, evolving and litigated. The penalties for contractors and subcontractors who fail to comply with California's law have grown costlier — noncompliance risks up to a three-year ban on the bidding of public works projects in the state, says Jeremy Wooden of Foley & Lardner LLP.
-
Fog May Be Lifting Around Finders
The regulatory world of when and whether a U.S. person can raise capital and receive transaction-based compensation without registering as a broker-dealer has been murky. But the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s aggressive stance on when finders have to register as broker-dealers has recently encountered judicial disavowal by courts, which has helped clarify certain compensation issues, say Kenneth Mason and Sharon Obialo of Kaye Scholer LLP.