Commercial Contracts

  • April 17, 2024

    Coding Bootcamp Fined $164K For Misleading Student Loans

    A company that runs coding "bootcamps" has been permanently banned from consumer lending after U.S. regulators found it inflated its job placement rates to students and lied to them about a tuition financing program that turned out to be risky loans.

  • April 17, 2024

    Alien Influencer, Ex-Partners Walk Away From IP Row

    A Colorado federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a motivational speaker and self-described influencer who claims to have met with extraterrestrial beings known as the "Blue Avians," after the influencer and two former business partners agreed to drop dueling claims over movie projects and business ventures gone awry. 

  • April 17, 2024

    Jury Says Caterpillar's Interference Cost Equipment Co. $100M

    A jury in Delaware has rejected antitrust claims against Caterpillar but found that the equipment maker caused a defunct importer $100 million in damages by interfering with its contract to sell equipment through an online sales platform.

  • April 17, 2024

    Data Co. Seeks Coverage For $250M Lebanon Explosion Suit

    A data services company told a Texas state court that its insurers must defend it in an underlying $250 million lawsuit stemming from the 2020 Port of Beirut explosion in Lebanon which killed over 218 people, maintaining that the insurers have wrongfully refused.

  • April 17, 2024

    Panel Agrees Pot Investor's Deal In 2017 Suit Nixes 2019 Suit

    A Washington state appeals court has thrown out an investor's suit alleging that a cannabis venture failed to follow through on a deal to acquire ownership interest in exchange for a $650,000 investment, finding his settlement of a prior suit block his claims.

  • April 17, 2024

    Judge Merges Axos Bank Suits But Won't Appoint Counsel Yet

    A California federal judge has agreed to consolidate a pair of cases over how Axos handled interest rates on savings deposit accounts offered through an online banking division, but rejected its customers' bid to name three law firms as interim co-lead counsel, saying it is not necessary at this time since more consolidation could occur.

  • April 17, 2024

    Ogletree Expands Into Western NY With Ex-Goldberg Atty

    Management-side employment firm Ogletree Deakins is expanding into western New York, announcing Tuesday that it is adding a shareholder in Buffalo from Goldberg Segalla.

  • April 17, 2024

    American Urges 1st Circ. To Reject 'Radical' JetBlue Ruling

    American Airlines has told the First Circuit that a judge's "radical vision of the antitrust laws" that blocked its Northeast Alliance joint venture with JetBlue shouldn't stand, arguing that federal enforcers are relying on misleading claims and outdated precedent to prop up the lower court's mistaken conclusion.

  • April 16, 2024

    Pro-Israel Fart Sprayer Sues Columbia Univ. Over Suspension

    A Jewish Columbia University student on Tuesday lobbed discrimination claims at the university, which he said unfairly suspended him for spraying non-toxic fart spray at a protest over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a move he said was designed to "silence" him for his views.

  • April 16, 2024

    Businessman Urges Calif. Court To Refuse $4.4M Award

    A businessman who signed agreements with a Chinese energy management company on behalf of two different investment funds has told a California federal court that he never received proper notice about an arbitration that resulted in a $4.4 million award against him.

  • April 16, 2024

    Al Roker Fired Producer For Supporting DEI Policy, Suit Says

    Television producer William Schultz has sued Al Roker and his production company in New York federal court, alleging that he was wrongfully fired from the show "Weather Hunters" after voicing support for an initiative to bring minority writers onto the PBS children's show.

  • April 16, 2024

    Mercedes Rusty Subframe Suit Is Too Vague, Judge Is Told

    Mercedes-Benz argued in court Tuesday that a proposed class action over a claimed subframe defect should be dismissed as an improper shotgun pleading as it directs allegations at "Mercedes" without specifying whether the German parent company or its Atlanta subsidiary are supposedly to blame.

  • April 16, 2024

    NY Outdoor Stadium Can Host Concerts During Noise Row

    A century-old outdoor stadium in New York where the Beatles once played can continue operating as it battles disgruntled neighbors after a state judge denied the residents' request for a preliminary injunction because they had not shown that noise from the stadium was unreasonable.

  • April 16, 2024

    Staffing Co. Drops Contract Fight With Panthers Stadium

    The Carolina Panthers' stadium operator and the event staffing company that accused it of wrongly pulling back from an arrangement the parties had made to staff the National Football League team's home games came together Tuesday to drop their dispute from North Carolina federal court.

  • April 16, 2024

    3rd Circ. Cuts Claims In Geico Vehicle Value-Adjustment Suit

    A New Jersey couple can't bring class-action claims against Geico over it allegedly knocking too much off the payout value on totaled cars, since the company ultimately adjusted their personal claim settlement offer upward, a Third Circuit panel has ruled.

  • April 16, 2024

    DraftKings Workers Say Ex-Boss Tried To Lure Them To Rival

    Two DraftKings higher-ups testified Tuesday that their former boss had tried to lure them to join rival sportsbook Fanatics with multimillion-dollar compensation offers, contradicting their former supervisor's claim that he never attempted to get his top lieutenants to help him set up a new office for Fanatics in Los Angeles.

  • April 16, 2024

    FTC To Unveil, Vote On Final Noncompetes Ban April 23

    The Federal Trade Commission gave a one-week heads up Tuesday of its impending unveiling of — and vote on — the final version of a rule that would ban essentially all noncompete agreements employers impose on their workers.

  • April 16, 2024

    AT&T Unit Urges Justices To Weigh In On FCC E-Rate Saga

    An AT&T subsidiary is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether reimbursement requests for the Federal Communications Commission's E-rate program for schools and libraries are "claims" under the False Claims Act, part of a whistleblower suit accusing the company of overcharging public schools and libraries.

  • April 16, 2024

    NJ Hospital GC Emails Doom $24M Verdict For Surgeons

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated a $24.3 million award to a group of neurosurgeons on their claim that a hospital didn't operate in good faith, finding the trial court's admission of emails from the hospital's general counsel and remarks made during closing arguments deprived the hospital of a fair trial.

  • April 16, 2024

    Capital One Escapes Customer Sign-Up Bonus Suit, For Now

    A California federal judge dismissed a proposed class action brought by a Capital One customer who claimed he applied for a credit card but never got a promised sign-up bonus, saying that a social media advertisement about a bonus was not enough to allege traceability.

  • April 16, 2024

    Excess Carriers Say Property Co. Not Covered In Antitrust Suit

    Two excess insurers said they don't owe coverage to a property management company for underlying litigation alleging a price-fixing conspiracy involving software company RealPage Inc., telling a Massachusetts federal court that a professional services exclusion in the primary policy bars coverage.

  • April 16, 2024

    W&T Offshore Accuses Pipeline Co. Of $3M Per Month Losses

    A Gulf of Mexico oil producer claims it is losing millions of dollars a month from regulators' forced shut-in of a pipeline network it depends on in a lawsuit filed in Texas federal court alleging the pipeline company violated their contract to follow U.S. law and keep the line operating.

  • April 15, 2024

    Resistance To Patent Licenses Drives More Suits, Execs Say

    Companies that generate revenue from patents are seeing less willingness to negotiate in recent years among businesses they approach about potential licenses, requiring more litigation in order to reach agreements, executives from IBM, InterDigital and others said Monday.

  • April 15, 2024

    SeaWorld's Sesame Park Visitors Can't Get Cert. In Bias Fight

    A Pennsylvania federal judge refused Monday to certify a class of Hispanic and Black customers who allege performers at the SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc.-owned theme park Sesame Place discriminated against and ignored minority children, finding that the proposed 130 children class size is based on inadmissible speculation.

  • April 15, 2024

    McDonald's, Workers Battle Over Future Of No-Poach Case

    Workers suing McDonald's over its past use of no-poach provisions in franchise agreements have told an Illinois federal court the fast food chain is trying to slow down the case after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up its appeal.

Expert Analysis

  • How New Lawyers Can Leverage Feedback For Growth

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    Embracing constructive criticism as a tool for success can help new lawyers accelerate their professional growth and law firms build a culture of continuous improvement, says Katie Aldrich at Fringe Professional Development.

  • How Reps And Warranties Insurance Can Aid Sellers In M&A

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    Amid the current slowdown in the M&A climate, representation and warranty insurance offers sellers a number of advantages, including protection against fraud and possible leverage to insist on a no-seller-indemnity deal, say Alex Leibowitz and Eric Jesse at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Key Elements Of The Proposed Credit Card Competition Act

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    Attorneys at Troutman Pepper examine the most noteworthy provisions in the recently proposed Credit Card Competition Act, including changes to payment card network access, Federal Reserve Board review, who would qualify as a covered institution, and routing restrictions.

  • The NIL Legislation Race: CAEFA And Ted Cruz's Draft Bill

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    Christina Stylianou and Gregg Clifton at Lewis Brisbois compare legislation pertaining to the name, image and likeness rights of college student-athletes, including the College Athlete Economic Freedom Act and Sen. Ted Cruz's draft bill that would restrict an athlete's eligibility to compete if an NIL agreement violates their university's student code of conduct.

  • Developers Are Testing Defenses In Generative AI Litigation

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    In the rapidly growing field of generative artificial intelligence law in the U.S., there are a few possible defenses that have already been effectively asserted by defendants in litigation, including lack of standing, reliance on the fair use doctrine, and the legality of so-called data scraping, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Brand Owners Beware: AI-Generated Ad Content Poses Risks

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    Since the Association of National Advertisers recently updated its master media buying services template agreement, brand owners should consider how their contracted agencies are using artificial intelligence to create and implement campaigns and media purchases, say Kyle-Beth Hilfer and John Miranda at Cowan Liebowitz.

  • Twitter Legal Fees Suit Offers Crash Course In Billing Ethics

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    X Corp.'s suit alleging that Wachtell grossly inflated its fees in the final days of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition provides a case study in how firms should protect their reputations by hewing to ethical billing practices and the high standards for professional conduct that govern attorney-client relationships, says Lourdes Fuentes at Karta Legal.

  • A Higher Bar For Surviving Summary Judgment In SC Courts

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    The South Carolina Supreme Court's recent decision in Kitchen Planners v. Friedman, rejecting a lower court's usage of the mere scintilla standard for allowing cases to proceed, suggests that the mere existence of an alleged factual dispute between parties will no longer be sufficient to thwart a well-supported motion for summary judgment, says Denver Smith at Butler Snow.

  • Key Strike Considerations For Automotive Industry Suppliers

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    As the UAW's labor contracts with Detroit's Big Three automakers expire, and the possibility of a strike looms, automotive industry suppliers face a number of possible legal and operational issues — and should have strategic action plans in place to deal with contracts, liquidity, the post-strike environment and more, say experts at Alvarez & Marsal.

  • Ore. Warranty Ruling Complicates Insurance Classification

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    The Oregon Court of Appeals' recent TruNorth v. Department of Consumer and Business Services holding that a service contract — commonly referred to as an extended warranty — covering commercial property is subject to the state's consumer service contract laws raises regulatory questions for contract obligors, sellers and administrators, say attorneys at Locke Lord.

  • ABA's Money-Laundering Resolution Is A Balancing Act

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    While the American Bar Association’s recently passed resolution recognizes a lawyer's duty to discontinue representation that could facilitate money laundering and other fraudulent activity, it preserves, at least for now, the delicate balance of judicial, state-based regulation of the legal profession and the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • A Festival Of Litigation Could Arise From 'Electric Zoo' Fiasco

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    Over Labor Day weekend, thousands of electronic dance music fans were displeased with the organization of the New York City-based Electric Zoo festival, which quickly elicited comparisons to the 2017 Fyre Festival — and three kinds of litigation could ensue from the debacle, say attorneys at Seiden Law.

  • Law Firm Professional Development Steps To Thrive In AI Era

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools rapidly evolve, professional development leaders are instrumental in preparing law firms for the paradigm shifts ahead, and should consider three strategies to help empower legal talent with the skills required to succeed in an increasingly complex technological landscape, say Steve Gluckman and Anusia Gillespie at SkillBurst Interactive.

  • A Closer Look At Another HBCU Race Bias Suit Against NCAA

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    The National Collegiate Athletic Association's Academic Performance Program has become a lightning rod for scrutiny, as seen in the recently filed class action McKinney v. NCAA — where statistics in the complaint raise questions about the program's potential discriminatory impact on student-athletes at historically Black colleges and universities, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • 5 Takeaways From SEC's First Marketing Rule Action

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent settlement — the first under the amended marketing rule — with Titan Global on charges that the fintech company misled investors shows investment advisers that they should expect close scrutiny of marketing materials and that their questions will only be answered through SEC enforcement, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

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