Commercial Contracts

  • September 10, 2024

    Boxing Biz Denies Agreeing To Co-Promote Axed Tournament

    A boxing promoter has denied damaging the reputation of a rival after failing to pay it for co-promoting a tournament that had to cancel its finals, claiming it never entered a $1.2 million deal to promote and exploit bouts between fighters with huge internet followings.

  • September 10, 2024

    Fannie Says Pa. Landlords Owe $60M For 7 Apt. Buildings

    Fannie Mae is seeking foreclosure on roughly $60 million in overdue mortgage loans and interest tied to seven commercial properties in and around Philadelphia, according to a complaint filed in Pennsylvania federal court.

  • September 10, 2024

    Cybersecurity Co. Beats Suit Over Med Tech Data Breach

    A Massachusetts federal judge declined to hold information security technology company Barracuda Networks Inc. liable over a 2018 data breach that exposed the confidential information of more than 277,000 patients of medical device maker Zoll Medical Corp.

  • September 10, 2024

    Symbion Claims 'Serious Defects' In Power Plant Arbitration

    A U.S. power engineering company has urged a New York federal court to rip up an arbitral award issued over a sourced project in Madagascar, arguing that the process was tainted by "a myriad of serious defects" that led to an unfair decision.

  • September 10, 2024

    Holland & Knight Grows In DC With Ex-IDB Invest Counsel

    A former lead counsel with development bank IDB Invest has joined Holland & Knight LLP in Washington, D.C., boosting the firm's financial services team and its Latin American practice.

  • September 10, 2024

    Phone Maker Vivo Joins Via LA's Audio Patent Licensing Pool

    Via Licensing Alliance said Tuesday it has inked a deal with Chinese smartphone maker Vivo to join its patent pool for standardized audio coding technology.

  • September 10, 2024

    Paul Hastings Taps Capital Markets Pro From Davis Polk

    Paul Hastings LLP has hired a prominent capital markets transactions expert as a partner at its London office as it looks to boost its global practice, which it has identified as a priority.

  • September 09, 2024

    Lewis Brisbois Denied Early Win In Real Estate Broker's Suit

    A Los Angeles judge on Monday declined to dismiss a breach of contract suit brought against Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP by a real estate broker, saying that although he has some problems with the pleadings, they meet the standard to survive the law firm's demurrer. 

  • September 09, 2024

    NC Dance Teachers Fend Off Injunction Bid In Trademark Feud

    A North Carolina charter school can't prevent two former teachers from soliciting students for their dance team using the name "Inspire" amid claims of trademark infringement and false advertising, a federal judge ruled Monday.

  • September 09, 2024

    The Atlantic Must Face Writer's Trimmed Defamation Suit

    A D.C. federal judge on Monday trimmed some claims from a freelance writer's suit alleging The Atlantic tarnished her professional reputation by retracting an investigative article she wrote about the Ivy League admissions process, but kept the bulk of the writer's defamation case alive.

  • September 09, 2024

    Houston Texans Say Pipeline Co. Owes $1.4M On Suite Lease

    The Houston Texans have accused a local pipeline coating company of falling behind on payments for a box suite inside its stadium, in breach of a five-year lease agreement, according to a lawsuit filed in Texas state court.

  • September 09, 2024

    Philly Noncompete Ban Challenger Wants Case Paused

    A tree service company suing to block the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban in Pennsylvania — the only jurisdiction so far where the commission fended off a preliminary injunction — has asked the judge to pause its case after federal courts in other states put similar suits on hold.

  • September 09, 2024

    Chinese Reinsurers Can't Exit Reimbursement Suit Yet

    Two property insurers properly served Chinese reinsurers with their suit alleging that they owe more than $43 million in unpaid reinsurance claims, an Iowa federal court ruled, rejecting the reinsurers' argument that under the Hague Convention the insurers had to instead serve their suit via China's central authority. 

  • September 09, 2024

    Conn. Bank Hit With Class Claims Over Overdraft Fees

    Fairfield County Bank improperly charged $37 overdraft fees on "authorize positive, settle negative," or APSN, transactions, according to a putative class action in Connecticut state court that claims a fee is triggered even if a customer's money is available at time of purchase.

  • September 09, 2024

    Court Won't Nix Flyers' Case Over JetBlue-American Pact

    A New York federal court has refused to toss a proposed class action from airline passengers who allegedly overpaid for flights while an agreement was in place between JetBlue and American Airlines, an alliance the airlines dropped after a successful government challenge.

  • September 09, 2024

    Investment Firm Can't Fell Timber Co.'s Carbon Offset Suit

    The North Carolina Business Court has trimmed a timber company's lawsuit accusing a forestland investment firm of overstating land's carbon offset value in a sale, but let most of the claims escape being felled, reasoning that the timber company's complaint alleged plausible accusations of contract violations.

  • September 09, 2024

    Conn. Atty Defaults In Real Estate Client's Overcharge Suit

    A Connecticut Superior Court clerk has entered a default judgment against a law firm accused of botching a real estate transaction, leaving the firm's namesake attorney to face allegations that he distributed home sale proceeds to unknown people and wrote a bad check to the true beneficiary of a trust.

  • September 09, 2024

    Bradley Arant Adds Katten Partner In Dallas

    Bradley Arant has hired a six-and-a-half-year veteran of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP who is joining the firm's corporate and securities practice in Dallas as a partner.

  • September 09, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Delaware's Court of Chancery made some expensive decisions last week, ranging from a $130 million stockholder award and a freeze on $450 million in equity financing to a whopping $1 billion bill for fraud and breach of contract damages. New cases aimed at Virgin Galactic, settlements pulled in Hemisphere Media Group Inc. and court hearings involving Apollo Global Management heated up. In case you missed it, here's the roundup of news from Delaware's Court of Chancery.

  • September 09, 2024

    Yale Clinic Signs 'Substantial' Deal In Missing Fentanyl Claims

    A Yale University clinic has settled claims by 93 patients who said they suffered excruciating pain during gynecological procedures after a nurse stole the painkiller fentanyl and replaced it with inert saline, the plaintiffs' law firm announced Monday. 

  • September 06, 2024

    T.I. Tells Jury 'Anyone With Eyes' Can See MGA's IP Theft

    Grammy-winning hip hop artist T.I. on Friday told jurors weighing his intellectual property suit against toymaker MGA Enterntainment that anyone could see the similarities between the company's O.M.G. doll line and the OMG Girlz pop group that the rapper co-owns, but he's not sure the company CEO knew of any alleged idea theft.

  • September 06, 2024

    Earthlink Investors Accept $85M Deal To End Merger Suit

    Earthlink investors who say they were duped into approving a $1.1 billion merger with failing telecommunications company Windstream Holdings Inc. told an Arkansas federal judge Friday that they've reached an $85 million deal to end the lawsuit two months before the case was scheduled to go to trial.

  • September 06, 2024

    AstraZeneca Unit Owes $130M In Chancery Scuttled-Drug Suit

    The Delaware Chancery Court awarded $130 million to former shareholders of biopharmaceutical company Syntimmune in their breach of contract fight against AstraZeneca PLC unit Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., finding that Alexion failed to make promised payments after it acquired Syntimmune in 2018 and breached key terms of their merger agreement.

  • September 06, 2024

    Texas Biz Court Will Be A Brave New World For Energy Cos.

    Energy companies gained a new forum to hash out their legal fights Sept. 1 when the Texas business court recently started hearing cases, but questions about the court and how it'll operate might give companies pause before they take the plunge. Here's what energy companies and energy attorneys should know as the new court gets up and running.

  • September 06, 2024

    Ex-CEO Of Defunct Solar Co. Seeks Sanctions In Fraud Suit

    The former CEO of a bankrupt solar energy firm filed a motion for sanctions Friday in Michigan federal court, alleging the plaintiffs' counsel misrepresented the ex-CEO's inability to produce information during a discovery meeting regarding claims he defrauded customers by selling faulty solar systems.

Expert Analysis

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Ambiguity Ruling Highlights Deference To Arbitral Process

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    A New York federal court’s recent ruling in Eletson v. Levona, which remanded an arbitral award for clarification, reflects that the ambiguity exception’s analysis is not static and may be applied even in cases where the award, when issued, was unambiguous, says arbitrator Myrna Barakat Friedman.

  • 2 Rulings Serve As Conversion Fee Warnings For Banks

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    A comparison of the different outcomes in Wright v. Capital One in a Virginia federal court, and in Guerrero v. Bank of America in a North Carolina federal court, highlights how banks must be careful in describing how currency exchange fees and charges are determined in their customer agreements, say attorneys at Weiner Brodsky.

  • Expect CFPB To Enforce Warning Against 'Coercive' Fine Print

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    The recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warning against unenforceable terms "deceptively" slipped into the fine print of contracts will likely be challenged in court, but until then, companies should expect the agency to treat its guidance as law and must carefully scrutinize their consumer contracts, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Leveling Up IP Protections For Video Game Icons' Film Debuts

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    Video game creators venturing into new realms of entertainment that include their iconic characters, such as television and film adaptations, should take specific steps to strengthen their intellectual property rights, say Joshua Weigensberg and Parmida Enkeshafi at Pryor Cashman.

  • Series

    Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • Mitigating Risks Amid 10-Year Sanctions Enforcement Window

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    In response to recent legislation, which doubles the statute of limitations for actions related to certain U.S. sanctions and provides regulators greater opportunity to investigate possible violations, companies should take specific steps to account for the increased civil and criminal enforcement risk, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Opinion

    States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • Keys To Strong Parking, Storage Contracts For NYC Buildings

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    Drafting and enforcing unambiguous parking and storage unit license agreements are essential tasks for co-op and condo boards in New York City, with recent cases highlighting how prudent terms can minimize potential headaches, say Matthew Eiben and Adam Lindenbaum at Rosenberg & Estis.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

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