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Commercial Contracts
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September 24, 2024
Google Can't Ditch Privacy Suit Over Period App Data Sharing
A California federal judge has refused to release Google from a proposed class action alleging the company used a data analytics tool to wrongfully retrieve data from menstruation tracking app Flo, rejecting the tech giant's arguments that the plaintiffs lacked standing and had consented to the disclosures.
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September 24, 2024
Athlete Investment Co. Gets Claims Nipped In $1M Fraud Suit
A New York federal judge has trimmed a suit alleging that an athlete investment company that aimed to "tokenize" and sell shares of professional athletes was involved in a $1 million fraud and lied about its business plan, saying the plaintiff is conflicted from bringing certain derivative claims.
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September 24, 2024
11th Circ. Weighs 'Good Cause' In Franchise Termination Suit
The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday considered whether Hyundai Motor Corp. acted with "good cause" when it terminated a franchise owner's dealership contracts over sexual assault charges against the franchise owner's son, with arguments largely focused on whether the carmaker acted with "good cause."
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September 24, 2024
Helicopter Maker Skirted FAA Requirements, Jury Hears
Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. used a former vendor's trade secrets to skirt the need for regulatory approval, a jury heard in Texas state court Tuesday, allegedly avoiding requirements set by the Federal Aviation Administration as the company pulled the rug out from under its old vendor.
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September 24, 2024
Fired United Rentals Worker Denies Competing In New Job
United Rentals Inc. cannot show that it suffered irreparable harm when an ex-employee started working for a new company after he was fired, and even if it could, his noncompete agreement is unenforceable, the worker said in a filing in Connecticut state court that seeks to stave off a preliminary injunction.
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September 24, 2024
Wash. Justices Dubious Of Moonlighting Ban Loophole
Washington state Supreme Court justices expressed doubt Tuesday that the state's moonlighting protections included an exception allowing companies to ban employees from other businesses in the same industry, saying that would contradict the noncompete statute's aim of supporting mobility for low-wage earners.
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September 24, 2024
Appeals Court Finds LNG Project Claims Barred By Arbitration
An arbitration between a Kinder Morgan affiliate and a U.S. energy company concerning an abandoned gas project foreclosed a later breach of contract case from the U.S. company's Italian parent, a New York appeals court ruled Tuesday.
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September 24, 2024
Pac-12 Suit Says Mountain West 'Poaching' Fee Goes Too Far
The Pac-12 Conference, which has spent much of September luring away five Mountain West Conference universities to rebuild its depleted membership, sued the rival conference Tuesday for imposing a "poaching penalty" of tens of millions of dollars in exit fees that it called "one-sided" and anticompetitive.
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September 24, 2024
Chancery Told SwervePay Deserves Sanctions In Earnout Suit
A court-appointed special magistrate has recommended sanctioning e-payment venture SwervePay and related parties over up to 22 months of missing or deleted text messages sought by SPOSC Investment Holdings and others in a post-merger battle over an alleged multibillion-dollar overstatement of "monetizable" payment traffic.
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September 24, 2024
Musk, X Seek To End Ex-CNN Anchor's Talk Show Fraud Suit
Elon Musk and his social media platform X have asked a California federal judge to toss former CNN anchor Don Lemon's suit against over a collapsed talk show deal, saying the claims are insufficiently supported, Musk wasn't properly served, and there's no jurisdiction to proceed in the Golden State.
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September 24, 2024
4th Circ. Reluctant To Let NFL Fans Pass On Arbitration
The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday seemed likely to make National Football League fans arbitrate their claims against the Washington Commanders over injuries sustained in the team's stadium, with one judge calling it "weird" to think attendees could dodge contract terms just because someone else bought their tickets.
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September 24, 2024
Real Estate Cos. Accuse Partner Of Mucking Up $21M Deal
Two real estate companies and other parties have told a North Carolina federal court that their business partner must be forced to sign off on the more than $21 million sale of a North Carolina apartment complex or their businesses will suffer financially.
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September 24, 2024
Meta Can't Nix Misrepresentation Claims In Revenue Split Suit
Meta Platforms Inc. can't nix misrepresentation claims by a Canadian news site alleging the social media giant rejected its ads without explanation in violation of its policy, after a California federal judge said Monday the plaintiff sufficiently alleged it relied on Meta's promises to provide such explanations when deciding to invest millions of dollars to advertise.
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September 24, 2024
Everton Finds New Buyer In US Billionaire
The company controlled by U.S. billionaire businessman Dan Friedkin has agreed to take a majority stake in Everton Football Club in a move that comes after a prior Everton sale fell through amid legal troubles for the buyer.
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September 24, 2024
Insurer Says Telecom Co. Not Covered For Marshall Fire Suits
A Liberty Mutual unit told a Colorado federal court that a subsidiary of Lumen Technologies isn't an additional insured under a policy issued to a construction company, thus making the subsidiary ineligible for coverage of underlying lawsuits alleging that poorly designed telecommunications lines contributed to the 2021 Marshall Fire.
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September 24, 2024
Harvard Says Alums Can't Sue Over Antisemitism Concerns
A lawyer for Harvard University told a Boston federal judge on Tuesday that alumni suing the elite school over antisemitism on campus may have sincere concerns about their alma mater, but they lack standing to air those issues in court.
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September 24, 2024
4th Circ. Poised To Uphold $1M Sanction For Court 'Attack'
The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday appeared ready to uphold a roughly $1 million sanction against New York plaintiffs attorney Paul Napoli for his purportedly frivolous filings in a battle with another firm over asbestos litigation client referrals, with one judge accusing Napoli of making a "collateral attack" on a federal court's authority.
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September 24, 2024
Medical Marijuana Co. Investors Seek Default In $200K Suit
A pair of would-be investors have asked a Georgia federal court to enter a default judgment against purported medical marijuana company Mississippi Green Oil LLC and one of its members, saying they failed to respond to a complaint seeking the long overdue repayment of their $200,000 investment.
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September 24, 2024
Favre Parkinson's Reveal Overshadows Welfare Fraud Hearing
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre revealed he has Parkinson's disease during a congressional hearing on misuse of welfare funds, where he was overwhelmingly lauded and escaped tough questions about his alleged involvement in a sprawling Mississippi welfare scandal.
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September 24, 2024
Exxon Claims It Beat Weak Defense In $1.8B Tax Trial
Exxon Mobil urged a Texas federal judge to find that it defeated what it called a scattered defense by the U.S. government during a five-day bench trial in April when the company argued for a $1.8 billion tax refund on its natural gas deal with Qatar, according to newly released filings.
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September 24, 2024
DOJ Accuses Visa Of Monopolizing Debit Card Market
The U.S. Department of Justice accused Visa on Tuesday of illegally maintaining a monopoly over debit card networks by using its dominance to thwart competition from new and existing rivals, as the Biden administration continues its push to combat high prices using antitrust law.
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September 24, 2024
Miller & Chevalier Adds Federal Tax Expert From White & Case
Miller & Chevalier Chtd. announced that it added a former partner at White & Case LLP to its tax controversy and litigation practice.
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September 23, 2024
Reggie Bush Says USC, NCAA, Pac-12 Exploited His Image
Former University of Southern California star running back Reggie Bush on Monday accused his alma mater, as well as the NCAA and the Pac-12 Conference, of profiting off his name, image and likeness without ever compensating him in return, according to a suit filed in California state court.
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September 23, 2024
Tyson, Cargill Want Appeal Of Pollution Verdict Plan Certified
Tyson, Cargill and other poultry producers have urged an Oklahoma federal judge to certify their interlocutory appeal of a plan to hash out remedies concerning a river pollution trial that took place over a decade ago, arguing that the record is far too "stale" to support forward-looking relief now.
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September 23, 2024
PDVSA Can't Escape Oklahoma Co.'s Expropriation Suit
A D.C. federal judge has ruled that Venezuela's state-owned oil company must face an Oklahoma-based petroleum contract drilling company's lawsuit after its drilling rigs in the country were seized at gunpoint more than a decade ago, saying the drilling company had shown its assets were illegally expropriated.
Expert Analysis
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Boeing Ruling Is A Cautionary Tale For Trade Secret Litigants
A Washington federal court’s recent ruling canceling a $72 million jury award against Boeing because Zunum Aero had failed to properly identify its trade secrets highlights the value of an early statement of alleged secrets, amended through discovery and used as a framework at trial, says Matthew D'Amore at Cornell.
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Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Google And The Next Frontier Of Divestiture Antitrust Remedy
The possibility of a large-scale divestiture in the Google search case comes on the heels of recent requests of business breakups as remedies for anticompetitive conduct, and companies should prepare for the likelihood that courts may impose divestiture remedies in the event of a liability finding, say Lauren Weinstein and Nathaniel Rubin at MoloLamken.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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Exploring Practical Employer Alternatives To Noncompetes
With the Federal Trade Commission likely to appeal a federal court’s recent rejection of its noncompete ban, and more states limiting the enforceability of these agreements, employers should consider back-to-basics methods for protecting their business interests and safeguarding sensitive information, says Brendan Horgan at FordHarrison.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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Service Agreement Lessons From July's Global Tech Outage
The worldwide outages recently caused by Crowdstrike Holdings' misconfigured software update highlight the need to evaluate potential IT vendors, negotiate certain service agreement terms, and review existing agreements and diligence forms to help prevent future disruptions and mitigate the fallout should one occur, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Rise Of Transpo Contractors Brings Insurance Disputes
As more independent contractors are contracted and subcontracted in the delivery industry, companies must be prepared to defend claims from drivers who are injured on the job as they are often seeking to establish an employment relationship with one of the entities in the chain, says Nathan Milner at Goldberg Segalla.
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Co-Tenancy Clause Pointers For Shopping Center Landlords
Large retail tenants often require co-tenancy provisions in their leases, entitling them to remedies if a shopping center's occupancy drops in certain ways, but landlords must draft these provisions carefully to avoid giving tenants too much control, says Gary Glick at Cox Castle.
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What VC Fund Settlement Means For DEI Grant Programs
An unexpected settlement in American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund, based on specific details of an Atlanta venture capital fund's challenged minority grant program, leaves the legal landscape wide open for organizations with similar programs supporting diversity, equity and inclusion to chart a path forward, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.
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New Lessons On Managing Earnout Provision Risks
Earnout provisions can be a useful tool for bridging valuation gaps in M&A, particularly in developmental-stage pharmaceutical transactions, but the Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision in Shareholder Representative Services v. Alexion sheds new light on the inherent risks and best practices for managing them, say attorneys at Cleary.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.
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Employer Arbitration Lessons From Calif. Consumer Ruling
Although a California state appeals court’s recent arbitration ruling in Mahram v. Kroger involved a consumer transaction, the finding that the arbitration agreement at issue did not apply to a third-party beneficiary could influence how employment arbitration agreements are interpreted, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor Law.
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Unpacking Jurisdiction Issues In 3rd Circ. Arbitration Ruling
The Third Circuit's recent ruling in George v. Rushmore Service Center could be interpreted to establish three principles regarding district courts' jurisdiction to enter arbitration-related orders under the Federal Arbitration Act, two of which may lead to confusion, says David Cinotti at Pashman Stein.
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.