Commercial Contracts

  • March 13, 2024

    Fla. Restaurateur Says Seller Broke $7.3M Colo. Home Deal

    A Miami restaurateur is suing an Aspen family trust for allegedly pulling out of a deal for him to buy a $7.3 million property in the Colorado mountain town, claiming they had no right to terminate the deal over their failure to obtain a demolition permit.

  • March 13, 2024

    Health Plan Provider's Settlement Notice Costs Not Covered

    An insurer has no duty to indemnify a health insurance provider for notice costs incurred in a class action over denied medical benefits, a Montana federal court ruled, finding that the costs do not constitute "claim expenses" under the provider's errors and omissions policy.

  • March 13, 2024

    Ala. Hotelier Says Insurer Must Cover Fire Damage

    A Montgomery, Alabama, hotel owner said an insurer must cover a property-destroying fire under a $13 million policy, telling a New York federal court the insurer made "no attempt whatsoever" to meet its obligations despite the hotelier having met all conditions under the policy.

  • March 13, 2024

    Texas Firm Sues Filevine Over Software Contract

    A personal injury law firm in Texas is seeking $300,000 in damages and court fees from Filevine Inc., alleging in a federal complaint that the company took too long in implementing a case management software platform for the sole practitioner.

  • March 13, 2024

    Patriots Owner Flags $2M Lien On 'Useless' Skydiving Facility

    The real estate business of New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft asked a Massachusetts judge to discharge a $2 million mechanic's lien on a defunct indoor wind tunnel and skydiving attraction at a shopping center next to the football team's stadium.

  • March 13, 2024

    EB-5 Suit Says Hotel Project Tricked Non-English Speakers

    A real estate investment company is facing a proposed class action in California federal court alleging it took advantage of immigrant investors' limited English by fraudulently making them agree that the company and an Embassy Suites project could keep their investments indefinitely.

  • March 12, 2024

    Manufacturer Spars With Ex-Officers Over Case Dismissal

    A polyethylene foam manufacturer says showing professional courtesy shouldn't mean it doesn't have its day in court, asking during oral arguments Tuesday for a Texas state appeals court to reverse a decision to end its case against two of its former executives for want of prosecution.

  • March 12, 2024

    Wells Fargo Can Arbitrate Cardholders' Suit, Conduent Can't

    New Mexico residents who claim Wells Fargo mishandled reports of fraud involving their state-issued debit cards will see their proposed class action claims against the bank sent to arbitration — but their claims against a third-party contractor can stay in court, a federal magistrate judge has determined.

  • March 12, 2024

    Contractor Seeks Arbitration In $3M Guam Military Base Fight

    An electrical contractor has petitioned a Guam federal court to order a California-Japanese joint venture that had hired it for a project to improve U.S. military facilities to arbitrate their dispute related to nearly $3 million in allegedly unpaid costs.

  • March 12, 2024

    Daiichi Urges Court To OK Arbitrator's Award Against Seagan

    Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo has asked a Seattle federal judge not to toss an arbitral award refusing Seagen Inc.'s claims for billions of dollars in a dispute over cancer drug patents, saying the U.S. biotech company has incorrectly lodged a petition to vacate the award.

  • March 12, 2024

    Judge Questions If Citibank Can Avoid Escrow Theft Burden

    A Washington appellate judge questioned Tuesday if Citibank and a loan servicer could escape liability after a rogue escrow agent stole nearly $1 million from a real estate company's refinancing deals, suggesting during oral arguments that the bank gets loan payments as successor lender and should bear some burden.

  • March 12, 2024

    Startup Founder's Attys Come 'Very Close' To More Sanctions

    A Colorado federal judge has said a geothermal startup founder's arguments for why one of his attorneys should not be sanctioned for discovery violations were "preposterous" and warned his lawyers that they came "very close" to being penalized again.

  • March 12, 2024

    InBev's Modelo Tells 2nd Circ. Hard Seltzer Isn't Beer

    Anheuser-Busch InBev SA's Grupo Modelo on Tuesday asked the Second Circuit to set aside a jury's finding that its trademarks weren't infringed by rival Constellation Brands when it sold hard seltzer under the Corona brand, saying badly instructed jurors were wrong in finding that it's beer, pursuant to a contract between the two companies.

  • March 12, 2024

    MV Realty Says NC AG Is Working For Real Estate Industry

    Embattled Florida-based real estate company MV Realty told the North Carolina Supreme Court the state's attorney general is "wielding the power of the state under the guise of consumer protection" to shut down the business at the behest of "entrenched real estate brokerage interests."

  • March 12, 2024

    Wash. Judge Skeptical Of Models' Strip Club Ad Claims

    A Washington federal judge seemed doubtful Tuesday of models' damages bid against a Seattle cabaret that allegedly used their images without permission, unconvinced that those who spotted the ads would truly believe such elite models worked at the "mediocre" strip club with bad Yelp ratings.

  • March 12, 2024

    Meta Alleges 'Brazenly Disloyal' Ex-Exec Stole AI Secrets

    Meta Platforms Inc. has sued a former Meta vice president in California state court, accusing the executive of "brazenly disloyal and dishonest conduct" for allegedly defecting to an artificial intelligence startup with the social media company's proprietary vendor contracts, AI "roadmaps" and employment data to recruit Meta's top talent.

  • March 12, 2024

    Court Bars Ex-Exec From Sharing Info On Co.'s Body Armor

    A North Carolina federal court granted a defense contractor's request to stop a former sales executive from sharing confidential information and export-controlled data with a foreign rival, while the court reviews the contractor's allegations.

  • March 12, 2024

    Crocs Can't Poke Holes Through IP Defamation Case

    A Colorado federal judge has refused to grant the bulk of Crocs' bid to toss a suit from a Canadian company that settled a patent dispute with the footwear maker, but agreed to trim the case by one count.

  • March 12, 2024

    Colo. Cannabis Brands Hit With $5.5M Creditor Suit

    BellRock, the cannabis company behind brands such as Mary's Medicinals and Dixie, was hit with a lawsuit seeking $5.5 million in defaulted loans, weeks after the company announced its chief executive's departure and that it is considering restructuring debt.

  • March 12, 2024

    Mich. Firms Mishandled $38M Trusts, Suit Says

    A pair of Michigan law firms didn't properly advise the trustee of a construction mogul's trusts worth more than $38 million, leading the trusts to pay excessive attorney fees, lose most of their value and miss out on tax breaks, a special fiduciary tasked with investigating the trusts' handling has alleged.

  • March 12, 2024

    $20M Coal Lease Judgment Should Stand, 10th Circ. Hears

    A coal company on Monday urged the Tenth Circuit not to disturb a $20 million judgment it was awarded in a Wyoming lease dispute over the calculation of advance royalty payments, saying the lower court got it right.

  • March 12, 2024

    DC Circ. Questions MPLX Alternatives In FERC Decision

    D.C. Circuit judges on Tuesday pressed attorneys for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the agency's decision allowing crude oil transportation company MPLX to charge market rates on its Ozark Pipeline, questioning in particular how much capacity would be available on other lines if shippers needed an alternative to supracompetitive pricing.

  • March 12, 2024

    Harvard Data Fraud Report To Be Released In Libel Case

    A Harvard Business School's internal investigative report concerning data fraud allegations against a suspended professor will be made public in a defamation lawsuit against the school, a federal district judge ordered Tuesday.

  • March 12, 2024

    Pa. Property Owner Knocks Insurer's Early Win Bid

    A Pennsylvania property owner urged a federal court to reject its insurer's bid for a pretrial win, arguing that a vacancy provision in its policy is ambiguous and does not preclude coverage of the $5 million in damages it seeks following a warehouse break-in.

  • March 12, 2024

    Paul Weiss' Digital Tech Chair On AI's Promises And Perils

    While generative artificial intelligence promises to increase access to justice and kill the billable hour, we don't know how to prevent it from unleashing misinformation and disinformation on the electorate, says Katherine Forrest, a former Manhattan federal judge who is now chair of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's digital technology group.

Expert Analysis

  • Tips For AI-Assisted Coding Amid Open-Source Theft Claims

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    A California federal court's recent decision allows anonymous coders to pursue claims for alleged breach of open-source software licenses by artificial intelligence coding tools, making clear that the legal implications of using such tools are still a matter of dispute, say Dan Jasnow and Matthew Finkelstein at ArentFox Schiff.

  • NY Court Sends Mixed Signals On Contested Foreclosure Law

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    Although New York's Appellate Division, Second Department, has avoided addressing the constitutionality and retroactive application of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, its conflicting pattern of applying FAPA to existing cases is creating confusion regarding the future of the law, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Abrams Fensterman and litigation support analyst Robert Marx.

  • Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification

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    With employee engagement at a 10-year low in the U.S., there are several gamification techniques marketing and business development teams at law firms can use to make generating new clients and matters more appealing to lawyers, says Heather McCullough at Society 54.

  • Texas Construction Statute Of Repose Leaves Open Questions

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    Texas' new significantly shorter statute of repose barring certain suits against construction contractors contains some ambiguous wording that will likely raise questions to be decided by courts, says Mason Hester at Munsch Hardt.

  • Mallory Ruling Leaves Personal Jurisdiction Deeply Unsettled

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    In Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway, a closely divided U.S. Supreme Court recently rolled back key aspects of its 2017 opinion in Daimler AG v. Bauman that limited personal jurisdiction, leaving as many questions for businesses as it answers, say John Cerreta and James Rotondo at Day Pitney.

  • NY, NJ Regs Give Clarity To Cannabis Investors, Ancillaries

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    Proposed laws and regulations in New York and New Jersey would clarify some previously murky legal waters, thus expanding the ability of investors, lenders and ancillary service providers to work with marijuana business in these states, say David Waxman and Heidi Urness at McGlinchey Stafford.

  • What Revised FTC Guides Mean For Influencer Campaigns

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    The Federal Trade Commission’s recent updates to its endorsement guides will affect influencer campaigns in several key ways, including how and when influencers should make disclosures, and how companies should manage campaigns, says Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye.

  • IP Toolbox Is Crucial In AI-Powered Drug Discovery

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    The era of using artificial intelligence for drug research and development demands a new kind of vigilance around intellectual property rights, as drug discovery companies embark on collaborations with large pharmaceutical companies, say Sonal Agarwa and Shabbi Khan at Foley & Lardner.

  • 5 Ways Firms Can Rethink Office Design In A Hybrid World

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    As workplaces across the country adapt to flexible work, law firms must prioritize individuality, amenities and technology in office design, says Kristin Cerutti at Nelson Worldwide.

  • How To Avoid Flopping When Flipping Fla. Real Estate

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    As land prices rise, Florida real estate developers are increasingly contracting to flip property to other purchasers for a profit, and they should carefully consider the unique risks and issues associated with the different forms that the process can take, says Gary Kaleita at Lowndes.

  • New Law Will Upend Washington's CBD Industry

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    Though many questions remain on a Washington law set to go into effect this month that will require retailers to obtain licensure to sell federally legal CBD, the statute’s economic impacts are sure to be enormous, says Jack Scrantom at Harris Bricken.

  • Opinion

    Bar Score Is Best Hiring Metric Post-Affirmative Action

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling striking down affirmative action admissions policies, law firms looking to foster diversity in hiring should view an applicant's Multistate Bar Examination score as the best metric of legal ability — over law school name or GPA, says attorney Alice Griffin.

  • Ghosting In BigLaw: How To Come Back From Lack Of Feedback

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    Junior associates can feel powerless when senior colleagues cut off contact instead of providing useful feedback, but young attorneys can get back on track by focusing on practical professional development and reexamining their career priorities, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.

  • Would Biden Airline Service Order Raise 'Major Questions'?

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    President Joe Biden's recent pledge to require airlines to compensate passengers for delays and cancellations could run afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court's recently expounded "major questions" doctrine — but that will depend on what kind of action the administration takes, and how federal courts choose to apply the doctrine, says Roger Clark at Signature Resolution.

  • Steps To Success For Senior Associates

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.

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