Commercial Contracts

  • September 20, 2024

    5th Circ. Says Tribunal Properly Slashed $10.6M Gas Award

    A lower court improperly vacated an arbitral tribunal's decision slashing some $4 million from a $10.6 million award issued to a Colorado-based exploration company following a dispute over a Cameroonian natural gas project, the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday in a published opinion.

  • September 20, 2024

    FERC Opens Enbridge Rate Probe Amid Overcharging Fears

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has opened a rate probe into a gas pipeline co-owned by Enbridge Inc. and DT Midstream, saying the pipeline may be overcharging its customers.

  • September 20, 2024

    JPMorgan Chase Sued Again Over Cash 'Sweep' Program

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. was hit with another proposed class action in California federal court claiming the bank's cash sweep investment program funnels customer funds into low-interest bearing accounts at its affiliate Chase Bank, a move that benefits the financial giant while depriving customers of the chance to earn the market-rate interest.

  • September 20, 2024

    Entrepreneur Says Partners Stiffed Him On Testing Site Deal

    A Pittsburgh entrepreneur says he had a deal with three Omaha, Nebraska-based businessmen to help them open COVID-19 testing labs in Ohio and Pennsylvania in the early days of the pandemic, but is still owed $2 million, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Pennsylvania state court.

  • September 20, 2024

    Morgan Law, Morgan & Morgan Ad Spat Breaks Open Again

    National personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan PA is back in court with a rival Florida-based firm with a similar name, alleging that Morgan Law Group PA is once again poaching its search engine keywords in violation of a 2020 settlement between the two firms.

  • September 20, 2024

    Mandarin Oriental Can Proceed With COVID Coverage Suit

    A New York federal judge declined to toss a COVID-19 business interruption lawsuit by luxury international hotel chain Mandarin Oriental, holding that the chain sufficiently alleged that its loss was caused by an infectious disease under the terms outlined in its "all risks" policy.

  • September 20, 2024

    HCA Presses For NC Attorney General's Merger Review Docs

    HCA Healthcare is demanding North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein turn over certain public records pertaining to his office's review of a 2019 hospital merger at the center of a compliance case, saying they aren't privileged or otherwise protected under work-product.

  • September 20, 2024

    Off The Bench: Favre Flops, Dolan Escapes, Betting Cos. Sued

    In this week's Off The Bench, retired quarterback Brett Favre can't revive a defamation suit against fellow NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, New York Knicks owner James Dolan is spared from federal sex-trafficking claims, and two sports-betting giants face new suits over their use of MLB player images.

  • September 20, 2024

    Tribe's Stateless Status Undoes $1.9M Construction Suit

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday tossed a New York construction company's $1.9 million lawsuit against the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, finding the tribe's stateless position leaves the court with no jurisdiction to decide the case.

  • September 20, 2024

    Marketing Firm Says NC Pot Shop Dropped Ownership Deal

    A North Carolina marketing firm is suing a cannabis shop in state court, alleging the shop's owner breached a contract that would've seen the marketing firm get 49% ownership of the shop for helping to boost its sales.

  • September 20, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen crypto exchange Binance face a new claim from the co-founder of SO Legal, a U.S. immersive art company take on a Bristol venue for copyright violations and Blake Morgan LLP hit with a pension schemes claim by The Trust for Welsh Archeology. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • September 20, 2024

    Steel Biz Investors Sue Atty Over 'Father-Son'-Like Conflict

    A Pennsylvania couple have filed a malpractice suit accusing a lawyer of helping a steel distribution company induce them into investing about $800,000 and defrauding them, saying the attorney didn't disclose his relationship with the company's owners and "father-son"-like bond with one of them.

  • September 20, 2024

    FTC Accuses Drug Middlemen Of Raising Insulin Prices

    The Federal Trade Commission on Friday accused the three largest pharmacy benefits managers, Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx, of artificially inflating insulin prices by relying on unfair rebate schemes that hurt competition.

  • September 19, 2024

    Mistrial Avoided In MGA's 3rd Round With T.I. In IP Saga

    A California federal judge declined to order a mistrial Thursday in the intellectual property dispute between MGA Entertainment and hip-hop moguls Clifford "T.I." Harris and Tameka "Tiny" Harris, but he issued a curative instruction to jurors after MGA objected to statements made by an attorney for the Harrises.

  • September 19, 2024

    Bank Raises Contract Shield In E-Merchants' $12M Suit

    Bank Pathward Financial Inc. asked a federal judge Thursday to nix claims against it in a lawsuit brought by two online merchants who alleged that the bank and its partner payment company misrepresented fees and their compliance with card network rules, saying the merchants' claims stem from a contract that clears Pathward of liability.

  • September 19, 2024

    Texas Judge Seeks More Info In $150M Ukrnafta Award Feud

    A Texas magistrate judge on Thursday ordered Ukraine's largest oil company to turn over bank statements as he grapples with a bid by U.S.-based Carpatsky Petroleum Corp. to bar the Ukrainian company from draining those accounts, part of Carpatsky's long-running effort to enforce a $150 million arbitral award.

  • September 19, 2024

    Dallas Judge's Ruling Leaves State Fair Gun Ban Intact

    A Dallas County judge upheld in a Thursday ruling the State Fair of Texas's new rule banning handguns on its premises, rejecting an injunction attempt that would have struck down the rule on the grounds that the fair takes place on government property.

  • September 19, 2024

    Potomac Law Group Adds Morgan Lewis Partner

    A former Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP real estate attorney has joined Potomac Law Group, framing the move as a strategic shift out of BigLaw amid a "sluggish" transactional environment.

  • September 19, 2024

    Insurance Mogul Takes $166M Arbitration Loss To 4th Circ.

    Convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg is looking to overturn a $166 million arbitral award favoring defunct Dutch life insurer Conservatrix after a North Carolina federal judge found the proceedings were conducted fairly.

  • September 19, 2024

    Insurer Must Cover Fatal Motorcycle Crash, Could Owe $12.5M

    A Florida federal court ordered an insurer to pay up to its policy limits in a case that could cost it nearly $12.5 million after a delivery driver for a Chinese restaurant made an illegal turn on a Florida interstate, hitting and killing a motorcyclist in 2018.

  • September 19, 2024

    Fla. Panel Backs Simon Option On Closed Boca Raton Sears

    A split Florida appeals court has sided with Simon Property Group in backing a trial court ruling that the owner of a Boca Raton mall has a right to buy a vacant Sears store after Seritage Growth Properties pitched a redevelopment plan out of line with a 1980s easement.

  • September 19, 2024

    Crypto Exchange Must Refund Bitcoins, But In 2013 Dollars

    A New York judge held Thursday that bygone cryptocurrency exchange Bitfloor improperly failed to return more than 200 of its customers' bitcoins upon shutting down in 2013, but said damages will be limited to the dollar value of the digital assets over a decade ago.

  • September 19, 2024

    Consultant Ducks Contempt In Fight Over Packaging Patent

    An inventor facing allegations of abusive patent behavior by the packaging company for which he previously consulted has dodged a civil contempt finding after a North Carolina federal judge found he was not in violation of an injunction barring him from making false infringement claims.

  • September 19, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Hilton Builder's $7.5M Insurance Suit

    Two insurers for a construction company have no duty to provide coverage for a more than $7.5 million water damage claim, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday, finding a rain damage exclusion in the company's policies is applicable.

  • September 19, 2024

    Conn. Justices Wonder How 'Malicious' Firm's Ex-Client Was

    The Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday questioned whether an ex-McCarter & English LLP client was "wanton" and "malicious" enough to justify the firm's novel $3.6 million punitive damages bid in a protracted billing dispute that has already fetched the firm judgments totaling more than $2 million on contract claims.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

  • Considering Noncompete Strategies After Blocked FTC Ban

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    A Texas district court's recent decision in Ryan v. Federal Trade Commission to set aside the new FTC rule banning noncompetes does away with some immediate compliance obligations, but employers should still review strategies, attend to changes to state laws and monitor ongoing challenges, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support

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    A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers certification cases touching on classwide evidence of injury from debt collection practices, defining coupon settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act, proper approaches for evaluating attorney fee awards in class action settlements, and more.

  • Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where

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    During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss the muted nature of the property and casualty insurance class action space in the second quarter of the year, with no large waves made in labor depreciation and total-loss vehicle class actions, but a new offensive theory emerging for insurance companies.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Look For Flags On Expert Claims After Sunday Ticket Reversal

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    A California federal judge’s recent reversal of a jury’s $4.7 billion antitrust verdict in the NFL Sunday Ticket case indicates that litigants may be inclined to challenge expert testimony admissibility under Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, and that judges may increasingly accept such challenges, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • What 7th Circ. Samsung Decision Means For Mass Arbitration

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    The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Wallrich v. Samsung highlights the dilemma faced by mass arbitration filers in the face of nonpayment of arbitration fees by the defending party — but also suggests that there are risks for defendants in pursuing such a strategy, says Daniel Campbell at McDermott.

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