Commercial Contracts

  • November 18, 2025

    Delaware Chancery Atty Fee Awards Under Fire In New Report

    Attorney fees in Delaware's Court of Chancery lack "consistent benchmarks" and, for big awards, may fail to reflect "risk or performance," according to a report Tuesday that potentially ratchets up pressure on state lawmakers wary of jeopardizing Delaware's standing as the national hub for corporate law disputes.

  • November 18, 2025

    Merck Wins Final PTAB Fight Against Johns Hopkins

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidated a cancer treatment patent owned by Johns Hopkins University, marking a full victory on the nine challenges Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC initiated against the university's patents. 

  • November 18, 2025

    Pa. Justice Spots 'Slippery Slope' In Trafficking Coverage Row

    Justices on Pennsylvania's Supreme Court seemed wary Tuesday of creating a "slippery slope" where alleged violations of criminal law could be used by insurers to deny coverage under a "public policy exception," scrutinizing a suit in which insurers wanted out of defending a Philadelphia hotel accused of ignoring sex trafficking.

  • November 18, 2025

    11th Circ. Won't Revive Oil Contract Suit Against Siemens

    The Eleventh Circuit has upheld the dismissal of a Saudi company's business interference complaint against Siemens Energy Inc. because Siemens, as the owner of the company's joint venture partner, was not a stranger to the agreement.

  • November 18, 2025

    Cognizant Accused Of Retaliation Over Ex-Worker's Claims

    A former employee of Cognizant Technology Solutions US Corp. claimed in Colorado state court Monday that the company retaliated against him for reporting a "make good" arrangement the company had with a client that he described as potentially illegal.

  • November 18, 2025

    Mass. Judge Axes Co.'s 'Second Bite' Dairy Trade Secrets Suit

    A Massachusetts federal judge has dismissed trade secret theft allegations brought by a dairy farm products company against two former business partners, saying an ongoing case between some of the same parties in Minnesota was too similar.

  • November 18, 2025

    4th Circ. Restores Trade Secrets Suit Against Insurance Execs

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday revived insurer Sherbrooke Corp.'s claims of trade secrets theft against three former executives, disagreeing with a district judge who found that the company had not made enough of an effort to guard the software in question.

  • November 18, 2025

    Disbarred NC Atty Must Pay $5.2M For Escrow Fund Misuse

    A disbarred attorney was ordered to pay $5.2 million in restitution and serve four years of probation during a Tuesday sentencing hearing in North Carolina federal court, after he pled guilty to a criminal wire fraud charge related to the misuse of escrow funds.

  • November 18, 2025

    Warner Bros. Appeals Village Roadshow's Ch. 11 Rights Sale

    Hollywood studio Warner Brothers asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday to pause the $18.5 million sale of its bankrupt former business partner Village Roadshow's derivative film rights while it challenges the deal.

  • November 18, 2025

    Chancery Rejects Mary Kay Founder's Fee Bid

    The Delaware Chancery Court has rejected the demand of Mary Kay Holding Corp.'s co-founder for corporate advancement of legal fees tied to a Texas trust battle with his son, concluding that the billion-dollar dispute stems from personal trust-administration issues, not the executive's service as a company director.

  • November 18, 2025

    NJ Panel Backs Arbitrator's Ruling In Parking Spaces Spat

    A New Jersey appellate court affirmed an arbitrator's decision that determined that two developers had to permanently maintain parking spaces for an Edgewater, New Jersey, mixed-use complex, ruling that the arbitrator for the related dispute didn't overstep their authority.

  • November 18, 2025

    Insurer Needn't Cover LA Zoo Org. In City Contract Dispute

    An insurer doesn't owe coverage to the Los Angeles Zoo's nonprofit arm in a contractual dispute brought by the city, a California federal court has ruled, finding that all claims are excluded under the association's nonprofit asset protection policy.

  • November 17, 2025

    Sunoco Gets $75M Knocked Off $180M Oil Royalty Ruling

    The Tenth Circuit on Monday partially upheld a nearly $180 million judgment against Sunoco Inc. for withholding late interest payments on oil royalties to Oklahoma landowners, leaving in place a $103.9 million compensatory damages award for the landowners but striking $75 million in punitive damages.

  • November 17, 2025

    X Asks 9th Circ. To Let It Litigate Media Matters Suit In Ireland

    X Corp. urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to scrap an injunction blocking it from continuing to litigate its Irish-law defamation case against Media Matters in Ireland, arguing that the left-leaning watchdog waited too long to invoke a California forum-selection clause in X Corp.'s terms of service.

  • November 17, 2025

    Shell Asks NY Court To Approve Challenge Of LNG Arbitration

    Oil and gas giant Shell is urging a New York state court to vacate an international arbitration award issued to a liquefied natural gas firm, saying the arbitral hearing revealed that the American producer and exporter withheld key documents in the parties' fight over LNG cargo shipments.

  • November 17, 2025

    Chase Gets 2nd Shot At Pushing Bias Suit To Arbitration

    JPMorgan Chase Bank NA will have another chance to force a family's racial discrimination lawsuit into arbitration, a Seattle federal judge has ruled, modifying her earlier order that rejected the bank's arbitration effort.

  • November 17, 2025

    UConn Health Poised To Buy Hospital In $35M Ch. 11 Deal

    Bankrupt for-profit hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. on Monday sought approval for the $35 million sale of Waterbury Hospital in Connecticut to two UConn Health units under a stalking horse bid package filed in early November.

  • November 17, 2025

    SAP Proposes Fixes Amid EU Antitrust Probe

    German software giant SAP has offered a set of commitments to European enforcers who raised concerns over maintenance and support services for the company's business management software.

  • November 17, 2025

    Kansas City Bank Can't Nix Cert. Over Inmate Debit Card Fees

    A Washington federal judge has denied the Central Bank of Kansas City's bid to decertify a nationwide class in a suit accusing it of charging former jail inmates unfair fees on prepaid debit cards, billing the motion as "premature" on Friday while leaving room for the bank to raise the issue again later.

  • November 17, 2025

    American Airlines Beats Investor Suit Over Sales Strategy

    American Airlines has won dismissal of an investor suit that alleged it implemented a botched sales and distribution strategy, with the court finding the suit's reliance on vague statements of optimism and faulty confidential witness claims aren't enough to show the company acted fraudulently.

  • November 17, 2025

    'Astounding' Holland & Knight Conduct Drives Liability Ruling

    Holland & Knight LLP has forfeited a malpractice lawsuit in Alaska by refusing to turn over information to a Native American corporation, with a state judge entering a default judgment as a sanction and calling the firm's conduct "a head scratcher" and "astounding."

  • November 17, 2025

    Gibson Dunn Seeks Exit From Josh Cellars TM Royalties Case

    With a February trial date looming, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has asked a Connecticut state judge's permission to stop representing the former president of a company behind the popular "Josh Cellars" wine brand, claiming unpaid legal bills and an alleged breakdown of the attorney-client relationship require its withdrawal.

  • November 17, 2025

    NC Hospital Data Sharing Class Gets $2.45M Deal, $750K Fee

    A North Carolina Business Court judge gave final approval Monday to a $2.45 million class action settlement for almost half a million patients who accused a health system of sharing sensitive information with Meta Platforms Inc., with class counsel securing $750,000 in attorney fees.

  • November 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Strikes Down Trans Patients' Win In ACA Bias Case

    The Ninth Circuit upended a win Monday for patients who challenged Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' administration of their employer-provided health plans containing gender-affirming care exclusions, ordering a lower court to reexamine the case in light of intervening authority from the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • November 17, 2025

    Senior Home Referral Site Must Face False Ad Claims

    A senior living placement site must face a false advertising suit filed by a Georgia assisted living home alleging the platform runs on a pay-to-play model, as a federal judge said he wasn't buying Caring.com's defense that its advertising was innocuous "puffery."

Expert Analysis

  • An Unrestrained, Bright-Eyed View Of Legal AI's Future

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    Todd Itami at Covington offers a bright-eyed, laughing-all-the-way, skydive look at what the legal industry could look like after an artificial intelligence revolution, which he believes may happen much sooner and more dramatically than we expect.

  • Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance

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    Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • Series

    Volunteer Firefighting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While practicing corporate law and firefighting may appear incongruous, the latter benefits my legal career by reminding me of the importance of humility, perspective and education, says Nicholas Passaro at Ford.

  • Digesting A 2nd Circ. Ruling On Food Delivery App Arbitration

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    The Second Circuit recently rejected Grubhub's attempt to arbitrate price-fixing claims, while allowing Uber Eats to do so, reinforcing that even broad arbitration clauses must connect to the underlying dispute and suggesting that terms of service litigation may center on websites' design and content, say attorneys at Greenspoon Marder.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: The Perils Of Digital Data Protocols

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    Though stipulated protocols governing the treatment of electronically stored information in litigation are meant to streamline discovery, recent disputes demonstrate that certain missteps in the process can lead to significant inefficiencies, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Precision In Jurisdiction Clauses

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    The High Court recently held that a contract requiring disputes to be heard by U.K. courts superseded arbitration agreements between long-time business affiliates, reinforcing the importance of drafting precise jurisdiction clauses that international commercial parties in multiagreement relationships will use to resolve prior disputes, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Preparing For Corporate Work

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    Law school often doesn't cover the business strategy, financial fluency and negotiation skills needed for a successful corporate or transactional law practice, but there are practical ways to gain relevant experience and achieve the mindset shifts critical to a thriving career in this space, says Dakota Forsyth at Olshan Frome.

  • Strategizing For Renewable Energy Project Success In Texas

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    The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has long been a key market for renewable energy projects, but rising financial and regulatory uncertainty means that developers and investors must prepare for inflation and policy risks, secure robust insurance coverage, and leverage tax equity transferability to ensure success, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process

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    The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.

  • Series

    Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • 4th Circ. Health Data Ruling Opens Door To State Law Claims

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    In Real Time Medical v. PointClickCare, the Fourth Circuit recently clarified that state law claims can rest in part on violations of a federal law that prohibits electronic health information blocking, expanding legal risks for health IT companies and potentially creating exposure to a range of competitive implications, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Opinion

    Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

  • 5 Key Licensing Considerations For AI Innovations

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    As businesses increasingly integrate artificial intelligence technology into their operations, they must prepare to address complex intellectual property challenges and questions surrounding licensing AI-based innovations, which require careful consideration of ownership, usage rights and regulatory compliance, says Lestin Kenton at Sterne Kessler.

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