Commercial Contracts

  • August 31, 2026

    Judge Trims Claims In Insurance Software Trade Secret Case

    A federal judge in Chicago on Monday issued a mixed ruling in a case brought by a company that makes insurance agency management software against a rival that it claims created a fake insurance company to steal trade secrets, dismissing some claims but preserving others for trade secret misappropriation and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

  • August 31, 2026

    Colo. Fund Says Lender Hid $10M Loan Subordination Deal

    The manager of a Colorado-based investment fund accused mortgage lender Cherry Creek in state court of executing an "invalid" hidden subordination agreement that allowed the lender to delay its interest payments on a $10 million promissory note.

  • August 31, 2026

    Baird Sues Colo. Firm Over Alleged Adviser-Poaching Scheme

    Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. claimed in Colorado state court that a competing financial services firm is using false and misleading statements about its independence to lure away Baird advisers and clients, according to the company's complaint.

  • August 31, 2026

    Paul Mitchell Urges 9th Circ. To Untangle False Ad Class

    Paul Mitchell urged the Ninth Circuit Monday to decertify a class of customers alleging the company deceptively concealed its animal testing in China while touting its U.S. haircare products as cruelty-free, arguing there's no evidence that all class members saw and relied on its cruelty-free labels before their purchases.

  • August 31, 2026

    Juul Sublicense Ends Reynolds' Altria Vape Royalty Tab

    A sublicensing agreement between R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. and Juul Labs Inc. relieves Reynolds of its obligation to pay ongoing royalties to Philip Morris parent company Altria Client Services LLC after a federal jury found that Reynolds infringed Altria's vape pen design, a North Carolina federal judge has ruled.

  • August 31, 2026

    NFL Legend Emmitt Smith, Partners Sued Over Solar Venture

    A Native American economic development entity Monday sued former NFL star running back Emmitt Smith and several business partners in the Delaware Chancery Court, accusing them of diverting a $2.5 million loan meant for a Texas solar project and leaving the joint venture unable to repay the money.

  • August 31, 2026

    11th Circ. Upholds $800K Award In Venezuelan Takeover Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Monday upheld an $800,000 jury verdict that found two former Miami bank directors accused of working for the Venezuelan government were liable for the bank's financial difficulties.

  • August 31, 2026

    Ramey Wants Full Fed. Circ. To Reconsider $207K Sanctions

    William Ramey of Ramey LLP has urged the full Federal Circuit to review his liability for more than $207,000 in sanctions in a client's patent infringement suit against Volkswagen, arguing that his notices of appeal were faulty but still adequately identified him as a party.

  • August 31, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Samsung Didn't Infringe Mobile Tech Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Monday upheld a lower court's decision to deny a new trial in a case accusing Samsung of infringing a mobile device technology patent, saying Samsung had shown "ample" evidence cutting against infringement.

  • August 31, 2026

    Ex-Clifford Chance Attys Fight Bid To Toss Clawback Suit

    The two partners facing a $6 million clawback demand by Clifford Chance LLP have again asked a federal judge to decide whether English or New York law should govern the arbitration, claiming the firm's partnership agreement is unclear.

  • August 31, 2026

    Meyer Unkovic Discovery Bid Partly Granted

    A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge partly granted Meyer Unkovic & Scott LLP's bid for discovery in a malpractice suit over a $3.3 million default judgment that was later thrown out, ruling the firm can obtain documents about defenses raised in the underlying landlord-tenant case.

  • August 31, 2026

    Viks Seek Split Trial To Save Deutsche Bank Suit Injunction

    Billionaire Alexander Vik and his daughter on Monday asked a Connecticut state court judge to order multiple trials on claims they are pursuing against Deutsche Bank AG, which demand the bank hand over proceeds from a $65 million asset sale and permanently end a related lawsuit against them in Norway.

  • August 31, 2026

    Law Firm's Calif. Claims Stayed Over AI Comms Co.'s NY Suit

    A California federal judge ruled that AI communications company Connex One cannot escape claims brought by a personal injury law firm alleging it faced harassment and threats of litigation after it declined to renew their contract, saying the case will be stayed until a New York lawsuit brought by Connex against the firm runs its course.

  • August 31, 2026

    Feds' Crackdown Targets Commercial Trucking Fraud

    The Trump administration said Monday it is immediately shutting down 110 commercial driver's license schools for certifying truck drivers who can't read or speak English, and pledged to aggressively prosecute accused "fraudsters" who knowingly put untrained or unskilled truck drivers on American roads.

  • August 31, 2026

    Shareholders Say Generator Co. Overhyped Data Center Deal

    A shareholder in Hyliion Holdings Corp. is accusing the linear generator manufacturer in Texas federal court of exaggerating the potential success of its business partnership with an AI infrastructure company that specializes in data centers.

  • August 31, 2026

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    The Delaware Chancery Court this past week saw disputes over a $200 million federal grant, a $1.7 billion software take-private deal, the ouster of Better.com founder Vishal Garg and a proposed $4 million settlement stemming from an electric vehicle company's SPAC merger.

  • August 28, 2026

    'Troubled' 7th Circ. Finds No Harm From Benesch Atty Conflict

    While "troubled" by an ex-Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP partner's decision to take on a client's trade secrets suit while negotiating a move from Benesch to the defendant company's outside counsel, the Seventh Circuit agreed Friday that the displeased client cannot pursue her legal malpractice claim.

  • August 28, 2026

    Patent Marking Case Will Shape License Talks And Damages

    A Federal Circuit ruling that patent owners must ensure that all licensees mark their products with patent information in order to recover presuit damages will complicate licensing talks and give defendants a route to limit or escape damages in some cases, attorneys say.

  • August 28, 2026

    Uber Text Doesn't Bind Guest Rider To Arbitrate, DC Circ. Says

    Uber cannot force into arbitration a passenger who sued over a crash in which he was severely injured when the ride was requested by his wife since he never created an account or agreed to the ride-hailing company's terms of service, the D.C. Circuit said in a published opinion Friday.

  • August 28, 2026

    'Friday The 13th' Creators Say Game Publisher Hid Royalties

    Creators of the "Friday the 13th" franchise alleged in a Friday suit that a video game publisher withheld up to $4.5 million in royalties from sales of a "Friday the 13th" video game that it was licensed to distribute and destroyed reports that proved how much it owed.

  • August 28, 2026

    11th Circ. Won't Nix Royal Caribbean Arbitration Appeal

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday denied a bid to summarily affirm an order denying Royal Caribbean's motion to arbitration claims by passengers suing the cruise line over numerous incidents of voyeurism involving a former employee.

  • August 28, 2026

    Md. Pot Co. Evermore Faces Bid To Confirm $1.98M Award

    A California-based capital advisory firm is urging a state court to enforce a $1.98 million arbitration award it scored against Evermore Cannabis Company, which was found to have intentionally dodged fees it promised to pay the firm as part of a contract that helped the marijuana cultivator secure loans.

  • August 28, 2026

    NCAA Fights NC State Football Player's Demand For Eligibility

    The NCAA struck back at a football player's bid to play for North Carolina State University this year while he challenges the organization's eligibility rules, arguing that he was denied a waiver because his academic standing is under his control and thus can't be the basis for extending his eligibility.

  • August 28, 2026

    Amazon Beats Calif. AG's 'Ill-Conceived' Injunction Bid

    A California judge refused to block what the state attorney general's office has cast as Amazon's coercive price-fixing imposed on Walmart, Target and others via major brands like Levi Strauss, critiquing enforcers for the "last-minute request" targeting conduct they have not shown is ongoing.

  • August 28, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Shifts T-Mobile Patent Settlement Fight To 5th Circ.

    The Federal Circuit on Friday sent an appeal from T-Mobile stemming from a patent litigation settlement to the Fifth Circuit, ruling that is proper because the Eastern District of Texas had jurisdiction when the appeal was filed.

Expert Analysis

  • Fiduciary Duty Risks In Continuation Vehicle Transactions

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    Continuation vehicle transactions have become prominent in private equity, but conflicts may arise due to transaction structures and implicate fiduciary duties, with a recent Delaware case highlighting several procedural considerations for sponsors, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • $100M Clean Air Act Ruling Transforms Parent Co. Liability

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    A Michigan federal court's recent decision in U.S. v. EES Coke Battery, holding a company liable for Clean Air Act violations at a plant owned by its subsidiary, weakens the legal shield between businesses and their corporate parents, and has started a legal battle that may last for years, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • CFIUS' Mandate Misses Foreign Risk In Project Subcontracts

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    Recent calls for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review equity transactions like the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. deal miss a consequential oversight gap — CFIUS' inability to review the subcontracting layer of U.S. infrastructure projects, says Thibaut Giret at Alstef Group.

  • Looking At Drake's Diss Track Appeal Through An IP Lens

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    Though Drake's pending Second Circuit appeal over UMG's promotion of Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" is formally about defamation, it shows that IP considerations can help identify records showing how a work traveled, which may guide courts when deciding context, says attorney Abdul Abdullahi.

  • Series

    Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

  • How Rated Note Feeders Help Insurers Tap Private Credit

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    With insurer investments comprising nearly a third of the private credit market, rated note feeders offer insurers a compelling way to access private credit yields through debt instruments by balancing key features of debt investment with the structural and economic profiles of private credit funds, say attorneys at Akin.

  • How Reincorporating In Texas May Alter Earnout Disputes

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    While the DExit debate has focused on shareholder suits, far less attention has been paid to what reincorporating in Texas means for M&A disputes, making it particularly important to understand the nuances between Delaware and Texas earnout jurisprudence, say attorneys at Selendy Gay.

  • Roundup

    The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

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    This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

  • Structuring Space Nuclear Deals For Regulatory Risk

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    With the White House's recent focus on space nuclear power, a highly important question for companies that want to build orbital reactors, lunar surface systems or critical components is whether the transaction documents can handle foreign investment constraints, export controls and treaty-linked liability, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

  • Texas Business Court Rulings Show Deal Terms Paramount

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    As the courts within the Texas Business Court system have begun reaching the substantive merits of the cases before them, they are persuasively demonstrating they will not only enforce the terms of transactions as written, but will also embrace a holistic approach to complex transaction documentation interpretation, says Christopher Pace at Winston Taylor.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The year's second quarter brought several noteworthy financial services developments to California, including activity around a commercial finance oversight bill, the former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head's appointment to lead a new consumer agency, and a ruling reinforcing viable bank-fintech partnerships, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Quantum Readiness May Paradoxically Raise Contractor Risk

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    The organizations best positioned for the cryptographic system migration deadlines and other requirements under President Donald Trump’s recent quantum executive orders will be those able to inventory their cryptographic dependencies while protecting their vulnerability road map from adversaries, says Jesse Lemon at The Beckage Firm.

  • Justices Stand On Statutory Specifics In Cisco And Landor

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    With its June 23 decisions in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe and Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, the U.S. Supreme Court doubled down on the critical point that the statute invoked in a federal claim must authorize a private lawsuit and the remedy sought, says Patrick Judd at Phelps Dunbar.

  • How Montgomery Ruling Will Affect Cos. Across Supply Chain

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court's May 14 decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, the immediate focus has been on freight brokers and negligent carrier-selection claims, but the ripple effects may extend to shippers, logistics providers, insurers, transportation managers and other participants in the supply chain, say attorneys at Quintairos Prieto.

  • Legal Risks Of Using AI To Screen Psychedelic Trial Patients

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    Though using artificial intelligence to preemptively identify drug trial participants likely to experience placebo effects could produce clearer research results, sponsors will need to be ready for the new legal questions these methods raise about informed consent, accountability for algorithmically derived criteria, and potential bias in data training sets, says Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell.

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