Commercial Contracts

  • October 13, 2026

    US Steel Says Insurers Must Cover $120M Mill Cleanup

    U.S. Steel said several insurers must indemnify the steelmaker for costs it has incurred investigating and cleaning up contamination from a long-demolished Minnesota steel plant, telling a Pennsylvania state court the insurers have refused to pay out multiple layers of policy.

  • October 13, 2026

    Justices Turn Away Ex-Ruby Tuesday Execs' Benefits Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected former Ruby Tuesday executives' bid for review of their claims that Regions Bank underpaid them after their deferred compensation benefits were liquidated in bankruptcy, turning away a case the ex-executives said presented a circuit split.

  • October 09, 2026

    Iberdrola Loses Bid To Revive Mass. Power Plant Fraud Suit

    A New York appellate court has declined to revive an Iberdrola unit's lawsuit accusing the funders of a Massachusetts power plant project of tricking the energy company into largely completing construction before interfering in the contract to avoid funding the work.

  • October 09, 2026

    Texas Homeowners Lose Appeal In Harvey Flood Suit

    A Texas appellate court ruled Friday that the companies behind a housing development had no duty to prevent the catastrophic flooding associated with Hurricane Harvey, handing a defeat to homeowners in a suit that appeared to pose a novel issue given the historic storm.

  • October 09, 2026

    Calif. Hotels Give Chinese Bank Path To $209M In Awards

    A California federal judge has refused to dismiss a Chinese bank's lawsuit seeking to enforce about $209 million in arbitral awards against a businessperson, ruling that hotels he bought in the state give the court jurisdiction over the case even though he doesn't live in the U.S.

  • October 09, 2026

    Amazon Can't Push Back FTC Antitrust Trial

    A Washington federal judge refused Friday to delay the Federal Trade Commission antitrust trial accusing Amazon.com Inc. of creating an artificial pricing floor in online retail, forcing the company to try to navigate a potential timing overlap in parallel state court litigation from the California attorney general.

  • October 09, 2026

    Pot Farm Seeks Review Of 6th Circ. Federal-Illegality Ruling

    A Michigan cannabis farm is asking the Sixth Circuit to reconsider a recent holding that contracts in the federally illegal marijuana industry are unenforceable, saying the ruling would cause "unimaginable instability" in jurisdictions with legalized cannabis.

  • October 09, 2026

    Pepsi Bottler Hit With $630K Lien Over 23-Month Project

    A California contractor told a Colorado state court judge Thursday that the company is seeking to foreclose on a mechanics' lien of nearly $630,000 after being wrongfully terminated from a $7.6 million contract by a Pepsi subsidiary.

  • October 09, 2026

    ERISA Recap: 6 Notable Decisions From September

    The Tenth and Seventh circuits issued published opinions in two union retirement disputes, while the Sixth Circuit found that the Commonwealth of Kentucky's lawsuit against pharmacy benefit managers does not belong in state court, citing colorable federal preemption arguments. Here's more on those decisions and three other notable rulings involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that came down in September.

  • October 09, 2026

    Anti-SLAPP Law Doesn't Tank Firm Breakup Case, Judge Says

    A Connecticut trial attorney and his new firm cannot invoke the state's anti-SLAPP law to dismiss claims brought by his former law partner, a state court judge held Thursday in one of multiple lawsuits stemming from Connecticut Trial Firm LLC's dissolution less than two years after it gained prominence with a record-setting personal injury verdict.

  • October 09, 2026

    Insurers Can't Avoid $5.3M Motel Damage Suit, Court Told

    A real estate development company urged a Washington federal court to reject its insurers' bid to avoid a suit seeking $5.3 million in coverage for damage to a motel that was supposed to be converted into affordable housing, saying the carriers' arguments concerning improper service are meritless.

  • October 09, 2026

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

    The past week in London has seen PrivatBank sue its former oligarch owner, building materials provider Kingspan face a €100 million ($112 million) claim over Grenfell Tower cladding and energy giants VaroPreem and Viaro Energy become embroiled in an intellectual property row.

  • October 09, 2026

    Legal Marketing Co. Inks $600K Call Center Rep Wage Deal

    Legal marketing company Lawyer.com Inc. agreed to pay $600,000 to settle claims in a New Jersey federal court that it misclassified call center representatives as independent contractors and failed to pay them overtime wages required under federal law.

  • October 08, 2026

    9/11 Family Sues Cannabis Entrepreneurs Over $1.3M Loss

    A 9/11 widow and her children are suing a previously sanctioned Los Angeles-area cannabis entrepreneur and his associate in California state court claiming they misused the family's $1.3 million investment, taken from their terrorism-victim compensation fund, after making false promises of guaranteed returns.

  • October 08, 2026

    NASCAR Rivals Must Yield Race Setups In Trade Secrets Suit

    Joe Gibbs Racing LLC and rival NASCAR team Spire Motorsports must produce their race-car setups for the 2025 and 2026 seasons in their contested trade secrets battle, a North Carolina magistrate judge has ruled, but not without first lamenting the onslaught of discovery disputes he's been saddled with resolving.

  • October 08, 2026

    The Rise Of White Collar Sports Cheating Scandals

    Throughout the history of professional sports, teams have tried to get an edge. When those efforts have veered into impropriety, it's usually stemmed from violations between the lines: sign-stealing, equipment tampering or spying. But that dynamic is shifting.

  • October 08, 2026

    Fired Bassist Drops Conn. Contract Suit Against Metal Band

    The co-founder and longtime bass player for Grammy-nominated metal band Hatebreed has withdrawn a Connecticut state court lawsuit against the musical ensemble's singer and a related corporate entity, dropping all allegations his 2024 ouster was a breach of contract that caused him emotional distress.

  • October 08, 2026

    Gildan Changes T-Shirt Contract Terms After FTC Pressure

    The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that T-shirt manufacturer Gildan Activewear SRL has removed terms from its supply agreement with distributor S&S Holdings LLC that prevented Gildan from offering better prices to competing distributors.

  • October 08, 2026

    New Fraud Division Flexes Might In Latest Enforcement Policy

    The National Fraud Enforcement Division's new corporate enforcement policy emphasizes the quick pursuit of certain types of fraud through data analysis and staff resources, expands the target list beyond traditional healthcare providers and highlights the division's growing dominance within the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

  • October 08, 2026

    Fla. Panel Reverses Atty Fees Award In Atty's POA Dispute

    A Florida appellate court has reversed an attorney fees award in a property purchase dispute involving a Florida attorney, a local property owners association and other parties.

  • October 08, 2026

    Buzbee Faces $970K Fee Bid In Dismissed Conspiracy Cases

    A Mississippi lawyer is asking a Texas state court to award her more than $970,000 in fees after defeating claims that she and her law firm conspired with rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to retaliate against prominent Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee and two of his former clients.

  • October 08, 2026

    'Chicken Soup' Parent Owes $25M Judgment, Investor Says

    The entity that manages self-help book publisher Chicken Soup for the Soul Holdings LLC should be ordered to pay $25 million after a sale of most of an affiliate's assets never materialized, according to an investor seeking to recover some of its alleged $50 million in losses.

  • October 08, 2026

    Fla. Court Vacates $5 Law Firm Sales In Litigation Funder Suit

    A Florida state court vacated an order allowing a discount sale of an attorney's $20 million worth of shares in three law firms to a litigation funder seeking to collect on an out-of-state judgment, saying the auction notice wasn't issued properly. 

  • October 08, 2026

    Amazon Sued Over Child And Woman's Fire Pit Fuel Burns

    A minor and a family friend are suing Amazon.com Inc. in a New Jersey state court, alleging they were severely burned when a defective fueling bottle for a tabletop fire pit experienced "flame jetting" while the fire pit was being refueled.

  • October 08, 2026

    Ex-Coal Exec's Bribe Sentencing Paused Amid Witness Claims

    A Pennsylvania federal judge agreed Wednesday to reschedule an upcoming sentencing hearing for a former coal executive convicted of authorizing bribes to an arm of the Egyptian government, after his attorneys flagged new allegations against a star witness for the prosecution.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Trump EOs Pair Quantum Push With Cyber Defense Overhaul

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    Two recent executive orders that mark a significant federal commitment to both advancing and defending against quantum technology create potential opportunities for companies in the quantum, AI and technology sectors and pose future compliance obligations contractors should begin considering now, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Series

    Choral Singing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Singing in the New York City Bar Chorus — a hobby partly inspired by the late U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, who infused my clerkship year with opera music — has improved my legal career by refining my abilities to listen, exude confidence and develop emotional intelligence, says Bonnie Baker at Friedman Kaplan.

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