Commercial Contracts

  • January 22, 2026

    Ga. Financial Firm CEO Cops To $380M Ponzi Scheme

    The CEO of an Atlanta-area financial advisory group has pled guilty to conducting a $380 million Ponzi scheme, which is likely the largest in Georgia history, according to prosecutors.

  • January 22, 2026

    Md. Judge Keeps Ship Manager Liability Shield Bid Alive

    A Maryland federal judge Thursday allowed the manager of the container ship that slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge to press ahead, for now, with its request to invoke a nearly two-centuries-old maritime law to limit its liability for the 2024 wreck.

  • January 22, 2026

    T-Mobile Aims To Freeze Rate Action For Arbitration

    T-Mobile USA Inc. is asking a Washington federal judge to compel individual arbitration and stay a proposed class action over alleged wireless plan price hikes, arguing that customers agreed to arbitrate billing disputes and waive class claims.

  • January 22, 2026

    Golf Club Says Allianz Unit Owes $2.2M In Hurricane Coverage

    An Allianz unit acted in bad faith when refusing to pay nearly $2.3 million in coverage for damages caused by Hurricane Helene, a private golf club alleged in a suit removed to North Carolina federal court.

  • January 22, 2026

    Shareholder Says $2.3B Take-Private Deal Hid Blackstone Ties

    Board members of Hawaii-based commercial real estate investment trust Alexander & Baldwin obscured their connections to Blackstone Real Estate in securities filings preceding a proposed $2.3 billion take-private deal, an investor claimed in an Illinois federal lawsuit.

  • January 22, 2026

    Taft Adds Biden's Swing State Voter Engagement Adviser

    Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP has hired a former White House senior adviser to former President Joe Biden who counseled the president on how to engage African American voters, civil rights organizations and other stakeholders in key battleground states, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • January 21, 2026

    NYC Sues Dr. Phil's Son To Stop NYPD Reality Show

    The city of New York on Wednesday sued the son of celebrity psychologist Dr. Phil in state court, claiming that he and his production company plan to air a reality television show about the New York Police Department that contains footage that would threaten the lives and safety of active police officers, witnesses and victims.

  • January 21, 2026

    Costco Nears Settlement With Insurer Over Store Injury Claims

    A Hartford unit has reached a tentative deal with Costco to end claims that the insurer wrongfully refused defense coverage for a lawsuit by a customer allegedly hurt while trying to move a grill box at a California store, according to a Wednesday filing in Seattle federal court.

  • January 21, 2026

    Court Rejects Sanctions In Venezuelan Oil Defamation Case

    A Florida federal judge on Wednesday declined to sanction a director of a Venezuelan state-owned oil company, finding no conflict of interest by his attorneys at Diaz Reus LLP in a now-dismissed suit accusing the director and others of engaging in a campaign to smear Venezuelan civic leaders.

  • January 21, 2026

    Delaware Justices Clarify Ruling On Loews' $1.5B Cash-Out

    In a rare second look at one of its own recent decisions, Delaware's Supreme Court said an earlier opinion "misconstrued" some dimensions of an unjust enrichment challenge to Loews Corp.'s $1.5 billion buyout of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP public unitholders.

  • January 21, 2026

    PE Firm Used Jail Threats To Steer Cannabis Deal, Court Told

    A private equity firm can't free itself from a contract breach spat between a CBD and hemp product manufacturer and its business partner, as the firm not only interfered with the contract but also threatened to have people thrown in jail if they refused to capitulate, a North Carolina federal court heard Wednesday.

  • January 21, 2026

    Texas AG Launches Investigation Into Vaccine Incentives

    The Texas attorney general launched what it characterized as a sweeping, multi-industry investigation into financial incentives for medical providers to recommend childhood vaccines, saying providers regularly dish out vaccines that "are not proven to be safe or necessary."

  • January 21, 2026

    Schwab Nixed From DOL Enforcement Suit Against Other Firm

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday dismissed two Schwab companies from a U.S. Department of Labor enforcement case, finding the financial services providers' participation was no longer needed in the agency's dispute against another firm.

  • January 21, 2026

    3rd Circ. Ends Minor League Owner's Suit Over MLB Ties

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit from the owner of the Oregon-based Salem-Keizer Volcanoes alleging a minor league baseball official cut the team out of a relationship with Major League Baseball, finding the official had no fiduciary duty to it.

  • January 21, 2026

    Feds Back Freight Broker In High Court Negligence Case

    The federal government urged the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to hold that federal law unequivocally shields freight brokers from state-based negligence and personal injury claims, throwing its support behind broker and logistics giant C.H. Robinson in a closely watched case.

  • January 21, 2026

    Apple Workers In Wash. Sue Over Limits On Moonlighting

    Apple Inc. has broken a Washington state moonlighting law by prohibiting dozens of lower-wage workers from taking second jobs to supplement their incomes, according to a former employee's proposed class action against the company.

  • January 21, 2026

    Pa. Justices Reverse Clickwrap Arbitration Limits, For Now

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has determined that a lower appellate court was too quick to declare that "clickwrap" arbitration agreements buried in apps' and websites' terms of service erode the constitutional right to trial by jury, reversing a decision that invalidated such an agreement in an injury suit against Uber.

  • January 21, 2026

    Licensing Deal Saves Cisco From Lionra Suit, Fed. Circ. Says

    The Federal Circuit rebuffed Lionra Technologies Ltd.'s efforts to save its patent infringement case against Cisco Systems Inc., with a panel finding Wednesday that a licensing agreement foreclosed the lawsuit and calling Lionra's characterization of the agreement "skewed."

  • January 21, 2026

    NC Court Throws Duke A Lifeline In Transfer Battle With QB

    A North Carolina state judge allowed Duke University quarterback Darian Mensah to enter the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday, but prohibited him from signing with another school until ruling on Duke's request for an injunction that would keep him at the university.

  • January 21, 2026

    Businesses Seek OK On $436M Toyota Forklift Emissions Deal

    A proposed class of businesses is asking a California federal court to give the go-ahead on a $436 million settlement with Toyota Industries Corp. and its material handling affiliates in a suit that alleged the company misled them on their forklift and construction engine emissions.

  • January 21, 2026

    Tex-Mex Chain's 'Feeling' Isn't Trade Secret, NC Biz Court Told

    A chain of upscale Tex-Mex restaurants in North Carolina failed to specify the trade secrets a former manager is accused of stealing to replicate its dining concept at another restaurant in Missouri, defense counsel told a North Carolina Business Court judge on Wednesday.

  • January 21, 2026

    Cresco Accused Of Withholding Revenue Share From Partner

    An Ohio company that claims it helped cannabis giant Cresco Labs LLC build its medical and retail marijuana operations in the Buckeye State alleges in a new federal lawsuit that the company bilked it out of promised fees when it expanded its business into adult-use cannabis.

  • January 21, 2026

    Widow Of 'Sophie's Choice' Author Settles Stage Rights Spat

    The 97-year-old widow of author William Styron has settled a suit by a playwright who claimed he held exclusive rights to the stage version of Styron's novel "Sophie's Choice," according to a filing in Massachusetts state court.

  • January 21, 2026

    Realtor Alleges Zillow 'Monopoly' Forces Loan Referrals

    A proposed class of real estate agents accused property listing company Zillow Group Inc. and several of its subsidiaries in Washington federal court of running a monopoly that forces real estate agents to, among other things, use a Zillow client referral program that pushes program participants to refer clients to Zillow's loan services.

  • January 21, 2026

    Chancery Gives Solar Roof Co. One Week To Find In-State Atty

    The Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday declined to rule immediately on a request to hold a solar roofing company in contempt for defying a court order, instead pausing the case to give the company time to hire Delaware counsel, a prerequisite to allowing the company to be heard on the merits.

Expert Analysis

  • Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

    Author Photo

    The third quarter of 2025 was another eventful quarter for total loss valuation class actions, with a new circuit split developing courtesy of the Sixth Circuit, while insurers continued to see negative results in cost-of-insurance class actions, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • How Calif. High Court Is Rethinking Forum Selection Clauses

    Author Photo

    Two recent cases before the California Supreme Court show that the state is shifting toward greater enforcement of freely negotiated forum selection clauses between sophisticated parties, so litigators need to revisit old assumptions about the breadth of California's public policy exception, says Josh Patashnik at Perkins Coie.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

    Author Photo

    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

    Author Photo

    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • Calif. Justices Continued Anti-Arbitration Trend This Term

    Author Photo

    In the 2024-2025 term, the California Supreme Court justices continued to narrow arbitration's reach under state law, despite state courts' extreme caseload backlog and even as they embraced contractual autonomy in other contexts, says Josephine Petrick at The Norton Law Firm.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

    Author Photo

    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • TikTok Divestiture Deal Revolves Around IP Considerations

    Author Photo

    The divestiture deal between the U.S. and China to resolve a security dispute over TikTok's U.S. operations is seen as a diplomatic breakthrough, but its success hinges on the treatment of intellectual property and may set a precedent in the global contest over digital sovereignty and IP control, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Opinion

    Courts Must Continue Protecting Plaintiffs In Mass Arbitration

    Author Photo

    In recent years, many companies have imposed onerous protocols that function to frustrate plaintiffs' ability to seek justice through mass arbitration, but a series of welcome court decisions in recent months indicate that the pendulum might be swinging back toward plaintiffs, say Raphael Janove and Sasha Jones at Janove Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

    Author Photo

    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

    Author Photo

    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 7 Areas To Watch As FTC Ends Push For A Noncompete Ban

    Author Photo

    ​​​​​​As the government ends its push for a nationwide noncompete ban, ​employers who do not want to be caught without protections for legitimate business interests should explore supplementing their noncompetes by deploying elements of seven practical, enforceable tools, including nondisclosure agreements and garden leave strategies, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

    Author Photo

    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

    Author Photo

    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Commercial Contracts archive.