Food & Beverage

  • July 31, 2026

    Hemp Beverage Cos. Take Aim At Ohio Law

    A coalition of more than a dozen hemp beverage manufacturers is seeking to block enforcement of a new Ohio law that reclassified the products as "marijuana," at least the second federal lawsuit to challenge the new state policy.

  • July 31, 2026

    Couche-Tard Inks $8.6B Deal For Poland's Zabka Group

    Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. said Friday it has agreed to acquire Poland's Zabka Group for approximately $8.6 billion, which would mark the Canadian convenience store operator's largest acquisition to date.

  • July 31, 2026

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

    The past week in London has seen George Michael's estate bring an intellectual property claim against the late star's friend over footage shared online, collapsed law firm Axiom Ince sue the U.K. branch of State Bank of India and Ryanair face a group claim from 262 people. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • July 31, 2026

    1st Circ. Says Boston Outdoor Dining Rules Not Biased

    The First Circuit rejected claims by a group of restaurant owners in Boston's Little Italy that Mayor Michelle Wu singled them out for stricter enforcement and impact fees related to outdoor dining because they are predominantly white and of Italian descent.

  • July 30, 2026

    USDA Sued By Nonprofits Over Anti-DEI Grant Conditions

    Five food nonprofits sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday over allegedly unlawful restrictions on grant funding meant to target what the Trump administration has called "radical left ideology," including on issues around diversity, gender identity and immigration.

  • July 30, 2026

    Albertsons Can't Nix 14 Years Of Opioid Claims At Wash. Trial

    Albertsons and Safeway can't dodge 14 years' worth of claims in Washington state's lawsuit accusing the grocery stores' pharmacies of irresponsibly dispensing prescription opioids and fueling the state's overdose crisis, according to a Seattle judge's ruling Wednesday striking the companies' statute-of-limitations defense.

  • July 30, 2026

    Minn. Sued Over Dairy Expansion Environmental Review

    Advocacy groups in Minnesota are suing the state over its decision not to provide a government document that outlines the potential environmental effects of the proposed West River Dairy expansion, arguing significant impacts to air and water quality were ignored.

  • July 30, 2026

    Curium, Sazerac And Stripe Pursue Megadeals, And More

    Reports of potential multibillion-dollar deals were plentiful this week, with U.S. alcohol producer Sazerac steadfast in its $15 billion pursuit of the maker of Jack Daniel's; Curium reportedly in advanced talks to acquire fellow radiopharmaceutical firm Lantheus Holdings Inc. for up to $8 billion; and Nvidia, Stripe and Devon Energy all linked to sizable strategic bets of their own.

  • July 30, 2026

    2nd Circ. Revives Decongestant 'Maximum Strength' Claims

    The Second Circuit on Thursday revived claims in multidistrict litigation alleging makers of oral decongestants misled consumers by labeling their products as "maximum strength," while finding the bulk of the remaining claims were preempted by federal regulation.

  • July 30, 2026

    Chubb Seeks Toss Of Costco's Customer Injury Coverage Row

    A Chubb unit urged a Washington federal court to toss Costco's suit seeking coverage for a personal injury action under a home décor brand's policy, saying the retailer failed to state a claim for additional insured coverage because the underlying injuries are not related to the brand's products.

  • July 30, 2026

    Impossible Foods Gets New TM Trial On Punitive Damages

    A California federal judge has ordered a new trial on punitive damages against Impossible Foods in a case over the "Impossible" trademark, ruling that the $1.75 million in punitive damages a jury awarded lifestyle brand Impossible X was against the clear weight of trial evidence.

  • July 30, 2026

    Ill. Atty Sanctioned For AI Slop In Starbucks Bias Suit

    A unanimous Illinois appeals court sanctioned an attorney representing a former Starbucks employee in a workplace discrimination suit after determining that he submitted briefs using false citations and quotations hallucinated by artificial intelligence software.

  • July 30, 2026

    $18.7M Deal In Turkey Price-Fixing Suit Gets Initial OK

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday granted preliminary approval to an $18.7 million settlement resolving certain buyers' claims against House of Raeford Farms Inc. and Prestage Farms, the latest deal in sprawling antitrust litigation accusing poultry producers of conspiring to fix turkey prices.

  • July 30, 2026

    PE-Backed Jersey Mike's Makes Public Debut After $1B IPO

    Private equity-backed sandwich chain Jersey Mike's hit the public markets Thursday after raising $1 billion in its initial public offering steered by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

  • July 29, 2026

    Albertsons Pharmacy Work Was 'House Of Cards,' Judge Told

    Albertsons pharmacists in Washington state repeatedly warned supervisors that busy workloads and limited staffing were making it difficult to review prescriptions before filling them, a state judge in Seattle heard Monday, during a bench trial in Washington's case accusing Albertsons and its Safeway subsidiary of fueling the state's opioid crisis.

  • July 29, 2026

    7th Circ. Flips Order Keeping 5 Baby Formula Suits In Ill. MDL

    The Seventh Circuit has reversed a district court's finding that five out-of-state necrotizing enterocolitis suits should stay in Illinois-based multidistrict litigation involving similar cases over allegedly harmful formula for preterm infants, saying the lower court went "far afield" in its fraudulent joinder analysis.

  • July 29, 2026

    7-Eleven Sued Over Worker's Death After Fight With Manager

    The mother of a 7-Eleven sales associate who died following an altercation with an assistant manager lodged wrongful death claims in California state court Tuesday, alleging the retailer knew through employee complaints that the manager tended to be violent yet failed to act. 

  • July 29, 2026

    Curaleaf Says Pot Suit Is Long On Length But Not Substance

    Cannabis giant Curaleaf Holdings Inc. on Tuesday slammed as "ill-conceived" a proposed class action by consumers who claim the company falsely marketed its products as medical treatments for mental health disorders and physical pain, saying none of the buyers are even medical cannabis patients.

  • July 29, 2026

    Sysco Accused Of Logging Drivers' Work As Breaks

    Sysco Corp. and a subsidiary automatically logged California delivery drivers as taking breaks whenever their trucks remained stationary for more than 30 minutes, even when they kept working, a former driver alleged in a proposed class action in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

  • July 29, 2026

    DOL Says Beekeeper Underpaid, Endangered H-2A Workers

    The U.S. Department of Labor sued a beekeeping business and its owner in Washington federal court Wednesday, alleging they underpaid H-2A workers, housed them in a rat-infested trailer and pressured an employee to conceal a workplace injury that nearly cost him a finger.

  • July 29, 2026

    3rd Circ. Won't Undo Jury Award In Fudge Trade Secret Case

    The ex-wife of a chocolatier lost her challenge to a jury's finding that she misappropriated his secret recipe for "Chocolate Moonshine" fudge, after the majority of a split Third Circuit on Wednesday said there was enough evidence behind the jury's conclusions.

  • July 29, 2026

    Seattle Restaurant Owner Pleads Guilty In $1.4M Tax Case

    A Seattle restaurant owner pled guilty to willfully failing to pay more than $1.4 million in unemployment, Social Security and Medicare taxes, some of it withheld from his employees' paychecks, according to federal prosecutors and court documents.

  • July 29, 2026

    Mass. Judge Says Roundup Suit May Survive Justices' Ruling

    A suit against Monsanto over the alleged cancer risks of the weedkiller Roundup may still be heading for trial after a Massachusetts federal judge said Wednesday that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring certain claims against the company doesn't necessarily doom the case.

  • July 29, 2026

    Attys Secure $15M Fees In Abbott Formula Shareholder Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday approved class counsel's $15.3 million fee request in a shareholder dispute over Abbott Laboratories' management of a 2022 infant formula contamination crisis, satisfied with the elaboration he called for during an earlier settlement fairness hearing.

  • July 28, 2026

    Amazon To Pay $2M To End Suit Over Rest Breaks In Wash.

    Amazon will pay $2 million to resolve Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go store workers' accusations that the e-commerce giant failed to provide them with meal and rest breaks required under Washington state law, according to a settlement given final approval by a Pierce County judge.

Expert Analysis

  • How Cos. Can Prep For Ultra-Processed Food Legal Risks

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    A wave of litigation and government scrutiny directed against ultra-processed foods is now gaining momentum, following patterns seen previously in other industries — and food companies that recognize those patterns early will be better positioned to manage the increasing risks, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • What Ex-CFPB Head's Calif. Role May Foretell For Oversight

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    California Gov. Gavin Newsom's selection of former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra to lead a new consumer agency signals tougher state financial services oversight, especially for fintechs, as well as heightened enforcement activity and larger penalties, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Immigration Ruling Maps Alternative To Universal Injunctions

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    A Rhode Island federal court's decision in Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island v. USCIS vacating policies that froze key immigration adjudications for nationals of 39 countries, and paused asylum applications altogether, suggests how practitioners might press for the Administrative Procedure Act's bad faith exception to record review and seek vacatur as a viable alternative to universal injunctions, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • Lessons From EEOC Suit Over Coca-Cola Women-Only Event

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    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's recent lawsuit alleging that Coca-Cola Northeast violated federal law by having a professional development retreat for female employees demonstrates that the EEOC is scrutinizing DEI-related practices with unprecedented intensity, so even the most well-intentioned programs may be challenged, say attorneys at Venable.

  • High Court's FCC Fine Ruling Reframes Agency Enforcement

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T sweeps aside uncertainty about what kinds of regulatory enforcement trigger a Seventh Amendment right, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • After Durnell, Connecting Science And Causation Will Be Key

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's June 25 decision in Monsanto v. Durnell narrowed label-based failure-to-warn claims — meaning that going forward, viable theories will depend even more on whether experts can reliably connect scientific evidence to the causal proposition the law requires, says Alex Smolak at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar.

  • 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.

  • Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

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    As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

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    Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

  • Fed. Circ. In May: Being Precise About 'About'

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Enviro Tech v. Safe Foods last month illustrates the danger in attempting to expand claim scope with words of approximation, potentially causing claims to be invalid for lack of definiteness, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

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    An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

  • Opinion

    State Courts Must Be Gatekeepers Of Expert Testimony

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    Based on my experience in the state judiciary, emulating federal courts' role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony would help state court judges maintain the appearance of impartiality and assist juries, thus enhancing the overall confidence people have in their justice system, says Lorie Gildea at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Series

    Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

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