Food & Beverage

  • July 15, 2025

    Texas Cities Cite Gov't Immunity In Farmers' PFAS Suit

    Governmental entities led by Fort Worth submitted a brief to a Texas federal court Tuesday supporting their immunity in managing wastewater operations in connection with a proposed class action from farmers who claim their lands were contaminated by toxic chemicals.

  • July 15, 2025

    11th Circ. Backs $50K Verdict In Ex-Koch Nurse's Assault Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday let stand a $50,000 verdict in favor of a former Koch Foods nurse against two human resource managers at a food plant who she accused of assault and battery, saying jurors reached a viable conclusion.

  • July 15, 2025

    Fizz Social Loses Bid To Block Instacart's 'Fizz' Drink App

    A California federal judge has denied social media platform Fizz Social Corp.'s bid for a preliminary injunction in its trademark infringement and anti-cybersquatting lawsuit accusing Instacart and Partiful of ripping off its "FIZZ" mark to launch a rival "Fizz" beverage-delivery app that targets the so-called Gen Z demographic.

  • July 15, 2025

    Frito-Lay Settles Flamin' Hot Cheetos Defamation Suit

    Frito-Lay Inc. and a former employee have reached a settlement Monday in his suit claiming he invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos and had his livelihood destroyed when the company disavowed his story, according to a Monday filing in California federal court.

  • July 14, 2025

    Inspire Brands Hires Ex-Yum! Brands Exec As Its CLO

    Inspire Brands, the company that owns franchises such restaurant chains as Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin' and Jimmy John's, announced Monday that it has hired a former long-time executive with fast-food giant Yum! Brands as its new chief legal and administrative officer.

  • July 14, 2025

    Tender Greens Estate Defends Structured Dismissal Of Ch. 11

    The estate of One Table Restaurant Brands LLC, the former operator of casual restaurant chain Tender Greens and Mexican eatery Tocaya, defended its bid to dismiss its Chapter 11 case after the U.S. Trustee's Office said it would violate bankruptcy rules.

  • July 14, 2025

    DC Circ. Says Biden DOL Didn't Improperly Issue H-2A Rule

    The D.C. Circuit has said the Biden administration did not flout notice and comment rulemaking procedures when it issued a rule in 2022 revising the H-2A visa worker program because it pulled the Trump administration's 2021 version of the rule before it became final.

  • July 14, 2025

    Law Student Burned At Mass. Frat Party Sues Everclear Maker

    A Boston University exchange student who suffered third degree burns after 190-proof Everclear was poured near open fire at a fraternity party that created an explosive fireball sued the product's manufacturer in Massachusetts federal court Sunday, arguing it dangerously markets the product for wide range of uses near flammable sources.

  • July 14, 2025

    NC Bakery Accused Of Denying Workers Overtime Pay

    A Durham, North Carolina-based bakery is being accused of paying its employees a flat hourly rate regardless of how many hours they worked in violation of labor law, according to a proposed collective action filed in North Carolina federal court.

  • July 14, 2025

    NY Leveraged Finance Pros Leave Latham For Paul Hastings

    A pair of Latham & Watkins LLP attorneys who represent banks and other financial institutions in complex multibillion-dollar leveraged finance transactions have joined Paul Hastings LLP as partners in New York, the firm announced Monday.

  • July 11, 2025

    Wine Exec Extradited From UK Denies $99M Fraud Scheme

    One of two executives of a United Kingdom wine company was extradited to the U.S. and pled not guilty on Friday in Brooklyn federal court to charges that he conned investors into making loans using wine collections as collateral, cheating them out of $99 million.

  • July 11, 2025

    Courts Face Early Push To Expand Justices' Injunction Ruling

    In the two weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed federal judges' ability to issue universal injunctions, Trump administration attorneys have begun pushing to expand the decision's limits to other forms of relief used in regulatory challenges and class actions. So far, judges don't appear receptive to those efforts. 

  • July 11, 2025

    Cannabis Industry Group Praises Hemp Ban In Spending Bill

    A cannabis industry trade group has applauded a U.S. Senate committee's adoption of language in a federal appropriations bill that would ban consumable hemp-derived products with THC, while hemp industry stakeholders are seeking to use a one-year delay to amend a policy they say would kill the market.

  • July 11, 2025

    3rd Circ. Nixes Rehire Of Welch's Worker In Harassment Fight

    The Third Circuit on Friday vacated an order instructing Welch's to rehire a worker who was accused of using gender-based slurs toward a co-worker, saying an arbitrator needed to clarify whether she'd determined that sexual harassment occurred.

  • July 11, 2025

    PepsiCo Challenges $2.1M Tax Penalty In Ill. Supreme Court

    Illinois' justices should overturn lower court decisions allowing $2.1 million in penalties on PepsiCo for categorizing Frito-Lay expatriates' compensation as foreign payroll, a categorization that excluded Frito-Lay's profits from PepsiCo's state income tax calculations, the food and beverage giant said in a petition.

  • July 11, 2025

    The Biggest TM Rulings Of 2025: A Midyear Report

    Justices overturned a trademark award of more than $40 million in a long-running case in which lower courts put a company's affiliates on the hook for the amount, and a pair of precedential decisions from the Federal Circuit provided guidance on whether colors can be protected trade dress. Here is Law360's list of the biggest trademark decisions so far this year.

  • July 11, 2025

    Stanley Mug Maker Seeks To Dodge Class Suit Over Lid Recall

    The Seattle-based company behind the popular Stanley-brand tumbler is urging a Washington federal judge to throw out a proposed class action from consumers who alleged the company's travel mug is defective, criticizing the plaintiffs' counsel for "sprinting to the courthouse" even though the manufacturer offered replacement lids during a voluntary recall.

  • July 11, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Kirkland, Cassels

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Merck buys U.K. drugmaker Verona Pharma, CoreWeave acquires fellow data center company Core Scientific, Royal Gold acquires Sandstorm Gold and Horizon Copper, and Italian food company Ferrero buys WK Kellogg.

  • July 11, 2025

    Smoke Shop's Default Lifted In Toys R Us Dilution Suit

    A Connecticut federal judge on Friday set aside a default entry against a New Haven e-cigarette and cannabis accessories store accused of tarnishing Toys R Us trademarks, mooting a pending motion for judgment after the defendants retained counsel who appeared in the case.

  • July 11, 2025

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

    This past week in London has seen HS2 hit with a defamation claim by two ex-employees who blew the whistle on alleged under-reporting of costs, Craig Wright and nChain face legal action brought by its former chief financial officer over a fraud scheme, and pro-footballer Axel Tuanzebe bring a clinical negligence claim against his former club Manchester United F.C. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • July 10, 2025

    9th Circ. Sides With Civil Aid Attys In H-2A Farm Docs Dispute

    A Ninth Circuit panel said Thursday that a lower court overstepped its authority by restricting a civil legal aid organization from using for advocacy purposes information that was gathered during discovery in a class of seasonal farmworkers' now-settled forced labor case against a Washington fruit grower.

  • July 10, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds Converse's Win In Website Chat Wiretap Suit

    The Ninth Circuit has refused to revive a proposed class action accusing Converse Inc. of allowing a third-party vendor to intercept website visitors' chats, finding that there was "no evidence" that the sneaker maker had violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

  • July 10, 2025

    Carma Says Ex-CLO, President Stole Hulk Hogan Beer Ideas

    Carma HoldCo Inc. has filed a $10 million lawsuit in Illinois federal court against its former president and chief legal officer, accusing them of misappropriating its trade secrets and business plans related to "Real American" beer in a partnership with wrestler Hulk Hogan after they were terminated.

  • July 10, 2025

    Uber, Instacart Fight Seattle's Driver Rights Law At 9th Circ.

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared split on Thursday while hearing Uber and Instacart's challenge to a Seattle city ordinance regulating deactivation of app-based worker accounts, with the judges seemingly at odds on whether the law forced commercial speech while still unconvinced of a First Amendment violation.

  • July 10, 2025

    Apple, Visa And Mastercard Beat Payment Fee Collusion Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday dismissed several retailers' proposed antitrust class action that accused Apple, Visa and Mastercard of scheming to restrain competition in point-of-sale transaction payment networks, saying the express terms of agreements retailers had claimed were anti-competitive showed otherwise.

Expert Analysis

  • Challenging A Class Representative's Adequacy And Typicality

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    Recent cases highlight that a named plaintiff cannot certify a putative class action unless they can meet all the applicable requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, so defendants should consider challenging a plaintiff's ability to meet typicality and adequacy requirements early and often, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.

  • DOJ Enforcement Trends To Watch In 2nd Half Of 2025

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    Recent investigations, settlements and a declination to prosecute suggest that controlling the flow of goods into and out of the country, and redressing what the administration sees as reverse discrimination, are likely to be at the forefront of the U.S. Department of Justice's enforcement agenda the rest of this year, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Federal Regs Order May Spell Harsher FDCA Enforcement

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    A recent executive order aimed at reducing criminal prosecutions of those who unknowingly violate complex federal regulations may actually lead to more aggressive felony indictments under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, but companies and executives can mitigate risks by following several key principals, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care

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    Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard​​​​​​​ at MG+M.

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Latest Influencer Marketing Class Actions Pinpoint 5 Themes

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    Several recent deceptive marketing class actions against both brands and influencers attempt to transform arguably routine business practices into a new focus area for consumer complaints, suggesting a coordinated approach to test what could become an increasingly popular area of litigation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Trump's Trade Policies Are Shaping Foreign Investment

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    Five months into the Trump administration, investors are beginning to see the concrete effects of the president’s America First Investment Policy as it presents new opportunities for clearing transactions more quickly, while sustaining risk aversion related to Chinese trade and potentially creating different political risks, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

  • 4 Consumer Class Action Trends To Watch In 2nd Half Of 2025

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    The first half of 2025 has seen a surge of consumer class action trends related to online tools, websites and marketing messages, creating a new legal risk landscape for companies of all sizes, says Scott Shaffer at Olshan Frome.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

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    Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

  • One Year On, Davidson Holds Lessons On 'Health Halo' Claims

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    A year after the Ninth Circuit's Davidson v. Sprout Foods decision — which raised the bar for so-called health halo claims — food and beverage companies can draw insights from its finding, subsequently expanded on by other courts, that plaintiffs must be specific when alleging fraud in healthfulness marketing, say attorneys at Sidley.

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