Food & Beverage

  • April 03, 2025

    Baby Food Suit Must Face Trial Or Calif. Panel, 9th Circ. Told

    Plum Organics buyers urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to ask the California Supreme Court to clarify Golden State's deception-by-omission law, or reverse Plum's summary judgment win and send to trial the consumers' allegations that the baby-food-maker failed to disclose potential toxins in its baby food products.

  • April 03, 2025

    Kroger, Albertsons Argue Colo. No-Poach Suit Is Preempted

    Kroger Co. and Albertsons urged a Colorado federal judge to toss a worker's proposed class action claiming the grocers violated state antitrust law with a no-poach agreement, arguing Thursday that the claims are exclusively governed by federal labor law.

  • April 03, 2025

    ADM Faces Del. Derivative Suit Amid Accounting Fraud Claims

    Agricultural supply chain giant Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. was hit with a derivative complaint Thursday in Delaware's Court of Chancery, seeking damages from 17 current or former officers entangled in claims of years of fraudulent accounting and disclosures involving its nutrition segment.

  • April 03, 2025

    Tequila Maker Sues Acquirer In Del. Alleging Earnout Dodge

    A stockholder representative of tequila company 21Seeds Inc. has filed suit against Diageo North America, accusing the global liquor giant of undercutting post-acquisition earn-out targets for 21Seeds and putting the company "in mothballs" in a scheme to develop its own competing brand to the women-founded flavored tequila.

  • April 03, 2025

    NC Panel Scraps Subrogation Suit Over Misidentified Plaintiff

    An insurer for a Hardee's restaurant can't revive its subrogation suit over a 2019 fire after it accidentally misnamed itself in the complaint, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled, finding the incorrectly identified plaintiff lacked standing to sue, and the complaint was a "nullity."

  • April 03, 2025

    Skadden Steers $1.5B Deal For SunnyD, Juicy Juice Maker

    Skadden-led Castillo Hermanos said Thursday it has agreed to purchase Brynwood Partners portfolio company Harvest Hill Beverage Co., whose brands include SunnyD, Juicy Juice and Little HUG, in a reported roughly $1.5 billion deal.

  • April 03, 2025

    Online Alcohol Shop, Distributor Near Deal In Antitrust Fight

    Online marketplace Provi and major wine distributor Southern Glazer's Wine have struck a deal in principle to resolve their dispute in an antitrust suit claiming the distributor conspired to stifle competition, according to a notice they have filed in Illinois federal court.

  • April 03, 2025

    Loan Fraud Plea Adds 6 Mos. To Pizzeria Owner's Prison Term

    The owner of a Boston-area pizzeria chain who was sentenced to 8½ years in prison in October for an alleged forced-labor scheme will spend an additional six months behind bars after pleading guilty to submitting false information to the U.S. Small Business Administration to obtain a loan.

  • April 02, 2025

    5th Circ. Presses Jackson, Miss., About Lead Levels In Water

    A Fifth Circuit panel pressed the city of Jackson, Mississippi, about its allegedly slipshod handling of lead contamination in city drinking water during oral arguments Wednesday, with one judge saying city officials seemingly "very artfully avoided" questions about poisoned drinking water to skirt culpability.

  • April 02, 2025

    Hooters Can Tap $5M Of Its $40M In Proposed Ch. 11 Loans

    Bankrupt restaurant chain Hooters of America LLC can access $5 million in interim financing from a $40 million debtor-in-possession package from its prepetition lenders as it transitions to a franchise-only model, a Texas bankruptcy judge said Wednesday.

  • April 02, 2025

    Bigelow VP Didn't Want Name In Emails About 'USA' Label

    A former R.C. Bigelow vice president testified Wednesday in a trial over the labeling of its products as "manufactured in the USA," agreeing that he once told a Bigelow executive he wished his name wasn't connected to the label, which a California federal judge has found to be false.

  • April 02, 2025

    Cherry Growers Lose Bid To Trim Canada's IP Suit

    A Washington federal judge on Wednesday refused to throw out certain federal and state law claims the Canadian government made against a group of cherry growers in an intellectual property lawsuit over the Staccato cherry variety.

  • April 02, 2025

    Sprouts Hid Unsafe Heavy Metal In Sunflower Butter, Suit Says

    Sprouts Farmers Market misleads customers into thinking its sunflower butter spreads sold under Sprouts' own brand is made with high-quality protein and safe to consume, despite containing dangerous levels of cadmium, which poses serious health risks, according to a proposed class action filed Wednesday in California federal court. 

  • April 02, 2025

    Florida Sued Over New Criminal Penalties For Migrants

    Advocates for immigrant and farmworker rights lodged a putative class action Wednesday challenging a Florida law criminalizing the entry of unauthorized migrants into the state, saying the law gives state officials unprecedented power to prosecute noncitizens and no defense to asylum seekers.

  • April 02, 2025

    'Beer Law' Firm Says Confusion Is Brewing Over Rival's Name

    A North Carolina law firm, one of whose managing partners focuses on advising businesses in the beer, wine and craft beverage industries under the name "Beer Law Center," on Wednesday accused a Colorado law firm of coasting off its reputation by offering services under the confusingly similar "Beer Law HQ."

  • April 02, 2025

    Jack in the Box Accused Of Killing Wash. Franchise Deals

    Two Jack in the Box Inc. franchisees claim the fast-food chain is using a series of recent closures as a pretext to seize the nearly 40 other financially viable locations they operate across Washington state, according to a new lawsuit seeking to stop the alleged takeover.

  • April 02, 2025

    Potbelly Says Insurer Must Cover Wage Transparency Suit

    Sandwich chain owner Potbelly Inc. told a Washington state court that its insurer wrongly refused to cover it in a proposed underlying class action alleging the business violated Washington's wage transparency law by failing to disclose pay and benefit information to job applicants.

  • April 02, 2025

    DOD Must Justify Noncompetitive Commissary Food Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has backed a food distributor's protest over a Defense Commissary Agency fresh food supply deal, finding the agency wrongly failed to justify its use of a noncompetitive award.

  • April 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Doubts Bang Energy Founder's $272M Verdict Appeal

    A Ninth Circuit panel expressed skepticism Wednesday about an attempt to undo Monster Beverage Corp.'s $272 million false advertising trial win against the founder of Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc., the now-defunct company behind Bang Energy drinks.

  • April 02, 2025

    Hemp Shop's Suit Over Cops' Raid, Arrests Tossed For Good

    A Texas federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a hemp shop owner's suit alleging that city of Port Lavaca police illegally raided her shop and arrested her and an employee on suspicion of selling illegal cannabis.

  • April 02, 2025

    Ohio Brewery Challenges Pa. Beer Import Shipping Limits

    A Cincinnati microbrewery says Pennsylvania laws that restrict how much beer an out-of-state producer can ship to customers in the Keystone State is an unfair burden on businesses and a violation of the U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause, according to a lawsuit in federal court.

  • April 02, 2025

    Justices Broaden RICO Reach To Personal Injuries

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday expanded the type of civil actions that can be brought under a federal racketeering statute, asserting that claims stemming from personal injuries are redressable if they can be shown to have caused economic harm.

  • April 01, 2025

    Trump Admin Layoffs 'Probably Broke Laws,' Judge Says

    A Maryland federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration "probably broke the laws that regulate en masse terminations of government employees," ordering the federal government to reinstate thousands of probationary employees who were abruptly fired from their jobs in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

  • April 01, 2025

    Bigelow Waved The Flag While Selling Foreign Tea, Jury Told

    R.C. Bigelow Inc. falsely advertised its foreign-grown teas as "manufactured in the USA" in a deceitful effort to play on customers' patriotic sentiments, counsel for a certified class of Golden State tea buyers told jurors as a damages trial opened in California federal court Tuesday.

  • April 01, 2025

    FDA Beats Challenge To Approval Of Elanco's Cattle Gas Drug

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has defeated an administrative challenge to its approval of Elanco Health's drug meant to reduce ammonia gas emissions from beef cattle and their waste, with a California federal judge ruling Tuesday that the agency reasonably evaluated its safety based on a wide array of studies.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Toxic Water Case Shows Need For Labeling To Protect Kids

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    A recent case involving contaminated alkaline water that inflicted severe liver damage on children underscores the risks that children can face from products not specifically targeted to them, and points to the need for stricter labeling standards for all bottled water, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support

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    A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.

  • Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where

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    During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • How Calif. Justices' Prop 22 Ruling Affects The Gig Industry

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    The California Supreme Court's recent upholding of Proposition 22 clarifies that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other companies in the gig industry can legally classify their drivers as independent contractors, but it falls short of concluding some important regulatory battles in the state, says Mark Spring at CDF Labor.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Classwide Calculations May Get Price Premium Damages Wrong

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    In many consumer class actions, plaintiffs assert that they overpaid for a product because of a misrepresented or defective product feature, and that a single price premium estimate can be applied classwide — but failure to account for differences in price premiums across a putative class may lead to improper damage awards, say economists at Ankura Consulting.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Insurance Lessons From 11th Circ. Ruling On Policy Grammar

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in ECB v. Chubb Insurance, holding that missing punctuation didn't change the clear meaning of a professional services policy, offers policyholder takeaways about the uncertainty that can arise when courts interpret insurance policy language based on obscure grammatical canons, say Hugh Lumpkin and Garrett Nemeroff at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Mercon Coffee Ch. 11 Ruling Shows Insider Releases' Limits

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    A New York bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Mercon Coffee’s Chapter 11 case highlights the stringent requirements for retention-related transfers to insiders, even in cases where no creditor has objected, say Robert Klyman and Scott Shelley at DLA Piper.

  • Illinois BIPA Reform Offers Welcome Relief To Businesses

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    Illinois' recent amendment to its Biometric Information Privacy Act limits the number of violations and damages a plaintiff can claim — a crucial step in shielding businesses from unintended legal consequences, including litigation risk and compliance costs, say attorneys at Taft.

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