Food & Beverage

  • March 28, 2024

    Hard Rock Cafe Workers Score Conditional Cert. In Tip Suit

    A Georgia federal judge has granted conditional class certification to a group of Hard Rock Cafe servers alleging the company forfeited its right to pay servers subminimum tipped wages by compelling them to perform excessive untipped work and not telling them a tip credit would be taken against their wages.

  • March 28, 2024

    Claims Trimmed In Trader Joe's Chocolate Heavy Metals Suit

    A California judge has dismissed five out of nine claims in a consolidated complaint alleging that Trader Joe's Co. misled consumers by failing to disclose that its dark chocolate bars contain heavy metals, finding that the complaint doesn't do enough to allege that the amounts are actually dangerous.

  • March 28, 2024

    WeightWatchers Adds 23andMe's Ex-Legal Head As Its GC

    WW International Inc., formerly known as WeightWatchers, hired Jacqueline Cooke from ancestry-tracking company 23andMe this month as its new general counsel and corporate secretary.

  • March 28, 2024

    Fruit Grower Cleared To Leave Ch. 11 With $43M Exit Loan

    California stone fruit producer Prima Wawona is set to wind down its packing and distribution division, hand ownership of the reorganized company to creditors and leave bankruptcy after a Delaware bankruptcy judge agreed to approve its Chapter 11 plan Thursday.

  • March 28, 2024

    Faruqi & Faruqi Beats 5 Firms To Lead NewAge Investor Suit

    A Colorado district judge has selected two clients of Faruqi & Faruqi LLP to lead an investor class action accusing the executives and directors of wellness company NewAge Inc. of securities fraud, saying the plaintiff with an even bigger financial interest is unfit for appointment because he hid his "troubling" background.

  • March 28, 2024

    Fees Awarded For 'Feeble' Milk Vitamin Eligibility Argument

    A Delaware federal judge has ordered ChromaDex Inc. and Dartmouth College to pay attorney fees to Elysium Health for making a "feeble" and failed argument defending their milk vitamin patents from an eligibility challenge, saying he's rarely been more confident that a suit was unreasonable.

  • March 28, 2024

    MSG-Maker Says Chinese Exporters Skirting Duties Via Malaysia

    The U.S. arm of Japanese monosodium glutamate manufacturer Ajinomoto Co. Inc. claims Chinese MSG producers are using a Malaysian competitor to evade duties on the umami flavor enhancer, saying the Malaysian company's facility isn't big enough to produce the product.

  • March 28, 2024

    Whataburger Accused Of Keeping Shoddy Funds In 401(k)

    Whataburger breached federal benefits law by stocking its employees' $215 million retirement plan with poorly performing funds and failing to replace them with better options, according to a proposed class action filed in Texas federal court.

  • March 28, 2024

    Dole Drops $293M Sale Of Vegetable Biz Under DOJ Pressure

    Dole PLC said Thursday it agreed to drop the planned $293 million sale of its fresh vegetable division to Chiquita Holdings Ltd. after the U.S. Department of Justice raised concerns about the deal's effect on packaged salad prices.

  • March 28, 2024

    'Better Made' Chips Goes After 'Better Smoke' Pot

    Detroit-based Better Made Snack Foods Inc. said a number of cannabis companies in Michigan have been selling a line of "Better Smoke" cannabis products that mimics the snack brand's century-old logo in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed Wednesday.

  • March 28, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen investors target fraudsters who ran a fake film tax scheme, Barclays Bank sue privately owned Russian bank PJSC Sovcombank, easyGroup bring a trademark infringement claim against online casino TGI Entertainment for its "easybet" word sign, and a bioethanol fuel company hit high-profile individuals connected to the collapsed Elysian Fuels scheme. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • March 27, 2024

    Minor League Players Charged With Insider Trading

    California federal prosecutors have hit current and former minor league baseball players with claims they made profits totaling over $162,000 trading off insider information about burger chain Jack in the Box's $575 million acquisition of its fellow chain Del Taco.

  • March 27, 2024

    Foreign Subsidy Rule Muddles 'Countervailable' Meaning

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's new final rule authorizing itself to investigate subsidies that governments give to manufacturers in other nations casts uncertainty over the definition of "countervailable" in the absence of clarity on how third-party governments will be incorporated into these duty probes. 

  • March 27, 2024

    Tribes Want Climate Change Row With Oil Cos. In State Court

    Two Native American tribes urged a Washington federal court to remand their consolidated case against ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 back to state court, arguing they've only asserted state-law causes of action.

  • March 27, 2024

    Cannabis Caucus Dems Urge Garland To Restore Pot Protections

    The two Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives' Congressional Cannabis Caucus blasted Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday for not reissuing "overdue" protections for marijuana businesses acting in compliance with state and tribal law.

  • March 27, 2024

    DoorDash, Grubhub Want Docs From NY Restaurant Lobbyists

    DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats have urged a Manhattan federal judge to let them subpoena the trade group executives who allegedly "worked closely" with officials on challenged New York City caps on fees that food delivery apps can charge restaurants.

  • March 27, 2024

    Candy Co. Can Use Recipe Amid 'Chocolate Moonshine' Fight

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has refused to ban the candy maker Local Yokels Fudge from making or selling fudge, ruling the owner's ex-husband hadn't shown the company is still using his family's secret "Chocolate Moonshine" fudge recipe.

  • March 27, 2024

    Farm Data Co. Wants To Bar Carlton Fields Atty From IP Suit

    Lawyers for an agricultural industry data software outfit want a Carlton Fields lawyer banned from participating in a patent dispute with a rival startup because of her in-house involvement at the rival and work on an older trade secrets suit involving the same technology.

  • March 27, 2024

    47 House Dems Urge Changing Trade Deal To Stem Migration

    A large bloc of U.S. lawmakers has called on the Biden administration to remove what the lawmakers say is a damaging investor-state dispute settlement mechanism from the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, warning federal government officials that it's a primary reason why migrants are leaving the region.

  • March 27, 2024

    HR Services Co. May Be Liable In Harassment Suit, Court Says

    A Texas appellate court said Wednesday that more fact-finding is needed to determine whether a professional employer organization could be on the hook for a sexual harassment claim brought by a cafeteria worker, but found that the company is, legally, an employer.

  • March 27, 2024

    9th Circ. Rejects Rust-Oleum's Bid To Sink Class Cert.

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday upheld the certification of a class of Rust-Oleum customers who are suing the company for allegedly greenwashing its degreaser products with the terms "non-toxic" and "Earth friendly."

  • March 27, 2024

    CBD Retailer Used Spyware, Recorded Online Chats, Suit Says

    Charlotte's Web Inc., a CBD retailer, is secretly recording conversations of those who visit its website in violation of a California privacy law that is simple to follow, according to a proposed class action removed to federal court on Monday.

  • March 27, 2024

    Vietnamese Producer Faces Brunt Of Shrimp Subsidy Probe

    A Vietnamese shrimp farm may face a nearly 200% countervailing duty rate based on preliminary findings in the U.S. Department of Commerce's probe into whether shrimp imports from four countries are hurting the U.S. market through unfair government subsidies.

  • March 27, 2024

    3 Firms Vie To Lead Instacart Pre-IPO Action

    Levi & Korsinsky LLP, Pomerantz LLP and The Rosen Law Firm PA have each asked a California federal judge to lead a securities lawsuit against grocery delivery company Instacart for allegedly misrepresenting its growth potential in the lead-up to its initial public offering.

  • March 27, 2024

    Smucker Needn't Pay Multiple Limits For Tainted Jif Row

    J.M. Smucker Co. does not have to satisfy the retained limit for 225 underlying claims seeking damages for salmonella-contaminated Jif peanut butter individually before being eligible for coverage, an Ohio federal judge ruled, holding that the underlying claims constituted a single occurrence.

Expert Analysis

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

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    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • How Fla. Bankruptcy Ruling May Affect Equity Owners

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    A Florida bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Vital Pharmaceuticals — which rejected the Third Circuit’s Majestic Star decision that determined a bankrupt corporation’s flow-through status was not protected by the automatic stay — may significantly affect how equity owners can mitigate the impact of flow-through structures in bankruptcy, say Eric Behl-Remijan and Natasha Hwangpo at Ropes & Gray.

  • M&A Ruling Buoys Loss Calculation Method, R&W Insurance

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    The recent Southern District of New York decision in Taylor Precision Products v. Larimer affirms the use of EBITDA as a basis to quantify loss, highlighting the potential shortcomings of a traditional seller indemnity compared to representation and warranty insurance, say Mark Schwartz at Lockton, and William O’Neil and Gretchen Scavo at Winston & Strawn.

  • How Consumer Complaints Can Help Companies

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    As seen most recently in Zoom's terms of service controversy, consumer complaints — despite initially seeming troubling for companies — can offer businesses the opportunity to identify, tackle and resolve budding challenges before those challenges escalate into larger issues, say Meghan Stoppel and Hannah Cornett at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Opinion

    Life Sciences Regulators Must Write Cloud-Specific Guidance

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    As cloud services continue to revolutionize the life sciences industry's ability to conduct regulated activities, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulators should update their data management policies to clearly support and encourage use of cloud technology, say Nate Brown and Marlee Gallant at Akin.

  • Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence

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    Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Analyzing The Legal Ripples Of The EPA's PFAS Regulation

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    As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency makes major moves on its pledge to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, the developing body of PFAS regulation will lead to an increase in litigation, and personal injury and product liability claims, say attorneys at Gordon & Rees.

  • The Growing Need For FLSA Private Settlement Rule Clarity

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    A Pennsylvania district court's recent ruling in Walker v. Marathon Petroleum echoes an interesting and growing trend of jurists questioning the need for — and legality of — judicial approval of private Fair Labor Standards Act settlements, which provides more options for parties to efficiently resolve their claims, says Rachael Coe at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: The UK

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    Following Brexit, the U.K. has adopted a different approach to regulating environmental, social and governance factors from the European Union — an approach that focuses on climate disclosures by U.K.-regulated entities, while steering clear of the more ambitious objectives pursued by the EU, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Boeing Opinion Strikes Blow Against Overpayment Theory

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    The Fifth Circuit's decision in Earl v. Boeing Co. casts doubt on consumers' standing to bring claims of overpayment for products later revealed to have defects — and suggests that it's more likely that those products would have been removed from the market, driving up the price of alternatives, say attorneys at Bush Seyferth.

  • Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes

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    Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.

  • Compliance Primer: Foreign Investment In US Real Property

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    The rise in foreign investment in U.S. real property, especially agricultural land, has led to increased national security concerns, meaning it’s important to understand reporting requirements under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act and state-level statutes, and to monitor legislative proposals that could create more stringent reporting and review processes, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • New Initiatives Will Advance Corporate Biodiversity Reporting

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    Two important recent developments — the launch of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures' framework on nature and biodiversity reporting, and Nature Action 100's announcement of the 100 companies it plans to engage on biodiversity issues — will help bring biodiversity disclosures into the mainstream, say David Woodcock and Maria Banda at Gibson Dunn.

  • Class Action Defense: Don't Give Up On Bristol-Myers Squibb

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    Federal appellate court decisions in the six years since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Bristol-Myers Squibb show that it's anyone's ballgame in class action jurisdictional arguments, so defendants are encouraged to consider carefully whether, where and when arguing lack of specific personal jurisdiction may be advantageous, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys

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    Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.

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