Food & Beverage

  • May 20, 2026

    Jack In The Box Can't Dodge Franchisees' Indemnity Claim

    A Washington state judge Tuesday denied Jack in the Box Inc.'s effort to sidestep liability for job postings that allegedly violated a Washington pay transparency statute, ruling that two franchisees suing the fast-food giant adequately stated an equitable indemnity claim under California law.

  • May 20, 2026

    Amazon Rebuffs Lost Doc Allegations In COVID Pricing Case

    Amazon called on a Washington federal judge Tuesday to deny two consumers' bid for sanctions against it in a proposed class action over alleged price-gouging on the e-commerce platform during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the plaintiffs are trying to dodge major legal hurdles by leveling baseless claims of failure to preserve evidence.

  • May 20, 2026

    Ikea, Mondelez Customers Seek Tariff Refunds In Illinois Suits

    Furniture chain Ikea and snack giant Mondelez are the latest companies to get hit with Illinois lawsuits seeking refunds of tariffs customers say they ultimately paid through inflated product prices before the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately found the tariffs illegal.   

  • May 20, 2026

    Salad JV Partner Sued Over Cash Distribution Freeze

    Taylor Fresh Foods Inc. sued Fresh Express Vegetable LLC in Delaware Chancery Court Wednesday, accusing its joint venture partner of improperly withholding millions of dollars in required cash distributions while trying to force out the venture's longtime chief executive.

  • May 20, 2026

    Baby Food Brands Accused Of Toxic Levels Of Heavy Metals

    Walmart, Gerber Products Co. and several other companies were hit with a suit in federal court claiming that they knowingly manufacture and sell baby foods containing dangerous levels of toxic metals.

  • May 20, 2026

    AGs Seek Crackdown On Customized Food Pricing

    Online food delivery platforms are charging people differently based on the personal data they glean from their smartphones, and the Federal Trade Commission ought to force companies to be upfront about it, say 16 state attorneys general.

  • May 20, 2026

    9th Circ. Questions Jack Daniel's TM Win Over 'Bad Spaniels'

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned whether Jack Daniel's proved that any mark beyond its name was famous enough to support a tarnishment ruling against VIP Products' poop-themed "Bad Spaniels" dog toy, while pressing both sides on whether courts should compare the parties' marks alone or also consider the toy's bottle-like design and crude humor.

  • May 20, 2026

    DC Judge Questions Red Snapper Season Expansion Plan

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday seemed wary of administration attorneys' claims that a new fishery permitting regime exempting four southeastern states from recreational red snapper catch limits this year would help data collection for future limits.

  • May 20, 2026

    Fla. Judge OKs Staff Bonuses In Popeyes Franchisee Ch. 11

    A Florida federal bankruptcy judge approved performance-based bonuses to a group of workers of a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen franchise operator, saying the program is key to maximizing the value of the debtor ahead of a Chapter 11 sale.

  • May 20, 2026

    7th Circ. Weighs If Abbott Warning Would Change NEC Care

    A Seventh Circuit judge on Wednesday pushed counsel for a mother asking to revive her lawsuit claiming Abbott Laboratories' infant formula caused her premature daughter to develop a fatal gut disease to address whether the mother had a burden to identify a more adequate warning that would have prompted her baby's treating physicians to act differently.

  • May 20, 2026

    PTAB Panel Saves Some Herd Management Patent Claims

    A special panel of three Patent Trial and Appeal Board judges has found that a regular review tribunal of the board wrongly invalidated some claims of an animal management patent, reviving those claims.

  • May 20, 2026

    Target Says Tuna Label Suit Rests On Generalized Grievances

    Target urged a California federal judge to nix a proposed class action alleging its Good & Gather tuna products are deceptively labeled as "sustainably caught," arguing Tuesday the plaintiff takes issue with the global commercial tuna fishing industry, which "may reflect some bad actors, but none by Target's suppliers."

  • May 20, 2026

    Mass. Justices Say Tax Law Not Basis To Block Bog Sale

    A Massachusetts law that lowers property tax rates on agricultural land does not grant standing to abutters seeking to unwind the sale of a Cape Cod cranberry bog to a developer, the state's highest court said Wednesday.

  • May 19, 2026

    Shoppers Seek Fees At 9th Circ. For Kroger, Albertsons Fight

    Counsel for grocery store consumers urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to find they substantially prevailed in their proposed class action challenging Kroger's since-abandoned $24.6 billion bid for Albertsons and are entitled to attorney fees, arguing that the lower court wrongly concluded the case was mooted by other federal actions blocking the merger.

  • May 19, 2026

    States Tell CIT To Reject Gov't's Request To Stay Tariff Ruling

    The federal government's arguments to stay a permanent injunction against the collection of President Donald Trump's temporary global duties for two small businesses and the state of Washington while it appeals the ruling are overblown, a coalition of states told the U.S. Court of International Trade on Tuesday.

  • May 19, 2026

    Momcozy Hit With Class Action Over Defective Bottle Sterilizer

    Two mothers have hit baby product company Root Technology Ltd. with a proposed class action in New York federal court alleging that the Momcozy brand countertop washer for bottles is defective since the necessary high sterilization temperatures cause plastic parts to break off, creating a choking hazard for infants.

  • May 19, 2026

    Revoking Workers' Comp A 'Slippery Slope,' Pa. Justice Says

    A Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice Tuesday warned that cutting off workers' compensation benefits for disregarding a doctor's general health advice, such as not smoking, could be a "slippery slope" that leads to the end of coverage for many across the state.

  • May 19, 2026

    PBGC Defends 2nd Denial Of Pension Bailout Bid

    The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. told a New York federal judge Tuesday that it stands by its denial of a union pension fund's second application for a bailout, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a Second Circuit ruling ordering the agency to reassess the request.

  • May 19, 2026

    Food52 Confirms Ch. 11 Liquidation Plan

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge Tuesday agreed to confirm the Chapter 11 liquidation plan for e-commerce group Food52, trimming a few features of the plan including releases for the debtor and the creditors committee.

  • May 19, 2026

    Wis. Tribe Says State Misreads 1854 Treaty In Fishing Row

    The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians says Wisconsin is misinterpreting tribal regulatory authority in its bid to block the tribe from barring nonmember fishing in 19 lakes within its reservation, telling a federal district court that the state can't prove key elements of its claims.

  • May 19, 2026

    Vietnamese Plastic Boxes Face Triple-Digit Duty Rate

    Imported plastic boxes from Vietnam could be hit with a more than 130% antidumping duty rate after the U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday finalized its determination that the products are being sold at less than fair value.

  • May 19, 2026

    Church-Run Farm Fails To Undo Child Labor Ruling

    A Pennsylvania federal judge refused to reconsider her ruling that a church-run farm violated federal labor law by putting children as young as 12 to work without pay, rejecting its bid to undo nearly $670,000 in back wages.

  • May 19, 2026

    Spencer Fane Adds GrayRobinson Atty To Food & Bev Team

    A former in-house attorney, who worked for Lyft and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, has left her most recent role as a GrayRobinson PC attorney to join Spencer Fane LLP's newly launched food and beverage group.

  • May 18, 2026

    Texas AG Joins DOJ In Investigating Beef Antitrust Claims

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched his own investigation into potential anticompetitive conduct among the country's meatpackers, a probe that will take place alongside the U.S. Department of Justice's ongoing investigation into the same allegations.

  • May 18, 2026

    EPA Plans To Repeal Biden-Era 'Forever Chemicals' Rules

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday officially unveiled plans to roll back limits for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, aka forever chemicals, in drinking water systems and to delay compliance requirements, a move environmentalists said "needlessly" exposes Americans to dangerous chemicals and could be illegal.

Expert Analysis

  • Takeaways From The DOJ Fraud Section's 2025 Year In Review

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    Former acting Principal Deputy Chief Sean Tonolli of the U.S. Department of Justice's Fraud Section, now at Cahill Gordon, analyzes key findings from the section’s annual report — including the changes implemented to adapt to the new administration’s priorities — and lays out what to watch for this year.

  • New State Regs On PFAS In Products Complicate Compliance

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    The new year brought new bans and reporting requirements for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in half a dozen states — in many cases, targeting specific consumer product categories — so manufacturers, distributors and retailers must not only monitor their own supply chains, but also coordinate to ensure compliance, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    Congress Should Lead On AI Policy, Not The States

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    There needs to be some limits on how far federal agencies go in regulating artificial intelligence systems, but Congress must not abdicate its responsibility and cede control over this interstate market to state and local officials, say Kevin Frazier at the University of Texas School of Law and Adam Thierer at the R Street Institute.

  • How Selig May Approach CFTC Agricultural Enforcement

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    As the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission begins a new chapter under recently confirmed Chairman Michael Selig's leadership, a look back at the agency's actions in agricultural markets over the past six years sheds light on what may lie ahead for enforcement in the area, say attorneys at Latham.

  • FTC Focus: Testing Joint Enforcement Over Loyalty Programs

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    The Federal Trade Commission's case against Syngenta can be understood both as a canary for further scrutiny over loyalty-discount practices and a signal of the durability of joint federal-state antitrust enforcement, with key takeaways for practitioners and those subject to regulatory antitrust scrutiny alike, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

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    Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court

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    While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.

  • 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

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    Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

  • Rescheduling Cannabis Marks New Tax Era For Operators

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    As the attorney general takes steps to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, operators and advisers should prepare by considering the significant changes this will bring from tax, state, industry and market perspectives, says Michael Harlow at CohnReznick.

  • Series

    Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: January Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five rulings from October and November, and identifies practice tips from cases involving consumer fraud, oil and gas leases, toxic torts, and wage and hour issues.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Judicial Use Informs Guardrails

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    U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado discusses why having a sense of how generative AI tools behave, where they add value, where they introduce risk and how they are reshaping the practice of law is key for today's judges.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 5 Tips From Ex-SEC Unit Chief

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    My move to private practice has reaffirmed my belief in the value of adaptability, collaboration and strategic thinking — qualities that are essential not only for successful client outcomes, but also for sustained professional satisfaction, says Dabney O’Riordan at Fried Frank.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: How To Start A Law Firm

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    Launching and sustaining a law firm requires skills most law schools don't teach, but every lawyer should understand a few core principles that can make the leap calculated rather than reckless, says Sam Katz at Athlaw.

  • Key False Claims Act Trends From The Last Year

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    The False Claims Act remains a powerful enforcement tool after some record verdicts and settlements in 2025, and while traditional fraud areas remain a priority, new initiatives are raising questions about its expanding application, says Veronica Nannis at Joseph Greenwald.

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