Hospitality

  • June 13, 2024

    DirecTV's 'NFL Tax' Gouged Sunday Ticket Buyers, Jury Told

    DirecTV gouged its Sunday Ticket subscribers by charging 24.6% above the "optimal price" it should have charged if the company was looking to maximize its profits instead of instituting an "NFL tax," an economist told a California federal jury considering multibillion-dollar antitrust claims against the league on Thursday.

  • June 13, 2024

    Lil Uzi Vert Owes Production Co. Over $500K, Suit Says

    A California-based music touring company has accused rapper Lil Uzi Vert of stiffing the company of more than half a million dollars in unpaid fees for designing and producing the musician's concerts, according to a Georgia federal lawsuit filed Thursday.

  • June 13, 2024

    Theater Co. Cites Prior Ruling Against Cruise Biz In IP Suit

    A Louisiana theatrical production company is urging a Florida state court to rule in its favor on damages in a lawsuit alleging Celebrity Cruises Inc. continued to use intellectual property beyond licensing agreements, saying the issue was already ruled on in a previous lawsuit between the same parties.

  • June 13, 2024

    Brewpub Reaches $115K Deal To Exit EEOC Retaliation Suit

    A restaurant and brewery agreed Thursday to pay $115,000 to resolve a lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing it of firing a Black cook for flagging verbal abuse of Black and Hispanic employees in the workplace, according to a filing in Georgia federal court.

  • June 13, 2024

    Red Roof Had 'Revolving Door' For Trafficking, Ga. Jurors Told

    A former Red Roof Inn Inc. employee and the leader of a nonprofit testified Thursday about sex trafficking they saw take place at two metro Atlanta Red Roof Inn locations as part of a landmark civil trial in which 11 women allege the company knew trafficking was taking place at the locations and did nothing to stop it.

  • June 13, 2024

    Mass. High Court Approves Tipped Wage Ballot Measure

    Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday gave its blessing to a November ballot question asking voters to increase the state's minimum wage for tipped workers, finding that pairing the measure with a provision to allow tip pooling is part of an overall public policy goal to boost wages for all service industry employees.

  • June 12, 2024

    'Repugnant To Civility': Judge Rips, Yet Won't DQ Taft Stettinius

    A Michigan state judge slammed law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP for keeping ex-client MGM in the dark about its merger with another firm and called Taft Stettinius' assertion MGM should have figured it out "repugnant to civility," but nonetheless said he wouldn't disqualify Taft Stettinius from representing MGM's opponent in an arbitration.

  • June 12, 2024

    NFL Exec Denies League Fixed Sunday Ticket Price At Trial

    One of the NFL's top executives denied on the witness stand Wednesday in a California federal courtroom that the league dictated the cost of the DirecTV Sunday Ticket package, pushing back when an attorney for subscribers bringing multibillion-dollar antitrust claims suggested some internal emails are evidence the league fixed the price.

  • June 12, 2024

    Conn. Eatery Owners Threatened To Kill Ex-Worker, DOL Says

    A Connecticut restaurant group and its leaders ordered workers to lie to federal investigators during a wage and hour probe and threatened to kill an ex-worker for helping the U.S. Department of Labor, the agency said in a complaint filed in federal court.

  • June 11, 2024

    NFL Sunday Ticket Monopoly Cost Fans $7B, Expert Testifies

    An economist testifying as an expert for the plaintiffs in a California federal trial over multibillion-dollar antitrust claims brought against the NFL by DirecTV Sunday Ticket subscribers said Tuesday that subscribers suffered over $7 billion in damages from DirecTV's alleged monopoly on the television package.

  • June 11, 2024

    Attys For Restaurant Software Investors Ring Up $2.25M Fee

    Attorneys representing investors in a suit against restaurant software company Olo Inc. will receive $2.25 million for brokering settlement of class action claims alleging the company touted an ill-fated partnership with sandwich chain Subway as an example of its success.

  • June 11, 2024

    Judge Won't Certify Class In Trafficked Cuban Property Suit

    A Florida federal judge said Tuesday he would not certify a class of U.S. nationals with claims to hotel properties seized by the communist Cuban government in their suit against Expedia Group Inc., saying there were too many individual issues in the suit that predominate over the common issues.

  • June 11, 2024

    Ex-DraftKings Exec Seeks Fast Trial To Test Noncompete Law

    A former DraftKings executive wants a snap trial to unwind a noncompete blocking him from work at sports-betting rival Fanatics, calling the fiercely litigated, bicoastal dispute a "test case" for California's recent law reinforcing a ban on restrictive covenants.

  • June 11, 2024

    Restaurant Owner Seeks $414K For Deductible Overpayment

    The owner of two Florida restaurants is seeking reimbursement of over $400,000, telling a federal district court Tuesday that it overpaid a claim deductible for damage stemming from Hurricane Ian after its insurer misapplied the appropriate endorsement.

  • June 11, 2024

    Fla. Judge OKs Strip Club And Dancers' $165K Wage Deal

    A South Florida strip club operator will pay $165,000 to dancers who claimed they were misclassified as independent contractors and denied minimum wages, under a settlement agreement approved by a federal judge.

  • June 11, 2024

    Vt. Short-Term Rental Tax Proposal Vetoed

    A Vermont bill that would have imposed a 3% surcharge on short-term rentals was vetoed by the governor.

  • June 10, 2024

    Pork Producers Look To Put A Fork In Price-Fixing Claims

    Pork producers accused of colluding to diminish supply and inflate prices in sprawling multidistrict litigation have urged a Minnesota federal court to toss all remaining buyers' claims against them, saying statistical reports they use are lawful and their accusers' complaints are untimely.

  • June 10, 2024

    Fox Views NFL Sunday Ticket As 'Existential' Threat, Jury Told

    A retired executive with Fox Sports testified Monday in a trial over multibillion-dollar antitrust claims brought against the NFL by Sunday Ticket subscribers that his network asked the league to agree to specific Sunday Ticket pricing because it viewed the DirecTV television package as an "existential" threat.

  • June 10, 2024

    6th Circ. Won't Rethink Drop Of Suit Over Doped Derby Horse

    A Sixth Circuit panel on Monday declined to rehear arguments from a group of gamblers who claim they should have been paid for their 2021 Kentucky Derby winning bets after the first-place horse was eventually disqualified for doping.

  • June 10, 2024

    Fat Brands Faces Investor Suit Over $47M Loan Scheme

    Fat Brands and its executives face a proposed class action in California federal court alleging that they falsely claimed to be cooperating with governmental probes into their CEO's spending $47 million on company loans while skirting taxes, leading stock prices to plunge last month when criminal charges were announced.

  • June 10, 2024

    'Junk Fee' Suit Against Hilton Shipped Back To State Court

    A D.C. federal judge has sent back to state court a traveler advocacy group's lawsuit accusing Hilton of tricking hotel guests into paying "junk fees" late in the booking process, rejecting the hotel chain's bid to litigate the proposed class action in federal court.

  • June 10, 2024

    Unclaimed Property Group Backs Disney At Mich. High Court

    An unclaimed property holder trade organization urged the Michigan Supreme Court to affirm that the state waited too long to demand that Disney and a restaurant company remit unclaimed property, arguing that third-party auditors' lax oversight allowed examinations to languish beyond the statute of limitations.

  • June 10, 2024

    Migrant Cleaners Rebuff Colo. Hotel's Bid To Ditch Wage Suit

    The migrant contractor staff that cleaned a Colorado luxury hotel slammed the hotel's efforts to escape claims of underpaying its workers, telling a Colorado federal court Monday that the hotel set the terms of their employment.

  • June 07, 2024

    NFL's Kraft Testifies 'Too Many' Sunday Ticket Sales Is Bad

    A California federal jury considering multi-billion dollar antitrust claims against the NFL brought by Sunday Ticket subscribers saw video deposition testimony Friday from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who said ensuring a high price for the television package is a league priority, and he would not want "too many" U.S. subscribers.

  • June 07, 2024

    Pedicure Chair Co. Settles Patent Suits With Nail Salon, Seller

    A company that sells pedicure chairs has reached settlements in litigation accusing a North Carolina nail salon and a Texas spa furniture retailer of using and selling chairs that infringe its patent.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • What 11th Circ. FCRA Ruling Means For Credit Furnishers

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    Credit furnishers should revisit their internal investigation and verification procedures after the Eleventh Circuit declined last month in Holden v. Holiday to impose a bright-line rule that only purely factual or transcription errors are actionable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, say Diana Eng and Michael Esposito at Blank Rome.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • Is The State Lottery The New Online Casino?

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    The traditional lines of demarcation between smartphone lottery games and online casino games are eroding since the difference is largely indistinguishable to the casual gambler — begging the question of how legal treatment may differ between state lotteries and the private-sector casino industry, says Michael Peacock at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • Corporate Insurance Considerations For Trafficking Claims

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    With the surge in litigation over liability under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, corporate risk managers and in-house counsel need to ensure that appropriate insurance coverage is in place to provide for defense and indemnity against this liability, says Micah Skidmore at Haynes Boone.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Del. Dispatch: Chancery's Evolving Approach To Caremark

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    Though Caremark claims are historically the least likely corporate claims to lead to liability, such cases have been met in recent years with increased judicial receptivity — but the Delaware Court of Chancery still expressly discourages the reflexive filing of Caremark claims following corporate mishaps, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Leveraging Insurance Amid Microplastics Concerns

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    A pending microplastics lawsuit — New York v. PepsiCo Inc. — may be a harbinger of what is to come for companies whose products are exposed to the environment, so any company considering how to address microplastics liability should include a careful assessment of the potential for insurance coverage in its due diligence, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • 4 Sectors Will Likely Bear Initial Brunt Of FTC 'Junk Fees' Rule

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    If the Federal Trade Commission adopts its comprehensive proposed rule to ban unfair or deceptive fees across the U.S. economy, many businesses — including those in the lodging, event ticketing, dining and transportation sectors — will need to reexamine the way they market and price their products and services, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?

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    Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.

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