Retail & E-Commerce

  • April 22, 2026

    Pot Dispensary Owners Sue Partners Over 'Phantom Debt' Plot

    An investor and a cannabis license holder are suing a couple they had hoped would manage a Los Angeles marijuana dispensary for them, claiming in California state court that they instead created $3.4 million in "phantom debt" to steal majority ownership interests in the business and then misappropriate millions.

  • April 22, 2026

    Feds Urge 9th Circ. To Lift Block On Calif. Border Patrol Sweeps

    The government urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to lift an injunction barring Border Patrol from warrantless arrests and detentive stops without probable cause and reasonable suspicion, arguing that the plaintiffs lack standing, because they have "no good basis to believe they themselves will be subject to future unlawful stops."

  • April 22, 2026

    Poland Spring Drinkers Renew Class Cert. Bid In False-Ad Suit

    Purchasers of Poland Spring bottled water have again urged a Connecticut federal judge to certify proposed classes in their lawsuit that claims the former Nestle brand was actually bottling groundwater, setting a proposed class period end date after the judge initially denied their certification request for lacking a date.

  • April 22, 2026

    Google Loses Bid For Yelp R&D Info In Antitrust Defense

    A California federal judge overseeing Yelp's lawsuit claiming Google monopolizes the local search market said Wednesday that Google's demand for documents regarding Yelp's research and development investments was too broad and that Yelp's "objections on relevance and proportionality are meritorious."

  • April 22, 2026

    Nintendo Customers Jump In On Tariff Refund Suits

    Video game giant Nintendo stands to make "windfall profits" through refunds of President Donald Trump's now-invalidated global tariff regime since those costs were actually passed on to consumers, a proposed class action in Washington federal court said, joining the chorus of customers looking to secure tariff-related refunds.

  • April 22, 2026

    CIT Backs Expanded Scope For Chinese Cabinet Duties

    Certain wooden cabinets and vanities completed in Vietnam and Malaysia with components manufactured in China were correctly found to be in-scope of duty orders on such products from China, the U.S. Court of International Trade said Wednesday, sustaining two U.S. Department of Commerce determinations.

  • April 22, 2026

    USTR Seeking 'Outcomes' On DSTs, Stronger USMCA Rules

    U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a U.S. House of Representatives panel Wednesday that efforts to eliminate digital service taxes implemented by jurisdictions across the world continue to be prioritized by President Donald Trump's administration, and potential tariff actions are ready in waiting.

  • April 22, 2026

    Retailers Ready To Fight FCC Over Call Center 'Onshoring'

    Large retail chains aren't happy with the Federal Communications Commission's plan to "onshore" customer service call centers, saying that even though it's geared toward communications companies, the proposal risks being foisted onto retailers as well.

  • April 22, 2026

    Chemical Co. Says It Had No Duty To Warn Prior To Suicides

    A chemical company has asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to throw out a lawsuit alleging it is liable for the suicides of two people who used its high-purity sodium nitrite to end their lives, arguing it had no duty to protect its customers' health.

  • April 22, 2026

    Simpson Thacher Adds Another Kirkland Finance Alum In Calif.

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has hired another former Kirkland & Ellis LLP partner to join its recently formed capital structure solutions practice in the San Francisco area, where she'll focus on banking and other finance matters, Simpson Thacher announced Wednesday.

  • April 22, 2026

    Latham-Led Convenience Chain Yesway Rings Up $280M IPO

    Convenience store chain Yesway hit the public markets Wednesday after raising $280 million in its initial public offering steered by Latham & Watkins LLP and Allen Overy Shearman Sterling.

  • April 22, 2026

    Oura Hit With New Patent Suit Over Fitness Wearables

    Zepp Health has hit Oura Health with a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas accusing the Finnish company of infringing a series of patents on wearable fitness devices, the latest salvo in a wider patent fight between the companies.

  • April 22, 2026

    Va. Lawmakers Reject Governor's Changes To Pot Bill

    Virginia legislators on Wednesday rejected Gov. Abigail Spanberger's proposed changes to a bill that would create a regulated cannabis market.

  • April 22, 2026

    Paint Co. Says Injury Firm Used Stolen Data To Solicit Clients

    A paint company has asked a North Carolina federal court to boot the opposing counsel in a putative data breach class action, accusing them of finding stolen data on the dark web and using it to solicit potential plaintiffs before victims were even notified of the breach.

  • April 22, 2026

    Mass. Justices Reject Additional Rules For Punitive Damages

    Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday rejected a bid by Philip Morris USA Inc. to impose rules aimed at curbing big-dollar punitive damages awards, declining to wipe out or further reduce a verdict against the tobacco company that was already slashed from $1 billion to $56 million.  

  • April 22, 2026

    Yelp Stiffed Calif. Workers On Boot-Up Time, Suit Says

    Yelp failed to pay hourly workers for the minutes they spent waiting for their work computers to boot up before they could clock in for each shift, a former worker alleged in a proposed class action in California state court.

  • April 21, 2026

    Ohio Appeals Panel Questions Google Common Carrier Case

    An Ohio appeals panel raised several questions on Tuesday about the manageability of a bid to designate Google's search engine as a common carrier and whether the effort would regulate online speech.

  • April 21, 2026

    Audible Users Seek To Certify Class In Expiring Credits Suit

    Audible Inc. customers accusing the company of illegally putting expiration dates on audiobook vouchers asked a Seattle federal judge to certify a nationwide class of consumers, arguing that it "makes no sense" for the potential class members to litigate claims individually.

  • April 21, 2026

    IP Notebook: Global Copyright, ChatGPT TM, Rogers Test

    This round of Law360's look at emerging copyright and trademark issues includes a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court appeal with global implications for copyrights, and OpenAI's setback in its effort to register "ChatGPT" as a trademark.

  • April 21, 2026

    7th Circ. Says Fed. Laws Don't Preempt Wis. Vape Sale Ban

    The Seventh Circuit declined Tuesday to revive vaping interest groups' bid to halt enforcement of a Wisconsin law banning sales of e-cigarettes that aren't approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, finding federal law doesn't preempt the state's authority to regulate the marketing and sales of tobacco products. 

  • April 21, 2026

    Fla. AG Backs Bal Harbour Shops Owner In Live Local Dispute

    Florida's Office of the Attorney General has asked a state court for permission to file an amicus brief supporting developer Bal Harbour Shops LLC's suit against a municipality that rejected the developer's application for a mixed-use project that would have included homes, a hotel and a retail area.

  • April 21, 2026

    NM Couple Plead Guilty To Selling Vietnam Jewelry As Navajo

    A New Mexico husband and wife have admitted in North Carolina federal court to importing counterfeit Native American jewelry from Vietnam and marketing it to U.S. buyers as genuine handmade Navajo pieces, according to federal prosecutors and court documents.

  • April 21, 2026

    Plug Power Gets Some Claims Snipped From Investor Suit

    A Delaware federal judge has trimmed a shareholder suit against hydrogen fuel cell company Plug Power Inc., finding that statements about the company's revenue projections and one of its production facilities are inactionable.

  • April 21, 2026

    Judge Eyes Ballot Deadline In Feud Over BJ's Climate Study

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday said he's eager to cut to the chase in a dispute over whether BJ's Wholesale Club must allow shareholders to vote on a climate study proposal, suggesting the case could be resolved ahead of a looming proxy ballot deadline. 

  • April 21, 2026

    Trade Court OKs 2nd Try At Scope Of Chinese Wood Duties

    Edge-glued wood boards imported by a Louisiana company will be subject to duty orders on Chinese wood mouldings and millwork products, the U.S. Court of International Trade decided Tuesday, finding the U.S. Department of Commerce's second try at explaining the orders' scope to be sufficient.

Expert Analysis

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

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    Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • The Legal Issues With AI Agents In Consumer Transactions

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    Enabling artificial intelligence agents to handle not just research and recommendations, but the execution of purchases themselves, fundamentally alters commercial relationships and introduces new practical and legal questions for card issuers, merchants, acquirers and consumers, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Wash. Email Subject Line Ruling Puts Retailers On The Hook

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    The Washington state Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Old Navy, finding that a state law prohibits misleading email subject lines, has opened the door to nationwide copycat litigation, introducing potential exposure measured not in thousands, but in millions or even billions of dollars for retailers, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • Series

    Building With Lego Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Building with Lego has taught me to follow directions and adapt to unexpected challenges, and in pairing discipline with imagination, allows me to stay grounded while finding new ways to make complex deals come together, says Paul Levin at Venable.

  • How Banks Can Safely Handle Payments For Gambling Biz

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    As the betting market continues to expand, it's crucial for banks and fintechs to track historical developments in wagering and ongoing prediction markets litigation that can factor into a risk analysis for payment processing with respect to gambling operators, says Laura D'Angelo at Jones Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Networking 101

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    Cultivating a network isn't part of the law school curriculum, but learning the soft skills needed to do so may be the key to establishing a solid professional reputation, nurturing client relationships and building business, says Sharon Crane at Practising Law Institute.

  • Defeating Estoppel-Based Claims In Legal Malpractice Actions

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    State supreme court cases from recent years have addressed whether positions taken by attorneys in an underlying lawsuit can be used against them in a subsequent legal malpractice action, providing a foundation to defeat ex-clients’ estoppel claims, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • AI's Role In Google Antitrust Suit May Reshape Tech Markets

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    The evolution of AI in retail has reshaped the U.S.' antitrust case against Google, which could both benefit small business innovators and consumers, and fundamentally alter future antitrust cases, including the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Amazon, says Graham Dufault at ACT.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: How It Works In Massachusetts

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    Since its founding in 2000, the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session's expertise, procedural flexibility and litigant-friendly case management practices have contributed to the development of a robust body of commercial jurisprudence, say James Donnelly at Mirick O’Connell, Felicia Ellsworth at WilmerHale and Lisa Wood at Foley Hoag.

  • Why Appellees Should Write Their Answering Brief First

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    Though counterintuitive, appellees should consider writing their answering briefs before they’ve ever seen their opponent’s opening brief, as this practice confers numerous benefits related to argument structure, time pressures and workflow, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • 2nd Circ. Peloton Ruling Emphasizes Disclosure Context

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision to revive shareholders’ suit alleging that Peloton made materially misleading statements makes clear that public companies must continually review risk disclosures to determine if previous hypotheticals have materialized, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

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