Retail & E-Commerce

  • April 23, 2024

    Ex-Williams Sonoma Exec Pleads Not Guilty To Fraud

    A former Williams Sonoma executive appeared remotely before a U.S. magistrate judge in California federal court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to an 18-count superseding indictment alleging he orchestrated a kickback scheme and another involving the diversion of payments.

  • April 23, 2024

    Pool Supply Co. Seeks Exit From Investors' Inflated Sales Suit

    Pool supply company Leslie's Inc. is urging the Arizona federal court to drop a suit accusing it of concealing that booming sales during the COVID-19 pandemic were due to an inventory glut, not the company's growth strategies, arguing that its statements were based on information it believed to be true about consumer purchasing behavior.

  • April 23, 2024

    US Gun Cos. Tell Justices Mexico Is Circumventing Law With Suit

    A group of American firearm makers is asking the Supreme Court to throw out a suit from the government of Mexico alleging they have aided and abetted cartels, saying the First Circuit broke with the high court's precedent by allowing the case to proceed.

  • April 23, 2024

    Hot Spot Co. Investors' Revised $2.4M Deal Gets Initial OK

    Investors in mobile hotspot-maker Franklin Wireless Corp. have received an initial green light for their $2.4 million deal to end claims the company knowingly sold devices with defective batteries that could burst into flames after a federal judge rejected an earlier iteration of the proposal.

  • April 23, 2024

    Chinese Foam-Making Chemicals Dominate Market, Co. Warns

    The U.S. subsidiary of an Israel-based chemical manufacturer urged the U.S. government Tuesday to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese-origin alkyl phosphate esters, saying imports of the chemical commonly used in making polyurethane foam are taking over the U.S. market.

  • April 23, 2024

    Sugar Giants Accused Of Using Shadow Analyst To Fix Prices

    A putative class action filed in Illinois federal court on Monday accuses top sugar producers of colluding with each other since at least 2019 to illegally fix the price for white, refined table sugar, driving up the prices of granulated sugar since in "one of the steepest climbs ever."

  • April 23, 2024

    Biz Ownership Law Constitutional, Lawmakers Tell 11th Circ.

    The Corporate Transparency Act is a garden-variety exercise of Congress' powers to address threats to national security, foreign affairs, commerce and tax collection, five Democratic lawmakers told the Eleventh Circuit, disputing a ruling that the law is unconstitutional.

  • April 23, 2024

    Trade Court Orders Feds To Rethink Canadian Lumber Duties

    The U.S. Court of International Trade ordered the U.S. Department of Commerce to redo countervailing duties on Canadian lumber, saying the department must better explain its refusal to check whether suppliers for investigated companies had received government subsidies.

  • April 23, 2024

    Do Not Remand FDA Cigar Rule Without Vacatur, DC Circ. Told

    The New Civil Liberties Alliance is urging the D.C. Circuit not to remand a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule regulating premium cigars without first vacating the regulation, saying federal agencies cannot enforce rules that have been declared unlawful.

  • April 23, 2024

    Williams-Sonoma To Pay $3.2M Over 'Made In America' Claims

    Williams-Sonoma has agreed to a $3.18 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly mislabeling Chinese-produced products as American-made.

  • April 22, 2024

    Kansas Gov. Signs Earned Wage Access License Bill Into Law

    Kansas has become the fourth state to approve new laws governing so-called earned wage access products, joining Nevada, Missouri and Wisconsin in regulating services for workers seeking cash advances.

  • April 22, 2024

    Jack Daniel's, VIP Hold Firm In Yearslong Dog Toy TM Fight

    Jack Daniel's has told an Arizona federal court that VIP Products LLC's contention that its chewy, poop-themed dog toys in the shape of whiskey bottles do not infringe or dilute Jack Daniel's brand is an old argument, borne from a desire to litigate the case "from scratch" after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected its First Amendment defense last year.

  • April 22, 2024

    Kroger, Albertsons Expand Divestiture Plan

    Supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons are willing to let go of an extra 166 stores in the hopes of swaying federal and state regulators to drop their opposition to the $25 billion grocer union, they said Monday.

  • April 22, 2024

    Trade Court Faults Feds For Ignored Russian Curbs In Probe

    The U.S. Court of International Trade faulted trade commissioners for failing to properly consider how U.S. sanctions on Russia affected oil and gas tube trade, ordering them to redo their ruling that tube imports harmed U.S. businesses.

  • April 22, 2024

    Amazon Illegally Gathered Workers' Face Scans, Suit Says

    Amazon.com Services faces a proposed class action filed Monday in Illinois federal court accusing the retail giant of gathering employees' facial geometry scans and sharing them with various third parties without first receiving the employees' written consent in violation of the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act.

  • April 22, 2024

    E-Truck Maker Rivian Faces Investor Suit Over Sales Slump

    Electric-vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action alleging it misled investors by overstating the demand for its products and downplaying the impact historically high interest rates were having on its customers' shopping habits.

  • April 22, 2024

    Congress Can Enact Corp. Transparency, Orgs Tell 11th Circ.

    Congress is empowered to require American companies to report their beneficial owners to the federal government because there is ample evidence they've previously been used to fund hostile foreign actors, evade sanctions and traffic drugs, two think tanks told the Eleventh Circuit in an amici brief.

  • April 22, 2024

    Shade Co. Calls $34.6M Patent Verdict 'Grossly Excessive'

    Home lighting fixtures company Lutron and rival GeigTech are continuing their legal fight after a New York federal jury found that Lutron owes GeigTech $34.6 million for infringing a patent, with Lutron saying the award was "grossly excessive."

  • April 22, 2024

    US Tile Cos. Say India Is Impeding Recovery From China Imports

    Nine U.S. tile makers called on the federal government to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties on ceramic tiles from India, saying a surge of India-origin tiles thwarts their ability to recover from unfairly priced Chinese imports already hit with duties.

  • April 22, 2024

    Ralph Lauren Can Continue Appeal Of COVID Coverage Loss

    The Third Circuit on Monday lifted a stay that sidelined a Ralph Lauren Corp. appeal of a district judge's ruling that the fashion retailer failed to show insurable physical damage to stores from the COVID-19 pandemic, sending the case to an appellate motions panel with three similar actions.

  • April 22, 2024

    FTC Moves To Block $8.5B Designer Fashion Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission moved on Monday to block a planned $8.5 billion deal for the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade to purchase the owner of designer brands Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo.

  • April 22, 2024

    Ill. Panel Relieves Insurer Of $8.3M Cracker Caper Judgment

    An insurer was relieved of covering a dispute between cracker manufacturers, an Illinois state appeals panel affirmed, finding allegations of equipment theft that led to an $8.3 million judgment against Distinctive Foods LLC constituted non-covered intentional interference with RyKrisp LLC.

  • April 22, 2024

    Vista Outdoors Nudges MNC Capital To Bolster $3B Bid

    Vista Outdoor Inc. on Monday urged investment firm MNC Capital to increase its prior $3 billion buyout offer, as Vista weighs MNC's proposals against an already inked merger agreement to sell its ammunition brands off to Czechoslovak Group.

  • April 22, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week, Delaware's Chancery Court news included a Tesla announcement about moving to Texas, a midcase appeal of Tripadvisor's move to Nevada, and United Airlines' escape from a stockholder suit. Disputes about board entrenchment, squeeze-out mergers, co-founder fallouts and deadly ice cream moved ahead.

  • April 22, 2024

    Clothing Retailer Express Inc. Hits Ch. 11 With Sale Offer

    Fashion retailer Express Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection Monday in Delaware to help tame roughly $1.2 billion in debt, saying it has an offer from a group of buyers for the majority of its assets, including its retail store locations.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Mexico

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    ESG has yet to become part of the DNA of the Mexican business model, but huge strides are being made in that direction, as more stakeholders demand that companies adopt, at the least, a modicum of sustainability commitments and demonstrate how they will meet them, says Carlos Escoto at Galicia Abogados.

  • Opinion

    FDA And Companies Must Move Quickly On Drug Recalls

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    When a drug doesn't work as promised — whether it causes harm, like eyedrops recalled last month by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or is merely useless, like a widely used decongestant ingredient recently acknowledged by the agency to be ineffective — the public must be notified in a timely manner, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • Crypto Has Democratized Trading In Bankruptcy Claims

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    Following the pandemic, there has been a wave of cryptocurrency bankruptcies and a related increase in access to information, allowing nontraditional bankruptcy investors to purchase claims and democratizing a once closed segment of alternative investing, says Joseph Sarachek at Strategic Liquidity.

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • Ohio Voters Legalize Cannabis — What Comes Next?

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    This month, voters approved a citizen-initiated statute that legalizes marijuana for recreational use in Ohio, but the legalization timeline could undergo significant changes at the behest of the state's lawmakers, say Daniel Shortt and David Waxman at McGlinchey Stafford.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 'Trump Too Small' Args Show Justices Inclined To Reverse

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the "Trump Too Small" trademark case Vidal v. Elster — and the tenor of the justices' feedback makes it clear that the refusal to register a mark under the Lanham Act most likely does not violate free speech rights, as opposed to the Federal Circuit's decision last year, says Brian Brookey at Tucker Ellis.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

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    As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.

  • Sellers Seeking Best Deal Should Focus On Terms And Price

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    Rising interest rates and a decline in the automotive mergers and acquisitions market mean that a failed deal carries greater stakes, and sellers therefore should pursue not only the optimum price but also the optimum terms to safeguard their agreement, says Joseph Aboyoun at Fox Rothschild.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: South Korea

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    Numerous ESG trends have materialized in South Korea in the past three years, with impacts ranging from greenwashing prevention and carbon neutrality measures to workplace harassment and board diversity initiatives, say Chang Wook Min and Hyun Chan Jung at Jipyong.

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

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    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • Opinion

    Civil Litigation Against Gun Businesses Can Reduce Violence

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    With mass shootings skyrocketing, and gun control legislation blocked by powerful interest groups, civil litigation can help obtain justice for victims by targeting parties responsible beyond the immediate perpetrator — including gun manufacturers, dealers and retailers, says Tom D'Amore at D'Amore Law Group.

  • Retailers: Beware Legislator And Regulator Junk Fee Focus

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    In light of the Biden administration’s recent focus on restricting so-called junk fee surcharges across industries, attorneys at Benesch discuss what retailers should know about several evolving developments, including a new California law, a proposed Federal Trade Commission rule, an expanding litigation landscape, and more.

  • Rite Aid's Reasons For Ch. 11 Go Beyond Opioid Suits

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    Despite opioid-related lawsuits being the perceived reason that pushed Rite Aid into bankruptcy, the company's recent Chapter 11 filing reveals its tenuous position in the pharmaceutical retail market, and only time will tell whether bankruptcy will right-size the company, says Daniel Gielchinsky at DGIM Law.

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