Retail & E-Commerce

  • September 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Rejection Of Sterling Silver Patent App

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's rejection of a bid for a patent on a silver alloy resistant to corrosion, backing the agency's finding that the application lacked enough written description.

  • September 17, 2025

    FTC Sends White House List Of Regulations For Deletion

    The Federal Trade Commission provided the White House with a report on Wednesday recommending that more than 125 regulations from agencies across the federal government be modified or deleted because they create barriers to competition.

  • September 17, 2025

    Newell Unit Sued Over Crock-Pot Defect Scalding User

    A woman is suing Sunbeam Products Inc. and its parent Newell Brands Inc. in Georgia federal court, alleging their Crock-Pot pressure cookers are defective, resulting in one ejecting its contents while under pressure, badly scalding her.

  • September 17, 2025

    Pot Entrepreneur Pushes 4th Circ. To Rehear Licensing Fight

    A California cannabis entrepreneur has asked the Fourth Circuit to rehear her case after a panel rejected her bid to upend Maryland's marijuana social equity licensing program, arguing that the appellate judges' ruling turned on multiple errors of law and fact.

  • September 17, 2025

    Walmart's CLO Plans Departure To Pursue 'Next Chapter'

    Walmart's chief legal officer, whose seasoned in-house career has included working in the private sector and at senior levels of the federal government, said Tuesday that she will leave her position at the end of the retail giant's fiscal year in January.

  • September 17, 2025

    Md. Hemp Cos. Plan To Challenge Cannabis Law At 4th Circ.

    A group of hemp companies challenging Maryland's cannabis policies told a federal judge Tuesday that they plan to appeal a pair of recent adverse rulings, citing in part a new federal appellate ruling that pot sellers are entitled to constitutional protections.

  • September 16, 2025

    Ky. Judge Backs Fed's Debit-Fee Cap In Split With ND Ruling

    A Kentucky federal judge on Monday upheld a Federal Reserve Board cap on debit-card swipe fees that a local merchant challenged as overly generous to banks, breaking with a North Dakota federal court that recently rejected the same regulation.

  • September 16, 2025

    Starbucks Resolves Swipe Fee Claims With BofA, Mastercard

    Starbucks is the latest retailer to settle claims in an antitrust action Tuesday in New York federal court alleging Mastercard, Bank of America and several other financial institutions were part of an illegal scheme forcing merchants to pay excessive fees when shoppers pay with their credit or debit cards. 

  • September 16, 2025

    4th Circ. Revives RICO Claims On Amazon Project Kickbacks

    The Fourth Circuit in a published decision Tuesday revived racketeering and other claims from Amazon.com Inc. after two former employees, a real estate developer and an attorney operated a kickback scheme as the company spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a set of data center projects in northern Virginia.

  • September 16, 2025

    DC Circ. Urged To Rehear EPA's HFC Market Allocation Case

    A Georgia refrigerants company is asking for another shot to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's implementation of a 2020 law mandating an 85% reduction in hydrofluorocarbon consumption by 2036, requesting an en banc rehearing from the D.C. Circuit after a panel unanimously rejected its challenge last month.

  • September 16, 2025

    Fred Meyer Faces $81M Suit Over Anti-Moonlighting Policy

    Fred Meyer broke Washington state law in barring nearly 13,000 of its low-wage workers from holding other jobs to make ends meet, according to a proposed class action removed to Seattle federal court.

  • September 16, 2025

    Feds Seek Toss Of DC Hemp Store's Home-Rule Challenge

    The United States government on Monday urged a federal judge to dismiss a challenge to federal policy restricting the nation's capital from regulating marijuana and hemp sales, saying the local retailer that brought the action lacked standing to sue.

  • September 16, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Brushes Off Wig Grip Patent Case

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a wig grip apparatus patent owner's suit accusing a California hair replacement service of infringement, agreeing with how the lower court interpreted a key patent phrase.

  • September 16, 2025

    Senate Democrats Urge Chamber Not To Recriminalize Hemp

    A group of Democratic U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the chamber's leaders not to adopt language in an appropriations bill that would drastically redefine the definition of legal hemp and which they say could ruin the nationwide hemp industry.

  • September 16, 2025

    Lowe's Skirts NC Class Actions Over Alleged False Discounts

    A North Carolina federal judge threw out two proposed consumer class actions alleging Lowe's tricks customers into thinking they're getting a good deal with falsely advertised discount prices on products, finding the alleged harm for potential class members is too speculative.

  • September 16, 2025

    NY Cannabis License At Center Of Suit Against Fla. Broker

    The entrepreneurs who secured one of the earliest New York cannabis retail licenses as part of a legal settlement with the state allege in a new California state lawsuit that a Florida cannabis franchise broker frustrated their effort to sell a share of the venture.

  • September 16, 2025

    Mother Claims Aquaphor Healing Ointment Contains Allergen

    A California mother of two is suing Beiersdorf Inc. in federal court, alleging that its infant and children's healing ointments contain a common allergen despite being marketed as hypoallergenic.

  • September 15, 2025

    Google Consumers' Attys Seek $85M In Fees For $700M Deal

    Attorneys who helped consumers reach a still-pending $700 million antitrust deal with Google in 2023 have urged a California federal judge to grant them $85 million in attorney fees, saying the settlement, reached alongside state attorneys general, was an "exceptional" result obtained in the "face of substantial litigation uncertainty."

  • September 15, 2025

    Rent The Runway Gets Investor Suit Trimmed On 2nd Look

    Designer dress rental company Rent the Runway convinced a New York federal judge to trim certain shareholder claims against it after the judge reconsidered an earlier ruling on a putative class action suit that alleges the company failed to inform investors about major challenges it was facing prior to its 2021 initial public offering.

  • September 15, 2025

    Bayer Urges 9th Circ. Not To Revive Tevra Flea, Tick Meds Suit

    Bayer is urging the Ninth Circuit not to grant a new trial over claims that it locked up the market for pet flea and tick treatment, saying the only evidence that rival Tevra showed a jury at trial was "highly dubious."

  • September 15, 2025

    California Judge Denies Smoke Shops' Bid To Halt Fresno Law

    The California city of Fresno can enforce its new restrictions on smoke shops, including limiting their number and banning them from selling flavored tobacco and cannabis products, a California federal judge has ruled, rejecting arguments for a preliminary injunction after determining that the controls are probably constitutional.

  • September 15, 2025

    Rolling Stone Publisher Says Google AI Robs Its Content

    Google is using its monopoly as a search engine to strong-arm websites into allowing their content to be fed into the tech titan's artificial intelligence machine, which returns a response at the top of every search page, according to the publisher behind Rolling Stone and Variety.

  • September 15, 2025

    Appeals Panel Says Wash. Spam Law Covers Recruiter Texts

    A Washington Court of Appeals panel said Monday that the state's commercial email prohibition extends to "text messages sent to further the growth or prosperity of a business," finding logistics company CRST broke the law by sending unsolicited recruitment texts to contractors.

  • September 15, 2025

    Shoe Brand Vans' Turnaround Turmoil Sparks Investor Suit

    Outdoor apparel company V.F. Corp. has been hit with a proposed securities class action accusing it of misleading investors about the progress it made on a corporate turnaround strategy intended to return its shoe brand Vans to positive growth.

  • September 15, 2025

    Compass Diversified Faces Shareholder Suit Over $265M Deal

    Compass Diversified Holdings, a publicly traded statutory trust that buys industrial and branded consumer goods companies, was hit with an investor lawsuit in Connecticut federal court alleging that poor financial management of one of its companies ended up tanking Compass' stock price 62% years later.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Ways Banking Has Changed In 5 Years Since COVID

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    Since the start of the pandemic five years ago, technology, convenience and shifting expectations have transformed compliance for the financial services industry in several key ways, from the shrinking role of the traditional bank branch to the rise of fintech and mobile payments, says Christopher Pippett at Fox Rothschild.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: The Perils Of Digital Data Protocols

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    Though stipulated protocols governing the treatment of electronically stored information in litigation are meant to streamline discovery, recent disputes demonstrate that certain missteps in the process can lead to significant inefficiencies, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Making Sense Of Small Biz Fair Lending Compliance

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    Despite the uncertainty brought on by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent efforts to revise fair lending data collection requirements under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the compliance dates have not yet been stayed, so covered institutions should still start to monitor any disparities now, say attorneys at Frost Brown Todd.

  • Defense Strategies After Justices' Personal Injury RICO Ruling

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    In Medical Marijuana v. Horn, the U.S. Supreme Court recently held that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act can be invoked by some plaintiffs with claims arising from personal injuries — but defense counsel can use the limitations on civil RICO claims to seek early dismissal in such cases, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Preparing For Corporate Work

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    Law school often doesn't cover the business strategy, financial fluency and negotiation skills needed for a successful corporate or transactional law practice, but there are practical ways to gain relevant experience and achieve the mindset shifts critical to a thriving career in this space, says Dakota Forsyth at Olshan Frome.

  • 5 Insurance Types For Mitigating Tariff-Related Trade Losses

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    The potential for significant trade-related losses as a result of increased tariffs may cause companies to consider which of their insurance policies, including marine, builders risk, trade credit, and directors and officers, could provide coverage to alleviate the financial impact, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • How Cos. Can Mitigate Increasing Microplastics Liability Risk

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    Amid rising scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe of microplastics' impact on health and the growing threat of litigation against consumer product and food and beverage manufacturers, companies can limit liability through compliance with labeling laws, careful contract management and other practices, say attorneys at Rogers Joseph.

  • A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process

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    The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.

  • Home Depot Ruling Tolls Death Knell For 'Silent Cyber'

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent ruling that Home Depot's insurers did not have to cover costs from a data breach hammered one more nail in the coffin of silent cyber, where coverage is sought under standard property or commercial general liability policies that were not intended to insure cyberattack claims, say attorneys at Zelle.

  • Series

    Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Filial Consortium Claims' Future After Conn. High Court Ruling

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    While the Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled for defendants in rejecting parents’ attempt to recover loss of companionship damages in a severe child injury case, there is still potential for the plaintiffs bar to lobby for a law that would allow filial consortium claims, Glenn Coffin at Gordon Rees.

  • Opinion

    Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • 2 Del. Rulings Reinforce Proof Needed For Records Demands

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    Two recent Delaware Court of Chancery decisions involving Amazon and Paramount Global illustrate the significance of the credible basis standard on books and records requests, underscoring that stockholders seeking to investigate wrongdoing must come forward with actual evidence of misconduct — not mere allegations, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

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