Retail & E-Commerce

  • April 25, 2024

    Joann Fabric Wins Confirmation Of Prepackaged Ch. 11 Plan

    Joann Inc., parent company of retailer Joann Fabric and Crafts, received a Delaware judge's approval of its prepackaged Chapter 11 plan Thursday that will lighten its debt load by $505 million.

  • April 25, 2024

    Dominican Republic, Uzbekistan No Longer On IP Watch List

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced Thursday it has removed the Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan from its watch list of countries with poor track records on intellectual property protection, keeping close trade partners Mexico and Canada on the roster.

  • April 25, 2024

    NY Pot Regulator Seeks Dismissal Of Bias Suit

    New York's cannabis regulator on Wednesday asked a federal judge to toss a lawsuit litigated by a conservative legal organization that alleges that the state's social equity licensure program discriminates against white men, saying the plaintiffs lack standing.

  • April 25, 2024

    Split Take On NJ 'Fake' Sale Case Disrupts Biz-Friendly Pattern

    A recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision rejecting "fake discounts" as a source of consumer fraud was a boon for the class action defense bar, but the takes of three dissenting judges and Attorney General Matt Platkin show that the state's largely business-friendly jurisprudence on what qualifies as an ascertainable loss isn't quite settled.

  • April 25, 2024

    Ore. Tax Court Rejects Lowe's Valuation Reduction Arguments

    A Lowe's home improvement store was properly valued by comparing the sales values for occupied big box home improvement stores, the Oregon Tax Court said in a pair of rulings. 

  • April 25, 2024

    Rival Amazon Union Attys Get Warning From Federal Judge

    A Brooklyn federal judge expressed displeasure Thursday with how federal litigation between rival factions inside a nascent Staten Island, New York, union representing Amazon warehouse workers has been conducted, saying it has wasted time and raising the possibility of sanctions.

  • April 25, 2024

    Panel Backs Gas Station's Win In Drunken Driving Death Suit

    An Ohio state appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit over the deaths of two young men in a drunken driving crash, saying the alcohol seller can't be liable under Ohio's Dram Shop Act because the purchaser wasn't the driver.

  • April 24, 2024

    Whole Foods May Have Retaliated In BLM Case, 1st Circ. Says

    Whole Foods hasn't yet proven that its firing of a worker who wore a Black Lives Matter mask to work wasn't retaliatory, the First Circuit said in an opinion unsealed Wednesday, ruling that there is a "genuine dispute" as to whether she was terminated for protected conduct.

  • April 24, 2024

    Cooley, Latham Lead Data Security Firm Rubrik's $752M IPO

    Venture-backed data security firm Rubrik Inc. on Wednesday priced a $752 million initial public offering above its range, represented by Cooley LLP while Latham & Watkins LLP advised the underwriters, joining an increasingly receptive market for technology firms.

  • April 24, 2024

    Judge Suggests Amazon Never Denied Late-Delivery Refund

    A Washington federal judge seemed to signal Wednesday that a putative class action accusing Amazon of not delivering a package as quickly as promised might get dismissed, noting the plaintiff did not actually get denied a refund because he never requested one. 

  • April 24, 2024

    9th Circ. Says NLRB Can Enforce Starbucks Bargaining Order

    The Ninth Circuit said Wednesday that Starbucks must recognize its Seattle roastery workers' April 2022 vote to unionize, overruling the coffee giant's contention that ballots should have been cast in person and concluding a National Labor Relations Board manager had discretion to call the mail-in election because of COVID-19 case counts at the time.

  • April 24, 2024

    Feds' 'Sparse' Explanations Call For Remand, Says Rebar Co.

    An error and "sparse" justification underpinning a countervailing duty assessment required the U.S. Court of International Trade to remand the results of the fifth review of Turkish rebar tariffs, counsel told CIT Judge Gary S. Katzmann on Wednesday.

  • April 24, 2024

    US Solar Cos. Call For Duties On Cells From Southeast Asia

    Seven U.S. solar manufacturers on Wednesday called on the U.S. government to impose duties on solar cells from four Southeast Asian countries, saying a surge in production in those countries — much by Chinese-owned companies — has been undercutting the domestic market.

  • April 24, 2024

    Foxtrot, Dom's Kitchen Closures Violate WARN Act, Suit Says

    Former employees of Foxtrot Market and Dom's Kitchen & Market hit the stores' parent company with a lawsuit in Illinois federal court Thursday, alleging it failed to give workers 60 days' notice of mass layoffs as required by federal law when all 33 locations abruptly shuttered Tuesday.

  • April 24, 2024

    Forex Trader Must Pay $11.8M For Ponzi-Like Scheme

    A Michigan federal judge on Tuesday said a purported forex commodity pool operator and its agent must pay more than $11.8 million in penalties and restitution for bilking participants in a Ponzi-like scheme, after the defendants ignored a Commodity Futures Trading Commission suit.

  • April 24, 2024

    Louis Vuitton Flouted Wage And Hour Laws, Suit Says

    Louis Vuitton has been hit with a proposed wage and hour class action in Los Angeles Superior Court by a former employee, alleging the luxury fashion company failed to pay overtime, provide proper meal and break periods and manipulated time cards to show fewer hours than worked during the pay period.

  • April 24, 2024

    Groups Back Intuit's 5th Circ. Challenge To FTC Over Ads

    Business and conservative groups defended tax software giant Intuit Inc. in its Fifth Circuit constitutional challenge to the Federal Trade Commission's findings that the company engaged in deceptive advertising, saying the agency acts as both prosecutor and jury and that its administrative judges have unchecked power.

  • April 24, 2024

    FDA Can Keep Most Docs Hidden From Juul's FOIA Request

    A District of Columbia federal judge has largely sided with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in a suit by Juul Labs Inc. seeking documents related to the FDA's decision to ban its products, saying the bulk of the files fall under a privilege that protects predecision deliberations.

  • April 24, 2024

    Joe Rogan Brain Health Supplements Don't Work, Suit Claims

    A proposed class of supplement buyers is suing a brain health supplement founded and promoted by podcaster Joe Rogan in New York federal court, saying the company's own studies prove false its advertisements claiming the product is "clinically" proven to promote cognitive function.

  • April 24, 2024

    FDA Seeks Max Fines Against Shops Selling Elf Bar Vapes

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued another round of complaints and civil penalties to 22 brick-and-mortar and online sellers of illicit e-cigarettes, including the highly popular Elf Bar brand, according to an agency announcement that noted more than 100 retailers have been hit since September.

  • April 24, 2024

    Solar Panel Co. Loses Calif. Appeal Over PAGA Arbitration

    A California appellate panel sided with a lower court as it ruled in a published opinion that a carveout in a home solar panel company's employment agreement did not require a former worker to arbitrate his individual Private Attorneys General Act claims, keeping his suit in court.

  • April 24, 2024

    Colo. Cooler-Maker Says License Didn't Undo Patent Rights

    A Colorado company that makes soft-sided coolers has argued a 2023 licensing agreement didn't give away its exclusive rights to some patents as a Canadian rival has claimed, arguing the deal preserved its right to enforce the patents at issue.

  • April 23, 2024

    10th Circ. Orders Redo Of $96M Award After Top Court Ruling

    The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday ordered an Oklahoma federal court to recalculate a $96 million trademark infringement award won by a radio control maker against its European former partners after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the Lanham Act applies only to domestic conduct in commerce.

  • April 23, 2024

    Turkish Co. Hit With $168M Suit Over Failed Uniform Deal

    Strategic advisory firm Sinclair & Wilde Ltd. sued a Turkish military textile company in New York state court, seeking approximately $168 million in damages over allegations it violated verbal military uniform supply agreements involving Ukraine and used political connections to get Sinclair's CEO detained in Turkey.

  • April 23, 2024

    Kerrygold Butter-Maker Can't Nix 'Pure' Label False Ad Suit

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday largely denied a bid by Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter's maker to discard a proposed class action alleging its product is misbranded as "pure" though it might contain "forever chemicals," finding the suit plausibly alleges chemicals from the packaging could migrate to the product.

Expert Analysis

  • Forecasting The Impact Of High Court Debit Card Rule Case

    Author Photo

    John Delionado and Aidan Gross at Hunton consider how the U.S. Supreme Court's forthcoming ruling in a retailer's suit challenging a Federal Reserve rule on debit card swipe fees could affect agency regulations both new and old, as well as the businesses that might seek to challenge them.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Mexico

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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?

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Retail & E-Commerce archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!