Retail & E-Commerce

  • September 08, 2026

    5th Circ. Nixes Bulk Of NLRB Order In Starbucks Threats Case

    The Fifth Circuit has declined to enforce the bulk of a National Labor Relations Board decision finding Starbucks unlawfully threatened workers with reduced store hours and a hiring freeze in response to a unionization campaign but said one manager unlawfully threatened workers' health and leave benefits.

  • September 08, 2026

    Walmart Illegally Fired Worker For Positive Pot Test, Suit Says

    Walmart illegally fired an employee who tested positive for a nonpsychoactive cannabis metabolite that showed up on his urine drug test, despite lacking evidence that he possessed or used cannabis at the workplace or showed any signs of impairment, alleges a wrongful termination suit removed to California federal court on Friday.

  • September 08, 2026

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    The Delaware Chancery Court this past week saw disputes involving a former NFL star and a $2.5 million solar venture, Morgan Stanley's role in Fox Corp.'s planned $22 billion acquisition of Roku Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s effort to pause more than $20 million in legal-fee payments to former Frank executives.

  • September 08, 2026

    Italian Winemaker Wins TM Fight At TTAB

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has blocked a Mexican resort's attempt to register a trademark on wine it sold, after finding it would likely be confused with an Italian winery's brand.

  • September 08, 2026

    5th Circ. Partially Backs NLRB Ruling In Starbucks Union Fight

    The Fifth Circuit backed most of a National Labor Relations Board decision finding that Starbucks engaged in a host of federal labor law violations to suppress a union campaign in upstate New York, ruling that the board's findings are supported by "substantial evidence" presented in the case.

  • September 08, 2026

    Buc-ee's Says Its TM Suits Aren't A 'Bullying' Campaign

    Travel center chain Buc-ee's is pushing back on allegations of trademark bullying from Teddy's Market in a Georgia federal lawsuit that Buc-ee's filed against the convenience store rival, asking a judge to throw out six counterclaims challenging its trademark enforcement and registrations.

  • September 08, 2026

    Amazon Makes Life Tough For Pregnant Workers, Suit Says

    A quartet of former Amazon warehouse workers lodged a proposed class action in New York federal court Tuesday, accusing the e-commerce giant of slow-walking pregnant women's requests for additional breaks and modified job duties and of firing workers over pregnancy-related absences.

  • September 08, 2026

    Biogen Must Face Pharmacies' MS Drug Monopoly Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss Walgreens and Kroger's lawsuit accusing Biogen Inc. of illegally stifling competition for its multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera, saying they've made sufficient allegations at this point in the case to suggest they've "suffered a concrete injury as a result of Biogen's conduct."

  • September 08, 2026

    Retailer Francesca's Gets Approval For Ch. 11 Wind-Down

    A New Jersey bankruptcy judge Tuesday confirmed the Chapter 11 plan of Francesca's, after counsel for the women's clothing retailer said the debtor had resolved all objections to its plan to liquidate its remaining assets.

  • September 04, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Double Dismissals, But Dodges Preclusion

    The Federal Circuit has expressly allowed district court judges to dismiss patent cases on multiple grounds at once, but attorneys say they're left guessing how that impacts future litigation on the same patent.

  • September 04, 2026

    Recall Recap: Boston Scientific Pacemakers, Baby Formula

    While the iceberg lettuce cyclospora outbreak and subsequent litigation targeting supplier Taylor Farms Inc. and Taco Bell was the chief news this summer in product recalls, Law360 takes a look back at some of the other suits filed in recent months over recalls that may have slipped under readers' radars.

  • September 04, 2026

    2nd Circ. Reopens Copyright Case Over Diamond Price List

    The Second Circuit on Friday reinstated a copyright suit brought by diamond price-listing company Rapaport USA Inc. claiming another company lifted information from Rapaport's catalog to put on its own website, agreeing that the district court shouldn't have dismissed the case before "crucial" questions were answered.

  • September 04, 2026

    Dog Owners Say 'Taste Of The Wild' Food Causes Heart Risks

    Two New York pet owners are suing the manufacturer of Taste of the Wild dog food, claiming its grain-free products caused their dogs to develop a fatal heart condition with one dog dying at age 5 and another suffering severe health issues, according to a federal lawsuit.

  • September 04, 2026

    ITC To Review Part Of Judge's Decision In Tool Patent Row

    The U.S. International Trade Commission will review parts of an administrative law judge's ruling that four patents on glow fish tape and a safety helmet system are not invalid in a legal battle between competing toolmakers.

  • September 04, 2026

    Split PTAB Gives Amazon Win On Speech Patent

    A split Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found that Amazon was able to show that claims in a speech recognition patent were invalid, the latest in a larger fight involving a patent litigation outfit that targeted the retail giant's Alexa virtual assistant.

  • September 04, 2026

    Wash. High Court Won't Review Dispensary License Fight

    The Washington Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from a cannabis company, ending the retailer's lawsuit claiming state regulators prevented it from opening a lucrative Seattle dispensary by failing to force a competitor's license to be forfeited due to not being fully operational.

  • September 04, 2026

    Licensing Co., TSMC Settle ITC Chip Patent Case

    A company called Longitude Licensing Ltd. has reached a settlement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. to end a case against several technology companies at the U.S. International Trade Commission seeking a ban on imports of certain products.

  • September 04, 2026

    McKesson Owns Antitrust Claims, Not Rite Aid, Judge Finds

    A New Jersey bankruptcy judge has ruled that antitrust claims against pharmaceutical companies belong to drug distributor McKesson Corp., not the trustee overseeing Rite Aid's Chapter 11 distributions.

  • September 04, 2026

    Rent The Runway Inks $9M Deal To End Investor IPO Suit

    Rent the Runway Inc. and several of its directors, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and underwriters have reached a $9 million deal with shareholders who accused them of concealing major challenges the designer rental company was facing prior to its 2021 initial public offering.

  • September 04, 2026

    ERISA Recap: 5 Appellate Rulings To Know From August

    The Seventh Circuit kept an Arkansas pharmacy benefit manager rule in place as not preempted by federal benefits law, the Fourth Circuit revived an Altria ex-worker's dispute over benefit plan documents, and the Eleventh Circuit reversed a pretrial win for Royal Caribbean in cruise workers' suit challenging 401(k) funds. Here, Law360 looks at those and two other major appellate decisions from August involving ERISA that benefits attorneys may want to know.

  • September 04, 2026

    'Bad Faith' Subpoenas On Apple Execs Spur Fee Sanctions

    A California federal magistrate judge imposed sanctions Thursday on Joseph M. Alioto of Alioto Law Firm for repeatedly trying to depose senior Apple executives, including then-CEO Tim Cook, in an attempt to drag the iPhone-maker back into consumer antitrust litigation accusing Google of shutting out rival search engines.

  • September 04, 2026

    Court Slams 'Half-Hearted Compliance' In Crab Price-Fix Suit

    A California federal magistrate judge has given a seafood company until Sept. 11 to meet the discovery obligations it has repeatedly fallen short of in a proposed class action accusing it of fixing prices for Dungeness crabs.

  • September 04, 2026

    Dunkin' Donuts Operator Misclassified Managers, Suit Says

    A Dunkin' Donuts franchisee misclassified store managers as exempt from overtime and failed to pay them for work exceeding 40 hours per week, a former employee claimed in a proposed class and collective action filed Friday in Virginia federal court.

  • September 04, 2026

    Exclusion Extinguishes PPE Maker's PFAS Coverage Bid

    A commercial general liability insurer owes no coverage to a personal protective equipment manufacturer sued by firefighters who said the company's gear exposed them to forever chemicals, an Ohio federal court ruled, finding that the claimed injuries fall under an occupational disease exclusion.

  • September 04, 2026

    US Extends Trade Programs With African Countries, Haiti

    The government funding bill signed by President Donald Trump this week included extensions of U.S. trade agreements with African nations and Haiti through the end of 2028, locking in duty exemptions for broad swaths of products following bipartisan support.

Expert Analysis

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Tracing Paths To Award Recovery

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    Recent subpoenas to Adidas and Hilton deployed in Blasket Renewables v. Spain, pending in D.C. federal court, show arbitration award recovery to be a disciplined exercise in constructing visibility, applying pressure and sequencing procedural advantage, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • How CFPB Opinion Changes Earned Wage Access Definition

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent conclusion that earned wage access is not "credit" for purposes of Regulation Z of the Truth in Lending Act improves on prior guidance on these products in several meaningful ways, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • 'Made In America' EO May Not Survive Section 230

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in advertising directs the Federal Trade Commission to deem online marketplaces' failure to verify third-party origin claims as unlawful, but such a rule would likely run into Section 230's publisher immunity doctrine, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Assessing EcoFactor's Impact On Damages Experts' Opinions

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    Though the Federal Circuit's ruling in EcoFactor v. Google gave rise to concerns that damages experts would be forced to rely on undisputed facts, recent case law suggests that those concerns are unwarranted, says Christopher Loh at Venable.

  • Opinion

    Apple Discovery Fight Could Revive DOJ's Antitrust Appetite

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    Winning discovery disputes in the ongoing federal antitrust litigation over Apple’s app store practices is a huge opportunity for the Justice Department to return to its once-vigorous pursuit of product tying by tech monopolies, catch up with foreign competition regulators and establish clear standards for digital markets, says Ediberto Roman at Florida International University.

  • Opinion

    State Bars Need To Get Specific About AI Confidentiality

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    Lawyers need to put actual client information into artificial intelligence tools to get their full value, but they cannot confidently do so until state bars offer clear, formal authority on which plan tiers of the three most popular generative AI tools are safe to use when sharing specific client details, says attorney Nick Berk.

  • Calculating Damages In IEEPA Tariff Refund Litigation

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    To calculate damages in the spate of refund litigation triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision invalidating tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the central question will be how to determine where in the supply chain their economic burden ultimately came to rest, say analysts at Charles River Associates.

  • 'Made In America' Rules Raise Stakes For Gov't Contractors

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    The convergence of widely varying "buy American" requirements, increased enforcement efforts and continuing regulatory attempts to limit foreign sourcing suggests that government contractors should carefully review their supply chain and country-of-origin compliance to remain competitive, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Series

    Alpine Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skiing has shaped habits I rely on daily as an attorney — focus, resilience and the ability to remain steady when circumstances shift rapidly — and influences the way I approach legal strategy, client counseling and teamwork, says Isaku Begert at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Opinion

    Wash. Amazon Ruling Should Reshape Suicide Liability

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    The Washington Supreme Court's reinstatement of negligence claims in Scott v. Amazon.com, brought by the families of people who died by suicide after purchasing chemicals online, signals a reckoning for digital commerce and the rejection of the defense that online marketplaces are merely passive technology platforms, says Donald Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Appellate Strategy Lessons From Pa. Excess Coverage Ruling

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    In FedEx v. National Union Fire Insurance, a Pennsylvania state court recently set forth a clear holding that policyholders may recover postjudgment interest under excess liability insurance policies only when the policy language expressly allows, offering important takeaways for planning appeals, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • How Cos. Can Prepare For 'Made In America' Ad Scrutiny

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    The Trump administration's executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in consumer-facing advertising, along with actions by the Federal Trade Commission, suggest a potential increased focus on consumer protection and pricing-related matters, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Similar-Looking Designs May Not Always Prove Infringement

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Range of Motion Products v. Armaid is a reminder that even a strikingly similar design might not be found to infringe upon a patented design once design features driven by functionality are filtered out from consideration, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Series

    Ultramarathons Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Completing a 100-mile ultramarathon was tougher, more humbling and more rewarding than I ever imagined, and the experience highlighted how long-distance running has sharpened my ability to adapt to the evolving nature of antitrust law and strengthened my resolve to handle demanding, unforeseen challenges, says Dan Oakes at Axinn.

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