Commercial Contracts

  • January 15, 2026

    Data Tech Co. Sues To Confirm Exit From $2.35B Deal

    The Delaware Chancery Court has been asked to resolve a looming contract dispute after a data analytics and technology company sued to confirm that it lawfully terminated a $2.35 billion acquisition of roofing software company ExactLogix Inc., blaming an unexpected and prolonged Federal Trade Commission investigation for derailing the deal.

  • January 15, 2026

    Logistics Co. Ex-Sales Director Can't Duck Trade Secrets Suit

    A North Carolina federal judge has denied a request from a former logistics company sales director to toss a suit alleging that he misappropriated trade secrets and poached clients before starting a competing firm.

  • January 14, 2026

    Judge Asks If Execs 'Blindsided' Truist With Mass Exodus

    A North Carolina business judge on Wednesday repeatedly returned to whether three former executives who led Truist's real estate finance arm ever revealed to the bank that they were in "secret" talks to join a competitor and bring dozens of their colleagues with them, signaling he'd let a jury decide if the mass exodus is to blame for the business's alleged losses.

  • January 14, 2026

    Burns & McDonnell Sued By Ex-Partner Firm Over Seattle Deal

    California-based Certus Cybersecurity launched a lawsuit in Washington state court accusing consulting firm Burns & McDonnell of falling short on business promises and exploiting the city of Seattle's diversity criteria for contractors to score a government deal worth up to $60 million.  

  • January 14, 2026

    Freight Broker Tells Justices Negligence Claims Preempted

    Broker and logistics giant C.H. Robinson told the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday that federal law unequivocally shields freight brokers from state-based negligence and personal injury claims, saying the plaintiffs bar is pushing for patchwork liability standards that would upend interstate commerce and the supply chain.

  • January 14, 2026

    Oracle Sued By Pension Plan Over AI-Linked Debt Disclosures

    The Ohio Carpenters Pension Plan filed a proposed class action Wednesday in New York state court against Oracle, its founder Larry Ellison and other top brass, alleging the company failed to disclose that it would need to sell significant extra debt to fund its artificial intelligence buildout.

  • January 14, 2026

    Door Maker Says Birthright Ruling Doesn't Impact Divestiture

    Steves & Sons Inc. told the Fourth Circuit that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling dealing with the reach of nationwide injunctions has no bearing on the door manufacturer's landmark win in a private merger challenge.

  • January 14, 2026

    Calif. Car Cos. Hit With $200M Chancery Fraud Suit

    Several California-based car companies, as well as their leader and current and former executives, orchestrated a fraudulent acquisition and asset transfer scheme designed to render a lucrative fuel trading contract worthless and shield a defense contractor from more than $200 million in liabilities, a lawsuit brought Wednesday in the Delaware Chancery Court says.

  • January 14, 2026

    Sony Suit Over Music In USC Social Media Ads Stays In NY

    Sony Music's lawsuit against the University of Southern California over music used in social media videos promoting the school's athletic teams will remain in New York, after a federal judge found the case had compelling ties to the Empire State.

  • January 14, 2026

    Vizient Beats Spurned Medical Tape Supplier At 5th Circ.

    A Fifth Circuit panel refused to revive an antitrust suit accusing medical supplies group purchasing giant Vizient of locking in hospital customers, agreeing with a district court that a spurned would-be supplier failed at the threshold question of showing a market in which Vizient could be dominant.

  • January 14, 2026

    Nationals' Broadcasts Leave MASN For MLB After Settlement

    Major League Baseball will produce and broadcast Washington Nationals games on the league's cable and streaming services this season, it announced Wednesday, following a deal that resolved a yearslong legal battle over the team's broadcast rights with the regional network operated by the Baltimore Orioles.

  • January 14, 2026

    Poultry Co. Reaches $5M Deal In Okla. Water Pollution Suit

    A poultry producer found to have polluted waters in Oklahoma reached a settlement with the state Wednesday, agreeing to pay $5 million for remediation and conservation projects, according to Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

  • January 14, 2026

    Zillow, Redfin Look To Toss FTC's Antitrust Case

    Zillow Group Inc. and Redfin Corp. have urged a Virginia federal court to toss the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust case against them, saying a partnership between the companies is meant to make their rental listing businesses more competitive, not to remove competition.

  • January 14, 2026

    Supreme Court Rejects Cigar Maker's Appeal Over Atty Fees

    The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear cigar maker Swisher International Inc.'s appeal in a long-running contractual and antitrust dispute with Trendsettah USA Inc., leaving intact a Ninth Circuit ruling that revived part of a jury verdict and more than $10 million in related attorney fee awards.

  • January 14, 2026

    Software Co. Loses Trade Secrets Appeal At 7th Circ.

    The Seventh Circuit has refused to revive claims that an energy management services company stole trade secret information from an appointment booking software application and incorporated its features into a new platform.

  • January 14, 2026

    Payscale Presses Del. Justices To Revive Noncompete Claims

    The Delaware Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday over whether the state's Chancery Court went too far in dismissing Payscale's lawsuit seeking to enforce an 18-month noncompete clause against a former sales executive, focusing on when a court may decide, at the outset of a case, that a restrictive covenant is unenforceable as written.

  • January 13, 2026

    CoStar, Quinn Emanuel Spar Over Litigation Representation

    CoStar urged a California federal judge Tuesday to disqualify Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP from helping a rival commercial real estate platform pursue antitrust counterclaims in CoStar's copyright infringement suit, while the law firm moved to drop its representation of CoStar in separate litigation.

  • January 13, 2026

    Insurer, IT Co. Settle Coverage Claims Suit In Colo.

    An insurance company, an IT company and an investment firm have reached a settlement in the insurer's federal lawsuit in Colorado that alleged it owed no coverage to the IT company, which a jury found liable for making misrepresentations and breaching its cybersecurity agreement with the investment company.

  • January 13, 2026

    Judge Dismisses $146M Chilean Award Suit In Connecticut

    A Connecticut federal judge on Monday dismissed a Chilean construction company's petition to enforce a $146.5 million arbitral award against Italian construction giant Webuild, saying the court lacks jurisdiction and the matter belongs before the courts of Italy.

  • January 13, 2026

    PE Firm Says No Deal In $132M Denver Skyscraper Fight

    A private equity firm Tuesday argued in state court that the claims against it from a real estate investment firm should be dismissed because the two parties never had a binding agreement in the $132 million commercial real estate deal of a downtown Denver skyscraper that led to competing lawsuits from both parties.

  • January 13, 2026

    Spencer Fane Atty's Advice Challenged In $5M Poaching Suit

    In a $5 million lawsuit over a Connecticut financial adviser's exit, Wealth Enhancement Group LLC on Tuesday challenged a Spencer Fane LLP partner's belief that regulatory and professional ethics rules require both advisers and their former investment firms to contact clients when advisers switch employers.

  • January 13, 2026

    Texas Appeals Panel Skeptical Pipeline Death Falls Under FAA

    A Texas appeals panel seemed hesitant to buy Energy Transfer's argument that it can compel arbitration in a suit brought by the family of a man killed in a pipeline explosion, asking Tuesday whether the employee's work qualifies as interstate commerce and therefore falls outside the Federal Arbitration Act.

  • January 13, 2026

    USPTO Launches New Pilot For SEP Development

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Tuesday it has created a new pilot program encouraging the development of standard-essential patents by smaller entities.

  • January 13, 2026

    2nd Circ. Hints Ex-Luxottica Worker Has ERISA Standing

    Second Circuit judges sounded sympathetic Tuesday to the idea that a former Luxottica employee has standing to pursue changes to its defined benefit pension plan, expressing skepticism at the company's notion that her case is barred because she is seeking unavailable remedies.

  • January 13, 2026

    Epic Systems Alleges Data Cos. Stole Records To Sell To Attys

    Epic Systems, the nation's largest electronic health records company, told a California federal court on Tuesday that a health information network and a group of "bad actors" stole over 300,000 confidential patient records from health information exchange frameworks to illegally sell to third parties, including personal injury lawyers.

Expert Analysis

  • Nuclear Power Pitfalls And Opportunities To Watch For In 2026

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    Shepherding nuclear power projects to completion requires navigating more risks and obligations than almost any other infrastructure undertaking, but with the right strategies, states, developers, vendors and contractors can overcome these hurdles in 2026 and beyond, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • 2025 Calif. Banking Oversight Centered On Consumer Issues

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    The combination of statutory reform, registration mandates and enforcement activity in 2025 signals that California's financial regulatory landscape is focused on consumer protection, particularly in the areas of crypto kiosk fee practices, earned wage access providers and elder fraud, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • How Fractional GCs Can Manage Risks Of Engagement

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    As more organizations eliminate their in-house legal departments in favor of outsourcing legal work, fractional general counsel roles offer practitioners an engaging and flexible way to practice at a high level, but they can also present legal, ethical and operational risks that must be proactively managed, say attorneys at Boies Schiller.

  • Series

    Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

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    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • How Workforce, Tech Will Affect 2026 Construction Landscape

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    As the construction industry's center of gravity shifts from traditional commercial work to infrastructure, energy, industrial and data-hosting facilities, the effects of evolving technology and persistent labor shortages are reshaping real estate dealmaking, immigration policy debates and government contracting risk, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Delay, Plain Text, Sovereign Acts

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    Three recent decisions addressing familiar pressure points show that even well-worn doctrines evolve, and both contractors and the government should reexamine their assumptions, says Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

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    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

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    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Series

    Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

  • The Hidden Pitfalls Of Letters Of Credit In Lease Negotiations

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    Amid a surge in commercial office leasing driven by artificial intelligence firms, it's crucial for landlords to be aware of the potential downside of accepting letters of credit — in particular, for amounts of security that are less than the statutory bankruptcy claim cap, say attorneys at Allen Matkins.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

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    After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • What Law Firm Liability Risks In 2025 Signal For Year To Come

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    Trends and statistics reveal that law firms of all sizes and practice areas remained attractive litigation targets this year, so firms must take concrete steps to avoid professional liability risks in the year to come, say Douglas Richmond and Andrew Ricke at Lockton Companies.

  • 1st-Of-Its-Kind NIL Claim Raises Liability Coverage Questions

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    The University of Georgia Athletic Association recently sought to compel arbitration against former UGA football player Damon Wilson in a first-of-its-kind legal action for breach of a name, image and likeness contract, highlighting questions around student-athlete employment classification and professional liability insurance coverage, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.

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