Commercial Contracts

  • July 09, 2025

    Albireo Energy Faces Suit Over Mold In Colo. School

    A Colorado school district hit Albireo Energy with a negligence suit in state court Wednesday that blames the building controls company for nearly $1 million in damage to a middle school from a botched ventilation system upgrade.

  • July 09, 2025

    Florida Court Nixes $5.8M Ruling, Says Loans Not Securities

    Florida's Third District Court of Appeal on Wednesday reversed and remanded a roughly $5.8 million judgment in a dispute regarding loan participation agreements between a commercial lender and an investment firm, saying the agreements weren't securities and were instead "routine commercial transactions."

  • July 09, 2025

    Boeing Wants 787 Contract Claims Split From 737 Fraud Suit

    Breach of contract claims related to a 787 Dreamliner sale should be severed from litigation brought by Norwegian Air subsidiaries that also accuses the company of fraudulently misrepresenting its 737 Max aircraft, Boeing told a Washington federal judge.

  • July 09, 2025

    Amazon Customer Grilled On Whole Foods Ad Suit At 9th Circ.

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared critical on Wednesday of a consumer's claim that Amazon duped Prime members by pulling its free Whole Foods grocery delivery perk, as the judges pointed to subscriber terms allowing the e-commerce giant to change the benefits package.

  • July 09, 2025

    J&J Unit Owes $76.6M For Ending AI Tissue Imaging Deal

    A New York federal judge held Tuesday that Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon unit owes ChemImage Corp. $76.6 million after unilaterally ending their deal to develop in-surgery artificial intelligence imaging techniques, adopting a 17% discount rate on intellectual property impairment damages proposed by ChemImage as opposed to Ethicon's proposed 40% rate.

  • July 09, 2025

    Former Josh Wine Exec Sues Over Soured Buyout Deal

    The former president of the wine and spirits company that owns multibillion-dollar brand Josh Cellars has filed suit in New York state court, claiming the family-run enterprise has withheld millions in royalty payments that he was due after his employment contract expired, exposing "the dark underbelly of the adage that blood is thicker than water."

  • July 09, 2025

    Costco Says Insurer Owes Defense In Heavy Box Injury Suit

    A Hartford unit violated Washington state's Insurance Fair Conduct Act by unreasonably denying additional insured coverage for a man's lawsuit alleging he suffered severe injuries when moving a product at Costco, the retail giant alleged in a lawsuit recently removed to Washington federal court.

  • July 09, 2025

    NJ Panel Revives Doctor's Fight Against Noncompete Clause

    A New Jersey appellate panel revived on Wednesday a physician's lawsuit challenging the enforceability of a restrictive covenant in his employment contract, ruling that the lower court prematurely dismissed the case without resolving key factual disputes.

  • July 09, 2025

    Ballpark Builder Wants Engineer Forced To Ink Settlement

    The original builder of a hotly litigated Hartford minor league baseball stadium has asked a Connecticut state court judge to force an engineering consultant's compliance with a confidential settlement agreement it has allegedly failed to sign despite sitting at the table with a number of other entities and lodging no objection to the terms.

  • July 09, 2025

    7th Circ. Nixes Rail Sharing Order Power For Subpar Service

    Federal regulators can't give themselves power to order rail carriers to share shipments with their rivals unless the incumbent railroad's service is "inadequate," a Seventh Circuit panel said in striking a Surface Transportation Board rule designed to empower such mandates when service merely fails certain reliability metrics.

  • July 09, 2025

    T.I.'s Big Punitive Damages Win Cut To $1, Teeing Up 4th Trial

    A California federal judge has reduced a jury's $53.6 million punitive damages award for rapper T.I. and his wife, singer Tameka "Tiny" Harris, to a $1 remitter, setting up a fourth trial in the trademark infringement case if the Harrises don't accept the remitter, which they have already said they will decline.

  • July 09, 2025

    8th Circ. Finds 'Chicken Coop' Trade Secrets Fight Can't Fly

    The Eighth Circuit will not reinstate an Iowa restaurant operator's lawsuit seeking a declaration that it did not misappropriate the trade secrets of another restaurant of the same name in Nebraska, saying there is no federal question that federal courts can answer.

  • July 09, 2025

    Microsoft IT Supplier's Suit May Be Doomed, 9th Circ. Hints

    A Ninth Circuit panel picked apart a cybersecurity firm's appeal Wednesday in a case accusing Microsoft of misusing a proprietary database of login credentials recovered on the dark web, with one judge remarking that the conduct in question was "expressly permitted" by the parties' agreement.

  • July 09, 2025

    11th Circ. Rules Against Hotelier In Arbitration Battle

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a bankruptcy court's annulment of an automatic stay to allow enforcement of an arbitral award issued in a dispute over a failed $250 million hotel conglomerate, rejecting arguments that the order was barred under a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

  • July 09, 2025

    Quinn Emanuel Says 'Spite' Behind Unpaid $30M Legal Tab

    The new owners of a business that was forced by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP attorneys to honor a merger agreement are refusing to pay a $30 million legal bill "out of spite," the firm has alleged in Massachusetts state court.

  • July 09, 2025

    Most Claims Tossed In $60M Mortgage Loan Sale Fraud Case

    Western Alliance Bank and others have escaped several claims in a $60 million suit accusing them of conducting a mortgage loan sale scheme to steal an investment management firm's property rights in the loans and their proceeds.

  • July 09, 2025

    NJ Justices Revive Bias Suit After Altice Evidence Falls Short

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Wednesday revived an Altice USA customer's discrimination suit against the cellular provider, ruling that there is not enough evidence to show that it was a regular business practice of Altice to email customers an agreement containing an arbitration provision.

  • July 09, 2025

    4th Circ. Rejects Machinery Co.'s 3rd Try At Trade Secrets Suit

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday shot down a Taiwanese manufacturer's third attempt to pursue claims of trade secrets theft against its North Carolina distributor, rebuffing the idea that a manufacturer can hold distributors liable for misappropriation if they sell a rival's product.

  • July 09, 2025

    Telecom Consultant Seeks To Enforce Nonsolicitation Deals

    A Pittsburgh-based telecommunications consulting firm says three of its employees joined up with a competitor and violated their nonsolicitation agreements by taking certain customers and jobs with them, according to a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania state court.

  • July 08, 2025

    5th Circ. Wary To Let Surety Stick Chevron With $11M Bill

    A Fifth Circuit panel seemed skeptical of a surety company's argument that BP and Chevron need to pony up $11 million to pay for decommissioning costs, asking Tuesday what to do with contractual language that seemingly absolved them of having to pay that bill.

  • July 08, 2025

    11th Circ. Rejects Fla. Jurisdiction In $17M Cheese Fraud Case

    The Eleventh Circuit declined Tuesday to revive a lawsuit accusing Savencia Cheese USA LLC and its executives of fraudulently selling two Florida companies a worthless cheese distribution company for $17 million, finding that the presence of deal counsel in Miami is not enough to keep the suit in Florida federal court.

  • July 08, 2025

    Wells Fargo Seeks Dismissal Of COVID-19 Mortgage Suit

    Wells Fargo said a North Carolina woman's claims that the bank forced the short sale of her home by denying her forbearance on her mortgage as mandated under federal law at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic should be dismissed for several reasons, including that the short sale never actually occurred.

  • July 08, 2025

    4th Circ. Revives Medical Device Co.'s Claim In Contract Suit

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday revived a medical device maker's breach of contract claim alleging a company it hired to manage its patents globally overcharged for services, sending the case back to a Virginia federal court.

  • July 08, 2025

    Insurer Fights Coverage For $13M Townhome Arbitration Row

    An insurer told a Washington federal court it has no duty to defend or indemnify a developer facing a nearly $13 million arbitration demand from a construction lender, which claims the developer misrepresented the completion of underground facilities at a Seattle townhome project while requesting funds for the work.

  • July 08, 2025

    Metal Trader Eyes Jurisdiction Fight In $3.7M Int'l Trade Feud

    A Taiwanese company that says a Connecticut metals trading firm owing it $3.7 million for magnesium shipments has signaled its intent to press a claim under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods in Connecticut federal court, despite a subject matter jurisdiction challenge.

Expert Analysis

  • What 2024 Trends In Marketing, Comms Hiring Mean For 2025

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    The state of hiring in legal industry marketing, business development and communications over the past 12 months was marked by a number of trends — from changes in the C-suite to lateral move challenges — providing clues for what’s to come in the year ahead, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Series

    Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.

  • Opinion

    6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School

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    Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.

  • Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware

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    Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out

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    In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity

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    Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Series

    Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • A Legal Perspective On NYC's Retail Real Estate Evolution

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    As New York City's retail market begins to show signs of resilience after the challenges of recent years, landlords must be cognizant of legal implications from shifting trends toward shorter-term leases and pop-up stores, says Andrea Gendel at Pryor Cashman.

  • The Fed. Circ. In October: Anti-Suit Injunctions And SEPs

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    The Federal Circuit's holding in Ericsson v. Lenovo, a complex global case involving standard-essential patents, will likely have broad consequences for practitioners, including by making it easier to obtain an anti-suit injunction, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • California Supreme Court's Year In Review

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    Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.

  • How CFIUS' Updated Framework Affects Global Investors

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    The recent change to the monitoring and enforcement regulations governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will broaden administrative practices around nonnotified transaction investigations, increase the scope of information demands from the committee and accelerate its ability to impose mitigation on parties, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Service Providers Must Mitigate 'Secondary Target' Risks

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    A lawsuit recently filed in an Illinois federal court against marketing agency Publicis over its work for opioid manufacturers highlights an uptick in litigation against professional service providers hired by clients that engaged in alleged misconduct — so potential targets of such suits should be sure to conduct proper risk analysis and mitigation, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Series

    Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

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