Commercial Contracts

  • August 01, 2025

    NC Brewery Pares Partnership Rift With Music Operator

    An Asheville brewery has whittled down a live music operator's lawsuit over their sunk partnership to form an entertainment venue after a North Carolina Business Court judge ruled the pair had no fiduciary relationship.

  • August 01, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen several telco giants hit with a trademark claim, a collapsed hotel company sue a property investor in an ongoing dispute over a decades-old hotel sale, and two litigation funders square off against each other.

  • July 31, 2025

    'Abusive Behavior' Spurs $195M Add To Phillips 66 IP Verdict

    A California state judge added $195 million in exemplary damages to a $605 million trade secrets verdict against oil giant Phillips 66 following its "abusive behavior" toward startup and onetime acquisition target Propel Fuels.

  • July 31, 2025

    6th Circ. OKs Toss Of Trustee Removal Bid In Union Fund Row

    A Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday upheld an Ohio federal court's decision finding that a trade union, three trustees of a union benefit fund, and a fund participant cannot remove two other trustees they accused of self-dealing, saying they failed to show they would face irreparable harm.

  • July 31, 2025

    10th Circ. Says Water Exclusion Bars Co.'s $1.75M Loss

    A Kansas office building's property insurer has no duty to provide coverage for roughly $1.75 million in repairs over a broken water pipe, the Tenth Circuit ruled, rejecting the building owner's argument that an exception in one exclusion conflicted with a separate exclusion for water damage.

  • July 31, 2025

    Anadarko Asks 5th Circ. To Back La. Suit Indemnity Win

    Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has asked the Fifth Circuit to uphold its indemnification win against an environmental remediation company in connection with a decade-old Louisiana kickback suit, writing that "one who makes his own bed must lie in it."

  • July 31, 2025

    Latham & Watkins Signs New Manhattan Office Lease

    Latham & Watkins LLP expanded its presence in midtown Manhattan by signing a 12-year lease for 12,000 square feet on two whole floors in RXR's building at 1285 Avenue of the Americas, RXR announced Thursday.

  • July 31, 2025

    NC Homebuyer Says Mortgage Co. Sent Kickbacks To Broker

    A homebuyer has accused a Raleigh, North Carolina, brokerage of taking kickbacks to refer borrowers exclusively to mortgage origination company CrossCountry Mortgage under a secret arrangement by executives of the two businesses, according to a complaint filed in federal court.

  • July 31, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Brokers Owe Atty Fees Over Case Removal Row

    A unanimous Fourth Circuit panel has affirmed a South Carolina federal judge's order requiring several financial firms to pay more than $63,000 in legal fees for improperly trying to remove a securities class action to federal court for a second time, but said they don't have to pay additional fees to cover the cost of the appeal.

  • July 31, 2025

    PE Firm Risking Contempt, Receiver In Del. Over Legal Bills

    Noting that unpaid legal bills might already support a contempt or limited receivership order against private equity 777 Partners, a Delaware magistrate in Chancery gave the company and its counsel a Monday deadline to report still-accumulating fee advancement debts.

  • July 31, 2025

    Witness' Use Of 'Fraud' Doesn't Cancel TV Sports Exec's Verdict

    The First Circuit rejected arguments by a former executive at the cable channel for the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins that a witness' use of the word "fraud" and testimony about his lavish spending tainted the jury that convicted him of a fake invoice scheme.

  • July 31, 2025

    NC Judge Questions Barings' Bid For Ex-Employees' Emails

    A North Carolina business court judge seemed leery Thursday of forcing former Barings' employees to fork over their personal emails and text messages as part of a deposition notice, suggesting Barings was trying to bypass U.K. law to get information from a foreign witness in its suit alleging former executives conducted a "corporate raid" to start a competing credit platform.

  • July 31, 2025

    Metal Singer Misused Band's Money, Fired Co-Founder Says

    The founding bassist for iconic metal band Hatebreed was abruptly fired over false accusations that he harassed a Connecticut venue worker, according to a lawsuit that also accuses the singer of mismanaging the group's money for his own gain.

  • July 31, 2025

    Split 3rd Circ. Expels Rutgers MBA Fraud Suit Over Standing

    The plaintiff leading a proposed class action against Rutgers University for allegedly cooking its MBA rankings by fudging job placement statistics doesn't have standing because he was in a different part-time certificate program, a split Third Circuit has ruled, affirming a New Jersey federal court's decision.

  • July 30, 2025

    No Philly Clause Is Valid In Med Mal Case, Pa. Panel Says

    A Pennsylvania appellate panel said Wednesday that a contract a patient signed before surgery mandating that any legal actions must be heard in Bucks County is valid and enforceable, affirming a trial court's transfer of the medical malpractice suit from plaintiff-friendly Philadelphia County.

  • July 30, 2025

    State Farm Ordered To Pay $54.6M Over Vehicle Valuations

    State Farm must pay more than $54.6 million across two class actions for underpaying the value of totaled vehicles via a "typical negotiation" deduction, a Washington federal court ruled, noting the plaintiffs provided "undisputed" evidence that State Farm violated the state's Consumer Protection Act.

  • July 30, 2025

    Comscore Says Box Office Data TRO In Antitrust Suit Is Bunk

    Media analytics giant Comscore has accused the film distribution and data company that's suing it for box office data monopolization of "gamesmanship," telling a California federal judge it had every right to cancel its contract with Atlas Distribution Co.

  • July 30, 2025

    6th Circ. Unsure It Can Toss Papa John's Leaked Audio Suit

    The Sixth Circuit grappled Wednesday with the fate of a lawsuit that the founder of Papa John's brought against a marketing agency alleging it leaked comments that led to his resignation, with one judge questioning the appellate court's jurisdiction to decide if a valid confidentiality agreement existed.

  • July 30, 2025

    Anesthesia Giant Keeps Poaching Claims In Antitrust Row

    A New York federal judge refused Tuesday to nix counterclaims from North America's largest anesthesia provider, facing a Syracuse hospital's antitrust allegations, accusing the hospital of illegally recruiting away dozens of its clinicians and thus interfering with its employment agreements.

  • July 30, 2025

    Peru Docs Bid In Toll Road Project Feud Improper, Court Told

    Asset manager Brookfield, law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP and Scotiabank are fighting efforts by Peru to force them to turn over documents in a feud stemming from an allegedly corrupt toll road project, arguing that the country is attempting an end-run around a previously unsuccessful petition.

  • July 30, 2025

    Software Co. Says Founder Can't Escape $9M Award

    Software investment company The Resource Group International Ltd. on Monday asked a New York federal judge not to let its former chairman, Invisalign inventor Zia Chishti escape a $9 million arbitration award against him, arguing it's too late to challenge the judgment now that it's been confirmed by the court.

  • July 30, 2025

    Traders Say Sanctioned Firm Can't Swap Plaintiff In $2.5M Suit

    A company facing trade sanctions cannot swap out another entity as a plaintiff in its suit targeting a crude oil sales firm's owners as it looks to collect $2.5 million based on an arbitral award, the owners have argued in Connecticut state and federal court.

  • July 30, 2025

    $1.6M UHC Reimbursement Suit Kicked Back To State Court

    A lawsuit alleging that United Healthcare of North Carolina Inc. underpaid a hospital system by at least $1.6 million in reimbursements does not belong in federal court, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Monday.

  • July 30, 2025

    Amazon Denied 'Mini-Trial' Against Shoppers' Proposed Class

    A Washington state federal judge summarily refused Wednesday to let Amazon interrogate the expert witness backing a bid for class action status covering tens of millions of consumers, finding that the proposal for evidentiary hearing, with cross-examination, is unneeded.

  • July 30, 2025

    Truist Triggered Employee Exodus, Not Ex-Execs, Court Told

    Three former executives who helmed the real estate finance arm of Truist Financial Corp. and their new employer are seeking a pretrial win in the bank's poaching case, telling a North Carolina state court judge they aren't to blame for Truist's alleged bad business decisions.

Expert Analysis

  • Corp. Human Rights Regulatory Landscape Is Fragmented

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    Given the complexity of compliance with nations' overlapping human rights laws, multinational companies need to be cognizant of the evolving approaches to modern slavery transparency, and proposals that could reduce mandatory due diligence and reporting requirements, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Opinion

    Premerger Settlements Don't Meet Standard For Bribery

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    Claims that Paramount’s decision to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump while it was undergoing a premerger regulatory review amounts to a quid pro quo misconstrue bribery law and ignore how modern legal departments operate, says Ediberto Román at the Florida International University College of Law.

  • Series

    Playing Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Soccer has become a key contributor to how I approach my work, and the lessons I’ve learned on the pitch about leadership, adaptability, resilience and communication make me better at what I do every day in my legal career, says Whitney O’Byrne at MoFo.

  • Forced Labor Bans Hold Steady Amid Shifts In Global Trade

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    As businesses try to navigate shifting regulatory trends affecting human rights and sustainability, forced labor import bans present a zone of relative stability, notwithstanding outstanding questions about the future of enforcement, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Learning From Failure

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    While law school often focuses on the importance of precision, correctness and perfection, mistakes are inevitable in real-world practice — but failure is not the opposite of progress, and real talent comes from the ability to recover, rethink and reshape, says Brooke Pauley at Tucker Ellis.

  • Recent Decisions Caution Against Broad Indemnity Provisions

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    Two recent decisions in disparate jurisdictions are reminders that businesses and practitioners should be mindful of contractual indemnity rights and draft indemnity provisions that enhance the predictability of enforceability without being overly broad, says Gregory Jaske at Olshan Frome.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From ATF Director To BigLaw

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    As a two-time boomerang partner, returning to BigLaw after stints as a U.S. attorney and the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, people ask me how I know when to move on, but there’s no single answer — just clearly set your priorities, says Steven Dettelbach at BakerHostetler.

  • Tips For US Investors Eyeing Middle East Data Centers

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    While Middle East data center investment presents a compelling opportunity in light of renewed U.S.-Gulf cooperation on artificial intelligence and critical technologies, these projects require a nuanced understanding of regional legal and regulatory regimes, says Haykel Hajjaji at Covington.

  • 4th Circ. Favors Plain Meaning In Bump-Up D&O Ruling

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    The Fourth Circuit's latest denial of indemnity coverage in Towers Watson v. National Union Fire Insurance and its previous ruling in this case lay out a pragmatic approach to bump-up provisions that avoids hypertechnical constructions to limit the effect of a policy's plain meaning, say attorneys at Kennedys.

  • Series

    Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion

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    In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

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    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

  • Business Court Bill Furthers Texas' Pro-Corporate Strategy

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    The Texas Legislature's recent bill to enhance corporate protections and expand access to the Texas Business Court by refining its jurisdictional standards is just the latest step in the state's playbook for becoming the new center of corporate America, say attorneys at Katten.

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