Commercial Contracts

  • January 16, 2026

    6th Circ. Revives Biomed Co. Investor's Suit Over Stock Sale

    The Sixth Circuit has ruled that a man who sold his stock in a biomedical research company just before being told the company planned to pursue private equity financing can bring his breach of contract and fiduciary duty claims, reversing a lower court's ruling granting summary judgment to the biomedical company.

  • January 16, 2026

    $29M Deal In Boeing Supplier Fraud Suit Gets Final OK

    A New York federal judge on Friday approved a $29 million deal to close out a suit alleging that Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. misled investors by failing to disclose pervasive quality problems and a documented history of supplying its chief customer, The Boeing Co., with defective plane parts.

  • January 16, 2026

    DC Circ. Skeptical Of Reviving $53M Iraq Debt Suit

    A panel of the District of Columbia Circuit appeared wary during oral arguments Friday of a Jordanian company's position that statements made by Iraqi government officials encouraging it to file litigation to enforce a $53 million debt owed by the country meant it had waived its sovereign immunity.

  • January 16, 2026

    Chancery Won't Force Restart Of Calif. Plant Conversion Work

    Branding the proceeding "a big waste of our time," a Delaware vice chancellor denied on Friday a bid to preliminarily enjoin Air Products and Chemicals Inc. from terminating an agreement on the conversion of a Paramount, California, asphalt plant into a factory to make biofuel for aircraft.

  • January 16, 2026

    NuVasive Loses Appeal Over Ex-Exec's Ties To Competitor

    The Delaware Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the dismissal of NuVasive Inc.'s long-running lawsuit accusing a former top executive of breaching fiduciary duties and contractual obligations while planning to move to a rival spine-surgery company, ending nearly a decade of litigation over alleged conflicts and disloyal conduct.

  • January 16, 2026

    Judge Backs Employment Law Firm's 'Harmless Flirting' Ad

    A New York federal judge said an employment law firm would probably win its constitutional challenge to the rejection of a billboard advertising its willingness to sue companies that dismiss sexual harassment as "harmless flirting," calling a Syracuse airport authority's concerns that the ad pushed false information "nonsense."

  • January 16, 2026

    Pension Withdrawal Liability Math Gets High Court Spotlight

    The U.S. Supreme Court will zero in Tuesday on the methodology for assessing the liability of companies that pull out of multiemployer pension plans, hearing arguments in a case attorneys say could have costly implications for employers.

  • January 16, 2026

    OpenAI, Microsoft Must Face Musk Fraud Fight In April Trial

    A California federal judge denied OpenAI Inc.'s request for summary judgment on Elon Musk's claims OpenAI duped him into donating $38 million with false promises of remaining a nonprofit, while trimming some claims against Microsoft Corp. and sending the bifurcated dispute to an April jury trial.

  • January 16, 2026

    ChatGPT Users Say Microsoft Can't Duck Antitrust Suit

    ChatGPT subscribers urged a California federal judge Friday not to dismiss their lawsuit accusing Microsoft of undermining OpenAI by forcing the artificial intelligence giant into using its cloud computing exclusively, a day after they said Microsoft has no claim to alternatively force the proposed class action into arbitration.

  • January 16, 2026

    Comedians Say Sam Adams Used Ads Past Rights Expiration

    A trio of comedians has sued the company behind Sam Adams beer for continuing to use videos they recorded for a 2019 ad campaign after the company's right to their likenesses had expired, seeking compensation for the unauthorized use in Massachusetts state court.

  • January 16, 2026

    11th Circ. Won't Revive Fla. Remote School TM Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit has rejected an appeal from Florida Virtual School to revive its trademark infringement claims against a competitor, saying it had not shown evidence that it suffered actual damages as the result of any consumer confusion.

  • January 16, 2026

    Insurer Says Other Carrier Owes $23M For Old Policy Claims

    Sparta Insurance Co. said the former parent of an insurer it acquired reneged on its contractual obligations to handle and pay claims under policies issued before the acquisition, telling a Massachusetts federal court that it is owed more than $23 million in settlement payments, attorney fees and other costs.

  • January 16, 2026

    Conservation Easement Was $2.7M 'Swindle,' Investors Say

    Two investors have hit the Georgia-based managers of a syndicated conservation easement with a racketeering lawsuit, accusing the managers of lining their own pockets with nearly all the proceeds of a 2024 real estate sale to liquidate the fund.

  • January 16, 2026

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

    This past week in London saw the David Lloyd gym chain file an intellectual property claim against its founder, security company Primekings reignite a long-running dispute with the former owners of an acquired business, and a pair of Belizean developers sue a finance executive they say shut them out of a cruise port project.

  • January 15, 2026

    Getty Loses 2nd Circ. Bid Over $88M Stock Sale Breach Order

    A divided Second Circuit on Thursday upheld a ruling requiring Getty Images to pay out nearly $88 million to investors who said they were blocked from purchasing shares in the company once it became public, finding Getty breached a contract promising the investors those shares.

  • January 15, 2026

    Epic CEO, Google Execs To Testify At Play Store Deal Hearing

    Epic Games and Google plan to call Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, an economist, a Google executive and in-house counsel during an upcoming evidentiary hearing into their proposed Android app distribution settlement, which has drawn skepticism from the judge, who has appointed an economist to independently evaluate the deal.

  • January 15, 2026

    Energy Trader Says $5.5M Award Against Power Co. Is Valid

    A British Virgin Islands energy trading and logistics company has asked a Texas federal court to throw out a Guatemalan power plant operator's bid to vacate a $5.5 million arbitral award, saying the operator has never disputed that its debt is outstanding.

  • January 15, 2026

    Ex-WebAI Engineers Say Demos Were 'Faked' In Major Deals

    WebAI Inc. turned a blind eye to a company leader who not only targeted two successful technology engineers but imperiled high-stakes deals with Qantas Airways and the U.S. Department of Defense by allowing a "fake demo" and inaccurate presentations, former company engineers have told a North Carolina state court.

  • January 15, 2026

    NC Attys Can Withdraw From 'Unworkable' Nurses' Pay Row

    Two attorneys who said they had "irreconcilable differences" with nurse practitioners who did not meet their contractual financial obligations can withdraw their representation in a minimum wage lawsuit against their employer, a North Carolina federal magistrate judge ruled.

  • January 15, 2026

    6th Circ. Favors Comerica Bank In Ch. 7 Fraud Suit

    Comerica Bank is not liable for the actions of a former Chapter 7 liquidator, to whom the bank was paying fees during the bankruptcy of a tool manufacturer, the Sixth Circuit has found.

  • January 15, 2026

    Expedia Can Seek Singapore's Aid To Get Docs In Rival's Suit

    A Washington federal judge has granted Expedia's request to seek assistance from Singapore's court system to obtain documents from Trip.com to support its defense in an antitrust case filed by Switzerland-based bankrupt online hotel booking company Amoma Sarl.

  • January 15, 2026

    Visa, Mastercard Defend Swipe-Fee Deal Amid Objections

    Visa and Mastercard have again urged a New York federal judge to grant the first green light to a new settlement between the card issuers and a class of potentially millions of merchants to resolve two decades of antitrust litigation, pushing back against objections from Walmart and other merchant industry groups.

  • January 15, 2026

    Texas Justices Seem Open To Nixing Roofer's $4M Verdict

    The Texas Supreme Court seemed skeptical of a worker's claim that evidence of his consumption of a beer and half a joint six hours before he fell off a roof should not have gone before a jury, hinting Thursday that the contractor being sued may win its bid for a new trial.

  • January 15, 2026

    Judge Blocks Former LeafFilter Exec From Working For Rival

    An Ohio federal judge has issued an order enforcing a nonsolicitation and noncompetition agreement between a gutter guard company and a former executive who left to work for a rival and is accused of taking confidential trade secrets on his way out.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Courts Must Continue Protecting Plaintiffs In Mass Arbitration

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    In recent years, many companies have imposed onerous protocols that function to frustrate plaintiffs' ability to seek justice through mass arbitration, but a series of welcome court decisions in recent months indicate that the pendulum might be swinging back toward plaintiffs, say Raphael Janove and Sasha Jones at Janove Law.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • 7 Areas To Watch As FTC Ends Push For A Noncompete Ban

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    ​​​​​​As the government ends its push for a nationwide noncompete ban, ​employers who do not want to be caught without protections for legitimate business interests should explore supplementing their noncompetes by deploying elements of seven practical, enforceable tools, including nondisclosure agreements and garden leave strategies, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • In NY, Long COVID (Tolling) Still Applies

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    A series of pandemic-era executive orders in New York tolling state statutes of limitations for 228 days mean that many causes of action that appear time-barred on their face may continue to apply, including in federal practice, for the foreseeable future, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • FTC's Consumer Finance Pivot Brings Industry Pros And Cons

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    An active Federal Trade Commission against the backdrop of a leashed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be welcomed by most in the consumer finance industry, but the incremental expansion of the FTC's authority via enforcement actions remains a risk, say attorneys at Hudson Cook.

  • Amazon Ruling Marks New Era Of Personal Liability For Execs

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    A Washington federal court's recent decision in FTC v. Amazon extended personal liability to senior executives for design-driven violations of broad consumer protection statutes, signaling a fundamental shift in how consumer protection laws may be enforced against large public companies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

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