Commercial Contracts

  • December 16, 2025

    NC Cardboard Box Salesman Freed From Trade Secrets Suit

    A corrugated packing manufacturer can't hold on to its lawsuit alleging a former star salesman defected to a close competitor with its trade secrets after a North Carolina Business Court judge ruled the complaint is too vague.

  • December 16, 2025

    Kasowitz Hid Plummeting Profits From Ex-Partner, Suit Says

    A former Kasowitz LLP partner has accused the firm and its founder, renowned litigator Marc Kasowitz, of misrepresenting its finances and failing to pay him the millions he is owed in a lawsuit in New York state court, alleging the firm's profits have plummeted due to poor management.

  • December 16, 2025

    Hagens Berman Sanctioned For Bot Errors In OnlyFans Case

    A California federal judge sanctioned Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP for submitting four briefs that contained errors blamed on ChatGPT while representing OnlyFans users pursuing proposed class fraud claims against the online platform, tossing the suit but allowing the users a chance to refile.

  • December 16, 2025

    NC Law Firm Says Insurer Must Cover Helene Biz Losses

    A North Carolina law firm has accused its insurance company of wrongfully denying coverage for business income losses stemming from Hurricane Helene, saying the suspension of operations during and after the storm is covered under its business owners policy.

  • December 15, 2025

    Nutrien Ag Says Wash. Farm Owes $5M For Breaking Contract

    Agricultural products supplier Nutrien Ag Solutions Inc. is accusing an Eastern Washington farm of reneging on a $5.4 million debt, claiming the producer has failed to make even partial payments on its credit line since mid-September.

  • December 15, 2025

    Telecom Says It Was Upcharged 864 Times For Fiber Install

    An Iowa-based telecom has accused a Lumen unit of trying to balloon a nearly $300,000 job to $257 million by forcing it to pay per foot for each of the 864 "hair-width glass fiber strands" in a single cable that will be pulled through 50-plus miles of tunnel under Phoenix.

  • December 15, 2025

    Microsoft Seeks To Exit ChatGPT Users' OpenAI Antitrust Suit

    Microsoft has slammed a proposed class action accusing the company of bullying OpenAI into a cloud computing deal as devoid of fact and economic sense in two motions filed in California federal court, saying the plaintiffs, ChatGPT subscribers, are trying to dodge an arbitration clause in the chatbot developer's user terms.

  • December 15, 2025

    Walmart Adds To Visa, Mastercard Swipe-Fee Deal Objections

    Walmart has become the latest retailer to object to a proposed new settlement between Visa, Mastercard and a class of potentially millions of merchants to resolve two decades of antitrust litigation, claiming the class plaintiffs and counsel have "sold out their fellow class members."

  • December 15, 2025

    Del. Justices Put ITG On Hook For $250M Reynolds Settlement

    Delaware's Supreme Court stubbed out an eight-year ITG Brands LLC legal battle to avoid paying R.J. Reynolds more than $250 million to cover health-related settlement payments to Florida after ITG's acquisition of four of the cigarette company's brands, according to a ruling issued Monday.

  • December 15, 2025

    Pa. Nursing Home Can't Arbitrate Sex Assault Suit, Panel Says

    The Pennsylvania Superior Court on Monday rejected a bid to arbitrate a suit accusing a nursing home of causing a patient's sexual assault, rejecting the home's "unsubstantiated assertion" that she signed an arbitration agreement upon admittance.

  • December 15, 2025

    Property Investor Says Florida Real Estate Broker Stole $121M

    A Florida rental properly investor accused a real estate broker in state court of misappropriating more than $121 million intended as investment distributions, saying she used her position as manager of several companies to divert the funds to her own accounts. 

  • December 15, 2025

    DOJ Raises Accreditation Concerns In Vet School Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice waded into a Tennessee veterinary school's antitrust case challenging the American Veterinary Medical Association's accreditation requirements, raising concerns about the risk posed by professional groups that play gatekeeping functions.

  • December 15, 2025

    Colo. Agriculture Co. Says Firms' Malpractice Cost It $12M

    A Colorado agricultural manufacturer has filed a malpractice lawsuit in state court against a pair of Denver law firms and an attorney, alleging they mishandled their representation of the manufacturer in a derivative action that cost the company more than $12 million.

  • December 15, 2025

    FTC Joined By 21 States In Accusing Uber Of Deception

    Twenty-one states joined the Federal Trade Commission on Monday in a California federal lawsuit accusing Uber of enrolling consumers into its paid subscription service without consent and keeping them in a "loop" of obstacles that deter or prevent cancellations.

  • December 15, 2025

    Insurer Denies Coverage For Car Shop's Customer Suit

    An insurer told a California federal court it had no duty to defend a car conversion business from a suit alleging it wrongfully used a customer's car in advertisements, explaining that the claims did not fall under the specified ad injury coverage.

  • December 15, 2025

    11th Circ. Rejects ESOP Managers' Individual Arbitration Push

    The Eleventh Circuit on Monday backed a court's decision to keep a lawsuit in Georgia federal court alleging a legal technology company's employee stock ownership plan shares were undervalued in a plan termination, holding that an arbitration provision was unenforceable because it blocked rights under federal benefits law.

  • December 15, 2025

    Midwest Businesses Drop Trash-Fee Collection Scheme Suit

    Michigan, Ohio and Indiana-based businesses agreed Monday to drop their claims that waste disposal companies breached contracts by charging tens of millions of dollars in excess trash collection fees.

  • December 15, 2025

    Inventor's Bid To Dodge $214K Sanction Fails At High Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take on an inventor's request to escape an order from an Ohio federal court that sanctioned him $214,000 for bad faith litigation, which was approved by the Federal Circuit.

  • December 12, 2025

    Google To Face Publishers' Class Claims Over AdX Exchange

    A New York federal judge Friday granted class certification in a multidistrict antitrust litigation over Google's advertising technology to publishers who sold ad space through the search giant's AdX ad space marketplace, but denied certification to publishers who used Google's AdSense platform and to a proposed class of advertisers.

  • December 12, 2025

    Guatemala Must Pay $32M Awards, Court Rules

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday enforced some $32 million in arbitral awards owed by Guatemala to a highway contractor, rejecting the country's arguments that the dispute belongs in its domestic courts or that it should be put on hold while related proceedings in the country play out.

  • December 12, 2025

    NC Justices Won't Revive Developer's Fraud Suit

    North Carolina's highest court sided with two real estate companies against a suit filed by their former partner on a multifamily redevelopment project, ruling on Friday that the businesses were contractually allowed to boot the plaintiff from the project's company.

  • December 12, 2025

    Hollywood Director Convicted Of $11M Fraud Against Netflix

    Film and television director Carl Erik Rinsch was convicted on charges he defrauded Netflix out of $11 million secured to make a sci-fi television show he never delivered, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

  • December 12, 2025

    Merchant Orgs. Fight Latest Visa, Mastercard Swipe-Fee Deal

    The National Association of College Stores, Energy Markets of America and other industry groups objected Friday to a proposed new settlement between Visa, Mastercard and a class of potentially millions of merchants to resolve two decades of antitrust litigation, claiming the deal "does not come close to fixing the swipe fee challenges" faced by merchants.

  • December 12, 2025

    Duke Energy Pushes Back On DOJ's View Of 'Monopoly Broth'

    Duke Energy told the U.S. Supreme Court the government is backing a rival's antitrust claims accusing the power giant of squeezing it out of the North Carolina market simply to help enforcers' own cases accusing Big Tech companies of using a "monopoly broth" to thwart competition.

  • December 12, 2025

    Wrong Metric Created $2 Valuation, Chancery Suit Says

    A former equity holder in a nutrition services business has sued in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to unwind what it calls a sham $2 repurchase of its ownership interest and to force payment of a separate $2 million deferred purchase price, arguing that the business disregarded contractually mandated valuation mechanics to engineer a zero-value outcome.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Discovery

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    The discovery process and the rules that govern it are often absent from law school curricula, but developing a solid grasp of the particulars can give any new attorney a leg up in their practice, says Jordan Davies at Knowles Gallant.

  • Mitigating Import Risks Around Southeast Asian Solar Cells

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    The U.S. Department of Commerce's recent final determinations in its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into solar cells produced in certain Southeast Asian countries make it important for U.S. purchasers to consider risk mitigation strategies, including modifying supply chains and contractually assigning import responsibilities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Playing Guitar Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a lawyer not only requires logic and hard work, but also belief, emotion, situational awareness and lots of natural energy — playing guitar enhances all of these qualities, increasing my capacity to do my best work, says Kosta Stojilkovic at Wilkinson Stekloff.

  • Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook

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    The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw

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    While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.

  • Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them

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    Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.

  • How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients

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    Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • Tracking The Evolution Of Liability Management Exercises

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    As liability management exercises face increasing legal scrutiny, understanding the history of these debt restructuring tools can help explain how the playbook keeps adapting — and why the next move is always just one ruling or transaction away, say attorneys at Weil.

  • 3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims

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    Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.

  • Negotiating Triparty Hotel Agreements To Withstand Risk

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    Brewing economic uncertainty in the hospitality industry underscores the importance of subordination, nondisturbance and attornment agreements, and hotel managers should tightly negotiate these agreements to ensure remedies will not disturb key rights, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law

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    Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • Independent Contractor Rule Up In The Air Under New DOL

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    In several recent court challenges, the U.S. Department of Labor has indicated its intent to revoke the 2024 independent contractor rule, sending a clear signal that it will not defend the Biden-era rule on the merits in anticipation of further rulemaking, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

  • Key Questions When Mediating Environmental Disputes

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    As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency implements dramatic regulatory changes, companies seeking to use mediation to manage increased risks and uncertainties around environmental liabilities should keep certain essential considerations in mind to help reach successful outcomes, says Edward Cohen at Thompson Coburn.

  • Legal Ethics Considerations For Law Firm Pro Bono Deals

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    If a law firm enters into a pro bono deal with the Trump administration in exchange for avoiding or removing an executive order, it has an ethical obligation to create a written settlement agreement with specific terms, which would mitigate some potential conflict of interest problems, says Andrew Altschul at Buchanan Angeli.

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