Commercial Contracts

  • November 06, 2025

    SD Judge DQs Counsel, Denies Early Win In $1M Fraud Suit

    A South Dakota federal judge has disqualified a Miami attorney from defending an investment adviser in a $1 million fraud suit, finding the lawyer is likely to be a key witness in the case, on the same day she issued a separate order denying the adviser an early win on summary judgment.

  • November 06, 2025

    Seafood Co. Workers Urge 11th Circ. To Rehear ESOP Fight

    Workers for a seafood company urged the Eleventh Circuit to rethink a panel's decision in October that upheld dismissal of their suit accusing the company of employee stock ownership plan mismanagement, arguing the full court should overturn appellate precedent that led to the three-judge panel's decision.

  • November 06, 2025

    Ex-Ga. Atty Says Former Law Firm Violated Severance Deal

    An attorney who was disbarred in Georgia earlier this year has sued his former Atlanta-area law firm claiming that it owes him more than $70,000 for breaking his termination settlement by confiscating his files and trashing his name to his former paralegal and clients.

  • November 05, 2025

    Crypto Thief Or 'Scapegoat'? Jury To Decide Ex-CFO's Fate

    Prosecutors urged a Washington federal jury Wednesday to convict a software startup's ex-executive for pumping $35 million from company coffers into his fledgling cryptocurrency project, while defense counsel accused the government of pursuing a baseless case because the company needed someone to "scapegoat" for an investment loss.

  • November 05, 2025

    Helium Financial Says Fired Employees Nabbed Trade Secrets

    Two former employees of Washington-based Helium Financial Group LLC stole trade secrets and used them to start their own wealth management firm after they were fired, allowing them to create "a 'clone' of Helium's business model in startup form," Helium claimed in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Seattle federal court

  • November 05, 2025

    NC Court Says NFL Player Firms Must Arbitrate Profit Dispute

    A North Carolina appeals court on Wednesday instructed two sports management firms to arbitrate their dispute over profits generated by representing NFL athletes through their joint comprehensive football sports agency, affirming that their agreement included a valid arbitration clause.

  • November 05, 2025

    Disney Can Try Another SLAPP At Village People's $20M Suit

    A California appellate court has revived The Walt Disney Company's anti-SLAPP motion against a lawsuit claiming the entertainment giant fraudulently banned the Village People from performing at Disney Venues, saying Disney's musical act selection is conduct protected by the First Amendment.

  • November 05, 2025

    Deutsche Bank Must Live With Vik Losses, Conn. Judge Told

    The daughter of billionaire Alexander Vik asked a Connecticut federal judge Wednesday to block Deutsche Bank from litigating a $235 million English debt judgment in Norway and force the German financial giant to accept the two losses it suffered in Connecticut state court while pursuing the money.

  • November 05, 2025

    Mallinckrodt Faces Antitrust Suit Over Oxycodone Supply Halt

    A generic-drug company has claimed in a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania federal court that Mallinckrodt LLC and a subsidiary have cut off the supply of active ingredients necessary to make competing drugs that include oxycodone and acetaminophen.

  • November 05, 2025

    Aerospace Co. Urges Justices To Hear 'Toxic Lender' Case

    Aerospace company Xeriant Inc. is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a lawsuit over a stock-as-collateral loan it entered into with Auctus Fund LLC, arguing the Second Circuit's dismissal of the case clashes with another circuit decision that allowed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to pursue so-called toxic lenders in the microcap space.

  • November 05, 2025

    Ex-Bassist Makes Key Changes In Suit Against Metal Band

    The founding bassist of the Grammy-nominated metal band Hatebreed has asked a Connecticut judge not to trim claims from a lawsuit over his sudden termination, saying a new version of the complaint will cure any legal defects identified by the group's vocalist and its business arm.

  • November 05, 2025

    Ex-Mashpee Tribal Leader Gets 3.5 Years For Casino Bribes

    The former chair of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Wednesday was sentenced to a 42-month prison term for orchestrating a bribery scheme tied to the tribe's $1 billion casino project, as a Massachusetts federal judge chastised him for characterizing his yearslong conduct as "mistakes."

  • November 05, 2025

    Chancery Won't Let Pfizer Block $10B Novo Bid For Metsera

    A Delaware vice chancellor Wednesday refused Pfizer Inc.'s emergency bid for a temporary restraining order to block Metsera Inc. from closing a now $10 billion competing bid by Novo Nordisk for the GLP-1 weight-loss drugmaker, saying Pfizer hasn't demonstrated Metsera's board acted in bad faith or that the company would suffer immediate irreparable harm.

  • November 05, 2025

    NC Justices Probe Tech Parent Co.'s Bid To Escape Fraud Suit

    North Carolina's top court on Wednesday seemed reluctant to provide an off-ramp to the parent company of a technology business and one of its executives in a lawsuit alleging they conspired to devalue the majority member's stake and ferret assets to avoid paying distributions.

  • November 05, 2025

    Atty Owes More Than $1M For Note Default, Ga. Bank Says

    An attorney and his companies defaulted on a promissory note for more than $1.1 million, as well as interest, fees and costs, a Georgia-based bank alleges in a complaint filed Tuesday in Louisiana federal court.

  • November 05, 2025

    Conn. Firm Says Departing Atty Failed To Pay For Clients

    A five-attorney family law firm based in Stamford, Connecticut, told a state court that a contract attorney violated her employment agreement by failing to pay a fee for clients who went with her when she started a new practice at the end of her employment.

  • November 05, 2025

    Drone Cos. Lose Bid To Ground Ex-Exec's New Biz

    A Utah federal judge has refused to block a former executive of a drone company from working with a competitor or to stop the competitor from making or selling any military drones for a year, the latest episode of a trade secret dispute.

  • November 04, 2025

    Hagens Berman Owes $2M Over Failed Suit, Tech Giants Say

    Amazon and Apple have told a Seattle federal judge that Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP should cover nearly $2 million in defense costs because of the firm's "misrepresentations" while litigating a lawsuit accusing the two companies of conspiring to limit device sales on the e-commerce platform.

  • November 04, 2025

    Calif. Justices Doubt 'Illegible' Arb. Pact Is Enforceable

    California Supreme Court justices Tuesday doubted that an employer's "illegible" arbitration agreement is enforceable, with multiple justices observing that it's impossible to read terms of the contract at issue, which had been photocopied so many times the words are blurry.

  • November 04, 2025

    Venezuela's PDVSA Seeks Rehearing On Rig Seizure Claims

    Venezuela's state-owned oil company is asking the D.C. Circuit to revisit its ruling from last month ordering the company to face allegations it unlawfully seized an Oklahoma-based petroleum contract drilling company's rigs more than a decade ago, saying the ruling risks "diplomatic friction."

  • November 04, 2025

    NASCAR Has Monopoly, Judge Rules Ahead Of Antitrust Trial

    NASCAR has a monopoly over premier stock car racing, a North Carolina federal judge ruled late Tuesday in handing two teams — including one owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan — a pretrial win on what the judge described as "two core elements" of their antitrust case.

  • November 04, 2025

    Clippers Owner, BakerHostetler Named In Fintech Fraud Suit

    Nearly a dozen investors have filed an amended lawsuit in California state court alleging Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and others, including BakerHostetler, helped financial technology company Aspiration Partners Inc. defraud them by propagating a false narrative that the business was financially solvent.

  • November 04, 2025

    Ga. Panel Mulls Courts' Leeway To Alter Restrictive Covenants

    A Georgia appeals court pressed attorneys Tuesday for answers on how trial judges should determine how or when to modify restrictive covenants, during oral arguments on a motorcycle dealership chain's push to enforce a noncompete against its former chief operating officer.

  • November 04, 2025

    Insurer Must Turn Over Docs In $6.8M Fraud Dispute

    An electronic payments company's insurer must turn over claim files and underwriting materials as they continue to litigate whether the company's roughly $6.8 million loss from two fraud schemes falls within its policy's coverage for "computer fraud," an Iowa federal court ruled Tuesday.

  • November 04, 2025

    Feds Tell 11th Circ. Delta, Aeromexico Can't Halt JV Split Order

    The Trump administration fired back at Delta Air Lines and Aeromexico's Eleventh Circuit bid to freeze a U.S. Department of Transportation order directing them to scuttle their joint venture by Jan. 1, saying the airlines' contention that it'd be too burdensome to disentangle their networks is overblown.

Expert Analysis

  • What's At Stake In High Court Review Of Funds' Right To Sue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming review of FS Credit Opportunities v. Saba Capital Master Fund, a case testing the limits of using Investment Company Act Section 47(b) to give funds a private right of action to enforce other sections of the law, could either encourage or curb similar activist investor lawsuits, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Tracking The Evolving Legal Landscape Of Music Festivals

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    The legal infrastructure behind music festivals is anything but simple, so attorneys advising clients in this space should be prepared for a wide range of legal challenges, including the unexpected risks that come with live events, says Meesha Moulton at Meesha Moulton Law.

  • Cos. Must Tailor Due Diligence As Trafficking Risks Increase

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    As legislators, prosecutors and plaintiffs attorneys increasingly focus on labor and sex trafficking throughout the U.S., companies must tailor their due diligence strategies to protect against forced labor trafficking risks in their supply chains, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Series

    Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.

  • Reddit v. Anthropic Is A Defining Moment In The AI Data Race

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    The recent lawsuit filed by Reddit against Anthropic in California state court marks a pivotal moment in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence by sidestepping a typical copyright dispute, focusing instead on the enforceability of online terms of service and ownership of the digital commons, says William Galkin at Galkin Law.

  • What Developers Can Glean From Miami Condo Ruling

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    A Florida state appeals court's recent denial of a Miami condo redevelopment bid offers a detailed blueprint of what future developers must address when they evaluate the condominium's governing declaration and seek to terminate a condominium, say attorneys at Shubin Law.

  • Opinion

    The Legal Education Status Quo Is No Longer Tenable

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    As underscored by the fallout from California’s February bar exam, legal education and licensure are tethered to outdated systems, and the industry must implement several key reforms to remain relevant and responsive to 21st century legal needs, says Matthew Nehmer at The Colleges of Law.

  • 2nd Circ. Reinforces Consensus On Vacating Foreign Awards

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    In Molecular Dynamics v. Spectrum Dynamics Medical, the Second Circuit recently affirmed that federal district courts do not possess subject matter jurisdiction to vacate foreign arbitral awards, strengthening this consensus across the circuits most active in recognition and enforcement actions, says Ed Mullins at Reed Smith.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Relevance Redactions

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    In recent cases addressing redactions that parties sought to apply based on the relevance of information — as opposed to considerations of privilege — courts have generally limited a party’s ability to withhold nonresponsive or irrelevant material, providing a few lessons for discovery strategy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    Section 1983 Has Promise After End Of Nationwide Injunctions

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the practice of nationwide injunctions in Trump v. Casa, Section 1983 civil rights suits can provide a better pathway to hold the government accountable — but this will require reforms to qualified immunity, says Marc Levin at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • 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.

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