Food & Beverage

  • January 26, 2026

    Beyond Meat's $77M Write-Down 'Shocked' Market, Suit Says

    Meat-substitute maker Beyond Meat Inc. is facing a proposed investor class action alleging it concealed its struggles to turn a profit, hurting investors as it eventually acknowledged quarterly losses that included a $77 million write-down.

  • January 26, 2026

    4th Circ. Preview: NCAA Eligibility And E-Cigarette Law

    Notwithstanding the winter storm that slammed several states over the weekend, litigators will clash at the Fourth Circuit this week on whether NCAA eligibility rules violate antitrust law, or federal law preempts North Carolina's ability to regulate e-cigarette sales.

  • January 26, 2026

    Pet Treat Maker Will Pay $975K To End Donning, Doffing Row

    A pet product manufacturer has agreed to pay $975,000 to resolve a proposed class and collective action alleging the company failed to pay its employees for the time they spent putting on and removing personal protective equipment, according to settlement papers filed in Colorado federal court.

  • January 23, 2026

    USDA Defends SNAP Pilot In Colo. Legality Challenge

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture told a federal judge that Colorado's request for an injunction restricting it from enforcing a new pilot project for Supplemental Nutrition Act Program recipients should be rejected because the state has not suffered any actual harm.

  • January 23, 2026

    DC, States Back Flowers Foods Driver In High Court Arb. Case

    Whether a worker qualifies for an arbitration exemption depends on what they do, not on the legal structure of their work, 14 states and the District of Columbia told the U.S. Supreme Court, backing a driver for Flowers Foods seeking to keep his wage suit out of arbitration.

  • January 23, 2026

    Instacart, DoorDash, Uber Can't Block NYC's Delivery Laws

    Two New York federal judges rejected requests by delivery companies Instacart, DoorDash and Uber to halt New York City laws regulating tipping options, minimum wage and disclosure requirements, saying that the companies didn't support their arguments that the laws violate the First Amendment and federal preemption principles.

  • January 23, 2026

    Bipartisan House Bill Would Regulate Hemp-Derived CBD

    Members of Congress on Thursday unveiled a bipartisan bill to legalize and regulate the manufacture and sale of hemp-derived CBD products, while a federal ban on virtually all consumable hemp products is still due to take effect in approximately 10 months.

  • January 23, 2026

    EU To Suspend US Tariff Countermeasures Another 6 Months

    The European Union will suspend tariff countermeasures covering more than €93 billion ($110 billion) of U.S. goods another six months after President Donald Trump backed down from tariff threats this week in reaching a preliminary agreement on U.S. security interests in Greenland, an official said Friday.

  • January 23, 2026

    Vegan Protein Co. Claims Bad-Faith Dilution By Partner

    A vegan protein company has asked the Delaware Chancery Court to block what it describes as a deeply unfair capital call that would dramatically dilute its ownership stake in a mineral-processing venture, accusing its majority partner of engineering a squeeze-out through bad-faith governance and below-market pricing.

  • January 23, 2026

    Delta Lounge Workers Cheated Out Of Wages, Suit Says

    Delta Air Lines and a food service company cheated workers at airport lounges out of wages by not paying them for time spent undergoing security checks and by denying them meal and rest breaks, a worker said in a proposed class action in California state court.

  • January 22, 2026

    Pizzeria Owner Can't Beat 8-Year Sentence For Forced Labor

    The First Circuit on Wednesday refused to vacate a Boston-area pizzeria chain owner's forced labor convictions and an 8½-year prison sentence, finding adequate evidence to back the jury's findings and no error in how the court calculated his sentence.

  • January 22, 2026

    Yale Hospital Wants Infant Death Verdict Reduced By $30M

    Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital on Thursday asked a Connecticut judge to reduce a $32 million infant death verdict to just $2 million, saying damages for the loss of enjoyment of life cannot be awarded in addition to damages for the infant's death itself.

  • January 22, 2026

    Smucker Pet Food Buyers Win Cert. In PFAS Disclosure Fight

    A California federal judge certified Thursday a class of Golden State consumers who accuse The J.M. Smucker Co. of failing to disclose risks of so-called PFAS forever chemicals in certain pet food packaging, rejecting Smucker's arguments, among others, that PFAS exposure is too individualized for classwide resolution.

  • January 22, 2026

    FDA Action Shouldn't Halt Amazon Labeling Suit, Plaintiffs Say

    Shoppers accusing Amazon of failing to make required disclosures on dietary supplement product pages told a Washington federal judge there's no need to pause their proposed class action amid possible rulemaking by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, arguing that the supposed rule change wouldn't negate the suit's claims under California law.

  • January 22, 2026

    Supplement Cos. Challenge FDA Health Claim Denials

    A group of health supplement companies hit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with a suit in D.C. federal court Wednesday alleging regulators wrongly denied them approval to make over 100 distinct claims concerning the health benefits of their products.

  • January 22, 2026

    Bally's Casino Beats Bartenders' Age Bias Suit Appeal

    A New Jersey appellate court on Thursday upheld dismissal of claims accusing Bally's Atlantic City Hotel & Casino of preventing unionized bartenders from working at a new casino bar because of their age, finding that the claims fail to show a discriminatory motive for the bar's hiring decisions.

  • January 22, 2026

    Walmart Broke Grocery Noncompete Promise, Court Told

    The owner of a suburban Pittsburgh grocery store told a Pennsylvania federal judge Thursday that a neighboring Walmart is in violation of a nearly 30-year-old deal not to compete for food sales, blaming a recent remodel for a drop in the grocer's sales.

  • January 22, 2026

    Sentencing Judge Blasts Ex-Mars Exec's 'Entitlement'

    A former Mars Inc. risk executive was sentenced on Thursday to 63 months in prison and ordered to pay the candy company more than $28.4 million in restitution after pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion surrounding a decadelong fraud scheme.

  • January 21, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Judge Wrongly Blocked Trump Grant Freeze

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday wiped out a federal district judge's order restoring 32 congressionally funded grants frozen by the Trump administration, saying it's a contractual matter for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to decide.

  • January 21, 2026

    Willkie Hires Chicago Restructuring Partner From Kirkland

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has announced it has engaged an attorney from Kirkland & Ellis LLP to join the firm as a partner based in its Chicago office, where it anticipates he will make a successful contribution to a growing corporate restructuring platform.

  • January 21, 2026

    Okla. Tribes Challenge Bid To Dismiss Hunting Rights Suit

    Three tribal nations are fighting a motion by Oklahoma to dismiss their challenge that looks to block the prosecution of Native Americans for hunting and fishing on tribal lands, telling the court that the state's Ex parte Young doctrine arguments are "not colorable."

  • January 21, 2026

    Tex-Mex Chain's 'Feeling' Isn't Trade Secret, NC Biz Court Told

    A chain of upscale Tex-Mex restaurants in North Carolina failed to specify the trade secrets a former manager is accused of stealing to replicate its dining concept at another restaurant in Missouri, defense counsel told a North Carolina Business Court judge on Wednesday.

  • January 21, 2026

    3rd Circ. Questions Mushroom Farmer's Tax Bill Accounting

    A Third Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday of a woman's bid to reduce her prison term for tax violations connected to her family's mushroom farm, with judges suggesting that different swaths of taxes she failed to pay the government could be grouped together as "relevant conduct" under federal sentencing guidelines.

  • January 21, 2026

    Starbucks Settles COBRA Suit From Ex-Worker's Spouse

    Starbucks has agreed to settle a proposed class action from employee health plan participants and their beneficiaries alleging lapses in the coffee chain retailer's post-employment medical insurance notices, according to filings in Florida federal court.

  • January 21, 2026

    Boar's Head Heir Seeks Chancery Ruling On Board Seat

    An heir to one of a major deli manufacturer's founders has asked the Delaware Chancery Court to step into a family governance dispute, arguing that the company improperly refused to recognize his election to the board despite a written stockholder consent he says was valid under Delaware law.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Influencer Marketing Partnerships Face Rising Litigation Risk

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    In light of recent class actions claiming that brands and influencers are misleading consumers with deceptive marketing practices — largely premised on the Federal Trade Commission's endorsements guidance — proactive compliance measures are becoming more important, say attorneys at Olshan Frome.

  • Mulling Worker Reclassification In Light Of No Tax On OT

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    The One Big Beautiful Bill Act's no-tax-on-overtime provisions provide tax relief for employees who regularly work overtime and are nonexempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, but reclassifying employees may lead to higher compliance costs and increased wage and hour litigation for employers, says Steve Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.

  • 7 Ways Employers Can Avoid Labor Friction Over AI

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    As artificial intelligence use in the workplace emerges as a key labor relations topic in the U.S. and Europe, employers looking to reduce reputational risk and prevent costly disputes should consider proactive strategies to engage with unions, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • 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.

  • What Cos. Must Note From EU's Delivery Hero-Glovo Ruling

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    The European Commission’s recent landmark decision in Delivery Hero-Glovo, sanctioning companies for the first time over a stand-alone no-poach cartel agreement, underscores the potential antitrust risks of horizontal cross-ownership between competitors, say lawyers at McDermott.

  • Ultra-Processed Food Claims Rely On Unproven Science

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    Plaintiffs' arguments that ultra-processed foods are responsible for the nationwide increase in certain chronic illnesses, though a novel approach to food-based personal injury claims, depend on theories that are still being tested, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • 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.

  • A Look At Trump 2.0 Antitrust Enforcement So Far

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    The first six months of President Donald Trump's second administration were marked by aggressive antitrust enforcement tempered by traditional structural remedies for mergers, but other unprecedented actions, like the firing of Federal Trade Commission Democrats, will likely stoke heated discussion ahead, says Richard Dagen at Axinn.

  • 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.

  • Tips For Cos. From California Climate Reporting FAQ

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    New guidance from the California Air Resources Board on how businesses must implement the state's sweeping climate reporting requirements should help companies assess their exposure, understand their disclosure obligations and begin documenting good-faith compliance efforts, says Thierry Montoya at Frost Brown.

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