Food & Beverage

  • March 19, 2026

    Snoop Dogg's Ice Cream Co. Settles 'Swizzle' TM Battle

    Recording artist Snoop Dogg's ice cream company and the fruit bouquet retailer Edible Arrangements have settled a trademark dispute after mediating their use of the word "swizzle" before a Connecticut federal judge.

  • March 19, 2026

    Brewery Founder Can't Knock Out $31M Logo Battle

    A Georgia federal judge sent to trial a long-running dispute over the ownership of Atlanta-based Sweetwater Brewing's leaping trout logo after ruling Thursday that she couldn't yet sort out "a case so centrally rooted in the conflicting testimony" of the designer and the brewery's former owner.

  • March 19, 2026

    Target Hit With False Ad Suit Over 'Sustainably Caught' Tuna

    Target's representations that its Good & Gather tuna products are "sustainably caught" are nothing but empty promises, as its suppliers use dangerous fishing practices that harm the marine ecosystem and kill endangered sea turtles, whales and dolphins, according to a proposed class action filed Wednesday in California federal court.

  • March 19, 2026

    Restaurateurs Say Partner's Past Imperils Liquor License

    The founders of a Pittsburgh restaurant say a third part-owner has jeopardized their business' liquor license by not telling them about his criminal convictions from more than a decade ago and his recent DUI arrests, and they asked a Pennsylvania state court to let them buy him out for a fraction of his original investment.

  • March 19, 2026

    Ex-Workers Ask 11th Circ. To Overturn ERISA Exhaustion Rule

    Former workers for a seafood company urged the full Eleventh Circuit to overturn precedent that led a three-judge panel to uphold dismissal of their suit alleging mismanagement of an employee stock ownership plan, arguing the court's strictest-in-the-nation standard on exhausting administrative remedies didn't align with federal benefits law.

  • March 18, 2026

    Del Monte Foods Gets OK To Take Votes On Ch. 11 Plan

    Del Monte secured a New Jersey bankruptcy judge's permission Wednesday to take creditors' votes on a Chapter 11 plan that would wind down its remaining business, about a month after the canned food company won approval of deals to sell its assets.

  • March 18, 2026

    ITC Orders $5M In Penalties For Illegal Chocolate Milk Imports

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has levied $5.3 million in penalties on four grocers that were found to have violated a ban on importing a chocolate malt drink mix.

  • March 18, 2026

    Pa. Utility Regulator Seeks $2.6M Fine Over Fatal Explosion

    The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission wants the gas company whose pipe leak allegedly caused the fatal 2023 explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. chocolate factory in West Reading, Pennsylvania, to pay a $2.6 million civil fine, blaming the blast on the company's poor planning, inaccurate maps and failure to heed warnings that the plastic on its gas lines could degrade and fracture.

  • March 18, 2026

    Sushi Chef's Overtime Suit Is Fishy, Conn. Restaurant Says

    A Connecticut sushi restaurant has told a federal judge that it should win a chef's lawsuit alleging unpaid overtime, because he is a serial filer of baseless claims, working with his attorneys at Troy Law Group PLLC to try to secure unjustified payouts from multiple employers, and he was actually overpaid.

  • March 18, 2026

    Abbott Investors Ink $40M Deal Over Infant Formula Crisis

    Shareholders who brought a derivative suit over Abbott Laboratories' management of the 2022 infant formula crisis asked an Illinois judge on Tuesday to approve a settlement that includes $40 million in investments in food safety and corporate reforms, and $15.85 million in attorney fees.

  • March 18, 2026

    Publix Couldn't Foresee Active Shooter, Fla. Panel Says

    Publix Super Markets Inc. wasn't required to anticipate an active shooter at one of its Florida stores, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday, upholding a lower court decision tossing a lawsuit alleging the chain could have prevented the 2021 fatal shooting of a toddler and grandmother.

  • March 18, 2026

    What Happens In Vegas: LA Official Sues Over Ethics Fine

    Los Angeles City Councilman John Lee sued the city's ethics commission Tuesday in a California court, saying it wrongly levied a fine of over $138,000 against him on allegations that he participated in a debaucherous Las Vegas trip nine years ago that landed Mitch Englander, Lee's City Council predecessor and his boss at the time, in federal prison.

  • March 18, 2026

    Coke Bottler 401(k) Suit Put On Ice For High Court Ruling

    A Coca-Cola bottler can't dodge a proposed class action claiming its 401(k) plan was loaded with lackluster options, a Texas federal judge ruled, saying the company's dismissal bid must wait until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on the standards for claims of retirement investment underperformance.

  • March 18, 2026

    Wash. Tribes Dispute 'Inaccurate' Salmon Hatchery Fund Order

    Two Washington tribes are asking a federal court to reconsider a decision that denied their bid to side aside $22 million in salmon hatchery funding, arguing that despite National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration claims to the contrary, they've never said they're ineligible for the grant money.

  • March 18, 2026

    Food Cos. Get Another Shot At David Protein Antitrust Case

    A New York federal court is letting low-calorie food producers take another shot at their antitrust claims accusing protein bar-maker David Protein of refusing to sell them a fat replacement ingredient after purchasing the ingredient's only supplier.

  • March 17, 2026

    Idaho Tribe Looks To Void Approval Of $2B Gold Mine Project

    An Idaho tribe says the U.S. Forest Service violated bedrock environmental laws that provide first lines of defense for its rights in approving a $2 billion gold mining project within the Boise and Payette national forests, arguing it failed to consider any alternative methods for the endeavor.

  • March 17, 2026

    NJ Restaurant Beats Customer's Suit Over E. Coli Poisoning

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a suit over severe injuries suffered by a restaurant customer after eating an E. coli-contaminated salad, rejecting his attempt to categorize the case as a breach-of-contract claim.

  • March 17, 2026

    Tyson Must Face Bulk Of Meat Plant Worker's Wage Suit

    Tyson Foods Inc. must face most of a proposed class action accusing it of wage and hour violations at a Washington processing plant, after a federal judge on Tuesday found a worker plausibly alleged that meal break interruptions and automatic deductions resulted in unpaid wages.

  • March 17, 2026

    Bimbo Bakeries Can't Steer Driver Suit To Arbitration

    A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge won't ship to arbitration a pair of New England drivers' claims that Bimbo Bakeries USA misclassifies them as independent contractors, finding that the drivers are covered by an exception to the federal arbitration statute.

  • March 17, 2026

    2nd Circ. Kills Contempt Order In Starbucks False Ad Suit

    A New York federal judge overstepped in holding an attorney in contempt for filing what the lower court deemed a "meritless" false advertising lawsuit over the amount of potassium in a Starbucks coffee flavor, the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday.

  • March 17, 2026

    Eatery's Ex-Manager Used Its Funds For Own Chain, Suit Says

    The former general manager of a Boston restaurant tapped its accounts for "well in excess of $1 million" to underwrite startup and operational costs for his own group of Greek eateries, according to a lawsuit filed in state court.

  • March 16, 2026

    OCC Calls For Preemption Of Ill. Swipe-Fee Law At 7th Circ.

    A top U.S. banking regulator is seconding the banking industry's call for the Seventh Circuit to block Illinois' tax and tip swipe-fee ban, arguing a lower-court judge missed the "forest for the trees" in ruling the state-law restrictions are enforceable against banks it oversees.

  • March 16, 2026

    Edible Arrangements Wins Sanctions, Beats Ex-COO's Claims

    A Georgia federal judge struck the answer filed by Edible Arrangements' former chief operating officer and his company as a sanction for bad faith discovery conduct, finding they hid key evidence about millions in vendor checks deposited into a personal account.

  • March 16, 2026

    Teamsters Push For Arbitration In Kraft Heinz Benefits Suit

    A Teamsters local contended that a dispute with Kraft Heinz Co. over a healthcare benefits grievance must be arbitrated because it falls within the scope of the parties' collective bargaining agreement, the union told a Delaware federal judge.

  • March 16, 2026

    SD Eliminates Ag Land Assessment, Tax Oversight Task Force

    South Dakota eliminated a task force that oversaw the assessment and taxation of agricultural land and required the state Department of Revenue to provide data relating to the valuation of such land to state legislative tax committees under a bill signed by the governor.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    SNAP Rule Confusion Risks A Compliance Crisis

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    Recent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food restriction waivers pose a compliance crisis for legal practitioners advising food retailers, amid higher costs and lack of a coherent national standard, says Tyson-Lord Gray at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

  • Series

    Trivia Competition Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing trivia taught me to quickly absorb information and recognize when I've learned what I'm expected to know, training me in the crucial skills needed to be a good attorney, and reminding me to be gracious in defeat, says Jonah Knobler at Patterson Belknap.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: What Cross-Selling Truly Takes

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    Early-career attorneys may struggle to introduce clients to practitioners in other specialties, but cross-selling becomes easier once they know why it’s vital to their first years of practice, which mistakes to avoid and how to anticipate clients' needs, say attorneys at Moses & Singer.

  • Ariz. Uber Verdict Has Implications Beyond Ride-Hailing Cos.

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    When an Arizona federal jury in Jaylyn Dean v. Uber Technologies recently ordered Uber to pay $8.5 million to a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by her driver, their most important finding — that the driver was Uber's agent — could have huge consequences for future litigation involving platform-based businesses, says Michael Epstein at The Epstein Law Firm.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: Practical Use Cases In Chambers

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    U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard in the Southern District of California discusses how she uses generative artificial intelligence tools in chambers to make work more efficient and effective — from editing jury instructions for clarity to summarizing key documents.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four recent rulings from November and December, and identifies practice tips from cases involving the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act and Missouri unjust enrichment claims, the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, the Class Action Fairness Act, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  • Series

    Trail Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Navigating the muddy, root-filled path of trail marathons and ultramarathons provides fertile training ground for my high-stakes fractional general counsel work, teaching me to slow down my mind when the terrain shifts, sharpen my focus and trust my training, says Eric Proos at Next Era Legal.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Monsanto Decision May Fix A Preemption Mistake

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    In Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, the U.S. Supreme Court will address whether federal law preempts states' label-based failure-to-warn claims when federal regulators have not required a warning — and its decision could correct a long-standing misinterpretation of a prior high court ruling, thus ending myriad meritless state law personal injury claims, says Lawrence Ebner at Capital Appellate.

  • What Rescheduling Means For Cannabis Labels, Marketing

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    The proposed reclassification of cannabis is expected to bring heightened scrutiny of labeling, advertising and marketing from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, but the brands that tighten evidence, standardize operations and professionalize marketing controls now will see fewer surprises and better outcomes, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

  • Malpractice Claim Assignability Continues To Divide Courts

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    Recent decisions from courts across the country demonstrate how different jurisdictions balance competing policy interests in determining whether legal malpractice claims can be assigned, providing a framework to identify when and how to challenge any attempted assignment, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin & Lodgen.

  • Series

    Teaching Logic Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Teaching middle and high school students the skills to untangle complicated arguments and identify faulty reasoning has made me reacquaint myself with the defined structure of thought, reminding me why logic should remain foundational in the practice of law, says Tom Barrow at Woods Rogers.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Resilience

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    Resilience is a skill acquired through daily practices that focus on learning from missteps, recovering quickly without internalizing defeat and moving forward with intention, says Nicholas Meza at Quarles & Brady.

  • Takeaways From The DOJ Fraud Section's 2025 Year In Review

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    Former acting Principal Deputy Chief Sean Tonolli of the U.S. Department of Justice's Fraud Section, now at Cahill Gordon, analyzes key findings from the section’s annual report — including the changes implemented to adapt to the new administration’s priorities — and lays out what to watch for this year.

  • New State Regs On PFAS In Products Complicate Compliance

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    The new year brought new bans and reporting requirements for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in half a dozen states — in many cases, targeting specific consumer product categories — so manufacturers, distributors and retailers must not only monitor their own supply chains, but also coordinate to ensure compliance, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    Congress Should Lead On AI Policy, Not The States

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    There needs to be some limits on how far federal agencies go in regulating artificial intelligence systems, but Congress must not abdicate its responsibility and cede control over this interstate market to state and local officials, say Kevin Frazier at the University of Texas School of Law and Adam Thierer at the R Street Institute.

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