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.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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

By Andrea Keckley

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.

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

By Benjamin Morse

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.

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

By Julie Manganis

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.

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LITIGATION

Bimbo Bakeries Can't Steer Driver Suit To Arbitration

By Carolyn Muyskens

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.

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

By Y. Peter Kang

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.

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

By Crystal Owens

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.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Chief Justice Says Personal Attacks On Judges 'Got To Stop'

By Katie Buehler

Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday condemned the personal attacks on federal judges that have become increasingly common during President Donald Trump's second term in office — and that are often launched by the president himself — and defended the daily work of the judiciary. 

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Deals In Jackson Walker-Judge Affair A 'Dilemma,' Judge Says

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas federal judge ordered three of Jackson Walker LLP's former bankruptcy clients Tuesday to explain by next month what would happen to money from potential vacaturs or sanctions against the law firm if the estates close after their contested deals get approved.

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NJ Judge Boots Prosecutor, Orders US Atty Trio's Testimony

By Jack Karp

A New Jersey federal judge on Monday questioned whether Alina Habba is still running the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office during a heated hearing where the jurist tossed a supervisory prosecutor from his courtroom and ordered testimony from the trio of attorneys who assumed Habba's responsibilities.

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Reed Smith Launches In Boston With 12 Attys From 7 Firms

By Tracey Read

Reed Smith LLP has launched its first office in Boston with 12 lawyers from White & Case, Goodwin Procter, McDermott Will & Schulte, Morrison Foerster, Kirkland & Ellis, Weil Gotshal & Manges and K&L Gates, the firm announced Tuesday.

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'No Disrespect' But Law Prof Mom Not SBF's Atty, Judge Says

By Lauren Berg

A federal judge in Manhattan cautioned retired Stanford Law School professor Barbara Fried, the mother of convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, that she cannot make filings on behalf of her son in his bid for a new trial, saying she has not filed an appearance with the court.

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Indiana Firm Drops Quintairos Prieto 'Mass Exodus' Suit

By Adrian Cruz

Less than a month after suing Quintairos Prieto Wood & Boyer PA for allegedly causing a "mass exodus" of attorneys, Indiana-based Kopka Pinkus Dolin PC has chosen to dismiss the matter, according to a recent court filing.

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Comer Subpoenas AG Bondi Over Epstein Investigation

By Courtney Bublé

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, issued a subpoena on Tuesday for Attorney General Pam Bondi over the committee's investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Senate OKs Conservative Think Tank GC As Louisiana Judge

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 51-45 on Tuesday to confirm Anna St. John, president and general counsel of the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, as a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

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IP Atty Appeals Order Requiring OK To File WDTX Patent Suits

By Lauren Berg

Intellectual property attorney William Ramey is asking the Federal Circuit to overturn a Texas district judge's sanctions order requiring him to seek the court's permission before filing patent suits in the future, saying the judge relied on the wrong evidence in finding the attorney failed to conduct presuit investigations.

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Lawmakers Want More Oversight For Antitrust Settlements

By Matthew Perlman

Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation Tuesday that would give courts more power to review settlements reached in government antitrust cases, after the U.S. Department of Justice recently cut a pair of controversial deals, including with Live Nation last week.

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NJ Justices Create Attorney Readmission Board

By Jake Maher

New Jersey's highest court announced Tuesday it formally established a new body charged with overseeing readmissions of disbarred lawyers through changes to the state's standards for attorney conduct.

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Pot Co. Escapes Potency Suit, Judge Warns Plaintiff Firm

By Jonathan Capriel

MariMed and other cannabis companies beat claims they intentionally mislabeled their products to sidestep Illinois THC potency limits, with a federal judge highlighting the string of consumer-led suit losses and warning counsel to "heed the strong and universal concerns about the plausibility of their legal theories."

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Analysis

Prediction Markets Have Opened Compliance 'Pandora's Box'

By Phillip Bantz

The burgeoning prediction market has exploded the definition of what qualifies as confidential corporate information that employees could misuse for personal gain, leaving companies scrambling to update internal policies and guidelines, compliance experts say.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Barron's

Bimbo Bakeries USA Inc.

Boyer Co.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Hamilton Lincoln

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Hillshire Brands Co.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Juniper Networks Inc.

Learning Resources Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Meadow

Stanford University

Starbucks Corp.

Strike LLC

Tyson Foods Inc.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bryan Cave

CohenMalad

Costello Cooney

Covington & Burling

Dentons

Goodwin Procter

Haynes Boone

Holland & Hart

Jackson Walker LLP

K&L Gates

Kirkland & Ellis

Kopka Pinkus

Krizner Group

Lewis Brisbois

Marshall Dennehey

McCloskey Roberson

McDermott Will & Schulte

McLane Middleton

Morgan Lewis

Morrison & Foerster

Morrison Mahoney

Norton Rose

Ogletree Deakins

Quintairos Prieto

Ramey LLP

Reed Smith

Rusty Hardin

Saul Ewing

Shapiro Arato

Sheehan & Associates PC

Sheppard Mullin

Todd & Weld

Weil Gotshal

White & Case

Winston & Strawn

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Land Management

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Illinois Supreme Court

New Jersey Court

New Jersey Supreme Court

Nez Perce Tribe

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court