Costco Says '100% Agave' Tequila Suit Belongs In Mexico

By Ben Adlin

Costco has urged a Washington federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the retailer of falsely labeling its Kirkland Signature tequila as made from pure agave, arguing that a U.S. court exercising jurisdiction over the case would interfere with Mexico's "exclusive sovereign authority to determine what is and is not 100% agave tequila."

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Poland Spring Drinkers Renew Class Cert. Bid In False-Ad Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

Purchasers of Poland Spring bottled water have again urged a Connecticut federal judge to certify proposed classes in their lawsuit that claims the former Nestle brand was actually bottling groundwater, setting a proposed class period end date after the judge initially denied their certification request for lacking a date.

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Uber, DoorDash Can't Pause NYC Tip Prompt Laws On Appeal

By Benjamin Morse

Uber and DoorDash cannot temporarily block New York City laws regulating how they display gratuity options as an appeal moves forward, the Second Circuit ruled, finding the companies failed to show that an injunction is warranted.

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Split 6th Circ. Lets Brewer Challenge Tax Code's Distilling Ban

By Asha Glover

An Ohio brewery owner has standing to challenge the constitutionality of the federal tax code's ban on distilling whiskey at home, but the ban is necessary for the government to collect taxes on distilled spirits, a split Sixth Circuit panel ruled.

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Workers Get 'One More Chance' In General Mills Bias Suit

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal judge Wednesday warned General Mills plant workers claiming they were subjected to racist harassment that they've got one last chance to bring their proposed class action up to his standard before he tosses it for good.

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USTR Seeking 'Outcomes' On DSTs, Stronger USMCA Rules

By Dylan Moroses

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a U.S. House of Representatives panel Wednesday that efforts to eliminate digital service taxes implemented by jurisdictions across the world continue to be prioritized by President Donald Trump's administration, and potential tariff actions are ready in waiting.

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Fast Food Parent Co. Wants Out Of Workers' Tobacco Fee Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

The parent company of Arby's, Dunkin' and other fast-food chains urged a Georgia federal court to toss the remaining claims in a class action alleging employees in its health plan were unlawfully charged more for using tobacco, pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 Loper Bright ruling.

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Yelp Stiffed Calif. Workers On Boot-Up Time, Suit Says

By MJ Koo

Yelp failed to pay hourly workers for the minutes they spent waiting for their work computers to boot up before they could clock in for each shift, a former worker alleged in a proposed class action in California state court.

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Messner Reeves Accused Of $8.3M Trust Account Fraud

By Zach Dupont

Colorado law firm Messner Reeves LLP was hit with a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court from five businesses claiming it stole more than $8 million from them in a fraudulent loan scheme involving a now-defunct sports arena and hotel project in Las Vegas.

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Brief

Workers' Attys Get $940K As $4.7M Tobacco Deal Approved

By Patrick Hoff

A Virginia federal judge on Wednesday awarded $940,000 in attorney fees to class counsel who secured a $4.7 million settlement with food distributor Performance Food Group over claims that it unlawfully charged tobacco users an extra fee for health benefits.

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Brief

CIT Backs Expanded Scope For Chinese Cabinet Duties

By Jack McLoone

Certain wooden cabinets and vanities completed in Vietnam and Malaysia with components manufactured in China were correctly found to be in-scope of duty orders on such products from China, the U.S. Court of International Trade said Wednesday, sustaining two U.S. Department of Commerce determinations.

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Monette Farms Seeks Ch. 15. OK For $1.08B Canadian Reorg

By Ben Zigterman

North American farming enterprise Monette Farms Ltd. filed for Chapter 15 recognition of its Canadian restructuring as it seeks urgent liquidity to seed crops for the growing season.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: How To Draft Pleadings

Most law school graduates step into their first jobs without ever having drafted a complaint, answer, motion or other type of pleading, but that gap can be closed by understanding the strategy embedded in every filing, writing with clarity and purpose, and seeking feedback at every step, says Eric Yakaitis at Haug Barron.

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Norton Rose Faces $100M Suit Over Withdrawn Patent App

By Celeste Bott

Norton Rose Fulbright was sued in Illinois state court Tuesday by an advertising tech company claiming that the law firm mishandled a patent application and caused it to be deemed withdrawn, but kept the company in the dark about the loss of its valuable patent rights for over a year.

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Lockheed Birth Defect Trial Judge 'Disappointed' By Attys

By Cara Salvatore

A Florida federal judge said Tuesday he's "puzzled and disappointed" in counsel who appear "unprepared" on the eve of trial in a suit by children who blame their birth defects on Lockheed Martin's chemical handling practices at an Orlando defense system manufacturing and research facility.

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Hunter Biden Blasts Winston & Strawn Tactics In Fee Row

By Emily Sawicki

As a discovery dispute between Hunter Biden and Winston & Strawn LLP drags on amid a suit over allegedly unpaid legal bills, the former president's son accused the BigLaw firm, which once represented him in a Delaware criminal case and other matters, of resorting to "what is uncomfortably close to an ad hominem attack" against him.

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Analysis

Bondi's Proposed Rule Change May Shield Her In Ethics Case

By Phillip Bantz

A federal rule change that Pam Bondi proposed before she was fired as U.S. attorney general could stymie an ethics complaint against her in Florida, which is expected to be refiled after the state bar declined to take up the case during her tenure, experts say.

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Alston & Bird Says Goliath Investors Can't Claim Malpractice

By Carolina Bolado

Alston & Bird LLP urged a Florida federal court on Wednesday to toss a malpractice suit claiming the firm facilitated a $328 million cryptocurrency scam at Goliath Ventures Inc., arguing that the proposed class of Goliath investors who brought the suit were never clients of the firm.

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Analysis

House GOP Again Pushes Data Privacy Bill To Override States

By Allison Grande

House Republicans on Wednesday took their latest crack at establishing a cohesive nationwide data privacy framework, floating legislation that would give consumers more control over their personal information while preempting a growing patchwork of state laws, although early criticisms indicate that the issues that have long stymied these efforts persist.

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330+ Groups Urge DOJ To Restore Immigration Aid Staff

By Courtney Bublé

More than 300 legal services providers, faith-based institutions and community groups are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to fully restore a program that allows nonlawyers to assist low-income and indigent persons in immigration proceedings.

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Acting DOJ Inspector General Tapped For Permanent Post

By Jack Karp

President Donald Trump has nominated the U.S. Department of Justice's acting inspector general, who investigated the FBI's probe into Trump's links with Russia, to remain in that role on a permanent basis, according to a White House announcement.

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Paint Co. Says Injury Firm Used Stolen Data To Solicit Clients

By Abigail Harrison

A paint company has asked a North Carolina federal court to boot the opposing counsel in a putative data breach class action, accusing them of finding stolen data on the dark web and using it to solicit potential plaintiffs before victims were even notified of the breach.

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