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.
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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

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

By Kelcey Caulder

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.

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Tree Top Can't Toss False Ad Suit Over '100% Juice' Claims

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge ruled Monday that Tree Top must face a proposed class action alleging it mislabels some of its apple juices as being made with "100% juice" despite adding synthetically produced ascorbic acid, finding the plaintiff plausibly alleged the ascorbic acid added to the beverages aren't made from apples.

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Pepsi Bottler's Fee Dispute Belongs In Arbitration, Judge Says

By Benjamin Morse

A Pepsi distributor cannot be forced by a federal court to pay arbitration costs in a misclassification dispute with the company, a New York federal magistrate judge ruled Monday, finding that the fee dispute must instead be resolved within the arbitration itself.

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Teamsters Push For Arbitration In Kraft Heinz Benefits Suit

By Katherine Smith

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.

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LITIGATION

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

By Jon Hill

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.

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SD Eliminates Ag Land Assessment, Tax Oversight Task Force

By Zak Kostro

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.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket last week featured disputes including an $83.75 million settlement tied to a renewable energy merger, fraud claims in a fertilizer company acquisition and a developer's fight for control of a major Philadelphia redevelopment project.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Opinion

High Court's Hain Ruling Undermines Diversity Jurisdiction

The U.S. Supreme Court's most recent decision on the limits of federal jurisdiction, Hain Celestial Group v. Palmquist, further legitimizes the plaintiffs bar's long practice of intentionally pleading around diversity jurisdiction — and could have far-reaching implications for how future product liability and consumer fraud cases are litigated, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

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The Benefits Of Choosing A Niche Practice In The AI Age

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly accessible, lawyers with a niche practice may stand out as clients seek specialized judgment that automation cannot replicate, but it is important to choose a niche that is durable, engaging and a good personal fit, says Daniel Borneman at Lowenstein Sandler.

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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 EDTX 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

AT&T Inc.

American Arbitration Association

American Bankers Association

Anthropic PBC

Apple Inc.

Bank Policy Institute

Barron's

Boyer Co.

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.

Chambers and Partners

Cisco Systems Inc.

Clearing House Payments Co. LLC

Communications Workers of America

Consumer Bankers Association

DuPont de Nemours Inc.

Edible Arrangements LLC

Electronic Transactions Association

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Hamilton Lincoln

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Illinois Bankers Association

Illinois Credit Union League Inc.

Intel Corp.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

JAMS Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Juniper Networks Inc.

Learning Resources Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

MasterCard Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co.

Pivot Energy

Priority Responsible Funding

Stanford University

Strike LLC

TerraForm Power Inc.

The Hain Celestial Group Inc.

The Kraft Heinz Co.

Tree Top Inc.

Verdesian Life Sciences LLC

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

Whole Foods Market Inc.

X Corp.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Abato Rubenstein

Bryan Cave

Bursor & Fisher

Cavendish Partners

CohenMalad

Covington & Burling

Davis Wright Tremaine

Dentons

Epstein Becker

Garland Samuel & Loeb

Goodwin Procter

Haynes Boone

Jackson Walker LLP

Jones Day

K&L Gates

Kirkland & Ellis

Kopka Pinkus

Krizner Group

Lowenstein Sandler

McCloskey Roberson

McDermott Will & Schulte

Morrison & Foerster

Norton Rose

O'Donoghue & O'Donoghue

Ogletree Deakins

Patterson Belknap

Quintairos Prieto

Ramey LLP

Reed Smith

Robbins Alloy

Rusty Hardin

Sacco & Fillas

Saul Ewing

Schulten Ward

Shapiro Arato

Sidley Austin

Skadden Arps

Smith Katzenstein

Sullivan & Cromwell

Venable LLP

Weil Gotshal

Weiss LLP

White & Case

WilmerHale

Winston & Strawn

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Delaware Court of Chancery

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Illinois Attorney General's Office

Illinois Supreme Court

New Jersey Supreme Court

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

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 Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Commerce

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 Delaware

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 California

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

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