Coca-Cola Sued Over Minute Maid 'Natural Flavors' Claim

By Rae Ann Varona

The Coca-Cola Co. was accused Wednesday in Illinois federal court of falsely marketing its Minute Maid Fruit Punch as containing only natural flavors, with a consumer alleging in the putative class action that the beverage actually gets its tartness from a "synthetic, non-natural flavoring ingredient."

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Krispy Kreme Brass Face Another Suit Over McDonald's Deal

By Matthew Santoni

More Krispy Kreme shareholders have filed suit in North Carolina federal court against current and former executives over alleged misrepresentations of the doughnut company's aborted rollout of a partnership with McDonald's.

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5th Circ. Orders Fresh Look At Tequila Brands' TM Confusion

By Lauren Berg

A split Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived a trademark dispute between Mexican brand "Clase Azul" and U.S. startup "Casa Azul," finding that because the Texas district court made some errors in its underlying findings, it needs to reassess the likelihood of confusion between the two companies' marks.

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Analysis

Anti-Pot Group Eyes New Repeal Pushes After Mass. Loss

By Sam Reisman

After Election Day, anti-cannabis activists are pledging to bring repeal efforts to other states despite a decisive defeat in Massachusetts, while pro-cannabis industry and consumer-focused groups say they hope to work with a Democrat-controlled Congress to secure federal reform.

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UK Biz Wins Fresh Look At Collagen Product's VAT Status

By Kevin Pinner

A court must look again at whether a U.K. company's liquid collagen product is a drink for human consumption, and therefore a zero-rated food for value-added tax purposes, in light of an appeals court's ruling in a separate case, a London tribunal said in a decision published Wednesday.

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Humm Kombucha Hit With Suit Over 'Zero Sugar' Labels

By Jonathan Capriel

A maker of probiotic kombucha products faces a proposed class action claiming its "zero-sugar" drinks are deceptively marketed and actually contain a substance that federal food regulators have "repeatedly" called a sugar, according to a complaint filed in California federal court.

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Iranian Investor's 'Fraud' Sinks His Claim Against Azerbaijan

By Joyce Hanson

An Iranian entrepreneur who accused the Republic of Azerbaijan of waging a campaign of intimidation against him has seen his $800 million investment treaty claim against the state thrown out after he was found to have "fabricated fraudulent documents" in support of his case.

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True Food Kitchen Gets Another $2M In Ch. 11 Funding

By Alex Wittenberg

A Texas bankruptcy judge said Wednesday that he would allow health-focused restaurant chain True Food Kitchen to borrow another $2 million to fund its Chapter 11 case and pay employees.

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What Axing ERISA Exhaustion Rule Means For Plan Sponsors

The Eleventh Circuit’s recent reversal of a 40-year precedent requiring plaintiffs to exhaust administrative remedies before filing statutory Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims eliminates a common threshold defense in fiduciary breach suits, making it important for plan sponsors to reassess their internal review and litigation strategies, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

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Opinion

The Invisible AI Danger That May Undermine Legal Profession

A public database tracking cases involving hallucinations generated by artificial intelligence recently surpassed 2,200 entries, but the bigger risk underlying attorneys’ use of such tools is that they will slowly surrender their judgment to AI and lose analytical skills, says Massachusetts District Court Associate Justice Brian Palmucci.

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Controversial DOJ Civil Rights Division Leader Steps Down

By Alison Knezevich

Harmeet K. Dhillon, a U.S. Department of Justice official who instituted dramatic changes as leader of the Civil Rights Division, has stepped down from her role.

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Sullivan & Cromwell Brings On Weil Capital Markets Leader

By Isaac Monterose

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP has hired the co-leader of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's capital markets team for a capital markets partner role in its New York City office, the firm announced Thursday.

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Analysis

Racing Against Whistleblowers Could Cost Companies

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice's new cash rewards program for tips on criminal fraud threatens to ramp up the pressure on companies to hurry internal investigations and quickly report suspected misconduct to the government before whistleblowers do, which could backfire in some cases, according to experts.

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Judge Albright's Do's And Don'ts For Patent Trials

By Dani Kass

Two months after former ​U.S. District Judge Alan Albright returned to private practice, he regaled a room of attorneys at the University of Texas School of Law on Thursday with lessons from his time on the bench.

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Trump's Hush Money Conviction Examined By Wary NY Panel

By Frank G. Runyeon

A New York State appellate court Thursday quizzed attorneys for President Donald Trump and state prosecutors over his hush-money conviction, exploring defense counsel's claims that the district attorney trespassed into federal jurisdiction by charging election violations and trampled on presidential immunity in a case "infected with multiple fatal errors."

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