High Court To Mull Home Distilling Ban Following Circuit Split

By Spencer Brewer

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up a case on the federal tax code's ban on distilling whiskey at home after the Fifth Circuit found the ban unconstitutional but the Sixth Circuit upheld the ban.

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Tyson Must Face Turkey Buyers' Claims In Price-Fixing Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

An Illinois federal judge on Monday issued a sweeping summary judgment order in antitrust litigation over price-fixing allegations against turkey producers and a data collection company, ruling that direct-action plaintiffs can take some claims against Tyson and another company to trial while granting summary judgment to other defendants.

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Olive Garden Workers Get Conditional Opt-In Nationwide Cert.

By Lauren Berg

Olive Garden cannot trim a collective action that accuses it of tipped wage violations and underpaying employees, a Massachusetts federal judge has ruled, while preliminarily approving an opt-in class of the pasta chain's servers and bartenders.

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Hain Celestial Faces Bid To Revive Baby Food Labeling Case

By Bonnie Eslinger

California parents urged a Ninth Circuit panel on Monday to revive unfair competition claims against Hain Celestial, saying its baby and toddler food products violate an FDA rule by posting nutrient labels on food intended for children under the age of two, thereby causing consumers to overpay for the products.

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Ex-Josh Cellars Prez Can Keep Litigation Funding Out Of Trial

By Hailey Konnath

A Connecticut judge on Monday refused to allow companies behind the Josh Cellars wine brand to introduce an ex-president's alleged litigation funding deals during an upcoming trademark royalties trial, finding that the agreements aren't relevant to his $4 million contract and fiduciary duty claims against his former employers.

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Amazon Security Ruling Applies To Conn. Servers, Judge Told

By Brian Steele

Steakhouse servers should benefit from a decision issued by the Connecticut Supreme Court, and then adopted by the Second Circuit, that held Amazon must pay its warehouse workers for time spent going through security screenings, a state court judge heard Monday.

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Abbott Wins Bid To Move Ex-Worker's Bias Suit To Illinois

By Susan Smiley

Abbott Laboratories has convinced a Michigan federal judge that a former employee's sex discrimination and retaliation lawsuit belongs in Illinois. 

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Food Service Co. Faulted For Improper Tobacco Surcharge

By Grace Elletson

A Missouri federal judge handed a win to a class of workers who claimed food service company Compass Group USA hit them with an illegal extra health plan fee if they used tobacco, finding the company didn't properly refund the surcharge as required under federal benefits law.

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2nd Circ. Eases Employer Defense Of Dress Code Rules

The Second Circuit recently sided with Starbucks in a ruling that makes it easier for companies to defend dress code policies against unfair labor practice challenges, but employers shouldn't read it as a license to ban union insignia, say attorneys at Shipman & Goodwin.

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Where DOJ's Fraud Directive May Actually Affect Enforcement

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent directive outlining corporate fraud enforcement priorities is mostly a management document instead of a policy, but one part may actually undermine the directive's goals by leading to worse outcomes for organizational defendants and less corporate self-disclosure, says Zachary Warren at Williams & Connolly.

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DOJ Or Trump: Judge Asks Who Is Deciding Golf Course Plan

By Jared Foretek

Trump administration lawyers continued to insist at a hearing Monday there is no final plan to remake East Potomac Golf Course, and they changed their tune about whether one would require environmental review, despite new social media posts from the president announcing that work on the overhaul would begin "immediately."

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Wood Smith, Charlesbank Capital Ink Pioneering MSO Deal

By Emma Cueto

Insurance defense firm Wood Smith Henning & Berman has inked a deal to take investment from middle market investment firm Charlesbank Capital Partners via a managed services organization, according to an announcement Monday, the largest U.S. firm to announce such a move.

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Brief

Arizona Court Approves State's First Non-ABA Law School

By Emma Cueto

The Arizona Supreme Court has approved the state's first law school not accredited by the American Bar Association, citing the need to increase the number of lawyers per capita in the state and provide more affordable options for legal education.

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Court Denies Gov't Bid To DQ Susman Godfrey In ABA's Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has denied the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to disqualify Susman Godfrey LLP from representing the American Bar Association in its lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's executive orders against multiple major law firms. 

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Trump Taps DOJ Official, Federal Prosecutor For Judgeships

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated a senior U.S. Department of Justice attorney for a Nebraska federal judgeship and an assistant U.S. attorney for a seat on the Northern District of Indiana bench.

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Rogoff Tells 9th Circ. His Firing Furthers Trump's 'Evil' Plan

By Ben Adlin

Roger Rogoff urged the Ninth Circuit to affirm a lower judge's order reinstating him as Seattle's top federal prosecutor, asserting in a filing Friday that he's entitled to keep the court-appointed U.S. attorney position until President Donald Trump fills the role with a Senate-confirmed nominee.

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Proskauer Says It Didn't Drop Reddit To Defend Perplexity

By Lauren Berg

Proskauer Rose LLP and Perplexity AI are urging a New York federal judge to allow the law firm to represent the artificial intelligence company in Reddit's suit over alleged data scraping, balking at the social media platform's argument that its one-time law firm can't represent its current opponent.

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What The Justices Won't Hear: A Roundup Of Cert Denials

By Taylor Bowie

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up cases from Google, a U.S. Navy contractor, and other appellate hopefuls on Monday, according to an order list.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week blocked Cloudflare Inc. from completing a restructuring meant to preserve its founders' voting control, while Tower Semiconductor Ltd. accused Intel Corp. of backing out of a semiconductor manufacturing agreement and social media company Triller Group Inc. challenged its removal from Nasdaq.

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