Instacart Will Pay $60M Over FTC's Deceptive Delivery Claims

By Lauren Berg

Instacart has agreed to pay $60 million to resolve Federal Trade Commission claims it deceptively advertised "free delivery" on customers' first orders while charging a service fee and for not clearly disclosing the terms of its subscription membership.

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Trump Orders Loosening Of Federal Restrictions On Marijuana

By Sam Reisman

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that his administration would instruct federal agencies to loosen restrictions on cannabis via executive order, a historic acknowledgment from the executive branch that the drug has recognized medical uses.

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Analysis

Trump Order Rallies Cannabis Industry, Advocates Want More

By Sam Reisman

The executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Thursday, marking the most substantial shift in federal cannabis policy in over half a century, is expected to have favorable ramifications for the marijuana industry even as it falls short of decriminalizing the drug or resolving the many tensions between federal and state law.

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Ringleader Of Beer Train Robbery Crew Gets 63 Months

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday handed down a 63-month prison sentence to a Bronx man who led a crew that stole nearly half-a-million dollars' worth of beer from trains, saying the defendant is fortunate nobody was harmed.

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Sprouts Grocery Brass Face Suit Over Rosy Growth Forecast

By Emilie Ruscoe

The brass of specialty grocery chain Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. face a shareholder derivative suit alleging they hid the risks of faltering consumer spending, and ended up overpaying by $26.5 million on stock buybacks ahead of an October sales growth miss that caused the company's share price to fall.

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Anti-Fluoride Win Merits $9.5M In Fees From EPA, Judge Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

Anti-fluoridation groups urged a California federal judge in a hearing Thursday to grant them $9.5 million in attorney fees for winning a 2024 decision that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "optimal" fluoride level for drinking water poses an unreasonable risk of lowering children's IQ. 

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5th Circ. Won't Force Aramark To Arbitrate Aetna ERISA Suit

By Lauren Berg

Aetna cannot force food services company Aramark to arbitrate allegations the insurer cost it millions of dollars by approving shoddy health benefit claims, a split Fifth Circuit panel affirmed Thursday, saying the parties' agreement doesn't clearly delegate arbitrability to an arbitrator and the claims seek equitable, not legal, relief.

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Analysis

Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

By Ivan Moreno

The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

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Coffee Contractual Dispute Will Be Arbitrated, NY Judge Says

By Caroline Simson

A New York federal judge ordered the parent company of a Colombian coffee supplier to arbitrate a dispute over its soured relationship with the U.S. arm of a Swiss coffee merchant despite not signing an underlying arbitration agreement, ruling that the pact could be enforced based on an agency theory.

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HMRC Wins Burden Of Proof Query In £54M Tax Fraud Case

By Josh White

A London appeals court ruled Thursday that HM Revenue & Customs doesn't bear the burden of proof in its tax liability claim against a British businessman it alleges used a company to commit alcohol smuggling and tax evasion of over £54 million ($72.2 million), plus penalties.

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EU Approves Bakery Biz Deal With Plant Sales

By Matthew Perlman

European enforcers approved Belgian food group Vandemoortele's proposed acquisition of Délifrance SA from French grain cooperative Vivescia, conditioned on the sale of two production facilities for frozen dough products.

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Reviewing 2025's Most Pertinent Wiretap Developments

2025 was a remarkable year in the world of web tracking wiretapping litigation, not only for the increased caseload but also because of numerous developing theories of liability, with disputes expected to continue unabated in 2026, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

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Series

Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

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Health, Legal Employers Face Unique Online Speech Hurdles

Employers in the legal and healthcare industries must consider distinctive ethical obligations and professional requirements when disciplining employees for social media posts, while anticipating an area of the law in flux as courts seek to balance speech rights and the workplace function, say attorneys at FordHarrison.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen the designer of an 88-facet diamond bring a copyright claim against a luxury watch retailer, collapsed firm Axiom Ince bring legal action against the solicitors' watchdog, and the Post Office hit with compensation claims from two former branch managers over their wrongful convictions during the Horizon information technology scandal.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Five firms lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the D.C. Circuit reinstated an order that blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from freezing grants for climate change projects.

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Florida Supreme Court Approves Limits For Non-Lawyer Roles

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on a rule change to spell out that nonlawyers at a law firm cannot supervise the work of attorneys or perform policymaking duties that affect the practice of law.

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Sidley Adds Williams & Connolly Mass Torts Trial Atty In DC

By Alison Knezevich

A trial attorney who spent more than two decades at Williams & Connolly LLP has moved to Sidley Austin LLP to help lead its product liability and mass torts practice.

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Yale Law School Appoints Deputy Dean To Top Spot

By Brian Steele

The deputy dean of Yale Law School, a career academic and public servant who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, will take over the top deanship position next year, the school announced Friday.

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Federal Courts Not Subject To FOIA, DC Judge Rules

By Jake Maher

The conservative litigation group America First Legal Foundation cannot demand documents from the federal Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Freedom of Information Act because they are not executive agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

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Analysis

More Pardon Seekers Going 'Straight To The White House'

By Phillip Bantz

A nonprofit's unusual plan to make a mass pardon request directly to the Trump administration highlights burgeoning optimism among white collar defendants about their chances of securing relief, and a recognition that the clearest path to clemency no longer runs through the traditional channels.

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Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader's Divergent Paths Led To Deal

By Aebra Coe

The blockbuster combination between Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP announced this past week involves two law firms that have charted very different paths in recent years. Here, a look at what events led up to the firms joining together at the deal table.

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DC Firm Hiring From Government Skyrocketed In 2025

By Alison Knezevich

As federal lawyers left in droves this year amid President Donald Trump's return to the White House, the number of attorneys who moved from government jobs to BigLaw firms in Washington, D.C., doubled in 2025 compared to the last post-presidential election year.

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Keesal Young Drops Part Of Stradley Ronon Poaching Suit

By Madison Arnold

Keesal Young & Logan wants to drop part of its California state court lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP unlawfully recruited 10 of its attorneys.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In one of the stories in corporate legal news from the past week, almost half of the in-house legal professionals in a recent survey said they were either actively or passively seeking new jobs, citing stress, a struggle to build multidisciplinary teams and anxiety around artificial intelligence.

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Gambling Tech Co. Loses Sanction Bid In NJ Defamation Case

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state judge rejected a gambling technology company's bid for sanctions in its defamation suit against investigative firm Black Cube and law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP on Thursday, ruling that Black Cube did not willfully disobey a court discovery order.

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Colo. Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart Retires

By Zach Dupont

After an extended leave of absence this year, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart announced her retirement from the state's high court Friday.

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Justices Let Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit Continue

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration has failed to show it will be irreparably harmed by a Fourth Circuit decision that revived immigration judges' lawsuit challenging restrictions on their ability to speak publicly.

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