Outback Steakhouse Franchisee Hits Ch. 11 With $320M Debt

By Rick Archer

The operator of 61 Outback Steakhouse franchises in California and the Southwestern states Monday filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware with nearly $320 million in secured debt, saying the company had been "fatally undermined" by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Splenda Maker Says Cancer Claims Weren't Protected Speech

By Corey Rothauser

Splenda maker TC Heartland LLC urged the Fourth Circuit to revive its defamation suit against a scientist over her public warnings about the sweetener, arguing that the First Amendment does not shield statements that misrepresent research or rely on concealed test results.

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USDA Appoints Tribal Advisory Members To Ag Panel

By Joyce Hanson

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it has appointed four members to its tribal advisory committee and is seeking nominations for another eight people to serve on the panel that advises the USDA's secretary on matters related to Indian affairs.

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Analysis

Maine's Canada Trade Exemption May Ride On Midterms

By Dylan Moroses

The fate of Maine's relief from the trade war between the U.S. and Canada may lie in the balance of Tuesday's midterm election results, a dynamic that shows how trade policy can be influenced by the political winds, experts said.

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Trump To Remove Rwanda, South Africa From Trade Deal

By Asha Glover

President Donald Trump intends to remove Rwanda and South Africa from a trade preference program for African countries, according to a statement released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Monday.

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Conn. Water Co. Says PFAS Compliance Beats Class Claims

By Brian Steele

Connecticut Water Co.'s adherence to governmental PFAS regulations shows that even though its water contained allegedly toxic "forever chemicals," it was not defective or unreasonably dangerous, the utility said in response to a proposed product liability class action.

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Coors, Supplier Send Colo. Contract Exit Suit To Arbitration

By Rachel Konieczny

Coors Distributing Co. LLC and one of the beer wholesaler's suppliers reached an agreement Monday to allow an arbitrator to resolve the wholesaler's bid for a Colorado state judge to block the supplier from exiting the companies' decadeslong distribution contract.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission caused a pair of playground equipment makers to abandon their planned merger, Canadian enforcers upended a deal for the Green Giant brand in the country and state attorneys general reached settlements for several regional deals.

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BigLaw Attys Step Up To Help Voters In Midterm Elections

By Jack Karp and Lynn LaRowe

Attorneys from several BigLaw firms are volunteering across the country to make sure voters don't run into problems casting their ballots or having those ballots counted in Tuesday's midterm elections.

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Brief

Winston Taylor, DLA Piper Match Milbank Pay Scale

By Tracey Read

Two more BigLaw firms have opted to match the new associate salary scale set by Milbank LLP in June.

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Analysis

Judiciary Stuck In AI Rulemaking Rut As Attys, Judges Protest

By Jeff Overley

Judiciary efforts to enact rules for the artificial intelligence age are mired in concerns about burdens on litigators, the tensions between burgeoning technology and snail-paced policymaking, and how to even define AI. And despite vivid examples of AI's risks, officials are inching toward mothballing the prominent project.

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Judge Orders Chicago US Atty To Testify In Misconduct Probe

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge has ordered Chicago's top federal prosecutor and three assistant U.S. attorneys to testify under oath about potentially false statements made to her in a now-dismissed criminal conspiracy case against anti-ICE protesters, saying Monday that the government's shifting explanations about communications with DOJ leadership suggest prosecutors misled the court about outside involvement in the prosecution.

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NY State Bar Says Attys Can't Bill Time Saved By AI

By Andrea Keckley

The New York State Bar Association has told lawyers not to bill clients for the time they saved by using artificial intelligence, or for the time it took to learn a new AI tool.

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Interview

SEC's Top Cop On Building A 'Nimble' Enforcement Division

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has lost hundreds of enforcement employees and seen significant restructuring of its regional offices over the past two years, but the Division of Enforcement's director said that hasn't stopped him from building a "nimble" program that is focused on more than just the number of cases filed.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week allowed a stockholder claim over R1 RCM Inc.'s $8.9 billion buyout to proceed, while investors in Meta Platforms Inc. sued to block a stock restructuring they say would let CEO Mark Zuckerberg sell billions of dollars in shares without giving up control of the company.

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