'Food Fraud-Friendly' Judge Pans Suit Against Campbell's

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge who described himself as more "food fraud-friendly" than colleagues said Thursday that a Golden State resident didn't plausibly plead that The Campbell's Co. misleads consumers by labeling microplastic-emitting soup packaging as "microwavable," but gave her permission to file an amended complaint.

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3 Firms Steer $17B DoorDash-Instacart Grocery Delivery Deal

By Al Barbarino

DoorDash Inc. said Thursday it has agreed to acquire Instacart for an equity value of approximately $17 billion, with Latham & Watkins LLP advising DoorDash and Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP and Cooley LLP representing Instacart. 

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Tech Prices, Driver Networks Hang Over DoorDash Tie-Up

By Bryan Koenig

Antitrust observers told Law360 Thursday they expect significant scrutiny of DoorDash's plan to acquire Instacart for an equity value of approximately $17 billion, pointing to the overlap between their restaurant and grocery delivery services, and the timing of the deal just as the Federal Trade Commission launches a surveillance pricing investigation.

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Uber, Amazon, Instacart Fight NYC Courier Deactivation Law

By Linda Chiem

Uber, Amazon and Instacart have accused New York City of overstepping by enacting a law prohibiting them from "deactivating" delivery couriers without formal notice and investigation, claiming in a new federal lawsuit that the regulation unconstitutionally interferes with their contractual rights.

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FTC, States Allege Toast Trapped Restaurants With Fees

By Carolina Bolado

The Federal Trade Commission and eight states sued Toast Inc. on Thursday, accusing the restaurant software company of saddling restaurants with hidden fees, failing to provide promised customer support and making it difficult to cancel its services.

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EU Head Affirms Ties With Canada As Member Talks Open

By Jack McLoone

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday reaffirmed the European Union's commitment to strengthening its ties with Canada at the opening of a summit to consider whether to adopt Canada as the EU's first-ever associate member.

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Canada, UAE Sign Economic Partnership Agreement

By Jack McLoone

Canada and the United Arab Emirates have reached an agreement on a trade deal that is expected to double bilateral trade between the countries, up to CA$7 billion ($5 billion) annually, the Canadian government said, lauding the agreement as being reached in "record time."

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Brief

EU Pushes China For More Fair Trade Commitments

By Jack McLoone

The European Parliament's Committee on International Trade spent a three-day trip to China pushing for an expansion of a trade framework beyond a recently reached mutual understanding on hybrid vehicles, among other concerns, the committee said Thursday.

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CMA Starts Probe Into Meat Packer ABP's Acquisition Deal

By Irene Madongo

Britain's antitrust watchdog said Thursday it is launching an inquiry into meat supplier ABP Food Group's completed acquisition of an indirect minority stake in the owner of Dovecote Park, a Yorkshire-based beef processor.

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9th Circ. Revives Tequila-Maker's TM Fight With Sutter Home

By Ben Adlin

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday reversed a ruling that blocked Roar Spirits LLC from registering two El Bandido Yankee tequila trademarks, holding that a reasonable factfinder could conclude that differences between El Bandido Yankee and Sutter Home Winery's Bandit boxed wine trademark make it unlikely consumers would confuse the brands.

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9th Circ. Drops Speech Holding In Seattle Gig Worker Ruling

By Benjamin Morse

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday withdrew its earlier finding that Seattle's protections for app-based delivery workers don't regulate speech, replacing it with a narrower ruling that assumes the law involves speech but still passes First Amendment scrutiny.

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Meat Plant Workers Say DOJ's Wrong On Wage-Fixing Deals

By Matthew Perlman

Beef and pork plant workers seeking final approval for $200 million in wage-fixing settlements reached with major meat processors told a Colorado federal court the U.S. Department of Justice is raising concerns about conduct that stopped years ago.

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Spoliation Silence Should End Price-Fixing Claims, Court Told

By Lauraann Wood

Broiler chicken producers defending sprawling price-fixing accusations in Illinois argue two Burford Capital units' intentional discovery misconduct that destroyed key bid-rigging evidence should bar the litigation funding units from pursuing claims in two food distributors' place.

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Colo. Judge Blocks Coors' Supplier From Exiting Contract

By Rachel Konieczny

Beer brand supplier Constellation Brands Inc. cannot terminate its 18-year-long distribution contract with Coors Distributing Co. LLC until arbitration can occur as mandated under the companies' agreement, a Colorado state judge ruled.

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Squires Grants 4 Patent Review Bids In Latest Bulk Order

By Adam Lidgett

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has greenlighted four new petitions seeking review of patents in his latest round of decisions, while turning down one on discretionary grounds.

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Brief

Importer, NJ Distributor End Suit Over Stealing Grocery Biz

By George Woolston

A distributor has agreed to drop its lawsuit alleging a Korean food importer purposefully mischaracterized why it was ending the parties' relationship in order to gain direct access to a popular grocery chain, according to a filing in New Jersey federal court.

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Monsanto Cleared In Latest Roundup Trial After $90M Ask

By Cara Salvatore

Missouri jurors cleared Monsanto Thursday in the first Roundup trial since a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling, after they were urged during closing arguments to award $10 million to $30 million for each of three plaintiffs who developed lymphoma after regularly using the Monsanto pesticide.

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Are You Happy With Your In-House Role? Take Our Survey

Is your company giving you everything you need to succeed? What are some misconceptions about working in-house? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Satisfaction Survey.

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DOJ Backs Ex-Wisconsin Judge's ICE Obstruction Conviction

By Andrea Keckley

The U.S. Department of Justice told the Seventh Circuit that the high-profile conviction of a former Wisconsin state court judge for interfering with an ICE arrest was not compromised by her position on the bench or by jury instructions.

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Roundup

Hub Hires: WilmerHale, Womble Bond, Kirkland

By Chris Villani

Falling temperatures didn't bring a cooldown in the Boston legal lateral market as WilmerHale and Robinson & Cole LLP both welcomed former assistant attorneys general, Honigman LLP established its first office in the market, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP snagged a partner from Ropes & Gray LLP.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC and Smith Porsborg Schweigert Armstrong Moldenhauer & Smith lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eighth Circuit struck down the Federal Reserve's regulatory cap on the swipe fees that larger banks may collect on debit card transactions.

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Cyberattack Class Action Against Fox Rothschild Dropped

By Madison Arnold

Three data breach victims have dismissed their proposed class action against Fox Rothschild LLP after ransomware group Silent Ransom Group targeted the firm.

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Ramona Nee, Tapped To Lead Weil, Now In Talks With Kirkland

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Ramona Nee, the co-leader of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's U.S. private equity practice who had been poised to become its leader, is engaged in talks to join Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a source with knowledge of the situation told Law360 Pulse on Friday.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Meta reached a settlement during jury selection in the second Los Angeles bellwether trial over claims its Instagram platform harms the mental health of children, leaving Snap as the lone defendant facing trial. In the meantime, current and former in-house lawyers for Google and Meta said that the ability of AI to write patent applications is rapidly improving, and that in blind tests, experienced attorneys often deem AI-drafted patents to be superior to those from humans. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Jackson Walker Inks $500K Deal In EXCO's Ch. 11 Fee Fight

By Clara Geoghegan

Jackson Walker has agreed to pay EXCO Resources Inc. $500,000 to end litigation over fees paid to the firm while one of its partners was in an undisclosed relationship with the former bankruptcy judge who mediated in the reorganized oil and gas driller's Texas Chapter 11.

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Fed. Judge A No-Show Amid Inquiry Into Her Mental Health

By Craig Clough

U.S. District Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas failed to appear Friday before a judicial investigative committee examining allegations that she abandoned her post and concerns that a mental condition may be interfering with her ability to perform her duties.

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K&L Gates DQ'd In Trust's Mortgage Loan Agreement Dispute

By Isaac Monterose

A Washington federal judge disqualified K&L Gates LLP from a trust's dispute over a residential mortgage loan sale agreement, ruling that the law firm must leave the suit because it drafted the form agreement used in the transaction.

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Cruz Counsel Returns To FCC As Space Bureau Chief

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission has named a former employee with experience in both the public and private sectors to head the agency's Space Bureau, after a stint as chief telecommunications counsel to the Senate Commerce Committee.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Kalshi Taps Clement For High Court Sports Contracts Fight

By Elaine Briseño

Kalshi has hired appellate heavyweight Paul D. Clement of Clement & Murphy PLLC to represent the company in its potential U.S. Supreme Court battle over whether the prediction markets platform's sports wagering is subject to state or federal oversight.

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