McCormick & Co. Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Unilever's foods business at a $44.8 billion value to create a global ingredients powerhouse, in a deal steered by four law firms.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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4 Firms Advise On McCormick's $44.8B Unilever Foods Buy

By Al Barbarino

McCormick & Co. Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Unilever's foods business at a $44.8 billion value to create a global ingredients powerhouse, in a deal steered by four law firms.

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Agri Stats Antitrust Deal Includes End To Benchmark Reports

By Hailey Konnath

Agri Stats Inc. has agreed to stop producing benchmarking reports for protein processors — or change how it puts them together — as part of proposed settlements ending three cases alleging price fixing in the chicken, pork and turkey industries, according to motions for preliminary approval filed Tuesday.

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Cruise Ship Cuke Made Passenger Puke, According To Suit

By Ben Adlin

A Washington woman accused produce supplier Sun Commodities Inc. of providing contaminated cucumbers to her Celebrity Summit cruise ship, alleging that she was hospitalized with a salmonella infection due to eating them in salad during a 2024 voyage.

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Feature

Rats, Vapes And Vodka: Strange But True Cases For April Fool's

By Emily Field

A dead rodent in a burrito bowl delivery, a mix-up with vodka seltzer in the wrong cans and the Toys R Us brand taking on a Connecticut vape shop are among Law360's list of strange cases suitable for April Fool's Day.

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P&G Can't Escape Metamucil Lead Claims

By Emily Field

A New York federal judge on Tuesday said that The Procter & Gamble Co. must face a trimmed class action alleging that it falsely claims its Metamucil fiber supplement is healthy despite the presence of lead, finding that the claims aren't barred by federal law.

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LITIGATION

Wrigley Heir Beats Pot Co. Ex-Execs' Fraud Suit, For Now

By Jonathan Capriel

The former CEO of medical marijuana company Parallel, the scion to the Wrigley gum fortune, has, for now, beaten a lawsuit accusing him of lying about share prices to lure executive talent, with an Atlanta federal judge slamming the suit as "threadbare" and "devoid of even the most basic facts" about the company.

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Sanctions Nixed In Suit Over Calif. County's Hemp Destruction

By Mike Curley

A California federal judge has vacated sanctions imposed on Kern County's attorney in a suit alleging the county and state law enforcement illegally destroyed 500 acres of legal hemp owned by Apothio LLC, saying a magistrate judge didn't follow the proper rules in imposing those sanctions.

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Analysis

Defamation Litigation Roundup: Unilever, Afroman, Musk

By Theresa Schliep

In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 highlights a new suit against Unilever by an ousted member of a Ben & Jerry's board, as well as Afroman's defeat of a case by Ohio police officers after a raid of the comedic rapper's home.

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PRACTICAL GUIDANCE

Getting The Most Out Of Learning And Development Programs

Junior associates can better develop the legal, business and interpersonal skills they need for long-term success by approaching their firms’ learning and development programs armed with five tips for getting the most out of these resources, says Lauren Hakala at Reed Smith.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

ABA Suit Over Trump's Crackdown On Firms Moves Forward

By Emily Sawicki

A D.C. federal judge has ruled the American Bar Association may pursue a challenge to the Trump administration's series of executive orders targeting law firms, finding the organization plausibly alleged the orders posed a "realistic threat" to its members.

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Khalil Seeks Bove's 3rd Circ. Recusal Over Ex-DOJ Roles

By Lauren Berg

Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident targeted for deportation, asked a Third Circuit judge, U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove, to recuse himself from en banc review of a decision allowing for Khalil's detention, saying Wednesday the judge was likely involved in decisions related to the case while at the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Arbitration Association Must Face Suit Over Consumer Monopoly

By Caroline Simson

An Arizona federal judge ruled Tuesday that the American Arbitration Association must face a proposed class action accusing it of monopolizing the consumer arbitration services market, saying the suit provided sufficient allegations to "plausibly infer" that the institution engages in anticompetitive conduct.

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Sidley Beats Malpractice Suit Over Ex-Atty's Tax Scheme

By Chart Riggall

Sidley Austin LLP defeated a suit from a family of business magnates who said they were duped into a tax sheltering scheme by an ex-attorney, after a Georgia federal judge ruled the family should have suspected they were in legal trouble long before they filed their suit.

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Why Trump's Pursuit Of NY AG Is More Than Just 'Awkward'

By Phillip Bantz

Through its relentless pursuit of criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, the Trump administration has further opened itself up to allegations of vindictive and selective prosecution — with potentially far-reaching implications for a grand jury system that has traditionally given the government the benefit of the doubt, experts say.

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Analysis

Wheeling & Appealing: April's Most Notable Oral Arguments

By Jeff Overley

April is the coolest month, at least for appellate aficionados, featuring numerous important arguments with famous litigants, including U.S. senators, delivery apps Grubhub and Uber Eats, impresario Sean "Diddy" Combs, prediction platforms Kalshi and Robinhood, and a political giant known as the Velvet Hammer.

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Judiciary Seeks More Security Funding Amid Threat Surge

By Courtney Bublé

Court security is a top concern for the federal judiciary in its recently released budget request for fiscal 2027.

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Trump Announces Texas, Ohio, Florida Judicial Picks

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced four judicial nominees for Texas, Ohio and Florida. 

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of March

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the third month of 2026 included high-profile appointments at the NAACP, Walmart and Marriott Vacations. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from March.

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Hub Hires: Reed Smith, Manatt, MoFo, Foley Hoag

By Chris Villani

March provided some madness in the Boston legal scene. Reed Smith launched its first-ever office in the Hub, Manatt hired a former Microsoft executive and Federal Trade Commission member, and Foley Hoag snagged a longtime K&L Gates insurance attorney.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department allowed Live Nation to keep Ticketmaster while state attorneys general continue to sue, a $14 billion Boston Scientific deal drew Federal Trade Commission scrutiny, state enforcers challenged Nexstar's purchase of Tegna, and a threatened FTC challenge forced the abandonment of a laser eye surgery deal.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.

Agri Stats Inc.

Alcon Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Arbitration Association

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union

American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc.

Black Rifle Coffee Company LLC

Boston Scientific Corp.

British Broadcasting Corp.

Center for Constitutional Rights

Cinven Ltd.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Clario

Delta Air Lines Inc.

DoorDash Inc.

Duke Energy Corp.

EQT AB

Enviri Corp.

FanDuel Inc.

Fordham University

Foster Farms

Fox Corp.

Google LLC

GrubHub Inc.

Hawaiian Holdings Inc.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

IonQ Inc.

Juniper Networks Inc.

KKR & Co. Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Liberty Global Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.

Major League Baseball Players Association

Marriott International Inc.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp.

McCormick & Co. Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

NFL Enterprises LLC

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

New York Civil Liberties Union

New York University

Nordic Capital Ltd.

Nucor Corp

Penumbra Inc.

Platinum Equity LLC

RELX PLC

Rothschild & Co. SCA

Sales Inc.

Sam's Club

Signature Resolution LLC

SkyWater Technology Inc.

Skydance Media LLC

Snap Inc.

SoftBank Group Corp.

Stanford University

Steward Health Care System LLC

Sun Country Airlines

Tegna Inc.

Teleflex Inc.

The City University of New York

The Clorox Co.

The DIRECTV Group Inc.

The Procter & Gamble Co.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Toys R Us Inc.

Tractor Supply Co.

Triumph Foods LLC

Twitter Inc.

Tyson Foods Inc.

Uber Eats

Unilever PLC

United States Steel Corp.

University of Virginia

Veolia Environnement SA

Walmart Inc.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

WellCare Health Plans Inc.

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.

YouTube Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Andersen & Beede

Brooks & Warner

Caplan Cobb

Cleary Gottlieb

Clifford Chance

Cohen Milstein

Covington & Burling

Cravath Swaine

Davis Wright Tremaine

Dickinson Wright

Dratel & Lewis

Duane Morris

Faegre Drinker

Fitzgerald Monroe

Foley Hoag

Fried Frank

Gibson Dunn

Goodwin Procter

GrayRobinson

Gustafson Gluek

Hagens Berman

Harris Beach Murtha Cullina PLLC

Hogan Lovells

Husch Blackwell

Jenner & Block

K&L Gates

Kirkland & Ellis

Klein & Sheridan

Krevolin & Horst

Latham & Watkins

Levin Sedran

Lockridge Grindal

Manatt Phelps

Mayer Brown

McDermott Will & Schulte

Milbank LLP

Morrison & Foerster

Munger Tolles

Nixon Peabody

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Porter Scott

Proskauer Rose

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Ross Silverman Snyder Tietjen

Shapiro Arato

Sidley Austin

Skadden Arps

Sperling Kenny

Sullivan & Cromwell

Susman Godfrey

Van Der Hout LLP

Verrill Dana

Vorys

Wachtell Lipton

Weil Gotshal

White & Case

Wigdor LLP

Williams & Connolly

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

Wilson Sonsini

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Attorney General's Office

California Natural Resources Agency

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

City of New York

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

European Commission

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Internal Revenue Service

Nevada Gaming Control Board

New York Attorney General's Office

North Carolina Attorney General's Office

North Carolina Utilities Commission

Ohio Supreme Court

Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio