Tattooed Chef Investors Ink $4.75M Deal Over Growth Claims

By Lauren Berg

Tattooed Chef Inc. investors Wednesday asked a California federal judge to greenlight a $4.75 million settlement resolving claims that the plant-based meal-maker issued false statements about its revenue growth, causing investors to buy stock at inflated prices before it came crashing down when the truth came out.

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Full 5th Circ. Weighs Jackson, Mississippi, Lead Poisoning Claims

By Spencer Brewer

The full Fifth Circuit on Tuesday weighed whether to keep intact a lawsuit alleging the city of Jackson, Mississippi, poisoned its residents by allowing lead to leach into the water supply, asking what level of lead in the water would constitute "shocking the conscience."

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Denny's Franchisees Say Insurers Shirked Wage Suit Defense

By Hope Patti

A group of Washington-based Denny's franchise operators said their Liberty Mutual insurers wrongfully refused coverage for a wage and hour class action, telling a federal court that they are entitled to recoup nearly $700,000 in costs they incurred to defend and settle the underlying suit.

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Brief

Frito-Lay Poppables Have 'Synthetic Flavors,' Suit Says

By Jonathan Capriel

Frito-Lay Inc. was hit with a proposed class action accusing it of deceiving consumers by labeling Lay's Poppables as having "no artificial flavors" when they actually contain two ingredients that are not natural.

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Trade Court OKs Chinese Gum Zero Duty Rate On Remand

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce cleaned up its evaluation of the energy used by a Chinese company in the production of a gum used as a food thickener, the Court of International Trade said, signing off on the agency's decision to zero the company's duty rate.

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NJ Cannabis Regulator Tapped To Head Alcohol Control Unit

By Jake Maher

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill has nominated the head of compliance at the state Cannabis Review Commission with a decade of public service experience to lead the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

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Suit Says IHOP Franchise Fired Training Head Over Absences

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia-based IHOP franchise operator was sued in federal court by its former training and development director for allegedly firing him for missing work after his manager promised to notify human resources that he was entering an alcohol treatment program.

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French Fry Co. Can't Beat Investor Suit Over Software Rollout

By Sydney Price

An Idaho federal judge has largely denied frozen potato products company Lamb Weston Holdings Inc.'s bid to dismiss a proposed shareholder suit accusing it of botching the rollout of an enterprise resource planning system, saying the investors have sufficiently alleged the company sought to downplay challenges after the software went live.

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Ex-Client Can Relitigate Malpractice Suit Over Workers' Comp

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois appellate panel has reversed a summary judgment win for a Chicago attorney and her law firm in a legal malpractice dispute, saying a jury must evaluate whether her ex-client lost his workers' compensation case because of her failure to introduce a medical expert's opinion or whether he could have prevailed on appeal had the attorney filed one.

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Brief

Pepsi Bottler Settles Ex-Worker's Race Bias Suit

By MJ Koo

A Black former line supervisor and a Georgia Pepsi bottler told a federal court Wednesday they have settled his race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, which alleged the company fired him weeks after he filed a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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Series

The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

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Murdaugh Murder Conviction Overturned By SC High Court

By Parker Quinlan

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a double murder conviction and ordered a new trial for disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh, finding the jury in his first trial was biased by a clerk of court who allegedly sought a guilty verdict in a ploy to juice sales of her book about the trial.

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Texas Atty Must Pay $5M For Groping Opposing Counsel

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas state appellate court on Wednesday refused to disturb a $5 million jury verdict against a San Antonio lawyer for grabbing the buttocks of opposing counsel at the courthouse where they were arguing a family law proceeding in 2019.

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DOJ Goes After DC Bar, Courts For Discipline Of Ex-DOJ Atty

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday sued the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, D.C. Court of Appeals and the District of Columbia, claiming that they were "punishing" a former Trump administration DOJ official and trying to "control the executive branch."

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DOJ Fraud Division Set To Shake Up White-Collar Enforcement

By Phillip Bantz

President Donald Trump's administration created the U.S. Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division with a narrow focus on combating government program fraud, but a move to retain federal prosecutors focused on other types of fraud could signal a wider scope with potential ripple effects across white-collar enforcement.

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Arbitrators See Global Stakes In Trump BigLaw EO Fight

By Caroline Simson

Ahead of a D.C. Circuit hearing on Thursday in the Trump administration's effort to revive executive orders imposed against four BigLaw firms, an official at the College of Commercial Arbitrators told Law360 this week there are several things arbitrators are going to be watching for.

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Apple Targets Hagens Berman 'Gamesmanship' In ICloud Suit

By Bryan Koenig

Apple has lashed out at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP for trying to withdraw a named plaintiff from an iCloud antitrust case in California federal court without discovery into any directions she received to preserve now-deleted emails, raising concerns that the withdrawal is meant to "paper over lost evidence."

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Michigan Federal Judge Gets Probation For Drunken Driving

By Susan Smiley

Michigan federal Judge Thomas L. Ludington was sentenced by a state judge on Wednesday to six months' probation and fined $1,175 after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge last month in Emmet County.

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6th Circ. Says Kentucky Judicial Hopefuls May Tout Ideology

By Emily Sawicki

Kentucky judicial hopefuls are cleared to discuss their political leanings on the campaign trail, according to a precedential ruling by the Sixth Circuit, which permanently enjoined the state's Judicial Conduct Commission from pursuing an enforcement action against two candidates who described themselves as "conservatives" and "Republicans" amid the 2022 election season.

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Judge Says LegalForce Must Pay $93K After Losing TM Suit

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge on Wednesday ordered LegalForce RAPC Worldwide PC to pay nearly $93,000 in fees and costs to the company that operates LawFirms.com, finding the case to be exceptional because LegalForce alleged facts it knew were false and took steps to obscure other facts that showed its case was meritless.

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CORRECTED: Senate Advances 13 US Attorneys In En Bloc Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 46-45, along party lines, to advance the nomination of 13 U.S. attorneys on Monday as part of a larger nominations package. Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the status of the nominees in the Senate.

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