Fla. Subpoenas Cos., Green Groups In Plastics Antitrust Probe

By Carolina Bolado

Florida's attorney general has subpoenaed several major corporations, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, Target, Nestle and Mondelez International, and a number of environmental groups as part of an investigation into whether their involvement in organizations aiming to reduce plastic waste might run afoul of antitrust and consumer protection laws.

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8th Circ. Ends 1st Amend. Challenge To Iowa 'Ag-Gag' Law

By Gina Kim

The Eighth Circuit has rejected an appeal by animal rights groups alleging that Iowa's trespass-surveillance law criminalizing recording on trespassed property is unconstitutional, ruling Thursday that the state can apply the law to forbid the conduct since recording could implicate a substantial government interest to protect its citizens' property and privacy rights.

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Meta, 4 Food Banks Have Upper Hand In Privacy Suit, For Now

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated on Thursday she will dismiss a proposed class action against Meta Platforms Inc. and four California food banks alleging the tech giant collected personal information about visitors to food assistance websites, but said she would let the plaintiffs amend the suit and try again.

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Scotts Miracle-Gro Gets Sales Channel 'Stuffing' Suit Trimmed

By Katryna Perera

An Ohio federal judge has trimmed claims from a securities class action against Scotts Miracle-Gro and several of its executives claiming they misled investors about the lawn and garden care company's inventory levels, debt covenant compliance and financials.

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Expert Must Speak To Ruined Phone Claims In Antitrust Case

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge said Wednesday that a digital forensics expert who was hired by a former Pilgrim's Pride employee facing bid-rigging allegations must testify in long-running civil antitrust litigation accusing poultry producers of price-fixing, finding the expert may be able to speak to claims that the worker destroyed evidence.

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Analysis

Cannabis Cos. Use Opponents' Playbook In Latest Ballot Fight

By Sam Reisman

A campaign to repeal the legalization of retail cannabis in Massachusetts via ballot initiative — the first campaign of its kind in the country — has triggered a legal action from cannabis business owners akin to the sort pushed by legalization opponents for years.

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Meijer Escapes Most Claims In Tobacco Fee ERISA Suit

By Grace Elletson

A Michigan federal judge significantly narrowed a proposed class action that accused Meijer Inc. of charging employees an illegal health plan fee for using tobacco, ruling Thursday that the shopping center company complied with federal benefits law by giving workers a six-month window to dodge the full charge.

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Colo. Court Mulls JBS' Bid To Toss Haitian Workers' Bias Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado federal judge declined Thursday to rule on meatpacking giant JBS USA Food Co.'s bids to dismiss a suit and strike class allegations that Haitian workers suffered race-based discrimination and labor violations while working at the facility.  

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Solar Co. Again Seeks To Toss Colo. Hemp Growers' Suit

By Zach Dupont

A solar company claims that Colorado's economic loss rule bars a negligence claim from a pair of hemp growers that claim a broken irrigation line caused nearly $200 million in damages to their hemp farm, according to a motion to dismiss filed in Colorado federal court Thursday.

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Brief

Cinemex Offers $6M For Movie Theater Co. IPic In Ch. 11

By Emily Lever

Bankrupt dine-in movie theater chain iPic Theaters LLC has received a $6 million offer for its assets from Cinemex, a competitor aiming to supplant stalking horse bidder Star Grill Cinema Inc.

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PFAS Study Is Wake-Up Call For Pet Food Companies

As standards around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances continue to evolve, a new study revealing that PFAS have found their way into many brands of pet food is a warning to the industry to reexamine the contents and marketing of their products in the face of increasing regulatory and litigation exposure, say attorneys at MG+M.

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Series

Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

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DLA Piper Clears Vote To End Verein, Unify Leadership

By Tracey Read

DLA Piper announced Friday that firm partners on both sides of the Atlantic have "overwhelmingly approved" a plan to dissolve its Swiss verein structure effective May 1.

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Exclusive

Judge Albright Reflects On 8 Years Shaping Patent Law

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright will be walking away from the Western District of Texas at the end of the summer, ready to head back into patent litigation work. He talked with Law360 on Friday about the rockier elements of his judgeship and lessons he'll take into private practice.

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Commerce Department's General Counsel Departs

By Christine DeRosa

The U.S. Department of Commerce's general counsel has left the agency after just over a year, the agency confirmed on Friday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

In what may be a first, a federal judge has ordered BJ's Wholesale Club to put an investor's climate-related proxy proposal up for a vote of the shareholders at the company's annual meeting. And a new study shows that more in-house counsel are staying in place despite pay increases slowing amid less competition for talent.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Butler Prather LLP, Bowen Painter LLC and Cannella Snyder LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fluor Corp. can be held liable for a veteran's state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Hong Kong company sue the government and a COVID-19 PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, an oligarch bring a fresh claim against a rival in a long-running feud, a rugby league club sue over a canceled mass dance event, and Visa and Mastercard hit with legal action from H&M, Eurostar, and Bang & Olufsen. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Oregon Lawyer Ordered To Pay Attorney Fees For Use Of AI

By Matt Perez

An Oregon attorney was sanctioned by a state appellate court for filing a brief containing a fabricated list of authorities because she used generative artificial intelligence, marking the first case in the jurisdiction to present the option of awarding attorney fees as a sanction as opposed to fines payable to the court.

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Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

By Lauren Berg

A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

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Atty, Brother Say Father's Last Will Altered In Secret

By Emily Sawicki

A Blank Rome LLP attorney and his brother have sued the attorney who executed their father's will in New Jersey federal court, alleging the lawyer preyed on their ailing father toward the end of his life to alter his beneficiaries through undue influence, forgery and fraud.

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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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