Retail & E-Commerce

  • March 26, 2025

    Dollar Tree Selling Family Dollar For $1B To PE Firms

    Dollar Tree said Wednesday it has agreed to sell its Family Dollar business for just over $1 billion to two private equity firms, after the Davis Polk-guided discount retailer revealed strategic review plans to sell the cash-strapped unit in June.

  • March 25, 2025

    Coupang Must Face Ex-In-House Atty's Whistleblower Suit

    A Washington federal judge on Tuesday said e-commerce retailer Coupang can't escape a whistleblower complaint brought by a former in-house attorney who alleges he was fired after bringing attention to alleged unlawful transactions with Iran in 2021.

  • March 25, 2025

    Amazon Slams 'Alternative Reading' Of ERISA In Worker Suit

    Amazon on Monday urged a Washington federal court to throw out a worker's proposed class action alleging that Amazon used abandoned retirement plan funds to offset its own contributions, arguing that the suit's "alternative reading" of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act "flies in the face of" the well-established practice.

  • March 25, 2025

    PTAB Leader Explains Denial Policy After Withdrawn Memo

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's chief judge has provided guidance to the board's other members on how to decide whether to use discretion to deny review of patents based on related litigation, after a previous memo on the issue was withdrawn last month.

  • March 25, 2025

    Mondelez, Ghost Beat Suit Over Candy-Flavored Energy Drink

    An Illinois federal judge has tossed out parents' claims that Mondelez and energy drink maker Ghost illegally deceive consumers into thinking Ghost's "Sour Patch Kids"-flavored beverages are suitable for children, saying no reasonable adult consumer would interpret the labels that way.

  • March 25, 2025

    Philly Beats Curfew Suit By Minority-Owned Liquor Stores

    A Pennsylvania federal judge dismissed, for now, a constitutional challenge by Asian American and Arab American business owners who alleged Philadelphia city officials unfairly targeted their shops with arbitrary late-night curfews and nuisance ordinances, ruling Monday they lacked standing since none of them received fines or were ordered to shut down.

  • March 25, 2025

    7-Eleven Defends Cautious Antitrust Approach To Deal Talks

    The parent company of 7-Eleven on Tuesday defended its wary approach to a proposed acquisition by Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. saying it has legitimate concerns about the deal clearing U.S. antitrust enforcers.

  • March 25, 2025

    Privacy Statements OK By Pa. Wiretapping Law, Judge Says

    Websites that disclose third-party data collection in privacy statements that a "reasonably prudent person" could see do not violate Pennsylvania's laws against wiretapping, a federal judge has ruled, throwing out a long-running lawsuit that defendants claimed could have rendered many websites illegal.

  • March 25, 2025

    Court Tosses Suit Alleging NY Pot Regulations Are Biased

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday dismissed an action alleging that the Empire State's cannabis social equity licensure program discriminated against white men.

  • March 25, 2025

    No More C-Suite 'Deference' At FTC, Ferguson Says

    Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson took aim Tuesday at previous antitrust enforcers' "hands off" approach, which he said worried too much about stifling Big Tech's momentum and innovation and not enough about the power that online platforms "wielded over our daily lives."

  • March 25, 2025

    Franchise Group Senior Lenders Sue Junior Creditors

    First-lien lenders of debtor Franchise Group Ltd. that are owed $1 billion have filed an adversary complaint in the retail chain operator's Chapter 11 case in Delaware, saying junior lenders owed more than $100 million are seeking to cash out secured collateral in violation of an intercreditor agreement.

  • March 25, 2025

    Va. Gov. Youngkin Blocks Recreational Cannabis Sales Again

    Glenn Youngkin, the Republican governor of Virginia, on Monday once again vetoed lawmaker-approved legislation that would have taxed and regulated the sale of adult-use cannabis.

  • March 25, 2025

    Baker Botts Atty Says Patent Exec Can't Prove Defamation

    A Baker Botts LLP lawyer is contending that a Florida federal court cannot side with a patent-licensing company executive on his defamation claim against the attorney over her comments in a news article about a patent suit against Starbucks, saying she didn't say anything false.

  • March 25, 2025

    No Easy Out In $5M Mich. Dispensary Flip-Flop Suit

    A Michigan federal court has refused to hand a win to either party in developer American 5 LLC's suit alleging a Michigan township improperly revoked its permit for a marijuana dispensary, finding that the parties hadn't resolved whether the permit was the developer's to begin with.

  • March 25, 2025

    DEA Seeks Exit From Hemp Group's Suit Over Raid

    Federal drug enforcers have asked a Texas federal judge to release them from a hemp industry trade group and retailer's lawsuit challenging the legality of a raid on a smoke shop, saying that the enforcement actions at issue were conducted by local authorities.

  • March 25, 2025

    Ariz. AG Warns Cops, Retailers About Illegal THC Sales

    Arizona's attorney general has sent letters to both retailers and law enforcement over the sale of THC products by unlicensed shops, clarifying that such sales are illegal and giving them a month to prepare for enforcement by the attorney general's office.

  • March 24, 2025

    Beyond Meat Sued On Allegations Broker Accessed User Data

    Plant-based meat substitute producer Beyond Meat Inc. has covertly teamed up with data broker Experian to track website visitors and sell their personal data "to the highest bidders" without their permission, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court. 

  • March 24, 2025

    T-Mobile, Customers Push Dish For Docs In Sprint Merger Suit

    T-Mobile and the customers suing over its 2020 merger with Sprint are both asking an Illinois federal judge to force Dish to turn over discovery documents, with the plaintiffs claiming the documents are key to showing why Dish never became an effective competitor in the wireless market.

  • March 24, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Invalidity Finding In Tape Patent Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Monday backed a lower court's finding that a patent covering a type of marking tape was invalid as anticipated, while also mostly upholding a sanctions award that tape manufacturer ShieldMark secured in the case accusing it of infringement.

  • March 24, 2025

    Chancery Won't Restart Disputed Bitcoin ATMs For Now

    Delaware's Court of Chancery refused on Monday to order reactivation of dozens of bitcoin cryptocurrency ATM kiosks shut down by an Iowa grocery chain after that state's attorney general sued Bitcoin Depot and a similar operation for alleged scamming of users.

  • March 24, 2025

    Skechers Says Insurer Shirked Defense Of Nonslip Shoe Suit

    Skechers' insurer wrongfully refused to defend the shoe giant in a putative class action over slip-resistance problems with some of its shoes, Skechers told a California state court in seeking at least $750,000.

  • March 24, 2025

    Apple, Sony, Others Facing ITC Probes Over Imports

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has said it is launching a series of investigations into whether imports of products such as video game consoles, nose cleaning devices and semiconductors have infringed various U.S. patents.

  • March 24, 2025

    No $1M Placeholder In 'Black Widow' TM Feud, Judge Rules

    A Connecticut federal judge will not require a pest control company to post more than $1 million to cover potential damages in a trademark lawsuit over the name "Black Widow," which is also the subject of a paused cancellation proceeding before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  • March 24, 2025

    Neb. AG Sends 35 Cos. Cease Letters Over THC Sales

    The Nebraska attorney general has sent cease and desist letters to 104 retail locations in Omaha saying they are selling products with THC beyond the state's legal limits.

  • March 24, 2025

    'Powering' Algorithm Not Enough To Merit Price-Fixing Claim

    A California federal judge gave short shrift Friday to consumers' proposed class action price-fixing allegations against software provider SAS Institute Inc., which allegedly created a shared pricing algorithm that Hilton, Hyatt and other major chains used to fix and raise room rates nationwide.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • The Trade And Tax Issues Behind US-Canada Digital Tax Clash

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    The new Canadian digital services tax recently went into effect despite objections from the U.S., a controversy that represents an unusual mix of trade and tax policy, and many companies have been pondering how it will affect their e-commerce businesses, says Damon Pike at BDO.

  • Secret Service Failures Offer Lessons For Private Sector GCs

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    The Secret Service’s problematic response to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this summer provides a crash course for general counsel on how not to handle crisis communications, says Keith Nahigian at Nahigian Strategies.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • A Class Action Trend Tests Limit Of Courts' Equity Powers

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    A troubling trend has developed in federal class action litigation as some counsel and judges attempt to push injunctive relief classes under Rule 23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure beyond the traditional limits of federal courts' equitable powers, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • A Look At How De Minimis Import Rules May Soon Change

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    The planned implementation of executive actions focused on the de minimis rule as it applies to shipments means companies should use this interval to evaluate the potential applicability and impact of Section 301, Section 201 or Section 232 duties on their products, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Antitrust Issues To Watch Amid Google Ad Tech Trial

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    Regardless of the outcome of the U.S. Department of Justice's advertising technology antitrust suit against Google in Virginia federal court, matters ranging from market definition to unified pricing will likely have far-reaching implications for the digital advertising industry, competition and innovation, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • What To Know About Latest Calif. Auto-Renewal Law Update

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    While businesses have about nine months to prepare before the recently passed amendment to California's automatic renewal law takes effect, it’s not too early to begin working on compliance efforts, including sign-up flow reviews, record retention updates and marketing language revisions, say Gonzalo Mon and Beth Chun at Kelley Drye.

  • How Lucia, Jarkesy Could Affect Grocery Merger Challenge

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    While the Federal Trade Commission is taking a dual federal court and administrative tribunal approach to block Kroger's merger with Alberstons, Kroger's long-shot unconstitutionality claims could potentially lead to a reevaluation of the FTC's reliance on administrative processes in complex merger cases, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

  • How To Avoid Liability When Using Cookie Consent Managers

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    As companies attempt to comply with consumer protection laws by implementing cookie consent managers on their websites, they must be wary of separate legal risks that can stem from implementing or using these tools incorrectly, says Ian Cohen at LOKKER.

  • Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming

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    The Federal Reserve Board's recently announced recalibration of the Basel endgame proposal begins a critical chapter in the evolution of not only the safety and soundness of U.S. banks, but also of banks' abilities to lend and support American businesses and consumers, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

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