Meritas Capability Webinar - Controlling Where to Fight and Who Pays for it?
Day-Timers, Inc. v. Rhonda Horton (WCAB); No. 538 C.D. 2024; August 15, 2025; Judge Wallace - The Commonwealth Court affirmed a workers’ compensation judge’s award of penalties and counsel fees against an employer that failed...more
In a recent interview with The Recorder, Venable partners Lee Brenner and David Fink, based in Los Angeles, weighed in on two major developments shaping today’s defamation litigation landscape: the sharp increase in...more
As the Supreme Court prepares for its next term to begin October 6, let’s look back on all the SCOTUS cases from the past year that impacted your workplace, industry, and litigation exposure. Here’s a quick guide to 12 times...more
Colorado, like most states, follows the “American Rule,” which requires parties to a lawsuit to pay their own legal expenses. There is a significant exception though, if the parties agree, in a contract clause known as a...more
The Court of Appeal for Bermuda has lately clarified two important aspects of the law of litigation costs in Bermuda: the test for indemnity costs and the availability of issue-based costs awards. In each respect the Court of...more
The introduction of the Employment and Discrimination Tribunal (Procedure) (Jersey) Amendment Order 2025 (Order) has significantly altered the costs regime in the Jersey Employment Tribunal. Having previously been a no-cost...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of attorneys’ fees to the defendant after it prevailed at trial in a copyright infringement suit, concluding that the district court adequately...more
A comprehensive overview of recent significant decisions, regulatory changes, and essential updates for businesses contracting with federal and state governments. ...more
Key takeaway: The Supreme Court held that to state an ERISA prohibited-transaction claim under 29 U.S.C. § 1106(a), a plaintiff needs only to plausibly allege the elements contained in § 1106(a) itself and does not need to...more
Huntsman Int'l, LLC v. Benelux, C.A. No. N17C-11-242 MAA CCLD (Del. Super. Ct. Aug. 13, 2024). In the age of big data, discovery can extend beyond traditional documents and communications to myriad tools and databases....more
The Labor Department’s top lawyer announced on Tuesday that the agency would target seven specific employment-related contract provisions that she believes could discourage workers from exercising their rights under federal...more
Contracts with “prevailing party” provisions offer the tantalizing, coveted prospect of the winner recovering attorneys’ fees from the loser in legal disputes over the contract’s enforcement....more
PVH Polymath Venture Holdings Ltd. v. TAG Fintech Inc., C.A. No. 2023-0502-BWD (Del. Ch. Jan. 26, 2024) - Under the “bad faith” exception to the American Rule, Delaware courts will consider shifting fees when aggressive...more
Under a common-law doctrine successful litigants love to hate – the “American Rule” – a party to litigation cannot recover its legal fees unless a contract, statute, or court rule expressly authorizes fee-shifting to the...more
A federal court in Connecticut reduced attorneys’ fees and costs sought by a sales representative after the court raised concerns about several issues with the sales representative’s trial strategy. Trade Links, LLC v. Bi-Qem...more
In Escano v. Innovative Financial Partners, LLC, a magistrate judge held that the defendants’ decision to withhold funds from a payment required under a settlement agreement when the plaintiff refused to provide a Form W-9...more
Last week a trial court in Alameda County entered an order permitting Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. to recover nearly $125,000 in costs from the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA). Hobby Lobby incurred these...more
The early stages of partner and shareholder relationships are about hope and promise, not discord and dispute. Yet, the earliest stage—and during the drafting of the partner or shareholder agreement—offer real opportunities...more
As discussed in prior articles, stockholder plaintiffs have increasingly sought to obtain companies’ books and records under 8 Del. C. § 220 (Section 220) and the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act’s analogous provision,...more
In a split decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s award of more than $5 million in attorneys’ fees, finding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding the...more
Deciding whether to include a prevailing party attorneys’ fee provision in a contract is important, as doing so has significant risk and cost implications of litigation. Prevailing party provisions foster dispute...more
Judge Krupp, sitting in the Massachusetts Business Litigation Session, awarded a defendant more than $240,000 in attorneys’ fees, expenses, and interest under G.L. c. 231, § 6F, the Massachusetts statute authorizing fee...more
Statutes permitting discretionary attorney fee-shifting for prevailing defendants vary in the circumstances under which fee-shifting is permitted. Two recent cases tackling the question of why and when a lawsuit warrants...more
Addressing the symmetrical fee-shifting provision of the Copyright Act and whether a prevailing defendant was entitled to fees even when the plaintiff moved to dismiss the case in response to a change in law, the US Court of...more
SDSP, LLC v. Attias, 2023 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1518 - The Superior Court of Pennsylvania vacated a multimillion-dollar award to subcontractors arising from a payment dispute, and remanded the matter to the trial court...more