Weekly Brief: Patent Jury Awards, Law Firm Hiring, Scalia's Hat
A nearly decade-long legal battle in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently concluded with a significant jury verdict, underscoring the potentially severe consequences of trade secret theft...more
New York’s two-year 2025-2026 legislative session hit its midpoint in June, with lawmakers wrapping up the first year by passing a slew of workplace-related bills that now await action from Governor Hochul. As federal labor...more
Public companies can face significant liability based on past operations. While most industrial companies have long-term experience evaluating potential remediation obligations imposed by laws such as the federal...more
A Nevada state court handed down a monumental verdict in a case involving alleged contamination of an “alkaline water” health drink, with a jury awarding $5 billion in punitive damages. This decision follows a series of...more
Last month, Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Vital”), the manufacturer of the Bang energy drink, fell short in its post-trial challenge to a “monster” jury award in favor of Monster Energy Company (“Monster”). ...more
In a recent trade secrets litigation in the United States District Court in the Northern District of California, a jury awarded the plaintiffs 40 million dollars, half of which was punitive damages. The Court also...more
A jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California last month found that an international beer conglomerate’s marketing of one of its drinks infringed on the trademark of a smaller, independent...more
A California jury last week handed down what has been reported to be the first antitrust jury verdict involving the cannabis industry. As the cannabis industry continues to grow and evolve, cannabis-related antitrust...more
The Situation: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit considered constitutional limits on statutory damages awarded under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). The Result: The court affirmed a...more
In a decision unsurprising to anyone familiar with what California juries have been up to lately, fast-food titan Jack in the Box was ordered to pay $15.4 million (including a staggering $10 million in punitive damages) last...more
For the second time this calendar year, a Los Angeles jury ordered an employer to pay $11 million to an employee who claimed to have been sexually harassed. And, once again, the amount of punitive damages ($8 million) dwarfed...more
Earlier this month, a federal jury in North Carolina hit Walmart with a $95.5 million verdict for its willful infringement of Variety Stores, Inc.’s “BACKYARD” trademarks. The jury awarded $45.5 million as a reasonable...more
In determining whether a laches defense applies to thwart a claim of patent infringement, courts must often shine a light upon murky and complicated factual scenarios. A Massachusetts court recently navigated such a scenario...more
You may already have read the scintillating facts surrounding a jury award of $1.44 million (recently challenged unsuccessfully on appeal) against Walgreen Co. (Walgreens) following its pharmacist’s alleged inappropriate...more
The City of McPherson, Kansas was recently hit for almost $1 million in damages when a jury sided with a plaintiff police officer who claimed he was wrongfully terminated for falling asleep on duty. Matthew Michaels, who...more