Contracts

Can United order passenger ouster? Check out its contract of carriage and federal compensation caps

United Airlines is taking a lot of heat after a video showed a recalcitrant passenger who was bumped from a flight on Sunday being dragged down the aisle of a plane in Chicago.

Apr 11, 2017 10:49 AM CDT

Blockchain technology can provide lawyers with an authentic, secure ledger

A crash course in blockchain at ABA Techshow started Friday with Oliver Goodenough instructing participants to repeat after him its more useful generic description, "distributed ledger technology."

Mar 18, 2017 10:00 AM CDT

JPMorgan Chase uses tech to save 360,000 hours of annual work by lawyers and loan officers

JPMorgan Chase has found a way to save on legal spending. The bank is using new software called “COIN”—short for Contract Intelligence—to review commercial loan agreements, according to Bloomberg News. The software reviews documents in seconds, doing work that once required 360,000 hours of work each year by lawyers and…

Mar 2, 2017 7:45 AM CST

Suit claims legal funding firm misled 9/11 responders, retired NFL players about its cash advances

A company that provides advances to people expecting settlement money misrepresented the terms of its deals to Sept. 11 responders and professional football players with Alzheimer’s disease, a lawsuit alleges. The suit was filed Tuesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, according to…

Feb 7, 2017 1:41 PM CST

Trump’s golf club must pay $5.7M to locked-out members, judge rules

Members of a Florida golf club who claimed they were barred from using the facility after Donald Trump purchased it in 2012 are entitled to return of their money, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra ruled Wednesday that the Trump National Golf Club has to pay…

Feb 2, 2017 7:45 AM CST

Arbitrator tosses fired bar executive’s claim against former California bar president

An arbitrator has tossed the last claim against former California State Bar President Craig Holden in an action filed by the bar’s fired executive director, Joe Dunn. Dunn had alleged intentional interference with contract. But JAMS arbitrator Edward Infante, in a decision released on Monday, found the evidence was lacking,…

Jan 26, 2017 1:14 PM CST

Paul McCartney suit seeks to regain copyright interest in early songs

Paul McCartney is seeking a declaratory judgment that he is entitled to reclaim copyright interest in his early songs under termination provisions of the Copyright Act. McCartney filed the suit in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday, report the New York Times, the Hollywood Reporter and the National Law Journal (sub.…

Jan 20, 2017 7:00 AM CST

Former House Speaker Hastert seeks repayment of hush money

Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert contends he has no obligation to pay another $1.8 million in hush money to a man who accused Hastert of sexually abusing him as a teenager. Indeed, Hastert maintains in a counterclaim to the accuser’s breach-of-contract suit, Hastert is entitled to return of $1.7…

Jan 19, 2017 4:13 PM CST

Lawyer’s rewrite simplifies Instagram’s terms of use

Instagram’s terms of use run more than 5,000 words and encompass at least seven printed pages. They are written at a postgraduate level, though the photo-sharing site is a popular among teens. A group of youths asked to read the terms couldn’t make sense of them, the Washington Post reports.…

Jan 12, 2017 8:00 AM CST

Dads sue over teens’ expulsion for alleged racist texts

The fathers of two white Catholic high school students in Chicago filed a lawsuit on Monday over the teens’ expulsion for allegedly sending racist texts. The suit, which does not name the students or their fathers, alleges that officials at Marist High School made an arbitrary and capricious decision to…

Dec 8, 2016 1:27 PM CST

In bid to protect online reviews, Congress OKs bill banning gag clauses in consumer contracts

Congress has passed a bipartisan bill that aims to protect negative online reviews by banning nondisparagement clauses in nonnegotiable consumer contracts. The bill is called the Consumer Review Fairness Act, report the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, Ars Technica, the Danbury News Times and a press release. The bill voids…

Dec 2, 2016 10:41 AM CST

These law firms get the most business from large companies in five areas of litigation

The nation’s largest companies spread their work around to a mix of law firms, according to an analysis of court filings and public documents. Corporate Counsel (sub. req.) did the review and created the list of the top go-to law firms used by Fortune 50 companies in five key areas…

Nov 21, 2016 1:39 PM CST

10 Questions: ‘Sledgehammer Shannon’ defends workers in sharing economy

Nicknamed “Sledgehammer Shannon,” this Boston lawyer doesn’t take on cases; she takes on industries. Click here to register for 10 Questions Live with Shannon Liss-Riordan today at 2 p.m. ET.

Nov 1, 2016 3:10 AM CDT

Spurned recruiter sues BigLaw partner who used competitor; was recorded phone call a contract?

A legal recruiting firm in Dallas claims a recorded phone call will show a law firm partner agreed to work with the company exclusively if he pursued an opportunity at Holland & Knight. The partner, Dean Schaner of Haynes and Boone, used another recruiting firm before jumping to Holland &…

Aug 24, 2016 9:35 AM CDT

Judge tosses suit claiming ice in Starbucks beverages shortchanges customers on liquid

A federal judge in Los Angeles has tossed a lawsuit alleging Starbucks is misleading customers about the size of its iced beverages because some of the liquid is displaced by ice. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson tossed the suit in an Aug. 19 decision (PDF), report the Wall Street Journal…

Aug 24, 2016 8:50 AM CDT