Last year’s Commercial Litigation Outlook was dominated by the promise and peril that AI poses to myriad industries. No doubt, the evolution of AI in the last year has been significant, and it is still a material...more
2/28/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Competition ,
Data Privacy ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Innovation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legal Technology ,
Machine Learning ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Risk Management ,
Securities Regulation ,
Technology Sector
On September 5, 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) answered a second certified question in Patel, et al. v. 7-Eleven, Inc., et al. (“Patel II”), a long-running case where 7-Eleven franchisees claimed they...more
9/25/2024
/ 7-Eleven ,
Employee Definition ,
Employees ,
Employment Litigation ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Franchise Agreements ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
MA Supreme Judicial Court
A recent decision of the Illinois Motor Vehicle Board (the “Board”) reinforces why auto manufacturers need to ensure they have a proactive process in place to address the timely renewal of expiring dealer agreements. Based on...more
By any measure, the world has changed vastly since we issued our first Commercial Litigation Outlook in 2020. We are now on our fourth installment of providing insights and flagging trends for what to expect in the coming...more
2/16/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Court ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Copyright ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Merger Agreements ,
Patents ,
Trademarks
Super Bowl LVII saw a hobbled Patrick Mahomes lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. In addition to an entertaining halftime show by Rihanna, the Super Bowl is a marketing spectacle where...more
Welcome to the third annual installment of Seyfarth Shaw’s Commercial Litigation Outlook, where our nationally recognized team provides insights about litigation issues and trends to expect in 2023. The continuing global...more
Federal law requires franchisors to update their franchise disclosure documents (“FDD”) within 120 days after their fiscal year end (“FYE”). State registrations must also be renewed annually. Here are ten best practices for...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 24, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) issued a much-anticipated decision in Patel, et al. v. 7-Eleven, Inc., et al. answering a certified question from the United States Court...more
Welcome to the second annual installment of Seyfarth Shaw’s Commercial Litigation Outlook. Our nationally recognized team provides keen insights about what to expect in 2022. In short, it will be a busy year that will call...more
3/15/2022
/ Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Court ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech
A star-studded Los Angeles Rams beat the Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI while another year of star-studded auto industry Super Bowl Ads confirm the EVolution is here. While Super Bowl regulars like Audi, Mercedes, and Ford...more
As the nation emerges from the pandemic, clients face the double-whammy of delayed resolution of existing disputes (thanks to court shutdowns) and increased litigation activity across the board. The third quarter of 2020 saw...more
4/2/2021
/ Biometric Information ,
Biometric Information Privacy Act ,
Business Interruption ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Landlords ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
With the dramatic expansion of e-commerce in automobile sales in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, many now predict that this shift to online will create a permanent change in automotive retailing and...more
In a season filled with unprecedented challenges, some things stayed the same: Tom Brady leading his team to victory and an unprecedented 7th Super Bowl title....more
For decades, companies have wrestled with whether certain workers must be treated as employees subject to various employment laws and company rules or whether they are appropriately classified as independent contractors with...more
9/23/2020
/ Comment Period ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
Like so many other businesses, auto dealers sought and received loans from the Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting state and local shut down...more
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) recently disclosed the results of its investigation of the “Care by Volvo” car subscription service (“CbV”) that was challenged as unlawful competition by the California New...more
5/8/2020
/ Auto Lease ,
Car Dealerships ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Contract Renewal ,
Contract Terms ,
Goods or Services ,
Manufacturers ,
Motor Vehicles ,
OEM ,
Subscription Services ,
Unfair Competition
State dealer statutes commonly regulate the incentive programs manufacturers use to encourage dealers to improve performance or upgrade their dealership facilities to meet brand standards. Individual dealers have challenged...more
The White House recently issued guidelines for “Opening Up America Again” in anticipation that the COVID-19 pandemic may soon begin to recede, at least in some areas of the country. These guidelines recommend that state...more
4/28/2020
/ Automotive Industry ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Essential Functions ,
Non-Essential Businesses ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Retailers ,
Return-to-Work Agreements ,
Screening Procedures ,
State and Local Government ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
With hotel occupancies plunging to levels well below those seen in prior epidemics, wars and recessions, particularly in large cities, hotel and hospitality franchisors and franchisees are awake at night trying to deal with a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As OEMs confront the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on an already changing automotive industry, one significant issue will be the inevitable financial challenges that many dealers will face. Financially...more
Franchise systems around the country are confronting unprecedented challenges and business disruptions from the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: At the beginning of 2020, industry pundits predicted only a moderate decline in auto sales for the year. Those “moderate decline” predictions took a sharp turn on Wednesday, with Morgan Stanley slashing its...more
3/17/2020
/ Automotive Industry ,
Car Dealerships ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Economic Downturn ,
Goods or Services ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Internet Retailers ,
OEM ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Retail Market ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain
As the Kansas City Chiefs fought to a thrilling come-from-behind victory in Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, a series of high-profile television commercials announced that electric and autonomous vehicles are no longer mere designs...more
2/7/2020
/ Audi ,
Automotive Industry ,
Driverless Cars ,
Electric Vehicles ,
General Motors ,
Hyundai ,
Infrastructure ,
Manufacturers ,
Motor Vehicles ,
OEM ,
Porsche ,
Supply Chain
The dealer statutes of many states require automobile manufacturers to reimburse dealers for parts and labor used in warranty repairs at the “average” retail rates charged by dealers for customer pay repairs. ...more
In its May 2019 opinion in Vazquez v. Jan-Pro Franchising Int’l, Inc., the Ninth Circuit held that the recent California Supreme Court decision, Dynamex Ops. W. Inc. v. Superior Court, should apply retroactively. On Monday,...more