The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has recently affirmed a summary judgment order dismissing all claims by an importer of new Chinese construction equipment alleging a conspiracy to boycott and tortious interference with...more
Spooky season is officially upon us, so this seems like the perfect time to cover one of my new favorite shows: Ghosts on CBS. The show follows Sam (a journalist) and Jay (a chef), city dwellers who think they’ve hit the...more
A federal court in Massachusetts has dismissed franchise claims brought against a manufacturer, concluding that the distributor had failed to identify a franchise fee that would qualify it for protection from non-renewal...more
Providers negotiating with doctors and other medical professionals who are bound by enforceable restrictive covenants is tricky business. By virtue of his/her/their position, these physicians may owe fiduciary duties to the...more
Hay and solar power must needs be made whilst the sun shines. Demand for electricity, however, does not end when the sun sets. The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project sought to overcome this problem by using heliostats to...more
Commercial leases often contain attorney fee provisions allowing a party who prevails in litigation to recover attorney fees from the losing party. Can those attorney fee provisions apply to third parties — outsiders to...more
Tortious interference with business relations involves a third party using false claims against a business in order to drive business away or prevent the business from entering a relationship with another party. The key...more
Tortious interference, also known as intentional interference with contractual relations, is a common law tort that occurs when a party intentionally sabotages or otherwise damages the plaintiff’s contractual business...more
When a subcontractor is having trouble completing its subcontract work, it is not uncommon for a contractor to assert itself more directly into the completion process to help expedite the work. What’s the harm you might ask?...more
Howard, et al. v. Matterhorn Energy, LLC, et al. [6th Dist.] May 4, 2021 considered the Texas Citizens Participation Act as amended, effective on September 1, 2019....more
A recent decision of the New York Court of Appeals, Sutton v. Pilevsky held that federal bankruptcy law does not preempt state law tortious interference claims against non-debtors who participated in a scheme that caused a...more
Welcome to The Franchise Memorandum by Lathrop GPM, formerly known as The GPMemorandum. Periodically, The Franchise Memorandum focuses on topics primarily of interest to companies that use distributors and dealers rather than...more
The American economy’s capitalist features promote the need for healthy business competition. One of the judiciary’s jobs has been to draw lines as to when that competition goes too far, without stifling legitimate...more
Jatex Oil & Gas, L.P. v. Nadel & Gussman Permian, L.L.C. presents several teachable moments: The Texas Property Owner Rule does not allow a non-expert testify on matters requiring expert testimony....more
California is known for having the most aggressive approach among the states regarding restraints on profession, trade, and business. Specifically, California Business and Professions Code section 16600 codifies this...more
The line between aggressive business competition and unlawful conduct can sometimes be difficult to determine. Many different theories of tort liability have developed over the years to address the variations of unlawful...more
The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that a beer manufacturer’s “match and redirect” provision in an agreement with a wholesaler violated the state’s Beer Industry Fair Dealing Act (BIFDA). Anheuser-Busch’s contract said if...more
Email is the way we communicate these days. Whether emails create a contract is important if you’re thinking nothing short of a dead tree could ever bind anybody or, to the contrary, your goal is to establish an enforceable...more
May a stranger to an arbitration agreement compel arbitration against its signatories? According to the Second Department in Degraw Construction Group v McGowan Builders, Inc., 2017 NY Slip Op 05580 (2nd Dept July 12, 2017),...more
North Shore Energy v. Harkins interpreted an Option Agreement between landowners and a producer over a 400 acre tract. In football they would say the Texas Supreme Court pancaked the plaintiff. In the law, some would call it...more