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Constructive Termination and Constructive Nonrenewal Claims
On March 2, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a franchisee that stays in business cannot sue for constructive eviction under the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (the “Act”). The Court also decided that a franchisee waives its constructive nonrenewal claim when it enters into a renewal agreement.
In Mac's Shell Service, Inc. v. Shell Oil Products Co. LLC, service station franchisees sued their franchisor, Motiva Enterprises LLC (a joint venture of Shell Oil and two other companies) for withdrawing a volume-based rent subsidy, thereby effectively raising the franchisees' rent when they were up for renewal. As each franchise agreement expired, Motiva offered new agreements that contained a new rent formula for calculating rent, which resulted in higher rent. The franchisees sued both for constructive termination and for constructive nonrenewal, while continuing in operation. The theme of the franchisees' case at trial was that the franchisor sought to drive the franchisees out of business for the purpose of taking over their service station locations.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.