Brothers Stole $25M Of Crypto In 12 Seconds, Feds Say

By Brian Dowling

Two Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated brothers were charged with orchestrating a first-of-its-kind cryptocurrency heist that allowed them to siphon virtual tokens worth around $25 million from Ethereum blockchain users within just 12 seconds, an indictment unsealed Wednesday said.

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Ex-FTX Exec Seeks Leniency, Saying He Was Kept In The Dark

By Elliot Weld

A former top FTX official has asked a Manhattan federal judge for a lenient 18-month sentence, saying he was not part of company co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle and was as shocked as everyone else to learn that the crypto exchange was operating a fraud that siphoned billions in customer funds.

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Analysis

3 Things To Know About CFTC's Election Betting Proposal

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has proposed to ban the trading of event contracts tied to things like election outcomes, sporting events and the Academy Awards. Here are three things to know about a proposal that is likely to be closely watched by industry insiders, some of whom are already wrapped up in litigation with the agency over this very issue. 

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Senators Release 'Road Map' For Crafting Federal AI Policy

By Jared Foretek

A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday laid out a "road map" for artificial intelligence policy that calls for increased AI innovation funding, testing of potential harms posed by AI and consideration of the technology's workforce implications.

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Colo. Says Lending Law Challenge Aims To Strip Federal Right

By Katryna Perera

The state of Colorado has urged a federal judge to dismiss a suit seeking to block a new state law to rein in high-cost online lending by out-of-state banks, saying federal law "expressly permits" states to opt out of the relevant statute, so their interest rate laws will not be preempted by state-chartered banks.

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'Pissed Off,' 'You Need To Go': Reps Rip FDIC's Gruenberg

By Jon Hill

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg took withering, bipartisan criticism over his agency's workplace misconduct scandal at a House hearing on Wednesday, although no new Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in directly calling for his resignation.

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Swiss Seek Feedback On Crypto Information Exchange

By Jack McLoone

Switzerland's executive body, the Federal Council, is seeking feedback from the public on its plan to adopt two Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development standards that will update the country's automatic exchanges of information to account for crypto-assets, it said Wednesday.

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Bolt Financial Cancels $37M In Shares To End CEO Loan Suit

By Sydney Price

Bolt Financial Inc. will cancel over $37 million in shares to settle a derivative suit against the company's board of directors that accuses its former CEO of purposely defaulting on a $30 million loan, according to a filing in Delaware's Court of Chancery.

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AI Job Recruiter Joonko Blames CEO Fraud For Ch. 11 Filing

By Rick Archer

AI-powered employee recruitment venture Joonko Diversity Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Delaware bankruptcy court, saying its business had rested almost entirely on fraudulent claims made by its ex-CEO.

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Cahill Gordon Adds Crypto Attys, Launches Delaware Office

By Rose Krebs

Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP announced Wednesday that it has added three attorneys to its rebranded digital assets and emerging technology practice, including a former Delaware deputy attorney general who will lead its newly launched office in the state.

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Buchalter Starts Fintech And AI Practice With New Seattle Hire

By Adrian Cruz

Buchalter PC announced that it hired the former chief legal officer at mortgage-focused fintech company Sagent as a Seattle-based shareholder and chair of its newly launched fintech and artificial intelligence practice group.

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Series

Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

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Analysis

In Hush Money Case, Jury May Choose To Keep Silent, Too

By Cara Salvatore

Though Donald Trump's gag order violations have earned him a threat of jail time, First Amendment experts say jurors in the New York case will likely be free to speak their mind afterward if they want to — a dynamic that in rare instances has led to posttrial controversy.

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Trump Taking Criminal Gag Order Appeal To NY's High Court

By Lauren Berg

Former president Donald Trump wants New York's highest court to review a gag order intended to stop him from criticizing witnesses and others involved in his criminal fraud trial, according to a docket entry Wednesday, just a day after a lower appellate court refused to overturn the order.

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Womble Bond Names 'Fearless Leader' As Chair, CEO-Elect

By Tracey Read

Womble Bond Dickinson announced Wednesday that global finance partner Merrick Benn has been elected U.S. chair and CEO, for a three-year term effective Jan. 1.

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Paul Weiss Establishes Center To Combat Hate

By Lynn LaRowe

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP announced Wednesday that it has launched the Center to Combat Hate, an organization that will partner with civil rights groups and educational institutions to use litigation in tackling violence and intimidation driven by hate.

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Tesla Fires Back At Claims It Bullied Retired Law Professor

By Alison Knezevich

Tesla has pushed back against allegations that it tried to bully a retired law professor out of weighing in on an investor suit over CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation plan, according to new filings in Delaware.

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NY Magistrate Judge, SD Law Partner OK'd For District Courts

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 51-42 on Wednesday to confirm Magistrate Judge Sanket Jayshukh Bulsara to the Eastern District of New York and 61-33 to confirm Eric C. Schulte, partner at Davenport Evans Hurwitz & Smith LLP, to the District of South Dakota.

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US Attorney For Colorado Resigns From Post

By Thy Vo

U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Cole Finegan announced Wednesday that he will step down at the end of May to return to the private sector, after serving for more than two years in the role.

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House Dems Launch Task Force To Address High Court 'Crisis'

By Courtney Bublé

A group of House Democrats on Wednesday launched a task force seeking to bring more transparency and accountability to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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'Where's Bob?' Nowhere Near Wife's Gold Bars, Jury Hears

By Carla Baranauckas

Sen. Robert Menendez and his future wife weren't living together when an alleged bribery scheme took root six years ago and continued residing mostly apart after they married, he in Washington, D.C., and she in her New Jersey home that had a closet filled with gold bars and cash, jurors heard Wednesday.

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Fees Sought For Missed Depo During Atty's Solar Eclipse Trip

By Lynn LaRowe

In following up on a Florida federal judge's sanctioning of a lawyer whose client missed a deposition while the attorney was solar eclipse viewing, AAA is asking the court to award it more than $7,800 in fees and costs as it fights a gender discrimination lawsuit.

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Del. Justices Ask: Do Attys Get Thinner Slice Of $1B Dell Pie?

By Leslie A. Pappas

A near record-breaking $266.7 million fee for stockholder attorneys who settled a Chancery Court class action against Dell Technologies Inc. for $1 billion had Delaware's Supreme Court raising questions Wednesday about how the state traditionally calculates attorney fee awards in large class action settlements.

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DocuSign Investors Near Cert. In Post-COVID Prospects Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge told counsel Wednesday he's inclined to certify a class of investors who allege DocuSign and its top brass misled investors about the e-signature company's post-pandemic growth prospects, saying DocuSign's challenges to the class-wide damages model seem premature, and the investors easily meet other class certification requirements.

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