Asset Management

  • August 21, 2024

    Western Asset Exec Takes Leave Of Absence Amid SEC Probe

    Western Asset Management's co-chief investment officer, Ken Leech, has taken an immediate leave of absence from the global fixed-income manager after receiving a so-called Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and as the company faces parallel government investigations.

  • August 21, 2024

    Investment Firm, Ex-Advisers Settle Dispute Over Clients

    Mercer Global Advisors and former investment advisers accused of stealing clients and starting a competing firm have told a Florida state court that they have settled their dispute just before trial.

  • August 21, 2024

    Hedge Fund Priest Sues SEC Over Proposed Industry Ban

    A Greek Orthodox priest and hedge fund founder who beat most civil claims brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at a 2021 trial sued the agency Wednesday, claiming it is unconstitutionally trying to implement a lifetime ban from the securities industry through an administrative case.

  • August 21, 2024

    Wells Fargo Hires Jones Day After $22M ADA Trial Loss In NC

    Wells Fargo has beefed up its legal representation with a powerhouse appellate litigator and an employer-side labor lawyer, both from Jones Day, following a jury's decision last month to enter more than $22 million in damages against it in a former director's disability discrimination case in North Carolina federal court.

  • August 21, 2024

    6th Circ. Rules Man Can Pay Restitution To Himself

    The Sixth Circuit ruled that a Kentucky man who pled guilty to defrauding his mother can pay $332,000 in restitution to her estate even though he is the sole beneficiary, disagreeing with a lower court judge who tried to amend the judgment after her death so the money would go to the federal Crime Victims Fund.

  • August 21, 2024

    3rd Circ. Rejects Ex-Engineering Co. GC's Benefits Suit

    The Third Circuit refused Wednesday to revive a former general counsel for an engineering company's suit claiming he was stiffed on over $100,000 in retirement benefits, rejecting his argument that a $1 million payout he got from the company should have been factored into his benefits package.

  • August 21, 2024

    7 Firms Build $175M All-Stock Sale Of Bitcoin Mining Biz

    Bitcoin data center company Bitfarms Ltd. on Wednesday announced plans to buy Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. in an all-stock merger valued at roughly $175 million and built by seven law firms.

  • August 20, 2024

    SEC Fines Equiniti Trust After Cyberattacks Stole $6.6M

    New York-based Equiniti Trust Co. has agreed to pay a $850,000 fine over claims it did not safeguard clients' funds from two cyber intrusion incidents that resulted in over $6 million in total losses, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday.

  • August 20, 2024

    Ex-SEC Senior Counsel, AUSA Joins Tech Co. As CCO

    A former assistant U.S. attorney with senior counsel experience at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has joined technology company Tools For Humanity, a startup co-founded and chaired by OpenAI head Sam Altman, as deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer.

  • August 20, 2024

    Split 6th Circ. Revives FCRA Claims Against Experian

    A partially divided Sixth Circuit has reversed a lower court's decision to toss a consumer's Fair Credit Reporting Act claims against Experian concerning alleged delinquent spousal support payments, ruling in part on Monday that Experian failed to properly investigate court orders acknowledging the man's compliance with the payments.

  • August 20, 2024

    A Deep Dive Into Law360 Pulse's 2024 Women In Law Report

    The legal industry continues to see incremental gains for female lawyers in private practice in the U.S., according to a Law360 Pulse analysis, with women now representing 40.6% of all attorneys and 51% of all associates.

  • August 20, 2024

    These Firms Have The Most Women In Equity Partnerships

    The legal industry still has a long way to go before it can achieve gender parity at its upper levels. But these law firms are performing better than others in breaking the proverbial glass ceiling that prevents women from attaining leadership roles.

  • August 20, 2024

    Kirkland-Led Dermody Closes $1B Real Estate-Focused Fund

    Real estate-focused private equity shop Dermody Properties, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Tuesday announced that it successfully closed its fourth commingled fund after securing just over $1 billion in capital commitments.

  • August 20, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    A nearly record-breaking attorney fee got the nod in Delaware last week, along with Chancery Court settlements involving an international private jet service and a chain of trampoline parks. New disputes involved a famous burger restaurant chain, a computer-chip maker, a now-defunct genomic science company, and a historic manor house in west London.

  • August 20, 2024

    Philadelphia, Insurer Settle Trans Firefighter's Surgery Suit

    The city of Philadelphia, Independence Blue Cross and a firefighters union agreed to settle a transgender firefighter's suit claiming she was unlawfully denied coverage for facial feminization surgery, just weeks after a Pennsylvania federal judge refused to let the insurer out of the case.

  • August 19, 2024

    Arden Trust Co. Sued In Del. Over Bikini Atoll Fund Depletion

    Representatives of Pacific Islanders displaced by early nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll sued Arden Trust Co. in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Monday, accusing the company of mismanaging and quickly dissipating tens of millions of dollars in congressionally authorized aid funds after years of careful management.

  • August 19, 2024

    Chancery Resets Del. Hearing In Masimo-Politan Proxy Battle

    Pointing to "very significant stockholder franchise issues at play" and a dwindling Masimo Corp. stockholder vote countdown, a Delaware vice chancellor on Monday scheduled a Sept. 13 hearing on Politan Capital Management LP challenges to Masimo's actions in the run-up to the contested Sept. 19 vote.

  • August 19, 2024

    Ethanol Co. Investors Say $9M Arbitration Award Was Stolen

    Class B members of a Colorado ethanol company claim they have been denied their share of a $9 million arbitration award resulting from an action against the managing entity of the company for allegedly engaging in a pay-to-play scheme with vendors in exchange for those vendors sponsoring a National Hot Rod Association team.

  • August 19, 2024

    NC Accelerator Claims It Was Duped Into Investment

    A Charlotte, North Carolina, tech accelerator and its investment partner claim that a Denver-area man duped them into giving money for a worthless shell entity when they thought they were investing in a promising tech startup offering loan document management software.

  • August 19, 2024

    Retirees Ask 2nd Circ. To Reboot IBM Pension Fight

    A proposed class of IBM retirees alleging the business lowballed their pension payments by using outdated mortality data to calculate benefits urged the Second Circuit to revive its suit, arguing a New York federal court wrongly determined its claims were brought too late.

  • August 19, 2024

    AI Platform AMC Corp. To Go Public Via $175M SPAC Merger

    Blank check company AlphaVest Acquisition Corp., advised by Winston & Strawn LLP, on Monday unveiled plans to merge with and take public native computer-vision artificial intelligence platform AMC Corp., led by Graubard Miller, in a $175 million deal.

  • August 19, 2024

    9th Circ. Sends Northrop Pension Disclosure Row To Trial

    The Ninth Circuit revived a class claim Monday from a group of Northrop Grumman retirees who said they were kept in the dark about how much they would get in pension benefits, ruling their allegations that the defense contractor shirked its disclosure duties were filed on time.

  • August 19, 2024

    CFTC's Pham Wants More Credit For Firms In Wash Trade Deal

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday ordered two Raizen units to pay $750,000 to settle charges they carried out illegal wash sales on sugar contracts worth more than $1 billion, but Commissioner Caroline Pham said the companies should have gotten more credit for self-reporting and remediating.

  • August 19, 2024

    Atty Faces Contempt Bid In Fla. Forex Trading Firm Case

    The court-appointed receiver of an investment company at the center of a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission lawsuit over the firm's $75 million foreign currency trading fraud has asked for the company's now-imprisoned CEO's appeals attorney to be held in contempt of court for allegedly failing to comply with a subpoena.

  • August 19, 2024

    Latham, Paul Weiss Guide AMD's $5B Buy Of ZT Systems

    Latham & Watkins LLP is advising Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the semiconductor company known for its AMD computer processors, on an agreement to acquire Paul Weiss-led ZT Systems for $4.9 billion in cash and stock, according to a Monday statement. 

Expert Analysis

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • A Framework For Investigating Commercial Loan Fraud

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    As commercial loan transactions are increasingly subject to sophisticated fraud schemes, lenders must adopt dynamic strategies to detect, investigate and mitigate these schemes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • What DOL Fiduciary Rule Means For Private Fund Managers

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    Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the U.S. Department of Labor's recently released final fiduciary rule, which revises the agency's 1975 regulation, could potentially cause private fund managers' current marketing practices and communications to be considered fiduciary advice, and therefore subject them to strict prohibitions.

  • What 11th Circ. Fearless Fund Ruling Means For DEI In Courts

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent backing of a freeze on the Fearless Fund's grants to women of color building new companies marks the latest major development in litigation related to diversity, equity and inclusion and may be used to question other DEI programs targeted at providing opportunities to certain classes of individuals, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Unpacking The Latest Tranche Of Sanctions Targeting Russia

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    Hundreds of new U.S. sanctions and export-control measures targeting trade with Russia, issued last week in connection with the G7 summit, illustrate the fluidity of trade-focused restrictions and the need to constantly refresh compliance analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Considerations For Cooperation Contracts In Loan Trades

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    Significant challenges to settling trades can arise when lenders of syndicated bank loans enter into defense-oriented cooperation agreements, which are growing in popularity, but working through these issues on the front end of a trade can save hours down the road, says Robert Waldner at Crowell & Moring.

  • Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation

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    Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Next Steps After 5th Circ. Nixes Private Fund Adviser Rules

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent toss of key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding private fund advisers represents a setback for the regulator, but open questions, including the possibility of an SEC petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, mean it's still too early to consider the matter closed, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Expected Developments From Upcoming Basel Capital Rules

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    With U.S. federal banking regulators preparing to finalize the Basel IV regulatory framework as early as this fall, banks and private investment funds are expected to look to uncommitted facilities as one method to address key changes, including tighter capital requirements, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

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