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Corporate
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May 14, 2024
Scott + Scott Opens Del. Office With Corporate Law Focus
Global firm Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law LLP announced Tuesday the launch of an office in Delaware, giving it nine locations in the U.S.
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May 14, 2024
Biden More Than Doubles Tariffs On Chinese EVs, Solar Cells
The U.S. will more than double tariffs on a range of Chinese goods, including electric vehicles and their batteries, steel, semiconductors and solar cells, in response to allegedly unfair trade practices and overproduction, the White House announced Monday.
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May 13, 2024
11th Circ. Says Class Attys Self-Dealt In $35M TCPA Settlement
The Eleventh Circuit on Monday dismissed a proposed $35 million settlement of a class action alleging GoDaddy.com violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending unwanted marketing texts, saying the deal may have come by through nefarious means.
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May 13, 2024
Tesla Threatened To Fire Holland & Knight, Law Prof Says
Tesla tried to bully a law professor out of filing an amicus brief in investors' suit over Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation plan, in part by threatening to fire the company's longtime outside counsel at Holland & Knight LLP if the professor submitted his brief, according to a filing Monday in Delaware.
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May 13, 2024
16 States Sue To Block Calif.'s 'Clean Fleets' Rule For Trucks
Over a dozen U.S. states filed a constitutional challenge in California federal court Monday against a Golden State regulation requiring commercial truck operators to move to zero-emission electric-vehicle fleets, arguing it would disrupt the global supply chain, raise costs, and illegally enforce emission control standards, in violation of federal laws.
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May 13, 2024
Irked Autonomy Judge Vents On HP Fraud Trial's Slow Pace
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Monday blasted lawyers for the government and two former Autonomy Corp. PLC executives in a criminal fraud case over the trial's slow progress, saying he's "annoyed," but also "complicit" because he "did not take more of a controlling posture."
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May 13, 2024
Chamber Asks Texas Judge To Stop FTC Noncompete Ban
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce asked a Texas federal judge to issue a court order stopping the Federal Trade Commission's new noncompete rule from going into effect while litigation challenging the ban plays out, arguing the rule's enforcement would irreparably harm businesses and their employees.
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May 13, 2024
CFTC Hits Crypto Firm With First-Ever Registration Claims
A Seychelles-incorporated entity has agreed to pay nearly $1.8 million in penalties and disgorgement to end U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission allegations it failed to register as a futures commission merchant in what the CFTC described Monday as a first-of-its-kind action involving digital asset exchanges.
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May 13, 2024
Kabbage Inks 2 FCA Deals With Feds Totaling $120M
Bankrupt online lender Kabbage Inc. has agreed to pay $120 million in two separate deals to resolve allegations it submitted thousands of false claims for loan forgiveness and operated without adequate fraud controls in place, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.
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May 13, 2024
USPTO Eyes Change To Patent Applicants' Disclaimer Practice
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is looking to add a requirement for patent applicants filing so-called terminal disclaimers in order to overcome rejections by patent examiners over obviousness-type double patenting, a move that lawyers and a former USPTO official say could change the agency's approach considerably, especially for patents covering brand-name drugs.
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May 13, 2024
Deepfakes Could Be Arbitration's Next Gen AI Shake-Up
In a high-stakes arbitration, lawyers for one of the companies present what they say is surveillance video of a bribe being accepted by its opponent's president. They argue the video presents incontrovertible evidence that the case should be decided in their client's favor — and a tribunal might be inclined to agree. But what if it turns out that the video is a fake, generated by artificial intelligence?
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May 13, 2024
FTC Can't Modify $5B Meta Privacy Deal, DC Circ. Told
Meta Platforms Inc. told the D.C. Circuit on Monday that the Federal Trade Commission lacks the ability to unilaterally modify a $5 billion privacy settlement, contending that the courts are the ones responsible for enforcing the agreement.
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May 13, 2024
SPAC Investor Says Insiders Overvalued Satellite Co. Deal
An investor has sued a blank-check company and several of its top brass in Delaware Chancery Court, alleging the defendants protected their buy-ins while leaving public investors to suffer losses following a merger with satellite imaging company BlackSky Holdings Inc.
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May 13, 2024
Wash. Hospital Scores Exit In Facebook Privacy Suit, For Now
A Washington federal judge has tossed a proposed class action accusing a Seattle-area hospital of sharing patients' confidential health information by using Facebook browser tracking tools, ruling on Monday the plaintiff has failed to show that her own private information was input into the website and shared with a third party.
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May 13, 2024
Handbag Cos. Denied More Market Info In FTC Merger Suit
A New York federal judge refused Monday to force the Federal Trade Commission to give Tapestry and Capri more details on the market allegedly threatened by their planned $8.5 billion merger, finding the parent companies of Coach and Michael Kors have the information they need.
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May 13, 2024
'Grinch' Is Not A Protected Class, HHS Tells 4th Circ.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has urged the Fourth Circuit to reject a chemist's discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation claims, arguing that "Grinch" is not a protected class and federal law doesn't protect an individual "from not being well-liked in the workplace."
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May 13, 2024
Biogen Investors Seek Class Cert. In Alzheimer's Drug Suit
A proposed class of Biogen shareholders urged a Massachusetts federal court to certify their now-revived class action alleging the drugmaker made misleading statements about a deficient Alzheimer's drug, arguing it can sufficiently lead the suit with Block & Leviton LLP as class counsel.
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May 13, 2024
50 Cent, GC Accused Of Federal Wiretap Violations
A liquor business consultant has told a New York state court that Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson and the rapper's general counsel violated federal and New Jersey wiretap statutes, after the court dismissed an earlier counterclaim lodged under the Illinois Eavesdropping Act.
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May 13, 2024
Chancery Orders Check Of Trump-Tied SPAC Sponsor Deal
Delaware's Court of Chancery refused Monday to impose a settlement on investors behind the sponsor of the company that took former President Donald Trump's Truth Social media company public after they filed and later abandoned a suit to remove the special-purpose acquisition company's managing member.
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May 13, 2024
Ex-BP Manager Admits Trading On Inside TravelCenters Info
A former BP PLC senior manager has admitted engaging in insider trading over the British oil and gas company's planned $1.3 billion acquisition of TravelCenters of America Inc., according to court records entered Friday.
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May 13, 2024
Judge Says Bold, Italic Font Muddies Allbirds Investor Suit
A California federal judge has tossed for now a proposed class action from Allbirds Inc. investors who claim the sustainable shoe retailer made false and misleading statements in registration documents connected to its initial public offering, saying the complaint doesn't indicate which statements from the company's executives were allegedly misleading.
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May 13, 2024
Flint Judge Threatens Sanctions After Water Firm's PR Stunt
The Michigan federal judge overseeing Flint, Michigan, water crisis cases excoriated a water engineering firm and its PR agency for apparently running a smear campaign targeting a lawyer for Flint children, saying Monday she will sanction the firm if it doesn't turn over documents about the campaign by next week.
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May 13, 2024
Bottling Co. Ends $2.7M Suit Against Fake Loan Brokers
A North Carolina bottling company has ended its lawsuit accusing two loan brokers of lying about their connection to a wealthy lender who ended up being a fraudster who took nearly $3 million from a business and its financier.
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May 13, 2024
Tesla Shareholder Alleges Drugs Fueled Musk's Erratic Posts
Tesla Inc. has failed to investigate reports that CEO Elon Musk used illicit drugs including ketamine, LSD and cocaine that may have influenced his social media posts, hurting stockholders and damaging the company's value, a shareholder has alleged in a recently unsealed amended complaint in Delaware's Court of Chancery.
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May 13, 2024
2nd Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Bystolic Antitrust Suit
The Second Circuit issued its first decision under the high court's Actavis "pay for delay" ruling on Monday, affirming the dismissal of a case alleging that an AbbVie predecessor delayed competition for its hypertension treatment Bystolic through deals with several generic makers.
Expert Analysis
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Cos. Must Know How NY, Federal LLC Disclosure Laws Differ
Though New York state's new LLC Transparency Act and the federal Corporate Transparency Act impose similar beneficial owner reporting obligations on limited liability companies, New York LLCs should study the important differences between the laws to ensure they are prepared to comply with both, say Abram Ellis, Olenka Burghardt and Jane Jho at Simpson Thacher.
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Opinion
Biden Admin's March-In Plan Would Hurt Medical Innovation
The Biden administration's proposal to reinterpret the Bayh-Dole Act and allow the government to claw back patents when it determines that a commercialized product's price is too high would discourage private investment in important research and development, says Ken Thorpe at the Rollins School of Public Health.
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9 Considerations For Divestitures, Carveouts And Spinouts
Amid new economic optimism, data protection, transitional services and seven other considerations can help legal practitioners untangle complex divestitures, carveouts and spinouts to unlock value for corporate sellers, say Kimberly Petillo-Décossard and Kristen Rohr at White & Case.
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Why Fla. High Court Adopting Apex Doctrine Is Monumental
The Florida Supreme Court recently solidified the apex doctrine in the Sunshine State, an important development that extends the scope of the doctrine in the state to include both corporate and government officials, and formalizes the requirements for a high-level corporate official to challenge a request for a deposition, says Laura Renstrom at Holland & Knight.
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5 Lessons For SaaS Companies After Blackbaud Data Breach
Looking at the enforcement actions that software-as-a-service provider Blackbaud resolved with state attorneys general, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission in the past year can help SaaS companies manage these increasingly common forms of data breaches, say attorneys at Orrick.
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Key Lessons After A Rare R&W Insurance Ruling
The recent New York state court decision in Novolex Holdings v. Illinois Union Insurance is noteworthy as one of the rare judicial opinions arising in the context of representations and warranties insurance, serving to remind parties entering into R&W insurance policies that they may not be immune from some doctrines unfavorable to insurers, say attorneys at Kramer Levin.
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Del. Ruling Stands Out In Thorny Noncompete Landscape
In Cantor Fitzgerald v. Ainslie, the Delaware Supreme Court last month upheld the enforceability of forfeiture-for-competition provisions in limited partnership agreements, providing a noteworthy opinion amid a time of increasing disfavor toward noncompetes and following a string of Chancery Court rulings deeming them unreasonable, say Margaret Butler and Steven Goldberg at BakerHostetler.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.
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A Refresher On Witness Testimony In 3 Key Settings
The recent controversy over congressional testimony from university presidents about antisemitism on campus serves as a reminder to attorneys about what to emphasize and avoid when preparing witnesses to testify before Congress, and how this venue differs from grand jury and trial proceedings, say Jack Sharman and Tyler Yarbrough at Lightfoot Franklin.
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A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise
After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.
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Reassessing Trade Secrets Amid Proposed Noncompete Ban
The Federal Trade Commission's proposed ban on noncompete agreements as well as state bans make it prudent for businesses to reevaluate and reinvigorate approaches to trade secret protection, including knowing what information employees are providing to vendors, and making sure confidentiality agreements are put in place before information is shared, says Rob Jensen at Wolf Greenfield.
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Opinion
Exxon Court Should Clarify Shareholder Proposal Exclusion
ExxonMobil last month took the unusual action of asking a Texas federal judge whether a proposal from climate activists seeking to limit oil and gas sales could be excluded from its 2024 proxy statement, and the court should use this opportunity to reevaluate SEC policy and set clear limits on when shareholder proposals can be included, says Stephen Bainbridge at UCLA School of Law.
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Mitigating The Risk Of Post-Closing M&A Earnout Disputes
Today's uncertain deal environment makes a well-crafted earnout an excellent way for parties to accomplish a desired transaction that would not otherwise occur, but transacting parties also need to take key steps to avoid the risk of post-closing disputes that earnouts can present, say Chad Barton and Claire Lydiard at Holland & Knight.
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Understanding SEC's Focus Amid Lack Of Final AI Rules
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rules to govern artificial intelligence are likely far from being finalized, understanding existing regulatory provisions that could address AI risks with respect to development, disclosure, compliance and data protection could help firms anticipate and avoid pitfalls, say attorneys at Skadden.
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What's On The Horizon In Attorney General Enforcement
A look at recent attorney general actions, especially in the areas of antitrust and artificial intelligence, can help inform businesses on what they should expect in terms of enforcement trends as 10 attorney general races play out in 2024, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.