PHH's $29.5M Kickback Deal Gets Final OK After 17 Years

By Rae Ann Varona

After 17 years of litigation, a certified class of homeowners got the final stamp of approval in California federal court for a $29.5 million settlement with PHH Mortgage and its captive reinsurer, both of which homeowners alleged received unlawful kickbacks from premiums paid for mortgage insurance.

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Fed Seeks Input On Limited Master Accounts For Fintechs

By Aislinn Keely

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday took another step toward rolling out what are known as skinny master accounts for fintech firms, requesting public feedback on a special purpose Reserve Bank account prototype "tailored to the risks and needs of institutions focused on payments innovation."

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Wells Fargo Sued By Ex-Exec Over 'Fake' Diversity Interviews

By Katryna Perera

A former Wells Fargo executive has filed suit in California federal court, accusing the bank of systemic racial discrimination against Black employees and customers and alleging that he was retaliated against for challenging these practices.

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Analysis

More Pardon Seekers Going 'Straight To The White House'

By Phillip Bantz

A nonprofit's unusual plan to make a mass pardon request directly to the Trump administration highlights burgeoning optimism among white collar defendants about their chances of securing relief, and a recognition that the clearest path to clemency no longer runs through the traditional channels.

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FINRA Fines BofA Unit Over Order Routing Disclosures

By Emilie Ruscoe

Bank of America's securities unit will pay $225,000 to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to end claims it published error-filled reports about how it handled customer securities orders, FINRA has announced.

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Loan Co. Strikes $750K Deal To End EEOC Disability Bias Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a loan company have asked a Georgia federal court to approve a $750,000 deal to end a suit alleging it fired an employee who asked for time off to recover from two major heart attacks.

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Disbarred Calif. Lawyer Gets 18 Mos. For Advance Fee Fraud

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge sentenced a disbarred California lawyer to 18 months in prison Friday for scheming to reap $4 million in advance fees for bogus letters of credit while holding himself out as chief of compliance for a fake bank.

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Brief

Calif. Ex-Customs Broker Sentenced For Tax, Wire Fraud

By Dylan Moroses

A California man was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison after being indicted this year on federal fraud charges and one count of tax evasion, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

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Cadence Bank Seeks 1st Nod For $5.25M Data Breach Deal

By Emilie Ruscoe

Cadence Bank has reached a $5.25 million deal to end negligence claims it faced in multidistrict litigation over the May 2023 breach of file transfer application MOVEit, a consumer affected by the breach has informed a Boston federal judge.

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Borrowers Win Cert. In NC Mortgage Phone Payment Fees Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina federal judge has certified a class of North Carolina borrowers who claim their loan servicer charged them exorbitant processing fees for paying their monthly mortgage by phone, finding there are common questions that are best resolved in a class action.

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Brief

Iowa Appeals Schwab Antitrust Deal After Objections

By Sarah Jarvis

Iowa's attorney general has appealed to the Fifth Circuit a Texas federal judge's final approval of a settlement ending an antitrust class action suit over The Charles Schwab Corp.'s merger with TD Ameritrade, following the Hawkeye State's previous objection claiming the deal offered class members insufficient relief.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen the designer of an 88-facet diamond bring a copyright claim against a luxury watch retailer, collapsed firm Axiom Ince bring legal action against the solicitors' watchdog, and the Post Office hit with compensation claims from two former branch managers over their wrongful convictions during the Horizon information technology scandal.

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Texas Justices Order Redo For BofA Building Valuation

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ordered a redo in a valuation that saw Bank of America communicate with a supposedly neutral appraiser ahead of time, saying that a trial court improperly confirmed an $8 million appraisal of a Houston property.

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Changes In Crypto, Cybersecurity Defined NY Banking In 2025

The major takeaways from 2025 in New York banking policy involve updated guidance, regulations and requirements primarily affecting innovation and digital banking, in areas such as cybersecurity, virtual currencies, and buy now, pay later programs, say attorneys at Steptoe.

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SEC Rulemaking Radar: A Reset, A Shift And A Preview Of '26

With major proposals withdrawn and new priorities emerging, forthcoming U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposals in 2026 will look to reshape how digital assets are regulated, recalibrate market structure and simplify how small companies go public, says Christopher Grobbel at Goodwin.

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The CFTC's Road Ahead Under Newly Confirmed Chair

Michael Selig's Dec. 18 confirmation as U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair comes at a critical juncture, as the agency is poised to gain oversight over the crypto industry and increase its jurisdictional mandate covering prediction markets, says Elizabeth Lan Davis at Davis Wright.

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5 Lender Strategies When A Commercial Borrower Defaults

With an estimated $2 trillion in commercial real estate loans set to mature by 2027, now is an opportune time for lenders to review practices on both the front and back ends, and understand the full range of options available in the event of a default, says Keith Mundrick at Amundsen Davis.

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How Fractional GCs Can Manage Risks Of Engagement

As more organizations eliminate their in-house legal departments in favor of outsourcing legal work, fractional general counsel roles offer practitioners an engaging and flexible way to practice at a high level, but they can also present legal, ethical and operational risks that must be proactively managed, say attorneys at Boies Schiller.

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Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader's Divergent Paths Led To Deal

By Aebra Coe

The blockbuster combination between Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP announced this past week involves two law firms that have charted very different paths in recent years. Here, a look at what events led up to the firms joining together at the deal table.

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4 Stories That Shaped Civil Rights, Access To Justice In 2025

By Marco Poggio

Civil rights and access to justice advocates faced mounting pressure in 2025, as President Donald Trump's return to office drove aggressive immigration enforcement, deep cuts to criminal justice funding, renewed Supreme Court scrutiny of the Voting Rights Act, and a steep increase in executions.

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Federal Courts Not Subject To FOIA, DC Judge Rules

By Jake Maher

The conservative litigation group America First Legal Foundation cannot demand documents from the federal Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Freedom of Information Act because they are not executive agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

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Wis. Judge's Conviction In ICE Case Tees Up Legal Battle

By Ryan Boysen

The conviction of a Wisconsin state judge for obstructing ICE officers is just the start of what will likely be a long legal battle, with major questions over judicial immunity, the evidence at hand and the meaning of "corrupt" yet to be decided.

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Justices Let Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit Continue

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration has failed to show it will be irreparably harmed by a Fourth Circuit decision that revived immigration judges' lawsuit challenging restrictions on their ability to speak publicly.

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Florida Supreme Court Approves Limits For Non-Lawyer Roles

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on a rule change to spell out that nonlawyers at a law firm cannot supervise the work of attorneys or perform policymaking duties that affect the practice of law.

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Keesal Young Drops Part Of Stradley Ronon Poaching Suit

By Madison Arnold

Keesal Young & Logan wants to drop part of its California state court lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP unlawfully recruited 10 of its attorneys.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In one of the stories in corporate legal news from the past week, almost half of the in-house legal professionals in a recent survey said they were either actively or passively seeking new jobs, citing stress, a struggle to build multidisciplinary teams and anxiety around artificial intelligence.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Five firms lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the D.C. Circuit reinstated an order that blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from freezing grants for climate change projects.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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