House GOP Bill To Cut CFPB Budget, Audit Board Clears Panel

By Jon Hill

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday approved Republican budget legislation that would strip most funding from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and wind down an independent audit regulator for public companies.  

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CFPB Scraps More Cases, Curbs Small Biz Loan Rule Focus

By Katryna Perera

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday abandoned more lawsuits, including its Fifth Circuit appeal over a Biden-era policy that expanded the agency's anti-discrimination scrutiny of financial firms, and said it will not focus on enforcing a contested small business lending rule.

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Fla. Lender Urges 11th Circ. To OK Arbitration In Fee Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida credit union urged an Eleventh Circuit panel Wednesday to overturn a lower court order denying arbitration in a proposed class action over wrongly assessed overdraft fees, saying failure to preregister with the American Arbitration Association isn't grounds for a default.

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Fed. Circ. Upholds PayPal, Apple Patent Wins Over Fintiv Inc.

By Dani Kass

PayPal Holdings Inc. successfully persuaded the Federal Circuit on Wednesday to uphold the invalidation of Fintiv Inc. mobile wallet patents it's accused of infringing, which then led to Apple Inc. beating a related appeal. 

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Cos. Must Plan For China-Taiwan Risks, Ex-Trump Official Says

By Sarah Jarvis

A former U.S. Treasury Department official warned Wednesday that U.S. firms should take a serious look at their business exposure to China and develop contingency plans in the event the country invades Taiwan, saying an escalation in the conflict between the U.S. and China would have devastating effects globally.

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Ill. Developer Gets 6 Years For Role In Bank Embezzlement

By Lauraann Wood

A real estate developer has been sentenced to more than six years in prison following his conviction for participating in a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme at a now-shuttered bank, federal prosecutors in Chicago announced Wednesday.

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Feds Barred From Reviving 'Unlawful' Tornado Cash Sanctions

By Aislinn Keely

A Texas federal judge has permanently barred the U.S. Department of the Treasury from enforcing its now-dissolved sanctions on crypto mixer Tornado Cash after the advocates who challenged the designation argued the government's removal of the sanctions wasn't enough.

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Texas Panel Backtracks In Nate Paul's Receiver Row

By Isaac Monterose

A Texas appellate court revoked its prior ruling and backed a lower court ruling that allowed an attorney acting as a receiver in one suit to take over as counsel in another suit for a company belonging to real estate investor Nate Paul, permanently dismiss its claims and counterclaims, and reach a settlement.

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Underwriters Seek Exit From $37M FTC Dispute With Loan Co.

By Elizabeth Daley

Underwriters asked a California federal court on Wednesday to find that they did not have to defend a company accused by the Federal Trade Commission of bilking consumers out of at least $37 million through a credit scheme designed to trick consumers into taking on debt.

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Activant Unit Seeks $7.5M Fee After $37M Bolt Suit Win

By Jeff Montgomery

An Activant Capital Group fund has petitioned Delaware's Court of Chancery to approve a $7.5 million company-paid corporate benefit fee, citing a successful battle for cancellation of more than $37 million in Bolt Financial Group shares held by a controller who defaulted on a more-than $30 million company-guaranteed loan.

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Ex-Atlanta IG Aims To Toss Lobbyist's Bank Subpoena Suit

By Chart Riggall

The city of Atlanta's former inspector general asked a Georgia federal judge Tuesday to end a lobbyist and city contractor's suit against her over a corruption probe she launched into his dealings with the city, arguing that the Fourth Amendment provides no protections against subpoenas she issued for his bank records.

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Judge Orders Mediation In Riley Pope Data Breach Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A South Carolina federal judge on Tuesday ordered parties in a proposed class action over a 2024 cyberattack impacting the employees of law firm Riley Pope & Laney LLC's clients to conduct mediation ahead of trial — one day after the firm asked the court to toss the case, claiming the plaintiff has not alleged any actual misuse of his personal information.

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Winston & Strawn Guides $450M Loan For Miami Stadium Plan

By Nate Beck

The developers of a $1 billion Miami soccer stadium project under construction have secured a $450 million mortgage from JPMorgan Chase Bank in a transaction advised by Winston & Strawn LLP.

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Planning For Open Banking Despite CFPB Uncertainty

Though pending litigation or new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau leadership may reshape the Biden-era regulation governing access to consumer financial data, companies can use this uncertain period to take practical steps toward an open banking strategy that will work regardless of the rule’s ultimate form, says Adam Maarec at McGlinchey Stafford.

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Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law

Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.

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Susman Godfrey Urges Court To Reject Trump's Dismissal Bid

By Hailey Konnath

Susman Godfrey LLP has pressed a D.C. federal court not to kill the firm's suit challenging President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm, arguing that the government's "meritless" dismissal motion "goes to great lengths to distract from the indisputable truth" that the order is "blatantly unconstitutional."

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Marshals Service Pick Vows To Protect Judges Amid Tensions

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's nominee for director of the U.S. Marshals Service, Gadyaces Serralta, stressed to Democrats on Wednesday that the agency's mission to protect judges and enforce court orders would not change under his leadership despite increasing criticism of the bench from the president and other policymakers.

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Analysis

Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

By Jeff Overley

Spring has sprung for appellate arguments over the White House's pruning and shearing of agencies, part of a bountiful circuit calendar in May, when appeals courts will also tend to defamation drama involving a pro golfer, antitrust suits against drugmakers and hotels, and a nine-figure patent verdict against Apple Inc.

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Dem Reps. Urge Court To Block IRS-ICE Info-Sharing Pact

By Anna Scott Farrell

House Democrats and two organizations that help immigrants prepare tax returns urged a D.C. federal court to block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing with immigration enforcement agencies the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally.

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Exec Says MyPillow Attys Can't Use AI Mistakes To Delay Trial

By Thy Vo

A former Dominion Voting executive said MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell shouldn't be allowed to delay a June defamation trial because his attorneys face potential sanctions for a brief that used artificial intelligence, arguing recent executive orders against law firms suggest the defamation claim would face "extreme prejudice" from a delay.

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Wis. Justices Suspend Judge Charged With Blocking ICE

By Jack Karp

The Wisconsin state judge who was arrested and charged for allegedly helping an unauthorized migrant evade arrest by federal immigration officers has been temporarily suspended by the state's highest court.

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FTC Transfer Stripped From House Judiciary Reconciliation

By Courtney Bublé

A provision to transfer the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust functions to the U.S. Department of Justice was stripped out of the House Judiciary Committee's budget reconciliation bill on Wednesday.

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Philly Judge Under Fire For Promoting Wife's Cheesesteak Biz

By James Boyle

Pennsylvania's judicial ethics board has accused a Philadelphia judge of using his position on the bench to promote a cheesesteak restaurant opened by his wife and named in honor of his late parents.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

Enforcers opened high stakes court proceedings against Meta Platforms and Google for monopolization claims that could force the tech giants to sell pieces of the companies, while also moving ahead with several challenges and reviews of pending deals in other industries. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from April.

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Brief

Akin Atty Returns To FCC To Lead Wireline Bureau

By Nadia Dreid

After three years in private practice, the Federal Communications Commission has welcomed an Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorney back to the agency as the newest head of the commission's Wireline Competition Bureau.

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Calif. Bar Seeks Credits, Lower Pass Score After Exam Fiasco

By Craig Clough

The California Bar has asked the state's supreme court to help it account for rampant technical difficulties on the February 2025 bar exam by approving a lower passing score and allowing the bar to give test-takers credit for some questions they left blank.

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