Analysis

Trump AI Push Runs Up Against Cost, Enviro Concerns

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

President Donald Trump's push to rapidly build infrastructure for the booming artificial intelligence industry could drive up energy costs in markets supporting data center growth and even hit roadblocks if state and local governments resist new developments.

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FCC Signs Off On Skydance's $8B Acquisition Of Paramount

By Hailey Konnath

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave the green light to Skydance Media's controversial $8 billion acquisition of Paramount Global and its subsidiaries, including CBS' parent company, setting aside concerns that the deal will hurt competition.

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UnitedHealth Discloses DOJ Medicare Civil, Criminal Probes

By Sarah Jarvis

UnitedHealth Group Inc. has disclosed that it is complying with formal criminal and civil requests from the U.S. Department of Justice, following media reports about investigations into aspects of the insurance giant's participation in Medicare.

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Glass Lewis Sues Texas Over Proxy Advisory Restrictions Law

By Sarah Jarvis

Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. LLC sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday over a recently passed state law that it argues requires the firm to "publicly condemn itself" when its advice for clients reflects certain viewpoints the government disfavors.

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Feds Can't End Bank Oversight After $3M Redlining Deal

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge has rejected the government's bid to release a bank it previously accused of discriminatory lending from court oversight, holding that continued enforcement was "essential" to make sure the terms of a settlement resolving the allegations were adhered to.

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NCUA Board Members 'Glad To Be Back' Amid Trump Fight

By Jon Hill

The National Credit Union Administration officials who were ousted this spring by President Donald Trump took part Thursday in their first board meeting since a federal judge reinstated them just two days earlier, even as the court fight for their jobs continues.

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Bets On Atty's Lien Biz Lost Millions, Investor Tells Jury

By Pete Brush

A seasoned investor told a Manhattan federal jury Thursday that he heavily backed a tax-lien fund controlled by a lawyer now accused of fraud, ultimately losing $2.9 million in supposedly low-risk bets where such losses were "not supposed to be possible."

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Trump Ally's Fund Firm Sues Powell Over Meeting Secrecy

By Katryna Perera

An investment firm led by a supporter of President Donald Trump sued Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and several members of the Federal Open Market Committee on Thursday, demanding public access to monetary policy meetings, saying that for the last 50 years, the committee has illegally held every one of its meetings behind closed doors.

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SEC Escapes Atty Fee Bid After Rare In-House Loss

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will not have to reimburse a Michigan-based company that spent four years fighting to have a trading suspension lifted, an administrative law judge has ruled, though he said the case raised "serious questions" about the agency's process for obtaining such suspensions.

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Feds Rest Crypto Laundering Case Against Tornado Founder

By Stewart Bishop

Manhattan federal prosecutors on Thursday rested their case against Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm, who's accused of scheming to launder more than $1 billion in proceeds from criminal activity through the cryptocurrency tumbler and conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions on North Korea.

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Fintech Orgs. Urge Trump Admin To Back Open Banking Rule

By Aislinn Keely

A coalition of fintech and crypto industry groups on Thursday called on the Trump administration to defend the open banking rule in an ongoing legal challenge after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sided with banking trade groups to argue the data-sharing mandate exceeded its authority.

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Judge Blocks Crypto REIT From Collecting Rent In Detroit

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Michigan state judge has barred a cryptocurrency-based real estate investment firm and affiliates from collecting rent at hundreds of Detroit properties until it brings them into compliance with city code.

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Nonprofits Secure TRO In Challenge To New HUD Grant Rules

By Lauren Berg

A Rhode Island federal judge Thursday granted a temporary restraining order to a coalition of nonprofit groups challenging new conditions for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants that target diversity, equity and inclusion programs; abortion access; and transgender individuals.

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DOL Relaunches Employer Self-Audit FLSA Program

By Daniela Porat

The U.S. Department of Labor relaunched an employer self-audit program Thursday that supports employers that seek to resolve potential wage violations and avoid litigation — an initiative from the first Trump administration that was popular among employers.

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EU Probes If KKR Gave 'Incorrect Or Misleading' Merger Info

By Bryan Koenig

European Union antitrust enforcers announced an investigation Thursday into whether KKR & Co. Inc. provided "incorrect or misleading information" as part of the review of its $23.7 billion acquisition of NetCo that received unconditional approval last year.

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Groups Say Google Shirks EU Mandate To Allow App Deletion

By Bryan Koenig

Advocacy groups asked European Union antitrust enforcers on Thursday to investigate Google's parent company, Alphabet, accusing the technology giant of "an open attempt to circumvent" EU law requiring designated technology "gatekeepers" to permit users to uninstall apps easily.

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Split 9th Circ. Affirms Block Of Calif. Ammunition Regulation

By Hailey Konnath

A split Ninth Circuit panel Thursday affirmed a lower court's finding that California can't require gun owners to undergo background checks before buying ammunition, ruling that the law runs afoul of the Second Amendment in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in Bruen.

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NJ Judge Orders Gun Store To Halt Illegal Ammo Sales

By Carla Baranauckas

A Garden State firearms retailer violated state law by failing to implement reasonable safeguards and selling ammunition to undercover state investigators without checking identification or confirming eligibility to purchase, a New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled.

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NC Urges 4th Circ. Not To Block Vape Regs During Appeal

By Mike Curley

North Carolina officials are urging the Fourth Circuit to deny a bid by vape interests to block enforcement of a new state vaping regulation while they appeal their case, saying the plaintiffs have already tried, and failed, three times to show they deserve an injunction.

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IRS Can Levy Religious Group's Property, Split 9th Circ. Says

By Kat Lucero

The IRS can impose a lien on an Arizona residential property held by a religious organization to collect unpaid taxes owed by a bankrupt couple who had decision-making authority over the entity's finances and bank account, a divided Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday.

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FCC Sheds Rules For Older Tech As Axing Other Regs Proceed

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday jettisoned some older rules applying to technologies that have fallen out of general use and asserted the power to wield an expedited procedure in the future to get rid of other rules it deems outdated.

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More Sinclair Stations Reach Consent Decrees On Kid TV Ads

By Carolina Bolado

Broadcasters in three states reached consent decrees with the Federal Communications Commission following a wider enforcement action against Sinclair Broadcast Group over Hot Wheels commercials aired during a children's Hot Wheels program in violation of FCC rules.

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FCC Inserts New Deadlines Into Pole Attachment Rules

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission passed a set of rule changes Thursday morning aimed at making pole attachment regulations less of a thorn in everyone's side and hopefully speeding up the deployment of broadband.

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FERC Chair Bids Goodbye At Last Monthly Meeting

By Madeline Lyskawa

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie presided over his final monthly open meeting on Thursday, after President Donald Trump nominated Vinson & Elkins LLP energy regulatory counsel Laura Swett to fill the Republican commissioner's seat.

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How Cos. In China Can Tailor Compliance Amid FCPA Shifts

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently updated Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement guidelines create a fluid business environment for companies operating in China that will require a customized compliance approach to navigate both countries’ corporate and legal systems, say attorneys at Dickinson Wright.

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Trump Air Emissions Carveouts Cloud The Regulatory Picture

President Donald Trump's new proclamations temporarily exempting key U.S. industries from air toxics standards, issued under a narrow, rarely-used provision of the Clean Air Act, will likely lead to legal challenges and tighter standards in some states, contributing to further regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

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SEC, FINRA Obligations In Changing AI Regulatory Landscape

Despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent withdrawal of its proposed artificial intelligence conflict rules, financial regulators remain focused on firms developing the correct AI compliance framework, as well as continuously testing and supervising them to ensure they're fit for purpose, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

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Open Banking Is On Ice As CFPB Seeks To Toss Its Own Rule

Even as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's efforts to toss its open banking rule play out in Kentucky federal court, it remains statutorily required to effectuate consumer access to data, raising questions about how it would replace the previously finalized standard, say attorneys at Cooley.

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7 Ways Employers Can Avoid Labor Friction Over AI

As artificial intelligence use in the workplace emerges as a key labor relations topic in the U.S. and Europe, employers looking to reduce reputational risk and prevent costly disputes should consider proactive strategies to engage with unions, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

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Series

Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

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Courts 'Turning Up The Heat' On AI Fake Citation Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

As the volume of sanctions orders resulting from attorneys' use of faulty citations blamed on artificial intelligence continues to rise, federal judges are beginning to pivot from financial sanctions to more creative means of disciplining lawyers, including targeting their professional reputations in ways that could really hurt.

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Trump Admin Making Another EO Appeal, Targeting WilmerHale

By Jack Karp

The Trump administration is appealing a D.C. federal judge's ruling that President Donald Trump's executive order targeting WilmerHale amounts to a "staggering" assault on the First Amendment, according to a notice filed Friday.

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Will Tom Girardi's Wardrobe Mishap Help His Appeal?

By Craig Clough

When once-legendary attorney Tom Girardi's pants fell down as he finished testifying in his defense, the judge had to decide: Was this a desperate bid to feign incompetence and avoid prison for stealing client funds, or just an accident by an 86-year-old man with dementia? And if it really was an accident, does it now give Girardi a shot at winning his appeal and overturning his sentence?

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Former Jan. 6 Prosecutor, 2 Other Ex-DOJ Employees File Suit

By Rose Krebs

A former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has filed a federal lawsuit along with two other ex-Department of Justice employees alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Epic Defends Apple Antitrust Injunction After Birthright Ruling

By Dorothy Atkins

Epic Games has told the Ninth Circuit the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in litigation challenging President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order should not affect a nationwide injunction and civil contempt order issued in its antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies, arguing Apple misread the high court's precedent.

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11th Circ. Calls Dismissal Of Ga. Bar Bias Suit 'Indefensible'

By Chart Riggall

An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared all but certain Friday that it would revive a Georgia attorney's race bias suit against the state's bar association, calling a federal district court's dismissal of her claims that the bar has a two-tiered disciplinary system "indefensible."

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Podcaster At Fees Hearing Blames His Atty For Sanctions

By Zach Dupont

A podcaster accused of spreading lies that a former Dominion Voting Systems Inc. executive rigged the 2020 election blamed his lawyer Friday for his noncompliance with the Colorado federal court, accusing the attorney of "malpractice" and "negligence."

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Dentons Stalling Discovery In Terraform Ch. 11, Court Told

By Alex Wittenberg

The bankruptcy plan administrator for failed cryptocurrency platform Terraform Labs has accused Dentons US LLP of blocking his discovery requests in an attempt to secure final approval of some $25 million in fees, saying the law firm is seeking to "run out the clock" to dodge an investigation into its role in Terraform's collapse.

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Veteran CFPB Enforcement Atty Heads For The Exit

By Jon Hill

A longtime Consumer Financial Protection Bureau litigator told a Virginia federal court on Friday that she is leaving after more than a decade at the agency, becoming the latest departure at the regulator as its future under the Trump administration remains in limbo.

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Legal Org Urges DC Circ. To Reject Trump's Tariff Powers

By Anna Scott Farrell

The D.C. Circuit should affirm a ruling that sided with toy makers and blocked President Donald Trump from using an international economic law to impose emergency tariffs because the law does not give the president the authority he claims, a legal organization argued.

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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 owner of a £6 million ($8 million) mansion once rented by Adele sue real estate consultants Strutt & Parker, Romanian-Australian mining investor Vasile Frank Timis bring a claim against reputation and privacy firm Schillings, and a Chinese businessman bring a legal action against his former lawyer over an alleged £12.5 million mortgage fraud.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Glass Lewis brought a lawsuit against Texas over a measure it claims requires the proxy advisory firm to "publicly condemn itself" when its advice for clients reflects certain viewpoints the government disfavors. Meanwhile, a new proposed class action alleges Boeing employees on long-term disability leave missed out on a $12,000 bonus distributed after workers ratified a union contract. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Jones Day and DLA Piper lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Federal Circuit overturned a more than $125 million judgment against Medtronic's CoreValve unit for infringing a Colibri Heart Valve LLC patent.

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