Analysis

How The SEC's New 'User-Friendly' Manual Provides Uniformity

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently announced updates to its enforcement manual largely standardize common practices at the agency, but former enforcement attorneys say the changes provide transparency to the investigative process in a few key ways.

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Walmart Will Pay Up To $100M To End FTC's Driver Pay Suit

By Matthew Santoni

The Federal Trade Commission and 11 states have reached a $100 million deal with Walmart to settle claims the company misled its "Spark" delivery program drivers over the amount they would be paid, and deceived customers over how much of the tips they paid would go to their drivers, the agency announced Thursday.

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Vanguard Will Pay $29.5M To Settle Red States' ESG Suit

By Spencer Brewer

The Vanguard Group Inc. will pay $29.5 million to settle claims brought by several conservative states accusing it and other large asset managers of driving up coal prices by pressuring publicly traded energy companies to lower their output to meet carbon emission reduction goals.

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Arete Wealth, GC Can't Slip SEC Claims In Offering Fraud Suit

By Katryna Perera

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can move forward with its case against a broker-dealer and its former general counsel and chief compliance officer over an allegedly fraudulent stock offering by three representatives of a "sham" energy company, an Illinois federal judge ruled Thursday, while dismissing some claims related to off-channel communications and settlement releases, among other things.

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Judge Scolds 'Impenetrable' TikTok In NY AG's Addiction Suit

By Frank G. Runyeon

A New York state judge Thursday chided TikTok's attorneys for failing to search for financial and corporate records in the state's social media child addiction lawsuit, appearing poised to force TikTok companies to hand over more business data to calculate potential damages or disgorgement.

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Proxy Preview Report Says Cos. Cautious With Exclusions

By Sarah Jarvis

More than 70% of shareholder proposals for annual corporate meetings among Russell 3000 companies this year have proceeded to a vote, according to a new proxy season preview report, indicating early filing companies may be taking a cautious approach toward exclusions in light of regulatory shifts giving them more leeway.

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4th Circ. Revives Secrets Charges Against Ex-Deloitte Workers

By Elliot Weld

The Fourth Circuit on Thursday revived the bulk of the charges against two former Deloitte workers accused of stealing the company's trade secrets, disagreeing with a lower court that dismissed the case because of the government's delay in bringing it.

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Fed's Bowman Says Basel Redo Coming By End Of March

By Jon Hill

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman told senators Thursday that federal regulators plan to release a reworked Basel III endgame proposal in the next month, stressing that relaxing the capital treatment of mortgage activity will be one of its top goals.

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Ex-Morgan Stanley Pro's NBA Fraud Rap Falls Short, Jury Told

By Stewart Bishop

An attorney for a former Morgan Stanley investment adviser accused of defrauding NBA stars by feeding them overpriced insurance investments and stealing funds told a Manhattan federal jury Thursday the players' own words and other evidence belie the government's claims.

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Exec To Pay SEC Fine Over Fake Berkshire Hathaway Deal

By Emilie Ruscoe

A former Brazilian reinsurance executive will pay a $500,000 civil penalty to end U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that he improperly sought to boost shares of his company by means of planting false stories that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had acquired a significant stake in the business.

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SEC Fines Ill. Adviser Over COVID-Era Loan Valuations

By Sydney Price

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that formerly registered investment firm Madison Capital Funding LLC will pay $900,000 to settle claims that it did not properly gauge the effects of market disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic when selling certain loans.

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Ex-Paxful CEO Charged Over Anti-Money Laundering Failures

By Aislinn Keely

Federal authorities have arrested the former CEO of now-shuttered crypto exchange Paxful and accused him of willfully failing to maintain anti-money laundering policies that enabled scammers and prostitution enterprises, newly unsealed court documents show.

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Toyota Nears OK On $436M Class Deal Over Forklift Emissions

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Thursday she'll give preliminary approval to Toyota Industries Corp.'s $436 million class action settlement to resolve claims the auto giant and its subsidiaries misled tens of thousands of business buyers into thinking the emissions of its forklift and construction engines were "the cleanest" in the industry.

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EEOC Backs Bathroom Exclusion For Trans Federal Worker

By Vin Gurrieri

Federal employers can lawfully block transgender workers from using bathrooms and changing facilities that align with their gender identity, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled Thursday in an administrative appeal involving a civilian Army employee.

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DOL Unveils Independent Contractor Rule Replacement

By Max Kutner

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the details Thursday of a long-awaited proposed rule to rescind and replace a previous administration's regulation that outlined how to decide if a worker is an employee or independent contractor.

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Tenn. Health System Can't Dodge $28M False Claims Act Suit

By Mark Payne

A Tennessee-based health system must face claims it allegedly ran a sprawling patient referral scheme by overcompensating doctors in exchange for Medicare patient referrals and then billed Medicare $28 million for services it offered those illegally referred patients, a Tennessee federal judge said Thursday, denying the health system's dismissal bid. 

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Judge Won't Block Trump's White House Ballroom Project

By Isaac Monterose

A District of Columbia federal judge rejected a historical preservation nonprofit's bid to temporarily block President Donald J. Trump's plans to turn the White House's East Wing into a ballroom, ruling on Thursday that the nonprofit's Administrative Procedure Act and constitutional claims fail.

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Domestic Violence Groups Fight Bondi Over Grant DEI Rules

By Joyce Hanson

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and 17 domestic violence coalitions are fighting in Rhode Island federal court over the groups' bid for a temporary restraining order to block the government from cutting off grant funds that don't comply with President Donald Trump's diversity, equity and inclusion rules.

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Kenvue Can't Duck Texas AG's Tylenol Autism Suit

By Emily Field

A Texas state court Thursday rejected Kenvue's bid to toss a lawsuit that Texas' attorney general has brought alleging Tylenol taken during pregnancy could cause autism in children, even though it is marketed as the safest pain relief for pregnant women and young children.

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Texas AG, Samsung Ink Deal To End TV Data Collection Suit

By Allison Grande

Samsung agreed to strengthen its data privacy disclosures in order to resolve a lawsuit being pressed by the Texas attorney general, who accused the company of "secretly" monitoring what smart TV consumers watch and unlawfully collecting their data without permission, the parties revealed Thursday.

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Kochava, FTC Near Deal To End Geolocation Privacy Suit

By Gina Kim

The Federal Trade Commission and Kochava Inc. told an Idaho federal judge Thursday that they have negotiated a final deal to resolve claims alleging the mobile app analytics provider illegally sold geolocation data from mobile devices that could be used to track people to reproductive health clinics, places of worship and other sensitive places.

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NCAA To Consider Penalties For Football Transfer Violations

By Ganesh Setty

An NCAA Division I oversight committee has proposed new penalties for schools that transfer student-athletes to their football team rosters without the student's giving proper notice during the NCAA's January transfer window, including a six-game coaching suspension.

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$200M Antitrust Deal Can Shield Drugmakers In States' Claims

By Matthew Santoni

Sun Pharmaceutical and Taro Pharmaceuticals can use their $200 million settlement with the "end payors" for generic drugs in an alleged price-fixing scheme as a defense in a similar lawsuit brought by 47 states and territories, the Connecticut federal judge overseeing the case ruled Wednesday.

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DOJ, Apple Clash Over Discovery For Monopolization Case

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Justice pushed back against a plan Apple pitched for discovery disputes in a monopolization suit against the company, arguing the company has sought sensitive information and asked a federal judge to fix an "'emergency' of its own making."

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JRK-Owned Co. Will Pay Up To $5.1M To Conn. Tenants

By Aaron Keller

A JRK Property Holdings unit will provide up to $5.1 million in immediate financial relief under the first of two agreements to settle an unfair trade practices probe into health and safety concerns at a 544-unit complex in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, the state attorney general's office announced Thursday.

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FCC Denies Cos.' Bids To Scrap Regulatory Fee Late Charges

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission is declining to waive the 25% penalty it slaps on top of regulatory fees from 2023 and 2024 that come in late, dashing the hopes of nearly two dozen companies that had asked the agency to do just that.

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What's Next After NLRB Dismissal Of SpaceX Suit

Though the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision to dismiss its long-running unfair labor practice complaint against SpaceX on jurisdictional grounds temporarily resolves a circuit split over injunctions, constitutional and employee-classification questions remain, say attorneys at Proskauer.

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Reforms To Bank Agency Appeal Processes May Boost Usage

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent proposed changes to their respective appeals processes are likely to increase banks' filing of supervisory appeals, thanks to the reinforcement that the appeals will not be met with retaliation, says Brendan Clegg at Luse Gorman.

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What New Packaging Waste Laws Mean For Franchisors

With states ramping up laws establishing extended producer responsibility programs for packaging materials, paper products and single-use food service ware, restaurant and hospitality franchisors face special compliance challenges as they navigate a delicate balance between conflicting priorities, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

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How Del. High Court's Moelis Reversal Fits Into DExit Debate

By declining to decide the facial validity of the provisions at issue in Moelis & Co. v. West Palm Beach Firefighters Pension Fund, the Delaware Supreme Court's recent reversal of the Court of Chancery's 2024 ruling highlights broader implications for the ongoing debate over whether companies should incorporate elsewhere, say attorneys at Akin.

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What Recent Dataset Suits Signal For AI Training Litigation

Plaintiffs are moving away from abstract debates about artificial intelligence at large and toward dataset provenance, and three filings illustrate how provenance is pled using public dataset documentation, archives and discovery‑ready allegations about copying, retention and downstream handling, says Yulia Leshchenko at Name & Fame.

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Series

Playing Piano Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing piano and practicing law share many parallels relating to managing complexity: Just as hearing an entire musical passage in my head allows me to reliably deliver the message, thinking about the audience's impression helps me create a legal narrative that keeps the reader engaged, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

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How Epstein Referred Clients To BigLaw Partners In His Orbit

By Aebra Coe

Billionaire and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein always had top lawyers in his orbit. He also had extensive and lasting relationships with several partners at BigLaw firms, files newly released by the Department of Justice show.

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Goldstein Placed Under Home Confinement Until Sentencing

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein was placed under home confinement by a Maryland federal judge until his sentencing, but will likely be able to keep his $3 million D.C. home after the jury that convicted him separately found there wasn't a clear nexus between the property and his mortgage fraud conviction.

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'One Way Or Another, ICE Will Comply,' Minn. Judge Vows

By Lauren Berg

The Minnesota federal court's chief judge who admonished U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for violating nearly 100 court orders concerning the Trump administration's immigration operations in the state vowed Thursday "to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law," including holding government officials in criminal contempt.

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IRS Broke Law 42K Times By Giving Info To ICE, Judge Says

By Anna Scott Farrell

The federal judge who stopped the Internal Revenue Service from sharing taxpayer addresses with immigration authorities said Thursday that a recent admission by the agency showed that it broke the law more than 42,000 times last summer when it disclosed addresses by relying on a computerized matching system.

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Calif. Atty Agrees To Discipline From State Bar Over AI Errors

By Hailey Konnath

A Los Angeles attorney has agreed to be disciplined for filing appellate briefs rife with artificial intelligence-hallucinated case law quotations, according to a stipulation approved Wednesday by the California State Bar Court, which found that he "recklessly and with gross negligence failed to perform legal services with competence."

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Reed Smith Says Atty Can't Expand Pay Bias Damages Period

By Grace Elletson

Reed Smith LLP is urging a New Jersey state court to rule that an attorney who claimed the firm unlawfully underpaid her cannot expand the time window for which she's seeking damages, arguing a legal doctrine used to revive continuing claims can't be used to collect back pay.

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Feds Seek To Toss DOJ Official's Suit Over Epstein-Talk Firing

By Lynn LaRowe

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a D.C. federal court to ax a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by a former DOJ official who was fired after he was surreptitiously filmed talking about Jeffrey Epstein on what he thought was a date, saying district courts don't have jurisdiction and the matter belongs in front of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

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Atty Owns 'Sloppy' Incorrect Citations Before Texas Justices

By José Luis Martínez

A Houston attorney told a Texas appellate panel Thursday that incorrect case citations in his brief were "sloppy" and "embarrassing," taking responsibility for errors that included nonexistent cases and inaccurate quotations.

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Brief

Senate Judiciary Advances Illinois US Atty

By Nadia Dreid

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Gregory Gilmore to be U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois in a quick vote that passed without comment.

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