Trump Exits Climate Pact, UN Orgs. He Says 'Conflict' With US

By Lauren Berg

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he is withdrawing the United States from a decades-old international agreement that brings the world's countries together to take action against climate change, as well as 65 other international organizations and treaties that are "contrary to the interests" of the U.S.

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Trump Family-Tied Stablecoin Co. Seeks Bank Charter

By Aislinn Keely

The Trump family-tied crypto company World Liberty Financial said Wednesday that it's filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to become a national trust bank as it looks to expand its stablecoin business, drawing the ire of one lawmaker, who called the application a conflict of interest.

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Google, Character.AI To Settle Suicide, Violent Content Suits

By Y. Peter Kang

Google and artificial intelligence company Character Technologies have agreed to settle lawsuits over various injuries suffered by underage users of its Character.AI chatbot, including the suicides of two teenagers, according to documents filed in federal courts.

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JPMorgan Unit To Use AI Tool Over Proxy Advisory Firms

By Sarah Jarvis

JPMorgan Chase's asset management arm has eliminated its reliance on outside advisory firms for data collection and proxy voting recommendations and will instead use an in-house, artificial intelligence-powered tool to aggregate and analyze data from U.S. corporate meetings.

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Ford Promotes Deputy GC To Compliance Chief

By Sarah Jarvis

Ford Motor Co.'s corporate secretary and former deputy general counsel, who previously co-chaired Latham & Watkins LLP's sustainability practice, has announced she is the automaker's new chief compliance officer.

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ISS Asks Judge Not To Stall Ruling On Texas ESG Law

By Jessica Corso

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. is pushing back on Texas' request to delay a ruling on the constitutionality of a law requiring proxy advisory firms to disclose when voting recommendations are based on environmental, social or governance factors, arguing that the state hasn't shown how additional discovery "will make any difference" to the case.

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Block Inc., Dorsey Must Face Suits Over Compliance Claims

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has ruled that the parent company of Square and Cash App, Block Inc., and its officers and directors must face claims of compliance failures in a class action and separate derivative suit, finding, among other things, that the derivative suit adequately pleads that Block's board failed to properly oversee the company's compliance program.

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Trump Says He Wants To Ban Wall Street From Buying Houses

By Nate Beck

President Donald Trump announced in an online post Wednesday he plans to ask Congress to endorse coming steps from his administration to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes in the U.S.

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KeyBank Will Pay $7.7M To Resolve Branch Manager's Fraud

By Carla Baranauckas

KeyBank National Association has agreed to pay more than $7.7 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by submitting forgiveness requests for dozens of Paycheck Protection Program loans that one of its branch managers helped fraudulently obtain, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

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BNP Can't Undo $21M Verdict In Sudan Refugee Case

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge granted final judgment Wednesday against BNP Paribas for its alleged role bankrolling atrocities against plaintiffs who fled Sudan amid human rights abuses, declining to trim a $21 million bellwether verdict.

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10th Circ. Halts Kan. Bank's $20M FDIC Appeal For Settlement

By Jon Hill

The Tenth Circuit will hold off on hearing a small Kansas bank's push to challenge a $20 million anti-money laundering enforcement proceeding from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after the two sides said Wednesday that they have reached a settlement.

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Tricolor Ex-CEO Must Take Questions At Creditor Meeting

By Rick Archer

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Wednesday said the former chief executive of bankrupt subprime car loan lender Tricolor Holdings will have to appear at a creditor meeting despite his argument that he won't be able to answer questions without incriminating himself in his fraud trial.

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Calif. Mortgage Co. Beats Whistleblower Suit Over PPP Loans

By Emilie Ruscoe

A residential mortgage lender has shed a False Claims Act suit alleging it obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans it was ineligible for, though a California federal judge gave the would-be whistleblower a chance to revise its claims.

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2 European Fintechs Seek OCC Bank Charters

By Aislinn Keely

Two European fintechs are seeking sign-offs from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to set up U.S. banks, including a firm planning to issue its own stablecoin.

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Binance Taps Ex-SEC, Coinbase Atty To Head Global Litigation

By Aislinn Keely

Binance has brought on a former senior Coinbase lawyer and veteran U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorney to serve as its global head of litigation.

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FERC Defends Grid Planning Policy Revamp At 4th Circ.

By Keith Goldberg

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has told the Fourth Circuit that the overhaul of its regional transmission planning policy was needed to address a pervasive failure to efficiently build out the U.S. electric grid, and that allegations the agency acted unlawfully are meritless.

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Judge Seeks Assurance That PFAS Deals Are Good For NJ

By George Woolston

A New Jersey federal judge on Wednesday asked attorneys for the state to assure that two proposed deals with 3M and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. worth nearly $3 billion to resolve its claims over contamination by "forever chemicals" are in the best interest of the state's residents despite a number of objections.

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Ørsted Expands Challenge To Halt Of Offshore Wind Projects

By Keith Goldberg

Danish energy developer Ørsted has expanded its legal fight against the Trump administration's latest order halting offshore wind projects, filing a lawsuit claiming the order unlawfully blocks the construction of its Sunrise Wind project off the New York coast.

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Conn. Regulator Clears Avangrid Unit In Fatal Electrocution

By Brian Steele

An Avangrid Inc. subsidiary is not responsible for the death of a Connecticut man who grabbed a downed power line while clearing a fallen tree from a golf course driveway in August, but it should make changes to the way it responds to potentially life-threatening situations, the state's utility regulator said Wednesday.

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Poultry Cos. Seek Stay Of Water Pollution Ruling For Appeal

By Elaine Briseño

Tyson Foods and other poultry operators found responsible for polluting Oklahoma waters with chicken waste argued that, without a stay in the court's judgment pending a Tenth Circuit appeal, companies not subject to its orders will have an economic advantage.

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NLRB Gets Up To Speed As Members And GC Are Sworn In

By Braden Campbell

The National Labor Relations Board is set to resume deciding cases after two new members arrived at the agency Wednesday along with President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Office of the General Counsel.

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Trump Bars 'Underperforming' Defense Contractors' Buybacks

By Rae Ann Varona

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that defense contractors are barred from buying back their own stocks or paying shareholder dividends if they are underperforming on their U.S. government contracts, ordering a review and potential "remediation plan" for contractors found slacking.

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DOJ Seeks Nod For HPE Merger Deal Over State Objections

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Department of Justice has requested court approval for its settlement that would end a challenge of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's acquisition of a networking equipment rival, despite objections raised by state enforcers over allegations of improper lobbying influence.

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Compass' $1.6B Anywhere Buy Goes Unchallenged By Government

By Isaac Monterose

Real estate brokerage Compass Inc.'s $1.6 billion acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate Inc. is expected to move forward Wednesday without being scrutinized by the federal government even though congressional lawmakers previously urged the government to do so.

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House Talks Market Share Regarding Netflix-WB Merger

By Nadia Dreid

Rapid consolidation in the streaming market was on the minds of members of the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on antitrust when they met Wednesday, with Democrats questioning if competition was being threatened and if the president was exerting too much influence on merger reviews.

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Live Nation Looks To Toss BOTS Act Case

By Matthew Perlman

Live Nation and Ticketmaster told a California federal court Tuesday the Federal Trade Commission is trying to use a statute designed to help ticket sellers fight scalping to target operation of the events and the ticketing giant's legitimate resale platform.

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Amazon Seeks To Halt Supplement Suit As FDA Nixes Rule

By Rachel Riley

Amazon called on a Seattle federal judge to pause a proposed class action accusing the e-commerce platform of failing to make certain disclosures on supplement product pages, saying the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to revoke the so-called each panel labeling rule at the center of the case.

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STB Eyes Easier Shipper Access Mandates Across Railways

By Bryan Koenig

Showing "anticompetitive conduct" would no longer be a requirement for shippers seeking to force rail carriers to work together to ferry their goods, under a proposed rulemaking Wednesday that the Surface Transportation Board said would shift such petitions back to consideration on a case-by-case basis.

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Feds Cut $160M From Calif. Over Truck Driver Licenses

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Department of Transportation said Wednesday that California will lose out on nearly $160 million in federal highway funds for failing to revoke thousands of commercial driver's licenses that were issued to ineligible foreign drivers, as the Trump administration cracks down on immigrant truck drivers.

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FCC Plans To Raise Power Limits For Unlicensed 6 GHz Use

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote this month on whether to expand unlicensed uses of the 6 gigahertz airwaves, aiming to make more room for Wi-Fi, the Internet of Things and augmented and virtual reality.

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Reckless Conduct Can Be Willful FBAR Failure, 2nd Circ. Says

By Kevin Pinner

The standard for willful failure to report foreign bank accounts includes reckless conduct, and a 6% late payment penalty is mandatory for a couple who neglected fines for stashing millions in an undisclosed Swiss account, the Second Circuit said Wednesday, upholding a lower court's judgment.

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Jones Day Adds Ex-SEC Deputy Enforcement Director In Ga.

By Sydney Price

Jones Day has added to its Atlanta investigations and white collar defense practice a former deputy enforcement director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm announced on Wednesday.

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Steptoe Adds Ex-Fed. Prosecutor To White Collar Team In LA

By Gina Kim

Steptoe LLP has hired Jamari Buxton, a veteran federal prosecutor with extensive experience investigating public corruption and civil rights issues with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, to be a partner in the firm's White-Collar Defense & Compliance practice in Los Angeles. 

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State AG Enforcement During CFPB Gap Predicts 2026 Trends

State attorneys general responded to the decrease in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement in 2025 by stepping in to regulate consumer finance more than ever before, and the trends in rebooting CFPB investigations, cracking down on ESG and DEI initiatives, and fighting financial exploitation of homeowners will likely extend into 2026, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

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Navigating Workplace AI When Federal, State Policies Clash

Two recent federal bills and various state laws concerning employers' artificial intelligence use may clash with an executive order calling for minimal regulation, so employers should proactively monitor their AI usage and stay apprised of legislative updates while awaiting further direction from the federal government, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

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Key Trends In PFAS Regulation And Litigation For 2026

As 2026 begins, the legal and regulatory outlook for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances is defined less by sweeping federal initiatives and more by incremental adjustments, judicial guardrails and state-driven regulations — an environment in which proactive risk management and close monitoring of policy developments will be essential, say attorneys at MG+M.

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The Next Pressure Point In Digital Health: Informed Consent

Two new federal digital health initiatives will usher in a new era where virtual care, software-enabled devices and home-based monitoring are integrated into care and reimbursement models, with the impact of shifting rules and opportunities felt most immediately in the context of informed consent, says Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell.

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How Changes At The IRS Will Affect Tax Controversy In 2026

Taxpayers will need to adjust approaches to dealing with the IRS in 2026, as the agency is likely to shift its audit strategies and increases reliance on technology following the significant reductions in funding and personnel last year, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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Series

A Day In The In-House Life: Chime GC Talks Pathfinding

On a recent Tuesday in the office, Chime's general counsel Adam Frankel shares his typical work day, tackling everything from strategically guiding product launches and testing AI tools to mastering the perfect latte and making time for extracurricular interests.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Intentional Career-Building

A successful legal career is built through intention: understanding expectations, assessing strengths honestly and proactively seeking opportunities to grow and cultivating relationships that support your development, say Erika Drous and Hillary Mann at Morrison Foerster.

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McGlinchey Stafford To Close After 51 Years

By Emma Cueto

New Orleans-based firm McGlinchey Stafford PLLC announced Tuesday that it has decided to wind down operations after over half a century, citing difficult market conditions and unspecified "internal circumstances."

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Law Firms Step Up To Navigate Biz Opportunities In Venezuela

By Lynn LaRowe and Adrian Cruz

Law firms are gearing up to assist clients exploring potential business opportunities in Venezuela following President Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. would "run" the country for the time being after the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on narco-conspiracy charges.

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Cruz Tells House Speaker To Move On Judicial Impeachments

By Courtney Bublé

Ahead of a hearing on impeachment of "rogue judges" on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, increased pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to advance impeachment proceedings against federal judges in D.C. and Maryland.

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Bulk Of SDNY Attys Are Tasked With Reviewing Epstein Docs

By Hailey Konnath

Over half of the more than 220 assistant U.S. attorneys at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York have been tasked with sifting through documents related to the investigation of the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a Justice Department disclosure filed in federal court.

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Feds Want To Use Goldstein's Comments To NYT At Trial

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors preparing to try SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein for tax crimes next week are looking to use his comments in a New York Times Magazine article against him, claiming that admissions and details from the article "directly prove" certain charges the government has brought.

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DOJ Nominee Says He'll Work Within Blue-Slip 'Parameters'

By Courtney Bublé

A nominee for a top U.S. Department of Justice position that handles judicial nominees appeared to give a nod to the Senate's blue-slip process, despite President Donald Trump's vocal opposition to the tradition.

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Jurisdiction Questioned In NY Fried Frank Data Breach Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A New York federal judge is threatening to toss a proposed class action data security suit against Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP over a data breach involving private equity funds maintained by firm client Goldman Sachs, unless plaintiffs properly plead that the Manhattan court has jurisdiction.

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Objector To PACER Overcharge Settlement Faces Uphill Battle

By Emily Sawicki

An objector to a $125 million settlement to end class claims alleging the federal government overcharged nonprofits and other lawyers to access court documents faced a skeptical Federal Circuit panel Wednesday, with judges indicating they had not found legal errors in the district court's approval of the deal.

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DOJ To Appeal Reinstatement Of Clearance For Mark Zaid

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration told a D.C. federal judge on Wednesday that it will obey his injunction to reinstate attorney Mark Zaid's security clearance as it appeals the ruling in the D.C. Circuit, but left open the possibility that government intelligence agencies could try to revoke it again for new reasons.

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