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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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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OpenAI Can't Ax Musk's Fraud Claim Over For-Profit Plan

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Wednesday that she'll deny OpenAI's bid to toss Elon Musk's claims that the artificial intelligence company duped the billionaire into donating $45 million with false promises of remaining a nonprofit, saying "there's plenty of evidence" to take the claim to a jury.

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Warner Bros. Again Tells Shareholders To Nix Paramount Bid

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Warner Bros. Discovery on Wednesday implored shareholders to reject Paramount Skydance Corp.'s amended hostile takeover offer, saying the media conglomerate remains committed to the $82.7 billion deal it reached with Netflix in December.

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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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Ford Drops Firms From Beefed-Up RICO Suit Against 3 Attys

By Dorothy Atkins

Ford Motor Co. has dropped racketeering allegations against Knight Law Group LLP and other law firms and lawyers in its latest amended complaint over allegations of a massive fraudulent legal billing scheme, while adding new obstruction of justice allegations against the three remaining attorney defendants.

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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 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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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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Ex-TD Bank Employee Cops To Aiding Money Laundering

By Emilie Ruscoe

A former TD Bank assistant store manager has copped to a single money laundering conspiracy charge in connection with New Jersey federal prosecutors' claims that he took bribes to aid a money laundering network that ultimately moved $474 million through the bank.

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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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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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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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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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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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Satellite Biz Chairman Sued After Flip-Flop On Lockheed Sale

By Elaine Briseño

A former Terran Orbital Corp. stockholder alleged in a potential class action Wednesday that the satellite company's co-founder flipped his stance on the $450 million sale to Lockheed Martin Corp. after being promised a $6 million bonus contingent on the transaction's completion.

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Prime Capital CEO 'Baffled' His Co. Was Sued For $5M

By Aaron Keller

The CEO of Kansas-based Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC said Wednesday he was "baffled" competitor Wealth Enhancement Group LLC filed a $5 million lawsuit against his company for poaching a Connecticut financial adviser he later fired for alleged misconduct, including misrepresentations during an underlying Minnesota lawsuit.

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Real Estate Trust Sues In Del. To Contest LP Sale Demands

By Jeff Montgomery

A CapStack Partners real estate investment fund and affiliate sued Wednesday for a Delaware Court of Chancery ruling supporting its refusal to cash out non-liquid assets to accommodate limited partner withdrawal requests, arguing that the two parties' agreement bars the move.

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United Workers' Revamped Vax Suit Can Proceed, Judge Says

By Jonathan Capriel

Workers suing United Airlines over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which they allege violated federal discrimination law, are allowed to amend their more than 700-page lawsuit, a Texas federal court has ruled, despite the airline decrying the move as a delay tactic.

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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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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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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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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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