Delaware Judge Accepts $5.89B Bid For Control Of Citgo

By Caroline Simson

A Delaware federal judge on Tuesday approved a $5.892 billion bid from hedge fund Elliott Investment Management LP to purchase shares in Citgo's parent company and satisfy billions of dollars' worth of Venezuelan debt, moving a step closer to ending the long-delayed sale.

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Chancery Won't Block Sale In 'War Dogs' Figure Loan Dispute

By Jarek Rutz

A Delaware Chancery judge declined to allow a real estate investor to lift a disputed second mortgage blocking the sale of a distressed Oklahoma apartment complex in a dispute with a hard-money lender the investor says is run by the convicted fraudster whose story was dramatized in the movie "War Dogs."

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DoorDash Gets Ameranth's Menu Patent Axed By Alice

By Elliot Weld

A Delaware federal judge has dismissed a case brought by Ameranth Inc. against DoorDash Inc. claiming infringement of its online-ordering patent, saying it merely describes an abstract idea that is not eligible for a patent.

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Del. Supreme Court Backs FloSports In Records Fight

By Jarek Rutz

A fight among siblings over access to corporate records ended with the Delaware Supreme Court affirming that three stockholders of sports streaming platform FloSports Inc. failed to follow the procedural steps required under the Delaware General Corporation Law.

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Democrats Seek Documents On Emil Bove's DOJ Tenure

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Democrats are turning to public records requests to learn more about the controversial tenure of U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove while he served at the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming that they're being "stonewalled" by the department.

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HUD Housing Aid Limits Will Drive Homelessness, States Say

By Rachel Riley

Washington and 19 other states launched a lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Rhode Island federal court, seeking to stop abrupt policy changes they claim will result in tens of thousands of formerly homeless people being ousted from publicly subsidized housing and onto the streets.

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Insurance Broker Says Competitor Stole Employees, Clients

By Hope Patti

The parent company of insurance brokerage Trucordia told the Delaware Chancery Court on Monday that it has lost more than $2.5 million in annual commission revenue because a Florida-based competitor is trying to poach Trucordia's employees and clients in coordination with a former insurance producer and current equity holder.

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Healthcare Software Founders Sue In Del. For Sale Details

By Jeff Montgomery

A couple who sold their healthcare software business to an interest of Elevate RCM Holdings LLC before the buyer allegedly resold it for a reported $1 billion sued for company records in Delaware's Court of Chancery late Monday, seeking documents needed to confirm the deal's fairness.

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Nicklaus Golf Co. Gets OK For $10M Ch. 11 Loan

By Rick Archer

A Delaware bankruptcy judge Tuesday gave sporting gear and golf course design company Nicklaus Cos. permission to tap $10 million in Chapter 11 financing, even though counsel for founder and pro golf legend Jack Nicklaus said he was disputing the bulk of the company's debts.

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New Complaint Says Ex-Execs Turned Steward Into 'Zombie'

By Rick Archer

Bankrupt hospital operator Steward Health has filed hundreds of millions in new claims in Texas bankruptcy court against its former CEO and other executives, including allegations that they orchestrated a sale-leaseback deal that rendered the business an insolvent "zombie."

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Judge Gives Conditional OK To American Signature DIP Plan

By Emlyn Cameron

A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Tuesday that she will approve home furnishing retailer American Signature Furniture's bid for interim approval of post-petition financing, after giving a mixed response to objections from the Office of the U.S. Trustee.

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3rd Circ. Restores NCAA Junior-College Eligibility Rule

By Matthew Santoni

An NCAA rule that includes junior colleges when determining a college athlete's eligibility is a "commercial" restriction, but a Rutgers University football player must go back to court and define the market for his labor if he wants to argue the rule violates antitrust law, the Third Circuit said Tuesday.

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3rd Circ. Backs Pa. City's Win In Worker's Sex Bias Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Third Circuit has declined to reinstate a former Reading, Pennsylvania, mayor's office employee's sexual discrimination claim against the city, rejecting her argument that an investigation into her after reporting alleged harassment by a male colleague was a pretext for firing her later.

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Considerations When Invoking The Common-Interest Privilege

To successfully leverage the common-interest doctrine in a multiparty transaction or complex litigation, practitioners should be able to demonstrate that the parties intended for it to apply, that an underlying privilege like attorney-client has attached, and guard against disclosures that could waive privilege and defeat its purpose, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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Bonus Spotlight

Magic Circle Firms Enchant Associates With Top-Tier Bonuses

By Tracey Read

U.S. associates at Linklaters LLP and Clifford Chance LLP have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, as the Magic Circle firms Wednesday became the latest to match the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.

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Analysis

After Big Win For 2 Trump Foes, A Third Faces 'Tougher Job'

By Phillip Bantz

The recent dismissal of federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey does little to help President Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser John Bolton, whose defense in a classified-materials case presents a thornier set of legal and factual issues, experts say.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: ISP Liability & State Subpoena Suits

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the first week of its December oral argument session, during which the justices will consider whether internet service providers can be held liable for contributing to their customers' infringing activity online and whether the subjects of state subpoenas are required to first challenge them in state court. 

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Interview

For Covington's Adrian Perry, Music Is A Family Affair

By Theresa Schliep

Despite having a famous rock star dad, Covington & Burling LLP partner Adrian J. Perry wasn't all that interested in being a musician as a young child, but he knew as early as 6 years old that he wanted to be a lawyer.

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Analysis

Calif. Privacy Agency Gaining Steam Ahead Of 5th Anniversary

By Allison Grande

California's data privacy regulator has taken several notable steps in recent months, including handing down its first penalty upward of $1 million dollars and finalizing long-awaited rules on topics such as cybersecurity audits and technologies that use artificial intelligence, and the groundbreaking agency shows no signs of slowing down as its fifth anniversary approaches. 

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Split 6th Circ. Shields Baker Donelson, Not City Councilman

By Matt Perez

In a published opinion, the Sixth Circuit has found that Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC is shielded by qualified immunity as outside counsel for the city of Nashville in litigation over the law firm's firing of a city election commission chair and member of the firm.

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Foley & Lardner Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Chancery Loss

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP has been sued in Delaware Superior Court by three officers of a now-defunct food recycling company who say the firm was negligent when representing them in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment against them and another officer.

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DOJ Asks Court If It Can Release Epstein Files Under New Law

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a New York federal court's permission to publicly release the files related to the investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, clarifying Wednesday that it wants to release search warrant results, travel and financial records, police reports, and other materials.

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Keesal Young Poaching Suit Against Stradley Ronon Trimmed

By Madison Arnold

A California state judge cleared Keesal Young & Logan to pursue most of its lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young crossed the line when it recruited 10 former Keesal Young attorneys, finding that claims such as inducing breach of contract could move forward, in part, because of conversations among the attorneys.

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DOJ Says Ex-Employees Can't Challenge Firings In Fed. Court

By Rose Krebs

The government says a D.C. federal court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and two other ex-Department of Justice employees, alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Hub Hires: Todd & Weld, Freshfields, Shipman

By Julie Manganis

It was a busy November in Boston's legal community as another firm expanded into the market, and a longtime judge traded his gavel for the ability to address his growing concerns about the Trump administration.

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