NY Judge Says He May Nix $110M Mango Markets Fraud Verdict

By Stewart Bishop

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday suggested that he may grant all or part of a crypto trader's motion for acquittal or a new trial over allegations that he defrauded Mango Markets investors out of $110 million by manipulating the price of the exchange's native token, in a ruling that would likely center on issues involving mixed swaps or venue.

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Crypto Influencer Launches SPAC As 2 Acquirers Tap Market

By Aislinn Keely

A special purpose acquisition company led by crypto influencer Anthony Pompliano and advised by Reed Smith LLP has filed for an initial public offering to raise $200 million, while two other blank-check companies eyeing the fintech and tech sectors have raised more than $400 million combined.

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FinCEN Targets Cambodian Firm As Crypto Money Launderer

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's financial crimes watchdog on Thursday called out Cambodia-based Huione Group as a primary money laundering concern and proposed to "sever its access to the U.S. financial system" due to its alleged laundering of $4 billion worth of crypto scam and other illicit proceeds.

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Ex-Credit Union Regulator Says Suing Trump 'Had To Be Done'

By Jon Hill

One of two Democrats suing President Donald Trump for unlawful termination from the National Credit Union Administration warned Thursday of damaging potential ripple effects if their firings are allowed to stand, casting their decision to litigate as daunting but necessary.

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CFPB, Lenders Float Deal To Vacate Medical Debt Rule

By Katryna Perera

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has agreed to a proposed consent judgment that would vacate a Biden-era rule banning an estimated $49 billion in medical debt from credit reports, striking a deal with lender trade groups that sued in Texas federal court to block the rule.

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FINRA Fines Interactive Brokers Over Complaint Reporting

By Sydney Price

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced online broker-dealer Interactive Brokers LLC will pay $400,0000 to settle claims it failed to report regulatory complaints and customer grievances regarding the functionality of its virtual platform to FINRA over an 11-year period.

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4th Circ. Affirms Ex-Crypto COO's Fraud Conviction

By Ryan Harroff

The Fourth Circuit found no error in a former cryptocurrency executive's conviction for fraud and conspiracy related to his time working at a foreign currency and cryptocurrency trading investment firm that the panel said was actually just a Ponzi scheme that never made any trades.

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SEC Drops Case Against Crypto Promoter Ian Balina

By Katryna Perera

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved Thursday to drop its suit over cryptocurrency influencer Ian Balina's alleged promotion of so-called SPRK tokens, about a month after Balina's attorneys said the federal regulator planned to walk away from the case.

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AT&T Win Is FDIC's Loss On In-House Cases, 5th Circ. Told

By Katryna Perera

A banker challenging the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s use of in-house proceedings to level a fraud judgment against him told the Fifth Circuit that its recent decision overturning a $57 million Federal Communications Commission fine against AT&T confirms that the FDIC cannot rely on a "public rights" exemption to impose fines without a jury trial.

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2 Firms To Co-Lead Block Investor Suit Over Cash App

By Emilie Ruscoe

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP will represent a proposed class of investors in a suit alleging Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block Inc. created a "haven for criminal and illicit activities" on its Cash App and Square payment platforms despite touting its anti-money laundering protocols.

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Sony Eyes $49B Semiconductor Unit Sale, Plus More Rumors

By Tom Zanki

Sony could sell its semiconductor unit for $49 billion, while proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis is considering ending its practice of advising shareholder votes on politically charged topics, and AI startup Nscale plans to raise $2.7 billion in private capital to support the construction of data centers around the world.

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A Primer On The Trading And Clearing Of Perpetual Contracts

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently released a request for comment on the trading and clearing of perpetual-style derivatives, most common in the cryptocurrency market, necessitating a deep look at how these contracts operate and their associated risks, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

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Breaking Down Ill. Bellwether Case For Bank Preemption

The banking industry's pending lawsuit against the state of Illinois stands to permanently enjoin state regulation of bank card processing, as well as clarify the outstanding and consequential issue of whether conflict preemption continues to cover third parties in certain circumstances, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

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Series

Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

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Analysis

A Look At Trump's First Judicial Pick Of His Second Term

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's first judicial nominee, Whitney Hermandorfer, who's been tapped for a seat Democrats tried to fill while Joe Biden was in the White House, has been part of litigation on several politically charged issues due to her job with the Tennessee Attorney General's office.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Cannabis Drink Co. Accuses Stoel Rives Attorneys Of Fraud

By Sam Reisman

A startup that develops nonalcoholic cannabis beers has alleged in a California state court action that attorneys from Stoel Rives LLP and others conspired on a scheme to defraud the company out of millions by purporting to sell an unlicensed marijuana business.

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4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In April

By Julie Manganis

Some notable Massachusetts state court decisions in April wrestled with a Staples affiliate's jurisdictional challenge in an employment case, a discovery dispute in the state's greenwashing litigation against Exxon involving McKinsey & Co., and an insurer's effort to be let off the hook for representing a lawyer in a malpractice claim.

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Trump Announces First Judicial Nominee Of 2nd Term

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced his first judicial nominee of his second administration late Thursday night.

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DC US Atty Pick Vows To Take On Judicial Threats

By Courtney Bublé

Ed Martin, nominee to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who is currently serving in the role on an interim basis, has told federal judges in D.C. he is concerned about the increase in threats to judges and pledged to work together to stop it.

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Legal Job Sector Stayed Strong In April Despite Economy

By Tracey Read

The U.S. legal sector added 1,400 law-related jobs in April, marking the second straight month of improvement, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Colorado Investor, Ex-Counsel Trade Blows In Malpractice Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A Colorado real estate investor and Fox Rothschild LLP have filed a flurry of motions in a legal malpractice suit, with the investor requesting that the firm be found liable for damages amid its representation in an underlying fight over a soured development deal, and the firm contending the investor abandoned a claim over attorney fees.

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Ex-Litigator, Wilson Elser Plan To Drop Bias Suit

By Ryan Boysen

An ex-Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP litigator who sued the firm for allegedly firing him over his disabilities appears to have settled with his former colleagues, with both parties telling a New York federal judge on Friday they plan to dismiss the case.

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Reuters Escapes Suit Over NJ Judicial Privacy Law

By George Woolston

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging Thomson Reuters violated the New Jersey judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law, finding the plaintiffs failed to properly serve the Canadian organization.

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Convicted Ex-Sacks Weston Atty Gets Early End To Probation

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge has granted the request of a Philadelphia lawyer sentenced in 2023 to prison and supervised release for resolving cases behind the back of his former firm to be let out of probation early.

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Head Of Calif. State Bar To Step Down After Botched Exam

By Jack Karp

The leader of the State Bar of California, who oversaw the problem-plagued rollout of this year's state bar exam, will be leaving the organization when her contract expires in July, the bar announced Friday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Corporate diversity policies are alive and thriving, according to a new report, although they are often taking on new names to dodge the anti-diversity backlash. Another new study warns that 60% of in-house lawyers are considering looking for a new job, primarily in search of higher pay and better benefits.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and Pilot Law PC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federally employed military reservists called to active duty during wartime or a national emergency are entitled to a top-up differential pay, regardless of their specific role.

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NJ Bankruptcy Judges May Be Tapped As Unpaid Mediators

By Emily Lever

Bankruptcy judges may be among the jurists called upon to mediate New Jersey federal court cases without compensation, according to a proposed amendment to court rules.

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FIFA Seeks Fees After Citation Mistakes In Antitrust Case

By Madison Arnold

FIFA is demanding attorney fees from plaintiffs for misusing artificial intelligence in an antitrust suit against the soccer federation in Puerto Rico, with a formatting error revealing that it is seeking more than $50,000 for work performed by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP and a local firm, according to court documents.

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Abbe Lowell Launches New Firm With Ex-Skadden Associates

By Rachel Rippetoe

Tapping a team of ex-BigLaw associates, some of whom publicly quit their firms in response to deals struck to avoid scrutiny from the Trump administration, prominent defense lawyer and former Winston & Strawn LLP partner Abbe David Lowell launched a new boutique Friday aimed at helping clients facing what it called "politicized investigations" by the government.

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