SEC Adopts Rules For Uncovering, Reporting Data Breaches

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the adoption of cybersecurity rules Thursday that will require investment advisers and broker-dealers to put procedures in place for detecting data breaches and for notifying customers when their personal information may have been compromised.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices Say CFPB Is Constitutionally Funded

By Jon Hill

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is constitutionally funded, rejecting a payday lender-backed challenge that threatened to incapacitate the agency and throw a wrench in the Biden administration's financial regulatory agenda.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Buckle Up: CFPB's High Court Win Will Thaw Frozen Docket

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is walking away from the U.S. Supreme Court with its funding and rulebook intact, a victory that caps off years of constitutional wrangling over how the agency was set up and will usher in a wave of activity that has financial services attorneys bracing for impact.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Klobuchar Reintroduces Sweeping Antitrust Reform Bill

By Lauren Berg

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., reintroduced sweeping legislation Thursday aimed at restoring competition by strengthening antitrust laws to help enforcers better deal with harmful conduct and mergers, garnering support from the American Antitrust Institute, Consumer Reports and others.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Irked By 'Smart' Attys And 'Silly' Doc Retention Policies

By Jennifer Doherty

The chief judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade scolded Chinese tire companies on Thursday for complaining about having to provide information the federal government requested to reassess antidumping duties after the companies won an order for that reassessment.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Delta, Flight Attendants Ink $16M Deal To End Wage Suit

By Abby Wargo

Delta Air Lines flight attendants reached a nearly $16 million settlement with the company in an almost decadelong suit accusing the airline of wage statement violations, they told a California federal judge, saying the "extremely favorable" deal should be approved because it would give class members close to full reimbursement.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2nd Circ. Backs Win For Big Banks In Forex-Rigging Suit

By Elliot Weld

The Second Circuit on Thursday backed a ruling in favor of a group of large banks accused of conspiring to manipulate the foreign currency exchange market in euros and dollars, agreeing with a lower court that the plaintiffs hadn't made qualifying transactions or shown how prices were distorted.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Prosecutors Say Fake Fortune 500 Workers Funded N. Korea

By Alyssa Aquino

The Biden administration alleged that North Korea may have raised $6.8 million to develop nuclear weapons by installing remote information technology workers at Fortune 500 businesses, announcing charges Thursday against two individuals accused of helping agents pose as U.S. employees.

Indictment attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FDIC's Gruenberg Scolded By Senators Over Agency Culture

By Katryna Perera

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg on Thursday faced a second round of congressional reprimand from both sides of the political aisle over his agency's workplace misconduct scandal, but Senate Democrats seemed ready to let Gruenberg clean up the mess himself and continue his tenure.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

No Relief For Struggling SPACs Under Buyback Tax Proposal

By Tom Zanki

Special-purpose acquisition companies won't get sought-after relief from a new 1% tax on stock buybacks under a recent Treasury Department proposal that otherwise provides helpful clarity on the tax's implications for the subdued SPAC market, lawyers say.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOL Unveils Long-Delayed Abandoned Retirement Plan Rules

By Jeff Montgomery

After being sidelined for more than a decade, a plan for expanding U.S. Department of Labor rules for terminating retirement plans abandoned by employers are moving forward again, the agency reported Thursday, along with a long-delayed role in the process for bankruptcy trustees.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Senate Passes Bill To Block SEC Crypto Accounting Guidance

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to send a bill overturning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's controversial crypto accounting guidance to the president's desk, though without the necessary votes to override the White House's planned veto.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FTC Deputy Director Rao On Healthcare Antitrust Agenda

By Yeji Jesse Lee

The reason behind the Federal Trade Commission's changed attitude toward antitrust in healthcare in recent years isn't simple, according to Rahul Rao, deputy director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GM, LG Ink $150M Deal To End Chevy Bolt Battery Defect Suit

By Mike Curley

A proposed class of Chevrolet Bolt owners asked a Michigan federal court on Thursday to give the go-ahead for a $150 million deal to end claims against General Motors LLC and LG units over alleged battery defects they say make the cars prone to overheating and fires.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Thomas, Alito: Two Originalists, Two Takes On CFPB Case

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — often birds of a feather — butted heads Thursday over the original meaning and purpose of the U.S. Constitution's appropriations clause in a decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme, highlighting what experts describe as the pair's different approaches to originalism.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices Say Courts Must Stay Suits Sent To Arbitration

By Caroline Simson

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously concluded Thursday that federal courts do not have discretion to toss a case once it's decided that the claims belong in arbitration, ruling in a wage and overtime suit brought by delivery drivers against their employer.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

High Court Decision Requiring A Stay Raises More Questions

By Caroline Simson

The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision Thursday finding that federal courts must honor a request to stay a case after ordering the dispute into arbitration leaves an important subsequent question unresolved: What happens if neither party requests a stay?

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apple Exec Must Produce All Docs On 27% App Fee Decision

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge presiding over a high-stakes antitrust hearing over Apple's compliance with a court-ordered ban on App Store anti-steering rules ordered a company executive Thursday to hand over all of his communications and notes on Apple's decision to impose a new 27% fee after her injunction.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Stubhub, Attys Face Sanctions Bid Over 'Strategy Of Evasion'

By Bonnie Eslinger

Counsel for consumers seeking StubHub refunds for events canceled or rescheduled due to COVID-19 urged a California federal magistrate judge Thursday to sanction the online ticket platform and its lawyers, saying they've "engaged in a strategy of evasion, denial and distortion" to avoid producing hyperlinked documents despite a court order.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

$2B Default Recommended For Making Fair Trial 'Impossible'

By Bryan Koenig

Years of lies should put a pair of Chinese electronics companies on the hook for over $2 billion in default judgment, a special master told a California federal judge, adding that their yearslong no-show and disregard of U.S. counsel advice to retain documents have rendered a fair trial "impossible."

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3rd Circ. Shuns Teva's 'Novel' Appeal On Israeli Investor Class

By Jessica Corso

The Third Circuit on Thursday turned away an appeal brought by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., saying the class certification stage was not the right time to hear arguments over the "novel" question of the applicability of U.S. securities laws to Israeli-listed shares.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

MoneyLion Beats Investor Suit Over Reverse Stock Split

By Sydney Price

A New York federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by shareholders of digital finance platform MoneyLion, who allege the company and its directors approved a reverse stock split that stripped preferred shareholders of their rights, saying the investors should have known the consequences of the vote.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Voice Actors Say Lovo Stole Their Voices For AI Tech

By Lauren Berg

Artificial intelligence startup Lovo has been stealing actors' voices for its AI-driven voice-over software, voice actors Paul Lehrman and Linnea Sage alleged in a proposed class action Thursday after they unexpectedly heard Lehrman's voice used in a podcast about the potential dangers of AI technology.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Pharma Exec Cops To Contempt For Barred Finance Work

By Brian Dowling

A Boston federal judge on Thursday accepted a former pharmaceutical company executive's guilty plea to a criminal contempt charge for using an alias to work on a finance venture despite a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ban.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3rd Circ. Revives Wesco Retirees' ERISA Fee Case

By Patrick Hoff

The Third Circuit reinstated a proposed class action Thursday accusing Wesco Distribution Inc. of letting its employee retirement plan pay exorbitant administrative fees, ruling a trial court's "partly valid" criticisms of the suit weren't enough to warrant dismissal.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Q&A

Top Linklaters Attys See PE Rebound In Run-Up To Elections

By Al Barbarino

After a subtle uptick in private equity deal values in the first quarter, the global chair of Linklaters LLP's corporate department in New York, George Casey, and one of its top PE dealmakers in London, Alex Woodward, believe the pace of transactions is picking up and the market is primed for a comeback.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In-House Manufacturing Ace Rejoins K&L Gates In Pittsburgh

By Tracey Read

A top executive at metals manufacturer Arconic Corp. has rejoined K&L Gates LLP as a corporate mergers and acquisitions partner in Pittsburgh, the firm said Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Faegre Drinker Hires NY Life Insurance Co. Litigator

By Jack Rodgers

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has hired the former assistant general counsel for the New York Life Insurance Co., who joins the firm in New York, to continue representing insurer clients in a range of matters, the firm announced Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Recordati Adds New Head Of IP From Zentiva

By Hanna Vioque

Recordati has hired a U.S. lawyer with a decade of experience working in-house at pharma giants Sandoz and Zentiva to take on a newly created role as group head IP counsel. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Businesses Should Take Their AI Contracts Off Auto-Renew

When subscribing to artificial intelligence tools — or to any technology in a highly competitive and legally thorny market — companies should push back on automatic renewal contract clauses for reasons including litigation and regulatory risk, and competition, says Chris Wlach at Huge Inc.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony

In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Alito Flag Report Fuels Ethics Debate, But Likely No Recusal

By Katie Buehler

Responses to a report that an upside-down American flag flew outside U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's home following the 2020 presidential election broke along partisan lines Friday, with conservatives decrying it as a smear campaign and liberals calling for his recusal from pending election-related cases and for general court ethics reform.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Trump's Potential Witness Could Be Defense 'Dynamite'

By Phillip Bantz

As Donald Trump's hush money trial in Manhattan nears its end, experts say criminal defense attorney Robert Costello, who once advised the former president's ex-fixer and key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, has surfaced as a potentially bombshell witness for the defense.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Menendez Bribery Trial: 5 Things To Know About Week 1

By Carla Baranauckas

Explosive opening statements, closed-door jury questioning and an FBI agent's recount of the moment he found a treasure trove of gold bars and cash highlighted the first week of trial in the government's second corruption case against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ga. Judge In 2020 Election Cases To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones of the Northern District of Georgia, who has presided over high-profile cases involving the 2020 election, voting rights and abortion, will take senior status on Jan. 1, 2025, according to an update Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

AG Garland Held In Contempt By House Committees

By Courtney Bublé

Two House committees voted late Thursday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for not turning over audio recordings of the president and his ghostwriter speaking with special counsel Robert Hur for his investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Baltimore State's Atty Says 20-Month Sentence Too Harsh

By Emily Sawicki

Former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby has asked a federal judge to cut down prosecutors' requested 20-month prison sentence after she was convicted of abusing a COVID-19-era program to obtain money from a retirement fund and conning a lender to obtain a vacation home, arguing the proposal "stray[s] from the reality of this case."

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'We Feel It': NJ Ranks 2nd In Ch. 11 Cases, Chief Judge Says

By George Woolston

New Jersey federal courts saw the second most Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in the nation over the last year, Chief U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb of the District of New Jersey said on Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Courts Chief Warns Plan To Pick Appeals Bench A 'Mistake'

By George Woolston

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner of the New Jersey Supreme Court on Friday defended how the state judiciary assigns appeals court judges, criticizing a proposal to move the power to appoint appellate judges from the chief justice to the state Senate and the governor's office.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

1st Circ. Rejects Ex-Immigration Judges' Bid For Asylum Redo

By Elliot Weld

The First Circuit's full bench refused to reopen a Salvadoran woman's case seeking asylum, despite former immigration judges weighing in to say that the judge who denied her asylum didn't follow a legal requirement to ensure her record was complete.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Haynes and Boone LLP and Lubin & Enoch PC lead this week's edition of Law360's Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously determined that federal courts do not have discretion to toss a case once it's decided that the claims belong in arbitration.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The SEC adopted cybersecurity rules to require investment advisers and broker-dealers to put procedures in place for detecting data breaches and for notifying customers when their personal information may have been compromised, and lawyers said SPACs won't get sought-after relief from a new 1% tax on stock buybacks under a recent Treasury Department proposal. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »