Business of Law

June 13, 2025
Vought's CFPB Finds Industry Fans In Rule Repeal Effort

Financial industry groups are lining up behind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's push to scrap a trio of Biden-era policies that they say overexpanded its supervisory and enforcement toolkit, urging on the agency's newfound deregulatory zeal.
June 13, 2025
SEC Scrubs Biden-Era Agenda To Give Atkins A 'Clean Slate'

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is backing away from promised Biden-era regulations on cybersecurity risk management, environmental disclosures and equity market reform, withdrawing over a dozen rule proposals as newly appointed Chair Paul Atkins seeks to rewrite the agency's agenda.
June 13, 2025
Quinn Emanuel Drops Binance Founder Amid $8M Fraud Suit

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has withdrawn as counsel for the founder of Binance amid an $8.1 million lawsuit against him, telling a Massachusetts federal judge that the former cryptocurrency exchange executive has breached an agreement with the law firm and moved for arbitration against it.
June 13, 2025
Calif. State Bar Is Immune From Atty's ADA Suit, 9th Circ. Says

The Ninth Circuit on Friday declined to revive an attorney's claims alleging the California State Bar violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not granting extra time to respond to disciplinary action based on outstanding debt, finding the bar, as an arm of the state, is entitled to sovereign immunity.
June 13, 2025
The Law Firm Loophole: How Debt Cos. Snare NC Consumers

To get around bans in North Carolina and many other states, debt relief companies set up facade law firms — companies that are law firms in name only, with a tiny number of lawyers nominally serving thousands of clients, consumer advocates and regulators say.
June 13, 2025
Ex-Attorney Cops To Tax Evasion In Massachusetts

A former attorney pled guilty to tax evasion in a Massachusetts federal court Friday after prosecutors accused him of transferring money to his wife to hide his earnings and using his business accounts to pay for guns and jewelry.
June 13, 2025
2nd Circ. Won't Rehear Trump Appeal Of $5M Assault Verdict

The full Second Circuit refused Friday to revisit President Donald Trump's challenge to writer E. Jean Carroll's $5 million sexual assault finding against him, with two judges dissenting.
June 13, 2025
Former NJ Deputy AG Claims Office Fired Him For His ADHD

A former deputy attorney general who worked on environmental cases for New Jersey accused the state of retaliating against him when he sought accommodations for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and later terminated him for his disability.
June 13, 2025
Akerman Seeks To Move Malpractice Suits From Medical Cos.

Akerman LLP has asked to have two malpractice cases from medical laboratories moved from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade County, where the firm's related unpaid fees case against Rennova Health Inc. is being litigated.
June 13, 2025
Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

The Institute for Justice, Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP, Spears & Filipovits LLC and attorney Lisa Lambert lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Constitution's supremacy clause cannot shield the federal government from Federal Tort Claims Act suits.
June 13, 2025
Grassley Budget Bill Calls For More Use Of Injunction Bonds

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has released his portion of the budget reconciliation text, which would bolster the use of injunction bonds to raise the stakes for plaintiffs seeking to halt White House initiatives.
June 13, 2025
Mayer Brown Helps Get Man Off Death Row After 21 Years

A team of Mayer Brown LLP attorneys fought for decades to get the death sentence of a Houston man commuted to life in light of the inmate's intellectual disability, in a case that shows how legal standards have evolved in an area once known as "death county."
June 13, 2025
GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

Compliance experts say corporate leaders with business interests south of the border are worried about possible terrorism-related charges under the Trump administration for inadvertently working with the cartels. Meanwhile, the head of Glass Lewis pushed back against allegations from some lawmakers concerning the firm's "expansive, opaque and ideologically driven influence" on companies. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.
June 13, 2025
Jackson Walker, Ex-Judge Facing Class Action Over Romance

A former bankruptcy judge and Jackson Walker LLP have been hit with another lawsuit over the judge's secret romance with a former firm partner, this time a proposed class action from a group of bondholders of financial company GWG Holdings Inc.
June 13, 2025
7 Willkie Partners Join Cooley Over Trump EO Deal

Seven partners have left Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, including both managing partners of the firm's San Francisco office, to join Cooley LLP, reportedly over their former employer's decision to strike a deal with the Trump administration related to a potential executive order.
June 13, 2025
IRS, Law Firm Settle $790K Worker Credit Refund Suit

The Internal Revenue Service settled a lawsuit seeking more than $790,000 in pandemic-era worker tax credits by a law firm that had claimed the agency was delaying paying out, according to a dismissal order Friday by a Pennsylvania federal court.
June 13, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen Tottenham Hotspur FC kick off against Manchester United co-owner Ineos Automotive following a soured sponsorship deal, Acer and Nokia clash over patents for video coding technology, and two investors reignite litigation against the founders of an AI exercise bike business that unlawfully pocketed $1.2 million in investments to fund their own lifestyles. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
June 12, 2025
Trump's Deployment Of National Guard Illegal, Judge Says

A California federal judge on Thursday granted California's request for a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump's order sending the National Guard into Los Angeles, calling the president's actions "illegal" and unconstitutional, but the decision was quickly paused by the Ninth Circuit.
June 12, 2025
These Firms Are Landing The Most PTAB Work

Intellectual property powerhouse Fish & Richardson again secured the top spot on a list of firms appearing in the most trials over the past three years in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
June 12, 2025
Calif. Sues Trump Over 'Wildly Partisan' EV Waiver Repeal

The California attorney general and 10 other states sued the Trump administration in federal court Thursday, minutes after President Donald Trump signed resolutions repealing California's Clean Air Act waiver that allowed the state to establish its own vehicle emissions standards, slamming the resolutions as unconstitutional, irrational and "wildly partisan."
June 12, 2025
Rising PTAB Filings Follow Surge In Patent Cases

The number of petitions filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ticked up last year, following a similar increase in federal court litigation and suggesting that activity at the board has somewhat stabilized, according to a new report.
June 12, 2025
Avenatti Sheds 3 Years After 9th Circ. Orders Resentencing

A California federal judge on Thursday resentenced disbarred attorney Michael Avenatti to just over 11 years in federal prison for filching millions of dollars from his clients' settlement funds, reducing a 14-year sentence overturned by the Ninth Circuit and leaving Avenatti with about eight years left after time served.
June 12, 2025
Mass. Judge, On Stand, Denies Helping Immigrant Evade ICE

A Massachusetts judge accused of approving a plan to let a man elude immigration officers by letting him leave the court through a back door seven years ago testified Thursday that was not her intent when she granted a request to let him speak with an attorney in a courthouse lockup.
June 12, 2025
Google Fights MDL Plaintiffs' Sanctions Bid Over Lost Chats

Google is pushing back on a request for sanctions that a slew of advertisers and publishers have brought in their antitrust lawsuit over the company's advertising placement technology, saying the plaintiffs have not shown Google hid evidence amid the "mountains" of electronically stored information it provided.
June 12, 2025
DOJ Picks Proceed Despite Worry Over Honoring Court Orders

Two nominations for top positions in the U.S. Department of Justice were voted out of committee on party lines on Thursday.

Expert Analysis

2024 Pointers On Persuading Jurors

In a year where nuclear verdicts continued to proliferate, Law360 guest commentary focused on how trial attorneys can better select and connect with jurors, offering strategies for identifying anti-corporate sentiments and tactics to land one’s closing argument.
Associate Issues In The 2024 Spotlight

Law360 guest writers provided insights on a range of issues affecting associates this year, from the challenges of training new lawyers in the era of artificial intelligence, to nonfinancial factors that junior attorneys should consider before accepting a job offer.
Election Impact: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

Donald Trump's election win initiated a deluge of predictions for the incoming administration, with Law360 guest writers covering key policy areas such as immigration, tax, energy, labor and competition, plus potential congressional themes and investigations.
Cybersecurity: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

From the CrowdStrike failure to the plethora of new and sometimes tricky regulatory requirements, to early decisions interpreting cyberinsurance coverage, guest authors broke down the implications of the biggest cybersecurity developments this year.
AI Questions: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

As the legal discourse surrounding artificial intelligence shifted from theoretical to concrete this year, guest commentary focused on the proliferation of new AI-related litigation, enforcement actions and best practices, while tracking the judiciary’s experimentation with generative AI.
ESG And DEI: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

In their commentary on ESG and DEI topics this year, Law360 guest authors discussed Project 2025’s potential impact, the rise of greenwashing litigation, strategies for fostering employee retention amid a shaky regulatory landscape, and more.
Noncompetes: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

Employee noncompete issues took center stage this year, as Law360 guest writers covered everything from state-level enforceability trends and alternative methods for protecting business interests, to a National Labor Relations Board ruling and the Federal Trade Commission’s attempted ban.
The Most-Read Securities Law360 Guest Articles Of 2024

This year, popular securities guest article topics included controversial Delaware court decisions and their legislative aftermath, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s focus on emerging industries amid struggles to implement its rulemaking agenda.
The Most-Read IP Law360 Guest Articles Of 2024

Double-patenting was one of the top intellectual property topics tackled in Law360’s Expert Analysis section this year, along with the intersection of copyright law and artificial intelligence, case distribution in the Western District of Texas, and more.
The Most-Read Access To Justice Guest Articles Of 2024

Law360 guest commentary addressed several emerging access to justice issues this year, including growing case backlogs, a dearth of legal services in rural communities and amendments to long-standing sentencing policies.
The Most-Read Employment Law360 Guest Articles Of 2024

Readers were drawn to employment law commentary on a range of 2024 developments, including the U.S. Supreme Court's Title VII ruling, impactful activity from the National Labor Relations Board, and state legislation targeting employee noncompete agreements.
The Most-Read Law360 UK Guest Articles Of 2024

The start of a generational shift in U.K. employment law under Labour, a ruling on artificial intelligence-driven credit scores and strategic law firm expansion were among the hot topics U.K. Expert Analysis articles explored this year.
Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.
Series

Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.
2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.