DC Circ. Restores Ban On CFPB Mass Layoffs Amid Appeal

By Jon Hill

A D.C. Circuit panel said Monday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau must refrain for now from mass employee firings, backtracking from a prior decision that the Trump administration had used to attempt a now-suspended layoff of nearly all the agency's staff.

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Trump Sued Over 'Unprecedented' NCUA Board Purge

By Jon Hill

The two Democratic credit union regulators whom President Donald Trump ousted earlier this month from the National Credit Union Administration sued Monday to be reinstated to the agency's board, challenging their terminations as "unprecedented" and unlawful.

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Wells Fargo Investors Win Class Cert. In 'Sham' Hiring Case

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge has certified a class of thousands of Wells Fargo & Co. investors in litigation over the bank's alleged practice of conducting "sham" job interviews to meet diversity targets, a strategy investors say led to stock prices dropping when the truth came to light, according to an order issued Friday.

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Ex-Deutsche Bank GC Is Coinbase's Next Compliance Chief

By Michele Gorman

A former general counsel at Deutsche Bank AG, who most recently led the anti-financial crime unit, is joining Coinbase Global Inc. as chief compliance officer, he said in a LinkedIn post Monday, a move that comes as policymakers work to set rules of the road for cryptocurrency.

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'Shake & Bake': 4th Circ. Cites Ricky Bobby In NASCAR Ruling

By Hayley Fowler

The Fourth Circuit on Monday called back to the satirical cult classic "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" in finding the former owners of a NASCAR team must cover the cost of a settlement involving a bank lien on their charter after they sold it to new owners.

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Wells Fargo Exits CFPB's Mortgage, Auto Loan Consent Order

By Sarah Jarvis

Wells Fargo & Co. announced Monday it has exited a consent order it inked with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a 2018 settlement that stemmed from allegations of improper practices in the bank's auto lending and mortgage divisions.

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SEC Defends Witholding Info On Text Message Sweeps

By Katryna Perera

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pushed back Monday against the American Securities Association's bid for spreadsheets related to the regulator's enforcement sweep of so-called off-channel communications, telling a Florida federal judge that its spreadsheet withholdings under the Freedom of Information Act are fully legal.

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Feds Urged To Drop Crypto Mixer Charges After DOJ Memo

By Aislinn Keely

Federal prosecutors are weighing whether to continue pursuing a criminal case against two executives of crypto mixing service Samourai Wallet in light of a recent U.S. Department of Justice memo limiting certain digital asset prosecutions.

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NC Dentist Acquitted Of $3M Fraud, Tax Evasion Charges

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina dentist was acquitted of wire fraud and tax evasion charges on the fourth day of a federal jury trial in which prosecutors had alleged the dentist submitted false loan applications to the Small Business Administration and failed to pay income taxes.

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Wells Fargo Tells Judge Cash Sweep 'Conflict' Was Disclosed

By Sydney Price

Wells Fargo said it should be allowed to escape customers' proposed class action alleging the bank's cash sweep investment program disproportionately benefits the bank, arguing it disclosed in its signed agreements with customers the bank's intentions to secure financial gains for itself through the program.

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Wells Fargo Says Atty Is To Blame For SEC's EB-5 Fraud Suit

By Isaac Monterose

An immigration attorney claiming a Wells Fargo adviser led her astray has no one to blame but herself for being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for EB-5 investment fraud, the company told a Nevada federal court.

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TD Bank's $3 Paper Statement Fee Breaks NY Law, Suit Says

By Emilie Ruscoe

TD Bank faces a proposed customer class action alleging it violated New York state law with its practice of charging its customers $3 to mail them paper copies of their monthly billing statements.

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FDIC Rules Rollback Foretells More Pro-Industry Changes

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s March withdrawal of Biden-era proposals to tighten brokered deposit rules and impose new corporate governance standards shows that acting chair Travis Hill’s commitment to reviewing regulations that may restrict growth and innovation for financial institution and fintech companies is unlikely to flag soon, say attorneys at Cooley.

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NY Tax Talk: Sourcing, Retroactivity, Information Services

Attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland examine recent decisions by New York’s Tax Appeals Tribunal, Division of Taxation and Court of Appeals on location sourcing of broker-dealer receipts, a case of first impression on the retroactive application of Corporate Franchise Tax regulations and when fees for information services are excluded from taxation.

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The 2025 Lawyer Satisfaction Survey

Law firms and the legal profession are facing new uncertainties, shifting the stress levels, economic pressures, and overall contentment of lawyers in private practice, according to the 2025 Law360 Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey.

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'The Court Is Not A Cartoon': Judge Rips Dragon Watermark

By Hailey Konnath

A Michigan federal magistrate judge Monday ordered an East Lansing, Michigan, firm called Dragon Lawyers PC to stop plastering its pleadings with a large, suit-clad purple cartoon dragon watermark on each page, saying it's not only "distracting, it's juvenile and impertinent."

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Analysis

Feds Have Strong Hand On Judge Charged With Blocking ICE

By Danielle Ferguson and Carolyn Muyskens

A Wisconsin state judge faces an uphill battle in defending against federal criminal allegations that she helped a man evade immigration officials at a Wisconsin courthouse, but she may be able to stake out a defense in arguing the government can't prove intent, experts told Law360. 

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California Judge Loses Pay After Conviction For Murdering Wife

By Gina Kim

The California Commission on Judicial Performance formally suspended a California judge without pay after a state jury found him guilty of second-degree murder last week for shooting his wife to death in their Anaheim Hills home on Aug. 3, 2023, following a heated argument. 

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Q&A

Sullivan M&A Chief Sees Opportunities Amid Tariff Turmoil

By Al Barbarino

After a rocky start to 2025, the mergers and acquisitions landscape is grappling with economic volatility, shifting trade policies and a complex regulatory environment. But even in a "choppy" market, there are always deals to be made, says Melissa Sawyer, global head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's M&A group and co-head of its corporate governance practice.

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NJ Judge Apologizes Through Waylon Jennings Lyrics

By George Woolston

Clark Township, New Jersey, Municipal Judge Antonio Inacio said Tuesday that he isn't proud of all the things that led him to appear before a Garden State judiciary disciplinary committee, but he can say that he never intentionally hurt anyone by his conduct.

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$10M Brown Rudnick Deal With Guo Trustee Gets Judge's OK

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved a $10 million deal between Miles Guo's Chapter 11 trustee and the Chinese exile's onetime attorneys at Brown Rudnick LLP, and greenlighted 10 lesser settlements with other firms and luxury retailer Versace.

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Analysis

GOP Plan To Shutter Audit Watchdog Could Strain SEC

By Jessica Corso

Congressional Republicans are renewing the push to get rid of a financial regulator that conservatives have complained is costly and lacks proper oversight, but some former staffers at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board wonder whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has the manpower or expertise to take over the board's duties.

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Federal Defenders Of NY Staff Announce Union Drive

By Andrea Keckley

Staff members at the Federal Defenders of New York have announced their plans to join their attorney colleagues as members of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys.

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Justices Scoff At Feds' Defenses In Mistaken FBI Raid Case

By Chart Riggall

Supreme Court justices Tuesday appeared flummoxed by the government's "ridiculous" arguments it should be immune to a Georgia resident's lawsuit over a mistaken FBI raid on her house, but seemed unlikely to issue a blanket ruling on when an officer's discretion trumps their liability for injuries caused by their actions.

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Alex Jones Wants High Court Look At $1.3B Sandy Hook Case

By Brian Steele

Bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a mammoth libel judgment that families of Sandy Hook shooting victims secured against him and his company over his conspiratorial broadcasts calling the massacre a hoax, he told a Connecticut appellate court in seeking to extend a pause on the payout.

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Breyer To Talk Pragmatism At NJ Bar Association Convention

By Carla Baranauckas

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will bring his pragmatic legal philosophy to center stage when he appears at the New Jersey State Bar Association Convention on May 16 in Atlantic City.

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