CFPB's Vought Backs Down, Seeks Fresh Fed Funding

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Friday that its acting Director Russell Vought has moved to replenish its funding from the Federal Reserve, yielding after a weekslong standoff that left the consumer agency facing potential closure with dwindling cash.

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OCC Floats Rule To Clarify Trust Companies' Broader Scope

By Aislinn Keely

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is proposing to amend its chartering regulations to make clear that national trust companies can engage in nonfiduciary activities, potentially resolving an area of contention that banking industry advocates have raised as crypto-focused firms applied for trust charters.

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First Brands Sues Ex-CEO's Brother, Lender For $2.9B Fraud

By Alex Wittenberg

First Brands sued former board member Edward James and Utah-based company Onset Financial Inc. in Texas bankruptcy court Friday, alleging he operated as Onset's "secret partner" to rig contracts between First Brands and Onset that let them reap triple-digit returns and $2.9 billion in cash.

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Fed. Circ. Doubts Trade Secret Was Properly Spelled Out

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Circuit spent part of its Friday morning mulling whether it is the court's job to, in the words of the judge who killed the trade secrets claims brought by a MasterCard unit against two McKinsey consultants, "do APT's job for it by mining its trade secrets from the raw materials."

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FINRA Fines Wells Fargo Unit $1.25M For Close-Out Failures

By Emilie Ruscoe

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $1.25 million to resolve the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's claims that during a seven-year period, the bank's clearing and custody services unit left certain transactions in municipal securities unresolved for longer than it was supposed to.

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Roundup

4 Argument Sessions That Benefits Attys Should Watch In Jan.

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Supreme Court will zero in on the methodology for assessing liability for pulling out of a multi-employer pension fund, and the circuit courts will hear bids to revive suits over alleged 401(k) mismanagement and deferred compensation. Here, Law360 looks at a quartet of oral arguments coming up in January.

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Roundup

NC Biz Court Bulletin: Trade Secrets Row, A Patient Data Deal

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina Business Court closed out the year by tossing a trade secrets fight brought by a corrugated packing manufacturer against its onetime star salesman and signing off on a $2.45 million settlement ending claims a healthcare system sold patients' data to Meta.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen a collapsed investment firm revive a $15 million dispute with a hedge fund, major Hollywood studios bring an IP claim against the U.K.'s largest internet providers over illegal streaming, and the Department of Health and Social Care sue the law firm and barrister representing it in a pharma competition damages case.

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Fintech-Focused Lafayette Digital SPAC Prices $250M Offering

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Special purpose acquisition company Lafayette Digital Acquisition I began trading publicly Friday after raising $250 million in its initial public offering, with plans to target the financial services and technology industries.

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Husch Blackwell Adds Eversheds Securities Enforcement Atty

By Jack Rodgers

Husch Blackwell LLP has hired a former Eversheds Sutherland counsel in Washington, D.C., who before her most recent role worked as a lawyer with a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority group focused on examining agency members for securities law compliance.

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Banking M&A Outlook Reflects Favorable Regulatory Climate

The banking mergers and acquisitions environment is starting 2026 with a rare alignment of favorable market conditions and a more permissive regulatory atmosphere, creating a clear window for banks to pursue transformative combinations and shape the competitive landscape, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

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Shopify Suit Is An Early Antitrust Test Of 'Buy Now, Pay Later'

An ongoing antitrust suit in Minnesota federal court filed by Sezzle against Shopify — one of the earliest such lawsuits focused on buy now, pay later services — could play a particularly informative role in how short-term credit offerings and the broader market develop, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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2025's Most Notable State AG Activity By The Numbers

State attorneys general were active in 2025, working across party lines to address federal regulatory gaps in artificial intelligence, take action on consumer protection issues, continue antitrust enforcement and announce large settlements on behalf of their citizens, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

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Opinion

The Case For Emulating, Not Dividing, The Ninth Circuit

Champions for improved judicial administration should reject the unfounded criticisms driving recent Senate proposals to divide the Ninth Circuit and instead seek to replicate the court's unique strengths and successes, says Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace.

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Bruce Fein Axed As Counsel In Maduro's NY Drug Case

By Rachel Rippetoe

A New York federal judge on Monday said constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein could not represent Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after Fein admitted to having never spoken to or entered into an agreement of representation for the foreign leader, who was indicted on narco-conspiracy charges this month.

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Analysis

The Issues That Could Decide The Tom Goldstein Tax Case

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors are set to begin making their case against famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer and SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein at trial Wednesday, alleging that he deliberately hid millions of dollars in high-stakes poker winnings from the Internal Revenue Service between 2016 and 2021 and lied on mortgage applications.

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Haynes Boone Opens Boston Office Led By Ex-K&L Gates Atty

By Tracey Read

Dallas-founded Haynes Boone announced Monday that it has opened its 20th office in Boston, and that it has added a former K&L Gates LLP asset management and investment funds partner to lead the Beantown launch.

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SEC Draws From BigLaw To Appoint Enforcement Deputies

By Jessica Corso

Two former BigLaw attorneys, one of whom served as counsel to President Donald Trump during his first term in office, have joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as deputy directors of enforcement, the agency announced Monday.

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Sitting Judges Advocate For Bill To Allow Them To Carry Guns

By Courtney Bublé

Three federal judges have come out in support of a Republican-led bill to allow judges and prosecutors to carry concealed firearms across state lines.

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NJ US Atty Office's 3-Person Leadership Unlawful, Court Told

By Emily Sawicki

Criminal defendants in the District of New Jersey are challenging the three-person leadership structure now in place at the Garden State's U.S. attorney's office following the disqualification of Alina Habba, telling the court their due process rights have been violated by the allegedly unlawful system.

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Compromise Funding Bill Gives Judiciary $9.7B

By Courtney Bublé

Congressional appropriators have unveiled a bipartisan compromise funding bill for the federal judiciary for fiscal 2026, which includes the judiciary's requested funding for court security and federal public defenders.

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House Passes Bill To Double Ch. 7 Trustee Fee

By Clara Geoghegan

A bipartisan bill doubling the fixed per-case fees for Chapter 7 trustees is headed to President Donald Trump for a signature, after the U.S. House of Representatives passed it Monday night.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court closed out the week with developments ranging from leadership changes in a $13 billion take-private case and posttrial sparring over a major earnout to fresh governance fights, revived fraud claims and sanctions tied to advancement rights.

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