Elon Musk saw his once-$56 billion, now larger, Tesla Inc. compensation package rescued Friday, as the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling from January 2024 that voided a board and stockholder-approved pay deal.
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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

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Del. Justices Reinstate Elon Musk's $56B-Plus Pay Package

By Jeff Montgomery

Elon Musk saw his once-$56 billion, now larger, Tesla Inc. compensation package rescued Friday, as the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling from January 2024 that voided a board and stockholder-approved pay deal.

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Aluminum Biz's ESOP Managers Settle Workers' ERISA Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

The son of an Indiana-based aluminum manufacturing company's founder and his attorney have decided to settle a dispute from workers alleging the individuals mismanaged their employee stock ownership plan, parties told a federal court Friday. 

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Live Nation 401(k) Suit Arbitration In Calif. Gets Redo

By Kellie Mejdrich

A California federal judge agreed to reconsider his order from 2023 requiring arbitration of some claims in a federal benefits suit from Live Nation workers alleging excessive fees in their employee 401(k) plan after the Ninth Circuit had remanded the case in August.

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LITIGATION

Geico Agents Secure Some Discovery In Misclassification Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Geico must produce more information related to a retaliation claim and the authenticity and completeness of its retirement and welfare plans in a suit lodged by former agents alleging the insurer denied them benefits by misclassifying them as independent contractors, an Ohio federal judge ruled.

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Feature

The 6 Biggest Rulings By Massachusetts' Top Court In 2025

By Chris Villani

Massachusetts' top court rejected a novel double jeopardy claim in a headline-grabbing murder case, revived claims against Harvard over a "ghoulish" scheme, and said a Snapchat Bitmoji could show police bias, among other significant rulings this year.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

How Fractional GCs Can Manage Risks Of Engagement

As more organizations eliminate their in-house legal departments in favor of outsourcing legal work, fractional general counsel roles offer practitioners an engaging and flexible way to practice at a high level, but they can also present legal, ethical and operational risks that must be proactively managed, say attorneys at Boies Schiller.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Bonus Spotlight

Haynes Boone, Seward & Kissel Announce Year-End Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

Haynes Boone is handing its associates year-end and special bonuses in line with those offered by a significant portion of BigLaw this year, largely adhering to a bonus scale first put forward by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP in November, a firm spokesperson confirmed Monday.

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Analysis

4 Legal Ethics Matters That Rocked 2025

By Emily Sawicki

This year, judges across the country grappled with attorneys' use and misuse of generative artificial intelligence, and prominent federal prosecutor battles dominated headlines in some of the top legal ethics matters of 2025.

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DOJ Challenges ABA's Standing In Law Firm Intimidation Suit

By Ryan Boysen

The Trump administration is not waging an intimidation campaign against U.S. law firms, the government said Friday, calling an American Bar Association lawsuit challenging its alleged "law firm intimidation policy" as total speculation that must be dismissed due to lack of standing.

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JPMorgan Rips Javice Attys' 'Absurd' Bills For Candy, Booze

By Dorothy Atkins

JPMorgan has unveiled new details in its ongoing legal fee fight with Charlie Javice, accusing the convicted financial aid startup founder's Quinn Emanuel defense counsel and other firms of billing for "absurd" and "outrageous" expenses, including specialty cocktails, cellulite butter, a Cookie Monster toy and $530 on gummy bears.

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Ex-CIA Director's Lawyers Accuse DOJ Of Judge Shopping

By Carolina Bolado

Former CIA Director John Brennan's attorneys asked the chief judge for the Southern District of Florida on Monday to block prosecutors from trying to steer any potential charges against him for investigating Russia's 2016 election interference to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's courtroom.

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Analysis

2025 Was A Policy Year Like No Other For Immigration Attys

By Britain Eakin

This year brought nonstop immigration policy whiplash as the Trump administration ramped up enforcement, triggering panic among employers about I-9 compliance in a landscape of constantly shifting adjudication and work authorization policies. Here, Law360 looks at how policy shifted attorney practice in 2025.

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Calif. Atty Slams 'Protectionist' ABS Fee-Sharing Ban

By Emily Sawicki

A California attorney has pushed back on opposition from California's attorney general and the state's bar association amid his efforts to block enforcement of a ban on fee sharing with out-of-state law firms owned by nonattorneys, arguing the new state law is a "protectionist act, in defiance of the constitution."

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LawFirms.com Beats LegalForce's TM Suit After Bench Trial

By Ivan Moreno

A California judge has concluded that a company that operates LawFirms.com did not infringe a law firm's trademarks for LegalForce, saying that during a four-day bench trial in October the court found "no one was actually confused or misled."

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Schumer Pushes Senate To Sue Over Epstein File Release

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a resolution on Monday that would direct the Senate to take legal action to force the Trump administration to fully comply with the law to release the files of the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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Analysis

As US Executions Decline, Florida Surges

By Brandon Lowrey

During Florida's 1994 gubernatorial race, Republican candidate Jeb Bush accused Democratic incumbent Lawton Chiles of being too soft on crime; Chiles' immediate predecessor, Bush pointed out, had signed almost 10 times as many death warrants as Chiles had.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's justices threw the Court of Chancery in reverse big time last week, rescinding a decision by the state's chancellor that last year effectively canceled tech tycoon Elon Musk's multi-year, then-$56 billion stock-based compensation package. It was a decision that lit up the court's relatively low-key, pre-holiday wind-up. It also highlighted the endless, 3D tug of war over Delaware-chartered companies and the interests of boards, officers, controllers, stockholders and the corporate bar.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Andrews & Springer

Arnold & Clifford

Ashby & Geddes

Axinn Veltrop

Barnes & Thornburg

Bernstein Litowitz

Boies Schiller

Buchalter APC

Burr & Forman

Bursor & Fisher

Christina Humphrey Law

Colombo & Hurd

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

Cravath Swaine

DLA Piper

Duane Morris

Engstrom Lee

Faegre Drinker

Friedman Oster

Glenn Agre

Gordon Rees

Greenberg Traurig

Groom Law Group

Haynes Boone

Hoover Hull

Jenner & Block

Kirkland & Ellis

Klehr Harrison

Latham & Watkins

LegalForce RAPC

Leonard Dicker & Schreiber

MH Sub I LLC

Margrave Law

Mayer Brown

McKool Smith

Mintz Levin

Morris Nichols

Munger Tolles

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Potter Anderson

Quinn Emanuel

Richards Layton

Ross Aronstam

Schwartz White

Seward & Kissel

Skadden Arps

Susman Godfrey

Wilkinson Stekloff

WilmerHale

Wisner Baum

iGeneral Counsel PC

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Above the Law

American Bar Association

American Museum of Natural History

Federation Internationale de Football Association

Geico Corp.

Google LLC

Harvard University

Herzog

ITG Brands LLC

Internet Brands Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Noble Environmental Inc.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Inc.

RELX PLC

Snap Inc.

Sodexo SA

Spotify Technology SA

Stanford University

State Bar of California

Syncsort Inc.

Tesla Inc.

The Florida Bar

The Home Depot Inc.

Uber Eats

Uber Technologies Inc.

WebMD LLC

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Department of Justice

California Supreme Court

Central Intelligence Agency

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Florida Supreme Court

Homeland Security Investigations

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio