JPMorgan Can't Exit Cash Sweep Rates Suit, Consumers Say

By Katryna Perera

Consumers who accused JPMorgan Chase of underpaying the interest on their cash sweep accounts urged a New York federal judge on Thursday not to let the bank escape the suit, asserting several arguments, including that their contract claims are "anchored" to specific provisions in the parties' written agreement.

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Conn. Adviser Banned After $9.2M Fraud, Prison Sentence

By Ryan Harroff

The Connecticut Department of Banking banned an investment adviser from practicing his craft in the Constitution State following his sentence to 87 months in prison and a $9.2 million restitution payment for a Georgia fraud case.

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Meta Eyes $14B AI Bet, Bullish Seeks IPO, And More Rumors

By Tom Zanki

Facebook owner Meta is eying a $14 billion investment in Scale AI, while Bullish plans to join the recent surge in cryptocurrency-related initial public offerings and investors want to take pizza chain Papa John's private at more than $60 per share. Here, Law360 breaks down the notable deal rumors from the past week.

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Brokers Provide FINRA With Regulatory Wish List

By Jessica Corso

The brokerage industry is calling for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to change the way it conducts in-house disciplinary proceedings, to loosen rules on customer communication and to limit which firm employees must register with the financial regulator as it considers modernizing its rules and regulations.

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Ex-JPM Trader Warns Of 'Pressing Need' For DOJ Records

By Jon Hill

A former U.K.-based JPMorgan trader has urged a Washington, D.C., federal judge to rule on his bid for access to investigative records from a U.S. market manipulation case that he beat in 2018, saying continued delays could hurt him in a fast-approaching related proceeding in Brazil.

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Reed Smith Pushes For 2nd Circ. Stay In $102M Award Fight

By Emily Sawicki

Still seeking to represent prebankruptcy owners of international shipping company Eletson Holdings Inc., Reed Smith LLP has asked the Second Circuit to stay a bankruptcy proceeding and a district court action, arguing the reorganized Eletson, now allegedly under common control with a former adversary, has launched a "calculated effort" to seize the company's privileged client information.

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'My Big Coin' Operators To Pay $26M To End CFTC Claims

By Sydney Price

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced that the alleged orchestrators of the My Big Coin digital asset fraud scheme that swindled over $6 million from 28 investors will hand over $25.7 million to end claims against them.

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Brief

Deal Ends Freedom Mortgage's Appeal Of $23M Verdict

By George Woolston

Freedom Mortgage and a Virginia mortgage subservicer have reached a deal to resolve the mortgage company's appeal of a $23 million verdict over a subservicing agreement gone wrong, according to a Thursday filing in the Third Circuit.

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Kirkland & Ellis Adds Former Ropes & Gray Deals Atty In NY

By Andrea Keckley

Kirkland & Ellis LLP said Wednesday it has welcomed a corporate partner from Ropes & Gray LLP to its New York office, touting her experience with major deals in sectors such as financial services, software, healthcare, industrials, consumer products and retail.

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Fed's Crypto Guidance Yank Could Drive Innovation

The Federal Reserve Board's recent withdrawal of guidance letters brings regulatory consistency and broadens banks' ability to innovate in the crypto-asset space, but key distinctions remain between the Fed's policy on crypto liquidity and that of the other banking regulators, says Dan Hartman at Nutter.

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Attacks On Judicial Independence Tend To Manifest In 3 Ways

Attacks on judicial independence now run the gamut from gross (bald-faced interference) to systemic (structural changes) to insidious (efforts to undermine public trust), so lawyers, judges and the public must recognize the fateful moment in which we live and defend the rule of law every day, says Jim Moliterno at Washington and Lee University.

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Analysis

These Firms Are Landing The Most PTAB Work

By Theresa Schliep

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.

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Mass. Judge, On Stand, Denies Helping Immigrant Evade ICE

By Julie Manganis

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.

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Trump's Deployment Of National Guard Illegal, Judge Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

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.

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Google Fights MDL Plaintiffs' Sanctions Bid Over Lost Chats

By Emily Sawicki

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.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Proctor On Civility, Civil Rules

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

R. David Proctor, chief judge of the Northern District of Alabama, is a leader within the federal judiciary. He's both assigned and presided over multidistrict litigation. He may write a nationwide rule governing third-party litigation funding. And he's gained internet fame for ordering two attorneys to eat lunch together.

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Avenatti Sheds 3 Years After 9th Circ. Orders Resentencing

By Gina Kim

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.

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DOJ Picks Proceed Despite Worry Over Honoring Court Orders

By Courtney Bublé

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

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Calif. Sues Trump Over 'Wildly Partisan' EV Waiver Repeal

By Dorothy Atkins

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."

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Interview

Ex-Interior Secretary Salazar On 'Coming Home' To WilmerHale

By Aebra Coe

Former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado, who served as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Obama administration and most recently as ambassador to Mexico during the Biden administration, returned this month to WilmerHale's Denver office, which he founded in 2014.

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Justices Say Habeas Claims Can't Be Added After Judgment

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a prisoner may not add new claims to a habeas corpus petition once a final judgment is issued, cementing strict limits on repeat habeas filings prescribed by federal law.

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Justices Limit FTCA Defense In FBI Raid Case

By Chart Riggall

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday held that the Constitution's supremacy clause cannot shield the federal government from Federal Tort Claims Act suits, in the process reviving a Georgia woman's claim over an FBI raid aimed at a gang member but mistakenly carried out at her home.

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Analysis

Rising PTAB Filings Follow Surge In Patent Cases

By Theresa Schliep

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.

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Weinstein Sex Abuse Trial Ends After Mixed, Partial Verdict

By Pete Brush

Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse retrial ended Thursday with a Manhattan jury failing to reach a verdict on a count alleging the movie mogul raped an actress, one day after he was convicted of forcing sex on a production assistant and cleared on a third charge.

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