Counsel for the founder of Beneficient on Tuesday told a Manhattan federal jury that the founder of the Dallas-based financial services firm did not defraud its onetime business partner GWG Holdings out of more than $100 million, saying a group of former insiders are trying to scapegoat the executive for GWG's downfall.
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Jury Told Ex-Finance CEO Is The Fall Guy In $100M Fraud Case

By Stewart Bishop

Counsel for the founder of Beneficient on Tuesday told a Manhattan federal jury that the founder of the Dallas-based financial services firm did not defraud its onetime business partner GWG Holdings out of more than $100 million, saying a group of former insiders are trying to scapegoat the executive for GWG's downfall.

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Judge Eyes Ballot Deadline In Feud Over BJ's Climate Study

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday said he's eager to cut to the chase in a dispute over whether BJ's Wholesale Club must allow shareholders to vote on a climate study proposal, suggesting the case could be resolved ahead of a looming proxy ballot deadline. 

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Del. Supreme Court Upholds Ruling On Truth Social Shares

By Jessica Corso

The Delaware Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling granting additional stock to the founding shareholder in the company that took President Donald Trump's Truth Social Media public, turning away a request from the shareholder for a second shot to prove it is owed even more shares.

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LEGAL ETHICS & MALPRACTICE

Calif. Sex Abuse Boutique Sues Wood LLP For Bad Tax Advice

By Emily Sawicki

A West Hollywood boutique law firm formed to represent victims of sex abuse on UCLA's campus has filed a professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duty suit against Robert W. Wood and Wood LLP, claiming in California state court that their allegedly faulty financial advice caused the loss of $2 million in interest.

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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL

$210M Appeal Bond Should Be $25M, Oil Exec Tells 5th Circ.

By José Luis Martínez

The founder of Exxon-acquired company InterOil has asked the Fifth Circuit to approve a $25 million supersedeas bond as opposed to an amount exceeding $210 million due to a final judgment against him and his family.

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Texas Court Weighs If $42M Gas Trespass Verdict Is Time-Barred

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court wanted to know when the clock started ticking to file suit in a trespassing case involving an energy company that allegedly interfered with nearby wells by injecting toxic gas underground, asking Tuesday whether the nearly $42 million verdict against the energy company should stand.

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Texas Firm Seeks Immediate Appeal In $2.3M LNG Case

By Caroline Simson

A Texas infrastructure firm is urging a Massachusetts federal judge to allow it to immediately appeal her order refusing to vacate a $2.3 million arbitral award issued in a dispute stemming from a liquefied natural gas facility project, saying the order turns on certain controlling questions of law.

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INSURANCE

Brief

Solar Contractor Drops $31M Bond Dispute With Zurich

By Hope Patti

A solar energy contractor agreed to drop its suit accusing a pair of Zurich insurers of defaulting on a $30.9 million bond that guaranteed the performance of a subcontractor working on a solar plant in Klickitat County, Washington.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Joe Gibbs Racing's Fast-Track Trial Is 'Unrealistic,' Court Told

By Hayley Fowler

Joe Gibbs Racing LLC's bid to set a November trial date in a trade secrets suit against former competition director Chris Gabehart and rival team Spire Motorsports is "aggressive and unrealistic," Gabehart has argued in asking to instead push the trial to May 2027.

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Gaming Co. Escapes Blackjack IP Claims Over Pleading Gaps

By Zach Dupont

The owners of a trademarked blackjack game had its claims dismissed against gambling giant Penn Entertainment Inc. and one of its Colorado casinos after a federal judge found the claims alleging the casino illegally continued using the blackjack game for years after its license expired weren't sufficiently pled.

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EMPLOYMENT

NJ Panel Rejects Arbitration In Wrongful Death Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

A staffing company and New Jersey's public transportation provider must face in court claims they negligently caused a vehicle crash that killed a woman, a state appeals court ruled, saying there isn't proper evidence to support the claim the woman signed an arbitration clause.

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Pesticide Study Admin Says Ex-Worker's Suit Is A 'Do-Over'

By Abigail Harrison

Counsel for a former administrative adviser in a national pesticide safety study organization named in an ex-worker's wrongful firing lawsuit urged a North Carolina federal court Tuesday to dismiss the matter, arguing the adviser is immune from constitutional claims that have already been litigated elsewhere.

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SECURITIES & WHITE COLLAR

FHFA Says High Court Ruling Dooms Shareholder Verdict

By Jared Foretek

An attorney for the Federal Housing Finance Agency told the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday that the agency had clear authority to act in its own interest as conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the wake of the 2008 housing market crash rather than prioritize the interest of the companies' shareholders.

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COMPETITION

Live Nation Fails In Bid For Quick Nix Of Antitrust Damages

By Matthew Perlman

A New York federal court has refused to rule immediately on Live Nation's bid to strike expert testimony and set aside the damages awarded to state enforcers in the antitrust case accusing the company of monopolizing the live entertainment industry.

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Amazon, Zulily Get Antitrust Case Postponed To Oct. 2027

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal judge agreed Monday to push the trial date in now-defunct online retailer Zulily's lawsuit accusing Amazon of stifling competition from other e-commerce platforms from January 2027 to October 2027 due to scheduling conflicts with overlapping antitrust proceedings against Amazon.

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GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

Ukraine Co. Brings $5M Drone Award To NY For Enforcement

By Joyce Hanson

A Ukrainian company has urged a New York federal court to enforce an approximately $5 million arbitral award it won against a U.S.-based safety supply company for partly reneging on an $84.5 million contract to provide shipments of drones.

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Pan Am Games Bus Contractor Says Arbitration Is Unfair

By Caroline Simson

A Peruvian consortium that provided ground transportation services for the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, has filed an emergency petition asking a New York federal court to halt its $17 million arbitration with a United Nations entity, saying the tribunal is actively preventing the consortium from presenting its case.

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PRIVATE EQUITY

Buyer Sues PE Firm, Alleging Fraud In $26M Manufacturer Sale

By Jarek Rutz

A Michigan-based buyer has sued a private equity firm and two executives in Delaware's Court of Chancery, accusing them of orchestrating a yearslong scheme to inflate a manufacturing company's value and fraudulently induce a $26 million sale.

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CANNABIS

Lender Asks If Weed Co. Cash-Seizure Ban Applies At Maturity

By George Woolston

A lender has asked a New Jersey federal court whether an order that blocked it from seizing a cannabis company's assets or cash amid a dispute over whether the company defaulted on loans applies to any default over the failure to pay the principal and interest due at maturity.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Evaluating Congressional Investigation Risk In Deal Diligence

Given the increasing frequency and sophistication of congressional investigations into corporate business practices, companies conducting transactional due diligence should add procedures to assess and mitigate the unique challenges and wide-ranging risks that can arise from Capitol Hill’s scrutiny, say attorneys at Covington.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On ESI Control

Several recent federal court decisions have perpetuated a split over what constitutes “control” of electronically stored information — with judges divided on whether the standard should turn on a party's legal right or practical ability to obtain the information, say attorneys at Sidley.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Some Firms Break Lobbying Revenue Records Again

By Alison Knezevich

After raking in record-breaking federal lobbying revenue last year, several firms reported this week that they had their strongest quarter ever in the first three months of 2026, with practice leaders predicting another busy period ahead as midterms approach.

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Breyer Says 'Shadow Docket' Not A Top Court Power Grab

By Carolyn Muyskens

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said Tuesday that the rise of the so-called shadow docket is a consequence of the post-COVID era and not a bid to usurp influence by the high court. 

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Sullivan & Cromwell Alerts SDNY To AI Errors In Ch. 15 Case

By Andrea Keckley

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP told a New York bankruptcy judge Saturday that an emergency motion it filed in Prince Global Holdings Ltd.'s Chapter 15 case contained several inaccurate citations and other errors, including what the firm described as artificial intelligence "hallucinations."

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Pillsbury Unlawfully Fired Pregnant Recruiter, Bias Suit Says

By Lauren Berg

The former Black female director for associate recruiting at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP says she was unlawfully fired just weeks after disclosing her high-risk pregnancy to her supervisor, according to her discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed Tuesday in Tennessee federal court.

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WDTX Judge Albright Stepping Down At End Of Summer

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright is resigning after nearly eight years presiding over cases in the Western District of Texas, Law360 confirmed Tuesday.

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Ex-Wis. Judge Argues ICE Case Reversal Backs Her Acquittal

By Craig Clough

Former state Judge Hannah Dugan asked a Wisconsin federal judge Tuesday to reconsider an order not to overturn her felony obstruction conviction for directing a defendant in her courtroom away from immigration agents, arguing the Fourth Circuit recently reversed a decision the trial court repeatedly relied upon.

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Warsh Rejects Claim He'd Be Trump's 'Sock Puppet' At Fed

By Jon Hill

Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh sought at his Tuesday confirmation hearing to rebut Democratic accusations that he would be a White House "sock puppet," distancing himself from President Donald Trump's calls for rate cuts and downplaying their significance.

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Copyright Head Touts 6,000 Registrations Of Human-AI Works

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Copyright Office has issued more than 6,000 registrations for works that incorporate artificial intelligence-generated materials and follow the agency's guidance for combined human-made and AI-created works, U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter said Tuesday.

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Promo that reads Law360 Pulse 2026 AI Survey

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

AVA Law Group

Ahmad Zavitsanos

Akin Gump

Alexander Dubose

Andrews Myers

Arnold & Porter

Ballard Spahr

Berman Tabacco

Bernstein Litowitz

Blueprint Construction Counsel

Boies Schiller

Bona Law PC

Bracewell LLP

Brownstein Hyatt

Carney Badley

Covington & Burling

Cravath Swaine

DLA Piper

Dickinson Wright

Dynamis LLP

Eversheds Sutherland

Fish & Richardson

Freeman Mathis

Gibson Dunn

Gimbel Reilly

Golomb Legal

Grant & Eisenhofer

Gray Cary

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Hunton Andrews

Just Food Law PLLC

K&L Gates

Kessler Topaz

King & Spalding

Kobre & Kim

Latham & Watkins

Lynn Pinker

Marino Tortorella

McGrath Kavinoky

Morgan Lewis

Morningstar Law Group

Munsch Hardt

Murphy Ball Stratton

O'Melveny & Myers

Olson Grimsley

Parker Poe

Pillsbury Winthrop

Potter Anderson

Quinn Emanuel

Richards Layton

Robinson Bradshaw

Ruberto Israel

Scialdone Law Firm

Sidley Austin

Squire Patton

Strang Bradley

Sullivan & Cromwell

Troutman

Williams & Connolly

Willkie Farr

Winston & Strawn

Wood & Wood LLP

Yetter Coleman

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

23andMe Inc.

A Z Corp.

Abiomed Inc.

Allison Transmission Holdings Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Arbitration Association

American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations

American Postal Workers Union

BGR Government Affairs LLC

BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc.

Ballard Partners Inc.

Bank of America Corp.

Candela Corp.

Caterpillar Inc.

Cox Communications Inc.

Empire Petroleum Corp.

FCA US LLC

Fair Isaac Corporation

Federal National Mortgage Association

Freddie Mac

Harvard University

InterOil Corporation

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Maquet GmbH

Marriott International Inc.

Meritor Inc.

Michigan State University

NASCAR Digital Media LLC

New Jersey Transit Corp.

Omnicom Group Inc.

Penn National Gaming Inc.

Perry Capital LLC

Regents of the University of California

Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Speedway Motorsports, Inc.

Swift Energy Co.

The Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc.

The Kroger Co.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

UCLA Health System

Walmart Inc.

Zulily Inc.

Zurich Insurance Group AG

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Attorney General's Office

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office of the President

Federal Housing Finance Agency

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Judicial Conference of the United States

Los Angeles Superior Court

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Court

New York State Comptroller

North Carolina Department of Justice

Permanent Court of Arbitration

Texas Attorney General's Office

Texas Legislature

Texas Supreme Court

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

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

U.S. Copyright Office

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

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

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

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

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

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

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United Nations

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin