Analysis

High Court Ruling May Shake Up CFPB's Litigation Docket

By Jon Hill

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that may come as soon as Thursday could decide the fate of not only the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure but also numerous pending enforcement actions the agency has brought around the country. Here, Law360 surveys what's at stake and where.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

New Treasury Rule Amps Up Reporting Burden For Banks

By Jennifer Doherty

The U.S. Department of the Treasury introduced an interim final rule Wednesday that refines and further expands recent increases in reporting requirements, including a new obligation for financial institutions to notify the federal government any time they unblock frozen assets.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EEOC Atty Highlights Top PWFA Compliance Challenges

By Vin Gurrieri

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission legal counsel Carol Miaskoff gave her take Wednesday on some notable compliance challenges the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will pose for employers, pointing to areas where numerous laws may overlap and the requirement that workers core tasks could be paused.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Auto Cos. Brace For EV Battery Compliance Hurdles

By Linda Chiem

New federal regulations aimed at shoring up the domestic electric vehicle manufacturing supply chain give automakers a much-needed two-year cushion to navigate a compliance minefield, and to figure out how to reinvigorate the recent waning consumer demand for electric vehicles.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Alaska Comm. To Pay $5.3M To Settle Bidding Violation Claims

By Sarah Jarvis

Alaska Communications Systems Holding Inc. on Wednesday agreed to pay nearly $5.3 million and implement compliance measures to resolve a Federal Communications Commission investigation into the telecommunications provider's bidding and rate setting processes for rural medical patients.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tesla Slams Class Bid For Musk Shares Lockdown In Del.

By Jeff Montgomery

Attorneys for Elon Musk and Tesla Inc. and its board have blasted class attorney motions to sequester billions worth of the automotive company's shares as an improper attempt to shield a nonfinal court ruling on Musk's 10-year compensation plan and as potential interference in a Tesla bid to reincorporate in Texas.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

4th Circ. Asks If High Court Ruling Bars Credit Suisse Tipster

By Natalie Olivo

A Fourth Circuit panel questioned Wednesday whether a U.S. Supreme Court ruling prevented it from reviving a whistleblower case by a former Credit Suisse employee alleging the bank helped U.S. citizens evade taxes after paying a $2.6 billion criminal penalty.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sens. Call For Revamp Of SEC's Nixed Stock Buyback Rules

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should "promptly" reissue disclosure rules vacated by the Fifth Circuit last year so that companies are required to publicly disclose more information on their share repurchase plans, a bipartisan pair of U.S. senators told the agency's leader on Monday.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC Doubles Down On $2B Ripple Labs Sanction Bid

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is standing by its call for crypto platform Ripple Labs to pay $2 billion as punishment for selling unregistered securities, telling a New York federal judge that a lower penalty would send the wrong message to the industry at large.

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lyft Driver Asks Calif. Justices To OK Intervening In PAGA Suit

By Craig Clough

An attorney for a Lyft driver who sued the company under the Private Attorneys General Act urged the California Supreme Court on Wednesday to find her client has standing to intervene in a competing PAGA Lyft case that reached a settlement, saying the deal threatened to "extinguish" her client's rights.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

AGs Blast Federal Data Privacy Law's Proposed State Override

By Allison Grande

California joined attorneys general from more than a dozen other states and Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to urge Congress to ensure that proposed federal data privacy legislation sets a "floor, not a ceiling" that would preserve more stringent protections states have enacted and allow them to add new laws to address rapid technological developments. 

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apple Judge Skeptical Tech Giant Complying With Epic Order

By Bonnie Eslinger

The California federal judge overseeing Epic's antitrust suit against Apple reacted skeptically Wednesday to an Apple executive's claim that it has fully complied with her order aimed at allowing app developers to send users to outside payment platforms, saying some of Apple's new rules appear to "stifle competition."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Google Fights Subpoena On Texas Amid Ad Tech MDL

By Ali Sullivan

Google is urging a New York federal judge overseeing sweeping multidistrict litigation over the tech giant's alleged monopoly in digital advertising to stamp out a subpoena seeking discovery from Texas in related litigation in the Lone Star State.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY AG Says $6M NRA Verdict Should Stand

By Cara Salvatore

A New York state court should not undo a jury's finding that the National Rifle Association allowed its officers to misappropriate $6.4 million of donor money, the state's attorney general has argued, saying trial evidence abundantly laid out evidence of misconduct and organizational failures.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EGC Won't Annul EU Decision To Toss Spanish Tax Scheme

By Kevin Pinner

The European General Court will not annul a European Commission decision that a Spanish tax scheme for vessels built in its domestic shipyards must be abandoned because it was incompatible with the European Union's internal market, according to a judgment released Wednesday.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

6th Circ. Questions FERC's Moves On Ohio Utility Grid Perk

By Keith Goldberg

A Sixth Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned the role of a rate perk given to transmission companies for choosing to join a regional transmission organization as it weighed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to yank the incentive for several Ohio utilities while preserving it for others.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Skadden Taps SoFi Bank, Shearman Attys For Co-Lead Roles

By Jack Rodgers

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has hired two new co-leaders of its financial institutions regulatory group to advise banks, financial institutions and other market participants on regulatory and legislative developments, the firm announced Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Gibson Dunn Adds Ex-Wachtell, Paul Weiss Attys As Partners

By Kevin Penton

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has added a former Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz corporate attorney and a former Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP lawyer who specializes in liability management as partners in New York, the firm has announced.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

Proposed Rule attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

PE In The Crosshairs Of Public And Private Antitrust Enforcers

A series of decisions from a California federal court in the recently settled Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, as well as heightened scrutiny from federal agencies, serve as a reminder that private equity firms may be exposed to liability for alleged anti-competitive conduct by their portfolio companies, say attorneys at Axinn.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule

A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?

Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Are Concessions In FDA's Lab-Developed Tests Rule Enough?

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new policy for laboratory-developed tests included major strategic concessions to help balance patient safety, access and diagnostic innovation, the new rule may well face significant legal challenges in court, say Dominick DiSabatino and Audrey Mercer at Sheppard Mullin.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

In Story Of Sex And Lies, Can Cohen Write Final Chapter?

By Phillip Bantz

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has told a story of scandal and scheming to the jury in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial, setting the stage for the prosecution's star witness to take the stand and wrap up the narrative.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-McElroy Deutsch CFO Cops To $1.5M Theft From Firm

By George Woolston

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP's former chief financial officer admitted Wednesday to embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and failing to pay income tax, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lewis Brisbois Atty Fatally Shot In McDonald's Altercation

By Ryan Boysen

A Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP attorney was fatally shot at a McDonald's in Houston after reportedly stepping in as a good Samaritan and attempting to calm down an irate customer who'd been arguing with staff at the fast food restaurant.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Kelly Dermody

By Irene Spezzamonte

A semester off from Harvard University in the late 1980s meant for reflection instead turned into a pivotal moment in Kelly Dermody's life, settling the roots for her successful career during which she has become a lighthouse for employment and discrimination cases.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ABA Will Study Rape Questions' Necessity For Bar Applicants

By Cara Bayles

An American Bar Association commission will issue a report and recommendations by August on the practice of requiring would-be lawyers to disclose and discuss their experiences of sexual violence during the attorney licensure process.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ABA Directs Attys To Avoid Sharing Client Info On Listservs

By Emily Sawicki

It is in the best interest of clients for their legal counsel to avoid sharing information related to representation while seeking advice in an online listserv forum, if the comments or questions could be connected to a client's identity, according to American Bar Association guidance published Wednesday.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ga. Appeals Court Will Review Trump DQ Bid In Election Case

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday agreed to review a judge's ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to continue prosecuting the election interference case she brought against former President Donald Trump.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fani Willis Is Outraising Primary Challenger More Than 5 To 1

By Chart Riggall

Less than two weeks from the first hurdle in her bid for reelection, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis is boasting a​​ campaign war chest more than five times heftier than her Democratic challenger's, according to campaign finance disclosures filed this week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Biden Picks US Magistrate Judge In Fla. For 11th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his intent to nominate U.S. Magistrate Judge Embry J. Kidd to the Eleventh Circuit.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Robins Kaplan File Flub Bad Look For Both Sides, Panel Says

By Rachel Scharf

A Manhattan appeals panel expressed concern Wednesday that Robins Kaplan LLP had poked through an opposing party's Dropbox database that was accidentally shared in investor litigation, while also criticizing the other side for failing to catch the error.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Justices Approve Measures For Helping Atty Well-Being

By Emily Johnson

The New Jersey Supreme Court has accepted several recommendations from its committee focused on attorney well-being, paving the way for the committee to examine how attorneys can briefly postpone court dates or possibly receive an extension to meet deadlines so they can handle pressing wellness needs.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Legal Access Program Being Set Up For Separated Families

By Alyssa Aquino

The Biden administration has tapped the Acacia Center for Justice to manage a court-ordered legal access program to help migrant families stay in the U.S. after they were separated under a Trump-era policy to prosecute anybody caught entering the country unlawfully.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. Judges Urge Attys To Take On More Pro Se Cases

By Thy Vo

A group of Colorado federal judges tried Wednesday to recruit more lawyers to help pro se litigants, who file about a third of the district's cases each year, with the judges recounting tactical mistakes and case delays that attorneys could have prevented.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »