Ex-SDNY Chief Rejects Claim Of Broken FTX Plea Promise

By Pete Brush

Former interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon told a federal judge Thursday that she never promised crypto lobbyist Michelle Bond any kind of no-prosecute deal as the government negotiated a guilty plea with Bond's husband, former FTX executive Ryan Salame.

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Crypto Orgs. Call On White House To Spur Agency Guidance

By Aislinn Keely

A coalition of more than 65 crypto-focused organizations penned a letter to President Donald Trump asking the White House to encourage federal agencies to stop prosecuting developers of decentralized software, exempt decentralized projects from certain rules and clarify tax treatment.

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Trump's CFTC Pick Selig Advances To Senate Floor

By Aislinn Keely

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission will advance to the U.S. Senate floor after a Thursday agriculture committee vote on Michael Selig's nomination passed along party lines.

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CFPB Will Shift Remaining Lawsuits Over To DOJ

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be handing off its enforcement lawsuits and other litigation to the U.S. Department of Justice as the Trump administration prepares for the consumer agency to run out of money, Law360 has learned.

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MVP: Waymaker's Brian Klein

By Aislinn Keely

Brian Klein of Waymaker LLP won key victories defending clients in novel white collar crypto matters, overturning a conviction of an unusual trading scheme and deadlocking a jury in the highly publicized prosecution over the Tornado Cash mixing service, to earn him a spot as one of the 2025 Law360 Fintech MVPs.

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Fed's Cook Says AI Could Either Steady Wall Street Or Rig It

By Hailey Konnath

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Lisa Cook said Thursday that the use of artificial intelligence in algorithmic trading in financial markets has the potential to improve on current trading, but it also has the potential to create "risks that are difficult to monitor or mitigate."

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SEC's Uyeda Says ERISA Needs Litigation Reform To Curb Suits

By Jessica Corso

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission member Mark Uyeda called for litigation reform Thursday aimed at stopping lawsuits filed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that he said discourage retirement plan fiduciaries from investing in the private markets.

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'Not Well-Taken': 2nd Bid To Halt CFPB Energy Loan Rule Fails

By Jon Hill

A Florida federal judge on Thursday smacked down a lender trade group's renewed bid to halt a Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that will tighten standards on clean-energy home improvement loans, calling the emergency request wasteful and "not well-taken."

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Libra Buyers Push For Asset Freeze Over Alleged Fund Moves

By Sydney Price

Buyers of the collapsed crypto project Libra who allege operators misled them into buying the token with the help of an endorsement from Argentine President Javier Milei are again asking a Manhattan federal judge to freeze proceeds from the asset sale to purportedly stop evidence destruction.

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Deals Rumor Mill

Big Beer, Bots And Billion-Dollar Bids Top Week's Rumors

By Al Barbarino

Private equity dealmaking and artificial intelligence investment continued to generate a steady flow of market chatter this past week, as reports pointed to fresh fundraising efforts, potential take-private bids, and early-stage talks across the technology, energy and consumer sectors.

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The Ins And Outs Of Decentralized Digital Asset Exchanges

As decentralized digital asset exchanges lack intermediaries, and so remain susceptible to fraud and market manipulation, ​​​​​​​an understanding of their design is crucial to help market participants avoid fraudulent practices such as liquidity rug pulls, says Swati Kanoria at Charles River.

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Contradictory Rulings Show Complexity Of Swaps Regulation

Recent divergent rulings, including two by the same Nevada judge, on whether the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state gambling laws when applied to event contracts traded on U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated markets illustrate the uncertainty regarding the legality of prediction markets, say attorneys at Akin.

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Rule Amendments Pave Path For A Privilege Claim 'Offensive'

Litigators should consider leveraging forthcoming amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which will require early negotiations of privilege-related discovery claims, by taking an offensive posture toward privilege logs at the outset of discovery, says David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law.

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Series

My Miniature Livestock Farm Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Raising miniature livestock on my farm, where I am fully present with the animals, is an almost meditative time that allows me to return to work invigorated, ready to juggle numerous responsibilities and motivated to tackle hard issues in new ways, says Ted Kobus at BakerHostetler.

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Bonus Spotlight

Law Firms Begin Upping The Ante For Associate Bonuses

By Tracey Read

Trial boutique Wilkinson Stekloff LLP is exceeding the year-end associate bonus scale set by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, announcing bonuses late Wednesday that are 150% of market.

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Analysis

Trump's Epstein Directive Puts SDNY Prosecutor In A 'Pickle'

By Phillip Bantz

Manhattan chief federal prosecutor Jay Clayton appears to have been backed into a "horrible" corner with a "no-win" outcome as a result of a directive from President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats, experts say.

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Comey Says DOJ's Conduct 'Shocks The Conscience'

By Hailey Konnath

James Comey on Thursday reiterated his request that the U.S. Department of Justice be forced to disclose all grand jury materials related to his indictment, noting the government has conceded that the grand jury never saw the operative indictment and saying the purported misconduct "shocks the conscience."

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NJ Panel Expands Scope Of Ex-Reed Smith Atty's Bias Claims

By Rose Krebs

A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday ruled that a former Reed Smith LLP attorney is entitled to pursue more damages and obtain expanded wage data in her gender discrimination suit against the firm, saying a trial court incorrectly applied certain statutes when it limited the damages and data she could seek.

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X Corp. Ends $90M Fee Suit Against Wachtell

By James Mills

X Corp. has ended its California state lawsuit against Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz over $90 million in legal fees tied to the fight over Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, according to a court filing.

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Analysis

Meta Loss Shows Time Not On Enforcers' Side In Tech Cases

By Bryan Koenig

Meta's triumph over a Federal Trade Commission antitrust case Tuesday hinged on a D.C. federal judge's finding that the company lacks a monopoly in the present day, highlighting some of the challenges of using slow-moving litigation to challenge fast-moving markets.

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Senate Panel OKs Miss. Judge, US Atty Nominees After Delay

By Courtney Bublé

After weeks of holdup, nominees for Mississippi federal courts and U.S. attorneys were voted out of committee on Thursday, following an impasse between Republican senators.

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Brief

Senate Passes Bill To Protect State Judges From Threats

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to beef up security for state and local judges.

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DOJ Antitrust Chief Says Agriculture A 'Top Priority'

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Department of Justice's top antitrust official said enforcers have already opened several investigations in the agriculture sector, including into meatpackers at the direction of President Donald Trump, and called the industry a "top priority" for the agency.

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