CFPB Says Bilt Will Repay Fees After 'Collaborative' Outreach

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said late Tuesday that Bilt will reimburse hundreds of customers for penalty fees tied to snags in the relaunch of its rent-payment rewards cards, touting the move as a case study in the benefits of "collaboration" over punitive enforcement.

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Texas Regulators Allege Crypto Multilevel Marketing Scam

By Gina Kim

Texas securities regulators on Wednesday warned BG Wealth Sharing and an associated trading platform to stop their cryptocurrency investment and multilevel marketing scheme claiming to pool funds for short-term trades tied to bitcoin price movements, allegedly fueled by recruiting unwitting investors and false promises of hefty returns with no risks. 

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Singapore Court Won't Revive $14M 3rd-Party Funding Fee Bid

By Caroline Simson

A Singapore court has affirmed an award denying a successful litigant's bid to be reimbursed more than $14 million in third-party funding costs incurred in an arbitration over control of a fintech joint venture, ruling that the outcome was "simply the product of a risk any party engaged in dispute resolution takes."

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Balwani Takes Theranos Conviction Challenge To Justices

By Lauren Berg

Former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review his criminal fraud conviction and nearly 13-year prison sentence, arguing that the Ninth Circuit used the wrong review doctrine in rejecting his argument that prosecutors had failed to correct allegedly false testimony given by investor victims.

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Feds Pitch 63-Month Sentence For Player In Oil Investor Scam

By Rachel Riley

Federal prosecutors argued Tuesday that a Washington man should be sentenced to 63 months in prison for moving tens of millions of dollars from investors to overseas bank and cryptocurrency accounts as part of a fraud scheme, while the defendant sought a 15-month sentence, saying he was enticed by "sophisticated international criminals."

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Pillsbury Hit With Suit Over Alleged $145M Loan Fraud

By Rick Archer

An investment fund has filed a complaint in New York State court accusing a Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman partner of conspiring with convicted fraudsters to con the fund into writing a $145 million loan to now-defunct financial services company Aspiration Partners.

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Trump-Backed Firm Says Exec Can't Sue For Crypto Freeze

By Sydney Price

Trump family-tied crypto firm World Liberty Financial asked a California federal court to release it from crypto billionaire Justin Sun's suit accusing it of using backdoor mechanisms to hold Sun's tokens hostage after he invested $45 million in the project, arguing Sun wrongly attempts to assert claims over his businesses.

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Bank Tries Again To Decertify Inmate Class In Debit Fee Suit

By Elaine Briseño

Central Bank of Kansas City has renewed its attempt to decertify a class of inmates who alleged they received prepaid debit cards with excessive fees upon their release, arguing the court must first determine whether the prisoners received the cards without permission.

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CFTC Trading Rule Can't Police Prediction Markets Yet

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s recent efforts to police insider trading in prediction markets through a post-Dodd-Frank anti-fraud rule exposes doctrinal gaps around misappropriation theory, leaving platforms to fill the void with win-rate-based surveillance, says attorney Tamara de Silva.

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Private Lender Verification Lessons From Recent Fraud Cases

Recent fraud allegations involving private credit borrowers raise compliance red flags for lenders, who must recognize that financial and collateral verification is an essential safeguard as failures in underwriting and monitoring infect the broader market, say Michael Bresnick at Venable and Brian Mich at Control Risks Group.

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5 Things Associates Must Ask About Their Firm's Merger Plan

The associates who navigate law firm mergers best ask the right questions early, such as inquiring about partners' plans, to assess how the merger could affect their workflow and career path, says Jackie Bokser-LeFebvre at Major Lindsey.

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Quinn Emanuel, Texas Boutique Match Milbank Associate Pay

By Kevin Penton

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and a Texas-based litigation boutique are the latest firms to match Milbank LLP's pay hikes for associates, with annual increases of $10,000 to $20,000 that top off at $455,000.

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Blanche's AG Bid Could Face Rocky Path In Senate

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will be tapped for the permanent role, but he might not have a smooth path to confirmation.

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Goldstein Seeks Sentencing Delay, Citing New Tax Claims

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein renewed his push Wednesday in Maryland federal court for a delayed sentencing, saying prosecutors blindsided his defense by including additional uncharged years of alleged tax avoidance in the government's sentencing memorandum.

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Georgia Fed. Judge Facing Impeachment Threat, New DQ Bid

By Emily Johnson

A Georgia federal judge reportedly disciplined for having sexual intercourse in her chambers and attending a political event is facing renewed pressure, as a former UPS employee seeks her disqualification from his dismissed racial discrimination lawsuit and a Georgia congressman drafts articles of impeachment to remove her from the bench.

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Deepfake Mocks Judge Spearheading Judiciary Deepfake Rule

By Jeff Overley

The New York federal judge developing policies for phony audiovisual materials revealed Thursday firsthand experience with the subject: an artificial intelligence video on social media that depicts him as a maniacal Nazi who recently sentenced a private equity executive to prison "for being a Republican."

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Analysis

'Parallel' DOJ, SEC Investigations Not So Parallel Anymore

By Phillip Bantz

The level of coordination between the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decreased under the Trump administration, resulting in disjointed investigatory efforts and misaligned timing in parallel investigations, experts say.

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'Kentucky Hammer' Tries To Control Attys, PI Market, Suit Says

By James Boyle

The principal attorney of personal injury firm Isaacs & Isaacs PCS, who advertises as the "Kentucky Hammer," has been accused by a former attorney at the firm of bullying his employees into signing unfavorable contracts and attempting to monopolize the local personal injury market.

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Baker Donelson Seeks 'No Recovery' Ruling In Ponzi Fallout

By Emily Sawicki

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC on Thursday asked a Mississippi federal court to issue a single check-box form ruling that states the firm does not owe a monetary judgment stemming from a jury's verdict finding it committed negligent supervision amid a timber company's nine-figure Ponzi scheme, which was perpetrated in part by two of the firm's then-partners.

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Calif. Bar Accuses More Attys In Unlicensed Practice Scheme

By Lauren Berg

Three more attorneys at the Los Angeles personal injury firm facing investigation for its involvement in a record $4 billion sex abuse settlement against Los Angeles County are facing disciplinary charges by the State Bar of California, alleging the firm illegally practiced law outside the state.

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NY AG Must Preserve Cohen Docs In Trump's Civil Fraud Case

By Frank G. Runyeon

The New York state trial court judge overseeing President Donald Trump's civil fraud case granted his request to preserve notes from private meetings between state litigators and Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen after the key witness said he felt "pressured" to testify.

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SEC Disgorgement Powers Stay Intact After High Court Fight

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could collect ill-gotten gains from alleged fraudsters without having to identify victims who were financially harmed by the fraud, declining to place further limits on the agency's disgorgement powers six years after it last did so.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Robbins Geller's David Knotts

By Sydney Price

Right after graduating from Cornell University Law School, David Knotts, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, landed at one of the world's largest corporate defense firms.

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