Senate Banking Committee Postpones Crypto Bill Markup

By Aislinn Keely

The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday night postponed a highly anticipated mark-up of a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, hours after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong voiced his opposition to the latest draft, saying his firm would "rather have no bill than a bad bill."

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Analysis

SEC To Lean On Congress As Defense In High Court Case

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court is once again stepping into the debate over when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can demand that alleged fraudsters give up ill-gotten gains, but this time the agency plans to argue a 2021 government spending bill should save it from further limits to its disgorgement powers.

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FTC Says Payments Co. Should Pay $53M For Violating Deal

By Emilie Ruscoe

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a Nevada federal judge to order a payment processor and two of its executives to pay over $52.9 million for consumer relief after allegedly violating terms of its 2015 settlement of the regulator's claims it willfully facilitated payments for bad actors.

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MoFo Taps Ex-FTX GC, Associate Counsel As Fintech Partners

By Michele Gorman

The former top lawyer and another former in-house counsel at imploded cryptocurrency exchange FTX have joined Morrison Foerster LLP as partners in its financial services and fintech industry groups, the firm announced on Wednesday.

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Alternative Asset 401(k) Investing Rule Sent To OMB

By Kellie Mejdrich

The White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm related to fiduciary duties involved with alternative asset investing in 401(k)s, marking the last hurdle before the regulations' release for public comment. 

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Miami Man Admits To $250K Zelle Scam In Connecticut

By Brian Steele

A Florida man has pled guilty to a conspiracy charge in Connecticut federal court over his role in scams that ripped off victims including Zelle users for more than $250,000, prosecutors said Wednesday.

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Crypto Network Cofounder Sued In Del. Over Looting Claims

By Jeff Montgomery

A shareholder and cofounder of cryptocurrency-associated cloud business Cerebellum Networks has sued another cofounder and associates in Delaware's Court of Chancery, claiming systematic diversion of some $58 million in "Cere" token assets through an alleged looting of corporate wallets via secret token dumps and other schemes.

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Lowenstein Sandler Guides Alpaca's $150M Series D

By Grace Dixon

Alpaca, a brokerage technology company, announced Wednesday that it had raised $150 million in a Series D round that valued the company at $1.2 billion in a deal steered by Lowenstein Sandler LLP.

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Venable Hires Financial Services Lawyer In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Venable LLP has announced the addition of a former managing U.S. regulatory counsel from Taptap Send, a financial services company that helps immigrants send money to their friends and families abroad, who joins the team as a counsel in Washington, D.C.

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How 2025 Executive Orders Are Reshaping Consumer Finance

In 2025, President Donald Trump used executive orders to initiate a reversal of policies on fair lending, urge agencies to use enforcement and supervisory tools to police debanking, and reduce consumer financial regulation — and the resulting flurry of deregulatory activity will likely continue in 2026, says Elizabeth Tucci at Goodwin.

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IP Appellate Decisions Show 4 Shifts In 2025

In 2025, intellectual property decisions issued by the Ninth, D.C., and Federal Circuits trended toward tightening doctrinal boundaries, whether to account for technological developments in existing legal regimes, or to refine areas with some ambiguity, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

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Series

NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

In the fourth quarter of last year, New York state enacted several developments that affect financial services regulation and business, cementing upcoming compliance obligations including cybersecurity best practices and retail stores' cash management, says Chris Bonner at Barclay Damon.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Forming Measurable Ties

Relationship-building should begin as early as possible in a law firm merger, as intentional pathways to bringing people together drive collaboration, positive client response, engagements and growth, says Amie Colby at Troutman.

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As Goldstein Trial Begins, Gov't Points To 'Lavish' Lifestyle

By Jared Foretek

An accountant for billionaire investor Alec Gores said that Thomas Goldstein had suggested he open a foreign account for Gores' poker-related transactions or even classify him as a professional player for tax purposes, although Gores was just getting started in the high-stakes poker world.

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Simpson Thacher Offers Stipend To Lure Summer Associates

By Tracey Read

In an effort for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to attract top students who want to pursue public interest work, the firm said it will pay a stipend of $42,500 for the 2026-2027 cycle for those who opt to spend their 1L summer in a qualifying public service, government, academic, in-house legal or nonprofit role.

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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.

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Judiciary AI Rule Draws Fire As Judges Get Deepfakes Survey

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary policymakers heard extensive concerns Thursday regarding high-profile plans to formally screen evidence generated with artificial intelligence, and they set the stage for more feedback by preparing an AI survey for every federal trial judge.

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ICE Detention Facilities Nearly Doubled Last Year, Report Says

By Tom Lotshaw

An American Immigration Council report said the Trump administration detained record numbers of noncitizens last year, most without criminal records, and held them in a rapidly expanding network of facilities that could soon rival the federal criminal prison system.

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Fla. High Court Opens Door To Non-ABA Accrediting Entities

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday changed the bar exam admission requirements to allow graduates of law schools accredited by entities other than the American Bar Association to sit for the Florida bar exam.

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5th Circ. Revives Allstate's Fraud Suit Over Car Crash Billing

By Gina Kim

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived Allstate's racketeering suit alleging doctors and personal injury lawyers unleashed a barrage of unnecessary treatments for car accident patients and caused Allstate to pay $4.7 million in claims, finding the insurer sufficiently pled details about the conspiracy and specifics surrounding each allegedly fake medical billing.

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Sens. Advance Indiana Judge Nominee Grilled Over Sermons

By Courtney Bublé

A federal judicial nominee for Indiana who came under scrutiny by a Republican senator for his past sermons as an ordained elder was voted out of committee Thursday alongside five other judicial nominees.

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Trump US Atty Pick In NM Bumped To First Assistant

By Emily Sawicki

A New Mexico federal judge has ruled the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for New Mexico is not validly serving in the role but declined to disqualify the prosecutor from a slate of cases pending in the district, instead determining the lawyer may continue to work in the federal prosecutor's office as first assistant.

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Wash. Judges To Pick US Atty As Floyd's Term Set To Expire

By Gina Kim

The chief judge for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday announced the court's intent to select a U.S. attorney to serve on a temporary basis if President Donald Trump's pick, Charles Neil Floyd, who has been serving on an interim basis, isn't confirmed by the Senate by next month. 

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