SEC Proposes Long-Awaited Crypto Offering Exemptions

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday unveiled plans to exempt some cryptocurrency offerings from its registration requirements and to create a safe harbor for some projects to eventually shed securities law obligations altogether.

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10th Circ. Revisits Banks' Challenge To Colo. Opt-Out Law

By Rachel Konieczny

The Tenth Circuit on Tuesday reconsidered a challenge from banking groups to a Colorado law intended to curb high-cost lending by out-of-state banks, pressing counsel on the practicality of Colorado's law and the history of a federal interest rate law.

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Coinbase Must Face Investor Suit Over SEC, Bankruptcy Risks

By Jessica Corso

A New Jersey federal judge on Tuesday denied Coinbase's latest bid to escape a proposed class action accusing it of misleading investors about risks tied to regulatory action and potential bankruptcy, ruling that it is "not difficult to infer" that the company and its leadership were financially motivated to deceive shareholders.

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Nexo Sanctioned Over Purge Of Emails, Slack Messages

By Katryna Perera

Nexo Capital Inc. has been sanctioned and ordered to pay roughly $439,000 in attorney fees by a federal magistrate judge in California who found that the crypto lender intentionally destroyed electronic evidence relevant to a customer's suit about allegedly forced liquidations of his crypto assets.

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BakerHostetler Launches Crypto Asset Disputes Team

By Rose Krebs

BakerHostetler announced Tuesday that it has a new crypto asset disputes team that will focus on advising clients about matters involving crypto assets, blockchain technology and emerging digital markets.

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Rising Star: Cleary's Brandon Hammer

By Aislinn Keely

Brandon Hammer of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP advised Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. through the launch of a groundbreaking securities tokenization service, earning him a spot among the fintech practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

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Kalshi Invades NM Tribes' Exclusive Gaming Turf, Amici Say

By Crystal Owens

The first tribes to sue Kalshi alleging it violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act are backing four New Mexico Indigenous nations' efforts to block the prediction market from offering sports-related contracts on their lands, contending U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1832 recognize Indian political independence and self-governance.

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Feds Bring New Charges Over $3.4B Iran-Backed Cybertheft

By Stewart Bishop

Manhattan federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced new charges against a group of Iranians accused of running a global, state-backed hacking campaign against private companies, government agencies and universities, in a wide-ranging cybertheft conspiracy that stole at least $3.4 billion in academic data and intellectual property.

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Texas Court Wipes Ex-GloriFi CEO's Claims Against Investor

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court tossed counterclaims brought by the former CEO of defunct conservative fintech company GloriFi against an erstwhile investor, saying he failed to show the investor defamed him.

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Intuit Hid AI, Mailchimp Woes From Investors, Suit Says

By Sydney Price

TurboTax distributor Intuit Inc. has been hit with a shareholder's proposed class action accusing it of falsely telling investors that it was well-positioned to integrate generative artificial intelligence tools even though the technology was actually diminishing Intuit's primary businesses.

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Orrick, Kirkland Steer Weave's $650M Take-Private

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Patient engagement platform and payment services company Weave Communications Inc., led by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, on Tuesday revealed it will become a private company after it was acquired by Kirkland & Ellis LLP-advised private equity shop Francisco Partners in a $650 million deal.

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Upping Fed, FDIC's Insider Loan Cap May Ease Bank Burdens

Coordinated Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Federal Reserve proposals to raise the 1970s-era cap for bank executives borrowing from their institutions represent a long-needed regulatory recalibration that would lighten compliance obligations caused by the outdated ceiling without diminishing the original protections against conflicts of interest, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

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Ex-Loeb & Loeb RE Pro Joins Greenberg Traurig In NYC

By Isaac Monterose

Greenberg Traurig LLP has hired former Loeb & Loeb LLP real estate partner Brian L. Helweil as a shareholder for its global real estate practice team in New York City, the firm has announced.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Seeks Release During Appeal

By Rachel Rippetoe

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein on Tuesday asked to be released from federal custody while he appeals his 12 tax and mortgage fraud convictions and a six-year prison sentence, saying he is not a flight risk and it would be a "grave injustice" for him to begin a sentence he believes will eventually get axed.

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Q&A

Nutter Leader Eyes Fla. Growth, AI-Driven Billing Shift

By Chris Villani

After overseeing Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP's expansion into New York City, California and Hawaii, co-managing partner Michael Scott is setting his sights on extending the firm's footprint into Florida within the next year and leveraging the power of artificial intelligence to lower clients' bills.

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Atty, Ex-Mentor Settle After Harassment, Bias Suit Dismissed

By Melanie Dorsey

An attorney whose sexual harassment and employment discrimination suit against her former mentor was thrown out last month for repeated discovery violations has reached a settlement resolving the remaining claims and counterclaims in the case.

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Atty, Son Charged In Probe Of Alleged Penn State Drug Ring

By Rose Krebs

An equity partner based in Meyer Darragh Buckler Bebenek & Eck PLLC's Pittsburgh office has been charged with tampering with evidence and obstructing an investigation in connection with an alleged cocaine ring at Penn State University that allegedly involved his son, according to news reports.

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Fed. Circ. Rejects Patent Marking Immunity For NPEs

By Dani Kass

Nonpracticing entities hoping for presuit damages can't get out of Patent Act requirements to mark products with patent information just because licensees don't believe their products infringe, the Federal Circuit held Wednesday.

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Jackson Walker Says US Trustee Can't Claw Back Legal Fees

By Clara Geoghegan

Jackson Walker said this week that the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog is beyond the bounds of its authority in a yearslong effort to force the firm to return millions of dollars in legal fees over an undisclosed relationship between a former partner and a Texas bankruptcy judge.

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Ex-US Attys Protest Trump's Swift Firing Of Rogoff In Seattle

By Rachel Riley

Thirty former U.S. attorneys backed Roger Rogoff's bid for reinstatement as Seattle's top federal prosecutor after President Donald Trump fired him on the heels of his court-ordered appointment, arguing Tuesday that Trump is trying to "sidestep the Senate's advice-and-consent role and sideline the judiciary" by letting unappointed individuals play such roles.

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Sinema Says Brief Signal Chat Can't Anchor NC Affair Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A single exchange on the encrypted messaging app Signal became the focal point of former Arizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's testimony on Wednesday as she sought to convince a North Carolina federal judge that she cannot be hauled into court in the Tar Heel state over an affair — which she declined to characterize as a "passionate" romance — she had with her married security guard.

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Polsinelli Can't Rep Doctor In 'Bad Faith' IP Suits, Cos. Say

By Lauren Berg

Two medical device companies suing Polsinelli PC and its longtime client, a patent-holding doctor, for allegedly pursuing "bad faith" infringement claims asked federal courts in Tennessee and Mississippi to disqualify the firm from defending the doctor in the lawsuits, citing their "diverging interests and liabilities."

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Davis Wright Vets Scolded: Don't Tell Foes 'How To Run Firm'

By Jeff Overley

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP veterans have failed to dodge six-figure sanctions in a prominent discovery donnybrook, and a California magistrate judge added invective to the financial injury, lambasting "troubling" omissions in case citations and heavy-handed "nitpicking" akin to commandeering an adversary's law firm.

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USPTO Says Patent Atty's Suit Shouldn't Stop Discipline Case

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said an Ohio federal court shouldn't pause professional discipline proceedings against an attorney while he sues the agency, saying he's likely to fail with his suit challenging the fact that a judge from another agency is overseeing his discipline case.

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