GOP Sens. Aim To Finalize Crypto Market Bill By Sept. 30

By Sarah Jarvis

Republican senators pledged Thursday to finish their digital asset market structure legislation by the end of September, stressing the urgency of delivering on President Donald Trump's aim to make the U.S. the cryptocurrency capital of the world.

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NY Judge Again Rejects Bid To Undo Ripple, SEC Judgment

By Sarah Jarvis

A New York federal judge on Thursday rejected a joint request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs Inc. to undo a permanent injunction and cut down the $125 million fine included in her final judgment in the landmark case.

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CSBS Issues Money Transmitter Guidance on Virtual Currency

By Katryna Perera

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors on Thursday released advisory guidance on how to consider virtual currency when calculating a licensee's tangible net worth under the Money Transmission Modernization Act, the first set of recommendations to be published under the CSBS board of directors' newly established process for issuing nonbinding, advisory guidance.

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SEC Won't Modify More Biden-Era Off-Channel Settlements

By Jon Hill

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declined Thursday to rework another batch of Biden-era settlements tied to so-called off-channel communications on Wall Street, turning down bids that challenged some terms as unfair in light of more lenient later deals.

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Brief

'Pig Butchering' Scam Suit Dismissed For Good

By Katryna Perera

An Alabama resident who sued two cryptocurrency firms and their CEO, accusing them of running a $28 million "pig butchering" scam that defrauded victims by laundering stolen cryptocurrency through a complex network of wallets, has jointly agreed with the defendants to dismiss the suit with prejudice.

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Latham, Weil Lead PE-Backed Jefferson Capital's $150M IPO

By Tom Zanki

Private equity-backed consumer collections firm Jefferson Capital Inc. rallied in debut trading Thursday after pricing a $150 million initial public offering at the low point of its marketed range, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP and underwriters' counsel Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.

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Deals Rumor Mill

Lime Revs Up IPO, Crypto's Prospects Rise, And More Rumors

By Tom Zanki

Uber Technologies Inc.-backed electric bike startup Lime is moving forward on a U.S. initial public offering, while more crypto ventures are seeking public listings and insurance giant BrightHouse inches closer to a sale. Here, Law360 breaks down the notable deal rumors from the past week.

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Comparing Stablecoin Bills From UK, EU, US And Hong Kong

For multinational stablecoin issuers, navigating the differences and similarities among regimes in the U.K., EU, Hong Kong and U.S., which are currently unfolding in several key ways, is critical to achieving scalable, compliant operations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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What Baseball Can Teach Criminal Attys About Rule Of Lenity

Judges tend to assess ambiguous criminal laws not unlike how baseball umpires approach checked swings, so defense attorneys should consider how to best frame their arguments to maximize courts' willingness to invoke the rule of lenity, wherein a tie goes to the defendant, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

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Opinion

Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.

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Series

Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

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McDermott, Schulte Roth Vote To Approve $2.8B Merger

By Kevin Penton

Partners at Schulte Roth & Zabel and McDermott Will & Emery have voted in favor of merging to create the combined firm of McDermott Will & Schulte, the firms announced Thursday.

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Audio

10 Years Later: Obergefell Attorneys, In Their Own Words

By Steven Trader

Marking the decade anniversary of the Obergefell opinion, Law360 asked the attorneys who argued the case at the Supreme Court what it was like being at the center of such a monumental case, how a ruling favoring same-sex marriage changed the legal landscape over the past decade, and the remaining legal appetite to overturn it.

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Kirkland Stops Repping Novartis After Regeneron Sought DQ

By Bryan Koenig

A New York federal judge accepted the withdrawal Thursday of the entire Kirkland & Ellis LLP team that recently joined Novartis Pharma's legal team battling antitrust allegations over the eye medication Eylea, just a week after plaintiff Regeneron Pharmaceuticals sought their disqualification over an "unthinkable" conflict of interest by the lawyers, whose firm previously represented Regeneron.

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Justices Say SC Medicaid Patient Can't Sue To Pick Provider

By Dan McKay and Mark Payne

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a patient can't challenge South Carolina's decision to kick Planned Parenthood from the state Medicaid program because it includes abortions among its services.

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Justices Allow Texas Death Row Inmate's DNA Suit

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said a Texas death row inmate can sue state officials in federal court to try to obtain post-conviction DNA testing, a decision that could open the door to broader challenges to how Texas provides access to forensic evidence after conviction.

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Trump 2.0's First Group Of Judicial Noms Goes To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

The first batch of judicial nominations from President Donald Trump's second term were sent to the Senate floor on Thursday, as they were voted out of committee along party lines.

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Justices Say DHS Orders Final In Withholding-Removal Cases

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court held Thursday that the 30-day statutory deadline for challenging deportation orders in withholding of removal cases starts when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a final administrative review order, not when Board of Immigration Appeals proceedings conclude.

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Ex-Trump Atty Chesebro Disbarred In NY For Fake Elector Plot

By Gina Kim

President Donald Trump's former attorney Kenneth Chesebro, the so-called "architect" in the plot to use fake electors to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results, has been disbarred from practicing law in the state of New York, according to a unanimous decision issued on Thursday. 

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Fla. Lawyers Suspended For Online Criticism Of Judge

By David Minsky

Florida's high court on Thursday approved a one-month suspension for a father-daughter team of attorneys for their online comments criticizing a judge who reversed a $2.75 million jury verdict in favor of a doctor who sued for discrimination, finding that there were also mitigating factors in the attorneys' cases.

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Judge Known For Financial Education Advocacy To Retire

By Madison Arnold

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurel M. Isicoff, who has spent her career promoting financial literacy as a way to avoid financial insolvency, will retire next May after 20 years on the bench in the Southern District of Florida, the Eleventh Circuit confirmed Thursday.

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Brief

New FCC Republican Names Key Legal Staff

By Christopher Cole

Commissioner Olivia Trusty, who was sworn in this week as the newest member of the Federal Communications Commission, announced the hiring of several top aides Thursday.

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