Feds Scrub 'Reputation Risk' From Raft Of Banking Guidance

By Jon Hill

Federal banking regulators said Tuesday that they are reissuing a slew of longstanding guidance documents to take out mentions of so-called reputation risk, the latest move in the Trump administration's push to eliminate bank examiners' use of the concept.

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Iran's Biggest Crypto Exchange Hit With US Sanctions

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iran's largest crypto exchange and three other crypto platforms Tuesday for allegedly aiding the Iranian government and evading sanctions amid the Trump administration's efforts to put economic pressure on Iran.

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Texas Crypto Group Ordered To Halt Unregistered Token Sales

By Sydney Price

The Texas State Securities Board announced it has entered an emergency order to halt a purported property group, its principals and an associated Texas resident from offering and selling unregistered and fraudulent tokenized real estate investments, saying the conduct "threatens immediate and irreparable public harm."

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SEC Floats Strategic Plan For Next Four Years

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday said it plans to reevaluate how administrative proceedings operate and to write regulations governing the cryptocurrency industry, calling for public feedback as it put forth Chairman Paul Atkins' vision for running the agency over the next four years. 

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NY, EU Banking Agencies To Share Stablecoin Oversight Info

By Aislinn Keely

New York's Department of Financial Services and the European Banking Authority said Tuesday that they plan to share information about their respective supervision, monitoring and investigations of stablecoin issuers and markets under a new memorandum of understanding.

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Aspiration Co-Founder Gets 14 Yrs In $248M Fraud Scheme

By Gina Kim

Joseph Sanberg, co-founder of the now defunct, celebrity-backed and sustainability-focused financial services company Aspiration Partners, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison by a California federal judge, stemming from a years-long scheme where he defrauded more than 130 victims of at least $248 million. 

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Kalshi Looks To Halt Minnesota Sports Prediction Market Ban

By Alex Lawson

Kalshi has moved to freeze the enforcement of a new Minnesota law barring prediction markets, telling a federal judge the company will face "acute" harm if it is unable to offer sports event contracts on its online platform.

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OneMain Says States' Loan Add-On Suit Retreads CFPB Order

By Jon Hill

Installment lender OneMain has urged a New York federal court to dismiss a multistate lawsuit over its loan add-on product sales, arguing the case improperly seeks to punish it for practices either already addressed in or required by a prior Consumer Financial Protection Bureau order.

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Entrata Sued Over Auto-Enroll Credit Reporting 'Junk Fees'

By Nate Beck

A proposed class of tenants argued in a Colorado federal lawsuit that software company Entrata paid kickbacks to property management companies that enticed residents to pay monthly fees for a credit monitoring service called RentPlus.

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Digital Lender Forbright Launches Plans For $150M IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Middle-market commercial lending digital bank Forbright on Tuesday launched plans to go public through an estimated $150 million initial public offering steered by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.

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Opinion

SEC Must Clarify Crypto Guidance For Investment Advisers

Until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission clarifies a conundrum created by recently issued guidance that classifies crypto tokens as digital commodities rather than securities, every registered investment adviser managing a digital commodity portfolio will be simultaneously compliant and exposed, says Nicole Trudeau at Wave Digital Assets.

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Operational AI Washing: Dismantling Claims Before Discovery

Operational AI washing claims can be rebuffed before discovery extracts their true costs by turning the documentary record established in earnings calls and public disclosures into a layered defense, which can exploit the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act’s heightened pleading standards, say attorneys at Akerman.

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Opinion

Attys Should Aid Clients' AI Use While Safeguarding Privilege

Until legislatures enact laws expressly extending privilege to artificial intelligence queries, lawyers should try to shield their clients' case-related use of AI tools by offering them dedicated access on firms' enterprise accounts and utilizing a long-standing privilege precedent, says Joseph Rillotta at Meadows Collier.

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FinCEN World Cup Warning Raises Trafficking Risks For Cos.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent warning of human trafficking risks during the World Cup games signals heightened scrutiny ahead of the upcoming tournament, and suggests regulators increasingly expect businesses beyond financial institutions to maintain effective trafficking-risk controls, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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2 'Rocket Dockets' And The Rules That Propel Them

The fastest civil trial courts in the country are currently in the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of Florida, and their chief judges provide insights into the court rules that keep them ahead, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

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Milbank Raises Associate Pay Scale, Topping Out At $455K

By Kevin Penton

Milbank LLP is increasing associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually, with new salary floors of $235,000 and pay reaching as high as $455,000 for more experienced attorneys, according to the firm.

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BigLaw Could Tap PE Money For Advantage In Talent Wars

By Ryan Boysen

BigLaw firms may soon partner with private equity to gain an edge in the talent wars, potentially reshaping the U.S. legal industry despite fears that the shift could corrode firms' cultures.

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Fox Rothschild Atty Censured Over $2.7M In Unapproved Fees

By Adrian Cruz

A New Jersey-based bankruptcy partner at Fox Rothschild LLP has been censured by the Supreme Court of New Jersey after she was found to have wrongfully disbursed over $2.7 million in fees to her former firms without approval.

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Chicago US Atty Report Denies Grand Jury Misconduct Claim

By Lauraann Wood

The Northern District of Illinois' top prosecutor sought to offer clarity Tuesday surrounding accusations of his possible interference with grand jury proceedings that preceded a criminal conspiracy indictment against six protesters, releasing a special report one defendant's attorney says raises more questions than it answers.

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7th Circ. Fines Deported Migrant's Atty For ChatGPT Misuse

By Emily Sawicki

The Seventh Circuit has rejected a Mexican citizen's petition challenging an immigration court's removal order on the merits, while sanctioning his attorney $5,000 for filing two legal briefs "riddled with" fabricated quotes and case citations hallucinated by ChatGPT.

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Exclusive

Cooley Launches Global Hearings Practice As Scrutiny Rises

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Cooley LLP has established a global hearings and inquiries practice to help companies prepare comprehensive strategies as they face increased regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions, the firm exclusively told Law360 on Tuesday.

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Ex-McDermott, Venable Attys Sued Over Estate's $40M Tax Bill

By Dorothy Atkins

The estate of a successful dentist who died in 2017 sued McDermott Will & Schulte LLP, Venable LLP and two attorneys in California state court Monday, alleging they gave negligent legal advice in planning the dentist's estate causing it to owe the IRS $40 million in taxes and penalties.

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Dem AGs Slam Climate Science Removal From Judicial Guide

By Jack Karp

The federal judiciary's decision to strike a chapter on climate change from its guide to scientific evidence is misguided, partisan and "will impede the judiciary's ability to pursue truth," according to a Tuesday letter from nearly two dozen Democratic state attorneys general.

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Bipartisan Bill Would Modernize Court Records Systems

By Matt Perez

U.S. Sens. John Kennedy, R-La., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Tuesday jointly introduced the Open Courts Act, which they said would modernize the court records systems PACER and CM/ECF.

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Feature

AI Software Contracts Need Careful Review, Attys Are Warned

By Aaron Keller

Attorneys considering adopting artificial intelligence tools must ensure software contracts comply with data privacy laws, and firms should not be afraid to quiz software sales representatives, including by asking how long the software retains data, representatives from two law firms told Connecticut lawyers Tuesday.

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Analysis

Attys Worried Where ICE Will Draw Line In Asylum Crackdown

By Britain Eakin

Immigration attorneys are bracing for heightened scrutiny after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would crack down on attorneys filing fraudulent asylum claims, expressing fears that the agency could blur the line between fraud and legitimate advocacy.

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DOJ Won't Move Forward With $1.8B Fund, Blanche Confirms

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday, "we're not moving forward" with the controversial $1.8 billion settlement fund.

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Senate Confirms Montana, Kansas Judges

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate confirmed judges Tuesday for Montana and Kansas, one of whom was the first judicial nominee of the second Trump administration to receive a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Arias Sanguinetti's Mike Arias

By Joyce Hanson

When she was team captain with a track and field scholarship at the University of Southern California in the 1990s, Nicole Haynes was in good health and rarely had to see a doctor. So when she got a bad stomachache and her friends encouraged her to visit the USC health center, Haynes said she didn't have the right words to explain why her experience with Dr. George Tyndall had felt so invasive and wrong.

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