Trump Imposes 25% Tariff On Select Semiconductor Imports

By Dylan Moroses

President Donald Trump signed executive orders Wednesday taking action on semiconductor and mineral imports, choosing to impose a 25% tariff beginning Thursday on a narrow set of chips and their derivative products while emphasizing dealmaking to secure key minerals.

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Swedbank Says DOJ Has Closed AML Probe Without Action

By Jon Hill

Swedbank, one of the biggest banks serving Europe's Baltic region, said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice has released it from a long-running anti-money-laundering-related investigation, removing another U.S. legal cloud hanging over the lender.

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Analysis

'The Work Has Changed': How White-Collar Attys Are Coping

By Phillip Bantz

The Trump administration's dramatic policy enforcement changes over the past year, along with turmoil and turnover at the U.S. Department of Justice, has tilted the white-collar world on its axis, forcing lawyers and firms to abruptly shift focus and expand their practices, sometimes beyond traditional white-collar criminal defense matters.

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ITC To Probe Samsung's Oura Smart Ring Patent Case

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Wednesday said it is opening an investigation into claims made by Samsung that Oura's smart rings infringe four of its patents, part of an ongoing legal battle between the two companies.

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Ford Wants Out Of EV Battery Plant Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Ford Motor Co. urged a Michigan federal court to toss a proposed class and collective action accusing the company of stiffing workers on their full wages at an electric vehicle battery plant in Kentucky, saying the named plaintiff failed to establish Ford was his employer.

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Czech Co. Seeks $873M IPO On Defense Spending Wave

By Nate Beck

Prague-based defense company Czechoslovak Group said Wednesday that it plans to raise some $873 million by listing on Euronext Amsterdam in the coming weeks in an initial public offering following rising defense spending from European and NATO governments.

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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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Diana Urges Talks With Genco After $759M Bid Rejected

By Al Barbarino

Genco Shipping & Trading has rejected an all-cash offer from Diana Shipping to buy the Genco shares it does not already own for an estimated $759 million, suggesting that Genco should instead be the buyer in any combination.

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Swiss Cyber Co. To Buy Quantum Computing Firm For $200M

By Tom Fish

Swiss cybersecurity company WiseKey said Wednesday that a subsidiary has entered into talks to pay approximately $200 million for a majority stake in French quantum computing startup Quobly SAS.

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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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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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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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Tort Report: Los Angeles Tops Annual 'Judicial Hellhole' List

By Y. Peter Kang

Los Angeles' designation by a tort reform group as a top "judicial hellhole," and the latest in a suit over a Kentucky judge shot to death in his own chambers lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Jury Seated In Goldstein Trial, Arguments To Start Thursday

By Jared Foretek

A federal jury was seated in Thomas Goldstein's felony tax and mortgage fraud case Wednesday, but the government will wait until Thursday to begin making its case.

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Calif. Bill Would Ban AI From Replacing Arbitrators' Analysis

By Emily Sawicki

A bill introduced in the California state Senate seeks to regulate attorneys' use of generative artificial intelligence statewide, including banning lawyers from entering private client information into public AI systems and prohibiting arbitrators from utilizing AI in decision-making.

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Sinema Sued Under Rare Law By Her Former Guard's Ex-Wife

By Abigail Harrison

Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, now a Hogan Lovells attorney in Washington, D.C., destroyed a 14-year marriage by sustaining an affair with a former member of her security detail and U.S. Senate staff, according to a lawsuit that hit North Carolina federal court Wednesday.

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DOJ Calls On 3rd Circ. To Rethink Habba DQ Ruling

By Ryan Boysen

In a request for rehearing en banc filed Wednesday, the federal government asked the Third Circuit to reconsider its decision blocking Alina Habba from serving as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, saying the issue is "of exceptional importance."

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Trump Renominates NY, Virginia US Attorneys

By Emily Sawicki

President Donald Trump is taking a second crack at securing his picks for federal prosecutors in districts where he previously failed to obtain U.S. Senate approval, including renominating Lindsey Halligan to the role of U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, weeks after a federal judge ruled she was not lawfully serving.

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Graham Blocks Bill To Repeal DOJ Lawsuit Provision

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., tried and failed Wednesday to expedite the passage of a bill that would repeal a provision of the government funding package enacted in November that allows senators investigated by former special counsel Jack Smith to sue for damages.

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House Blocks GOP Bid To Cut Funds For DC Judges, Courts

By Courtney Bublé

The House on Wednesday failed to approve a Republican-led amendment to a government funding bill that would decrease the funding for D.C. courts and take aim at two federal judges Republicans are looking to impeach.

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