Japan's NTT Docomo Launches Offer Valuing Bank At $5.1B

By Al Barbarino

NTT Docomo, the mobile unit of Japanese telecom giant Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, on Thursday announced a tender offer to acquire shares of SBI Sumishin Net Bank Ltd., valuing the online bank at approximately 739 billion yen ($5.1 billion).

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Simpson Thacher, Skadden, Mayer Brown Guide $4B Rail Deal

By Rae Ann Varona

Wells Fargo, represented by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, unveiled Thursday a $4.4 billion deal to sell its rail assets to a joint venture formed between Mayer Brown LLP-led GATX and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, which is advised by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

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Shell To Boost Stake In Nigerian Oilfield With $510M Deal

By Tom Fish

Energy giant Shell PLC said Thursday that a subsidiary has agreed to pay $510 million to acquire an extra 12.5% stake in an oilfield off Nigeria's coast from a subsidiary of French rival TotalEnergies SE.

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Delaware Justices Asked To Review Corporate Law Rework

By Jeff Montgomery

A biopharmaceutical company stockholder has sought direct certification of a derivative suit to Delaware's Supreme Court, asking for state constitutional review of legislation approved in March that limits avenues for challenges to some corporate acts.

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Grammarly Secures $1B To Expand Reach, Boost AI Platform

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Writing assistance tool provider Grammarly on Thursday revealed it had received a $1 billion investment from private equity shop General Catalyst, which will be used to help boost sales and marketing as well as extend the reach of its new artificial intelligence productivity platform.

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Deals Rumor Mill

Shein Eyes HK Listing After London Snag, Plus More Rumors

By Tom Zanki

Fast-fashion retailer Shein intends to list in Hong Kong after its plans to go public in London fell apart, messaging app Telegram is set to raised $1.7 billion through an upsized bond offering, while Elon Musk's Neuralink Corp. raised $600 million in a deal that values the brain-implant startup at $9 billion.

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Brief

Alston & Bird, Smith Mackinnon Steer $710M Fla. Bank Deal

By Katryna Perera

The holding company for Seacoast National Bank said Thursday that it would acquire Villages Bancorporation Inc., the holding company of Citizens First Bank based in The Villages, Florida, for approximately $710 million in a deal guided by Alston & Bird LLP and Smith Mackinnon PA.

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$45M Settlement, $9.65M Fee OK'd In Del. Cornerstone Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

Stockholders who challenged Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC's $5.8 billion take-private deal for Cornerstone Building Brands in 2022 secured a $45 million settlement Thursday, in a case that once saw a Delaware vice chancellor blast as "farcical" the two companies' early, alleged attempts to camouflage price negotiations to get around a standstill agreement.

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JetBlue Fights American's NEA Suit, Pivots To United Deal

By Linda Chiem

JetBlue has told a Texas federal judge that American Airlines' lawsuit seeking to recover $1 million in alleged unpaid payments related to their now-scrapped codeshare agreement covering New York and Boston is preempted by federal law and potentially conflicts with a Massachusetts federal judge's antitrust ruling.

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NYC Tour Bus Co. Asks Judge To Rethink Nixing Antitrust Suit

By Nadia Dreid

A New York City tour bus operator is once again in the position of trying to convince a federal court to revive the antitrust claims it has brought against several rivals, after a New York federal judge dismissed the second lawsuit the company has filed related to the same dispute.

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Javice Request To Sink Guilty Verdict Turned Aside By Judge

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge declined on Thursday to toss a verdict convicting Frank founder Charlie Javice of tricking JPMorgan Chase into buying the student aid startup for $175 million, saying he properly declined to sever her trial from that of her co-defendant.

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Seyfarth Adds Greenspoon Marder Corporate Atty In LA

By James Mills

Seyfarth Shaw LLP is expanding its West Coast team, bringing in a former Greenspoon Marder LLP transactional attorney as a partner in its Los Angeles office in Century City.

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Google Ad Tech Ruling Creates Antitrust Uncertainty

A Virginia federal court’s recent decision in the Justice Department’s ad tech antitrust case against Google includes two unusual aspects in that it narrowly construed U.S. Supreme Court precedent when rejecting Google's two-sided market argument, and it found the company liable for unlawful tying, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

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Buyer Beware Of Restrictive Covenants In Delaware

Based on recent Delaware Chancery Court opinions rejecting restricted covenants contained in agreements in the sale-of-business context, businesses need to craft narrowly tailored restrictions that have legitimate interests, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

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ESOP Ruling Clarifies Trustees' Role In 3rd-Party Sales

An Illinois federal court's dismissal of a class action related to an employee stock ownership plan in Rush v. GreatBanc demystifies the trustee's role in a sale transaction to a third party by providing commentary on the prudent process and considerations for trustees to weigh before approving a sale, says Katelyn Harrell at BCLP.

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Series

Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.

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Analysis

3 Takeaways From The Judgments On Trump's Law Firm EOs

By Aebra Coe

Three federal judges have now weighed in on President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms, with each ruling in favor of the firms and deeming the orders unconstitutional. Here are three takeaways from the combined 227 pages of those judges’ conclusions.

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DOJ Sidelines ABA From Vetting Trump's Judicial Picks

By Kevin Penton

The Justice Department plans to direct judicial nominees away from a long-standing vetting process by the American Bar Association, labeling it an "activist organization," according to a Thursday letter by Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

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Harvard Taps Paul Weiss High Court Litigator For Board

By Hailey Konnath

Kannon Shanmugam, a Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP partner and veteran U.S. Supreme Court litigator, has been selected to join the Harvard Corp. governing board, according to an announcement made Thursday.

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Analysis

Tariff Rulings Undercut Trump's Trade Authority, Dealmaking

By Dylan Moroses

U.S. trading partners have inadvertently found new leverage in tariff negotiations with the Trump administration after federal courts found several of the president's duties were improperly imposed, raising larger questions about future tariff authorization in the midst of a global trade spat.

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Influencer Hits Akin With Malpractice Suit Over Boxing Deal

By Lynn LaRowe

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and one of its Texas-based partners allegedly failed to understand California law in handling a financial dispute between a social media influencer and the company that hired him to participate in an amateur boxing competition, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in a Lone Star State federal court.

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For-Profit School Sued Over Thompson Coburn Leak Notices

By Emily Sawicki

A for-profit college operator is facing a proposed class action in Alabama federal court, alleging it failed to properly secure its data and notify students in a timely manner that its law firm, Thompson Coburn LLP, had been hit with a cyberattack causing a data breach of sensitive records.

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Fed. Circ. Revives Trump Tariffs As It Weighs Appeal

By Natalie Olivo

The Federal Circuit temporarily reinstated President Donald Trump's global tariffs Thursday, a day after the U.S. Court of International Trade held that an emergency law did not give the president "unbounded authority" to impose the measures.

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Trump Pardons Twice-Convicted Former Conn. Governor

By Brian Steele

President Donald Trump has pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland, a one-time chairman of the Republican Governors Association, who resigned from office in 2004 and served two stints in prison for corruption and lying to federal election officials.

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Investors Allege Manhattan Firm Aided $43M Ponzi Scheme

By Emma Cueto

A pair of investors filed suit against New York-based Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP and two of its former attorneys on Thursday, alleging that the midsize firm and the attorneys, who have since departed for Saul Ewing LLP, lied on behalf of a client who has since been charged with running a $43 million Ponzi scheme.

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Ex-Atty's Death In Colo. Jail Sparks Suit Over Medical Neglect

By Craig Clough

The family of a disbarred attorney imprisoned for felony theft sued three members of the medical staff at the prison where he died, alleging in Colorado federal court Wednesday their neglect resulted in Steven Bachar dying from cardiac arrest after he asked for days for proper medical attention.

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Trump Names 4 Jurists, State AG Official For Fla. Judgeships

By Lynn LaRowe

President Donald Trump this week announced his nominations of four judges and a top official in the Florida Attorney General's Office to fill district judgeships in the Sunshine State's Middle and Southern Districts.

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Calif. Justices Propose Tweaking Rules For Bar Examiners

By Emily Sawicki

The California Supreme Court has proposed changes to the administration of the state's troubled bar exam, circulating a slate of amendments designed to clarify the role of the Committee of Bar Examiners, including spelling out its duty to review and approve all questions used in the exam.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Grant & Eisenhofer's Beth Graham

By Tracey Read

Elizabeth "Beth" Graham, a San Francisco-based principal at Grant & Eisenhofer PA and a member of its executive committee, played a key part in negotiating a $600 million settlement in April 2024 for plaintiffs in litigation arising from the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment, earning her a spot among Law360's 2025 Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar.

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