Paul Hastings, Kirkland Guide Proofpoint's $6.3B Varonis Buy

By Al Barbarino

Thoma Bravo portfolio company Proofpoint has agreed to acquire data security software provider Varonis Systems Inc. in an all-cash deal valued at about $6.3 billion, with Paul Hastings LLP advising Varonis and Kirkland & Ellis LLP representing Proofpoint.

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Quarterly IPO Volume Fell Short Of Expectations Amid Delays

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Third-quarter capital markets activity in the U.S. proved to be robust with a solid string of initial public offerings, but capital markets attorneys say it did not fully meet expectations due to delays of notable IPOs caused by market uncertainty.

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Analysis

Expect These Post-Midterm Probes If The Hill Changes Hands

By Phillip Bantz

The top investigative priorities of a potentially Democratic-controlled Congress are coming into sharper focus with the midterms weeks away and could impact an array of companies and individuals in technology, finance and energy, experts say.

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Analysis

11th Circ. ERISA Exhaustion Shift Furthers Textualist Trend

By Kellie Mejdrich

An Eleventh Circuit decision overruling decades-old precedent that took a strict view of when federal benefits law claims could be brought in court continues a trend of courts excising judicially imposed rules not contained in statutory text, attorneys say.

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Analysis

Could A Criminal Sentencing Case Upend Loper Bright?

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is concerned that a ruling instructing trial courts to defer to the U.S. Sentencing Commission's interpretation of federal sentencing guidelines could blow a "pretty big hole" in the court's recent rejection of deference doctrines. His colleagues, however, don't appear as perturbed.

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Del. High Court Backs Gard In Litigation Funding Fight

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Supreme Court has upheld a Chancery Court ruling rejecting claims that hedge fund manager Casey Gard and affiliates improperly shifted a litigation-finance business away from a company he co-owned with attorney Brett K. Findler, ending Findler's challenge to liability findings from a closely watched business breakup.

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Nikola Ex-CEO Says FBI Agent's Tweets Spooked Witness

By Emily Lever

Trevor Milton, the founder and former CEO of Nikola Corp., has sued an FBI agent and a witness who testified against him at his New York federal court trial, accusing them of working together in a coordinated campaign to intimidate a witness in Milton's defense via personal attacks on social media.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Freshfields, Morgan Lewis

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, Penske Automotive Group Inc. agrees to be taken private by Motown Acquisition Corp., a GTCR-led group of private investment firms acquires software firm CCC Intelligent Solutions Holdings Inc. and a Steris PLC subsidiary buys specialty surgical products business Xodus Medical Inc.

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City Therapeutics' Upsized $200M IPO Joins Biotech Wave

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Blood clot-focused biotechnology firm City Therapeutics began trading publicly Friday after raising $200 million in its upsized initial public offering steered by Goodwin Procter LLP and Cooley LLP, joining a wave of biotechnology public listings over the past few weeks.

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IP Group's Microbiotica Raises £36M For Colitis Treatment

By Dawood Fakhir

IP Group said Friday that its portfolio company Microbiotica Ltd. has raised £36 million ($48 million) to develop a treatment for ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

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Greenberg Traurig Hires Sidley Private Funds Atty In Chicago

By Jack Rodgers

Greenberg Traurig LLP has hired a former Sidley Austin LLP counsel, who spent nearly a decade before her last law firm position working with Balyasny Asset Management in a range of related legal roles, the firm recently announced.

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Why The SEC Proposed Rescinding Its 'Pay-To-Play' Rule

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent proposal to nix its pay-to-play rule governing political contributions by investment advisers follows years of industry advocacy and commissioner criticism that it suppresses political speech and affects hiring, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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DOJ Or Trump: Judge Asks Who Is Deciding Golf Course Plan

By Jared Foretek

Trump administration lawyers continued to insist at a hearing Monday there is no final plan to remake East Potomac Golf Course, and they changed their tune about whether one would require environmental review, despite new social media posts from the president announcing that work on the overhaul would begin "immediately."

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Wood Smith, Charlesbank Capital Ink Pioneering MSO Deal

By Emma Cueto

Insurance defense firm Wood Smith Henning & Berman has inked a deal to take investment from middle market investment firm Charlesbank Capital Partners via a managed services organization, according to an announcement Monday, the largest U.S. firm to announce such a move.

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Brief

Arizona Court Approves State's First Non-ABA Law School

By Emma Cueto

The Arizona Supreme Court has approved the state's first law school not accredited by the American Bar Association, citing the need to increase the number of lawyers per capita in the state and provide more affordable options for legal education.

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Court Denies Gov't Bid To DQ Susman Godfrey In ABA's Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has denied the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to disqualify Susman Godfrey LLP from representing the American Bar Association in its lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's executive orders against multiple major law firms. 

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Trump Taps DOJ Official, Federal Prosecutor For Judgeships

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated a senior U.S. Department of Justice attorney for a Nebraska federal judgeship and an assistant U.S. attorney for a seat on the Northern District of Indiana bench.

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Rogoff Tells 9th Circ. His Firing Furthers Trump's 'Evil' Plan

By Ben Adlin

Roger Rogoff urged the Ninth Circuit to affirm a lower judge's order reinstating him as Seattle's top federal prosecutor, asserting in a filing Friday that he's entitled to keep the court-appointed U.S. attorney position until President Donald Trump fills the role with a Senate-confirmed nominee.

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Proskauer Says It Didn't Drop Reddit To Defend Perplexity

By Lauren Berg

Proskauer Rose LLP and Perplexity AI are urging a New York federal judge to allow the law firm to represent the artificial intelligence company in Reddit's suit over alleged data scraping, balking at the social media platform's argument that its one-time law firm can't represent its current opponent.

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What The Justices Won't Hear: A Roundup Of Cert Denials

By Taylor Bowie

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up cases from Google, a U.S. Navy contractor, and other appellate hopefuls on Monday, according to an order list.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week blocked Cloudflare Inc. from completing a restructuring meant to preserve its founders' voting control, while Tower Semiconductor Ltd. accused Intel Corp. of backing out of a semiconductor manufacturing agreement and social media company Triller Group Inc. challenged its removal from Nasdaq.

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