4 Firms Guide PE-Backed Avocet's $500M Launch, First Deal

By Al Barbarino

A new insurance-focused investment firm called Avocet Partners has been launched with the backing of a $500 million investment from Oaktree Capital Management LP and Lane42 Investment Partners LLC, Avocet announced Thursday. 

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Sidley Guides Diagnostic Imaging Firm Lumexa's $463M IPO

By Abigail Harrison

Private equity-backed diagnostic imaging provider Lumexa Imaging Holdings Inc., led by Sidley Austin LLP, began trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market after pricing a $463 million initial public offering.

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4 Firms Guide As Arcline Exits Medical Tech Co. In $685M Deal

By Al Barbarino

Perimeter Solutions Inc. has agreed to acquire Medical Manufacturing Technologies LLC from Arcline Investment Management for approximately $685 million in cash, including certain tax benefits.

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FTC Challenges $725M Construction Adhesives Deal

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission filed suit Thursday in New York federal court to challenge a $725 million merger combining Loctite with Liquid Nails, arguing that joining "the clear top two brands of construction adhesives" would drive up costs for home building and improvement.

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Smartsheet Investor Sues Over Blackstone, Vista Buyout

By Ben Adlin

A stockholder in a proposed class action against enterprise software maker Smartsheet Inc. accused the company and its former CEO of underselling the company's performance in the lead-up to its $8.4 billion acquisition this year by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners, allowing the sale to move forward at an unfairly low share price.

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9th Circ. Won't Rethink Vegas Hotels' Win In Price-Fixing Suit

By Ben Adlin

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday rejected Las Vegas hotel guests' request for the full appeals court to reconsider a panel's August ruling that threw out their proposed class action accusing the casino-hotel operators of using software to illegally inflate room rates.

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Mass. Lawyer Accused Of Misusing Pot Shop Investor Funds

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts lawyer took a 50.1% stake in a cannabis startup in exchange for what he said was a discount on fees for legal work he would perform, then botched the license application and misused investor funds, a lawsuit filed in state court alleges.

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Chancery OKs $13M Concord SPAC Deal, Delays Fee Ruling

By Jarek Rutz

Delaware Vice Chancellor Paul A. Fioravanti Jr. on Thursday approved a $13.08 million settlement resolving claims that Concord Acquisition Corp.'s insiders tried to divert a $20 million breakup fee to themselves after the SPAC's failed merger with cryptocurrency company Circle, but he deferred ruling on attorney fees until plaintiffs supply additional time records.

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Chancery Skeptical Of B. Riley Investors' Investment Loss Suit

By Jarek Rutz

A vice chancellor in the Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday pressed the lawyer for a B. Riley Financial Inc. stockholder to justify Caremark oversight claims tied to the investment firm's failed bets on the Franchise Group Inc., repeatedly questioning whether the complaint plausibly alleged bad faith board inaction rather than business judgment disagreements.


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Del. Court Mulls Mootness Fee Options In Bolt Suit Settlement

By Jeff Montgomery

A Delaware vice chancellor indicated Thursday that he was leaning toward awarding 10% to 15% of the benefit secured by attorneys who battled for cancellation of $37.5 million in Bolt Financial Group stock used by company controller Ryan Breslow to secure a later defaulted-upon personal loan.

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3 Firms Guide Enova's $369M Grasshopper Bank Acquisition

By Aislinn Keely

Fintech lender Enova International said Thursday it plans to buy digital bank Grasshopper in a $369 million deal guided by Covington & Burling LLP, Squire Patton Boggs LLP and Hogan Lovells LLP.

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Series

Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

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Bonus Spotlight

Pallas Offers Up To $232K In Bonuses To Top US, UK Lawyers

By Tracey Read

Litigation boutique Pallas Partners announced Thursday that it is offering high-performing senior U.S. and U.K. associates and counsel as much as $232,000 in bonuses this year.

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'Totally Unacceptable': Alsup Rips Feds In Student Loan Deal

By Bonnie Eslinger

U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Thursday denied the U.S. Department of Education's request for an 18-month extension to process over 200,000 loan cancellation applications for students claiming they were defrauded by colleges they attended, calling it "totally unacceptable" and setting an April deadline to get the job done.

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White House Pushes Halligan's Confirmation Despite Hurdles

By Courtney Bublé

The White House is forging ahead with its bid to win confirmation of the president's controversial pick for U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after a federal judge ruled she was serving illegally on an interim basis.

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Grassley Urges White House To Step It Up On Noms

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Chuck Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had a message for the White House Thursday: "Get on the ball" with nominations for U.S. attorneys and the judiciary.

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NJ Sens. Urge Cooperation On Next NJ US Attorney Nom

By Courtney Bublé

The New Jersey senators are looking to collaborate with the White House to find a new nominee for U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey after the president's initial pick failed.

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DC Firm Faces Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach

By Andrea Keckley

A Washington, D.C., law firm failed to notify clients of a data breach that compromised their personal information for six months, a proposed class action alleged in federal court on Wednesday.

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Trump Orders Review Of Proxy Advisers' 'Substantial Power'

By Rae Ann Varona

President Donald Trump on Thursday issued an executive order that aims to scrutinize the influence that proxy adviser firms like Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. LLC have, including in relation to diversity, equity and inclusion agendas.

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Feds Reportedly Fail To Reindict NY AG Letitia James, Again

By Lauren Berg

New York Attorney General Letitia James' attorney Thursday celebrated reports that another Virginia federal grand jury declined to reindict her on charges of mortgage fraud, the second jury in a week to reject a case President Donald Trump had pushed prosecutors to pursue against a political opponent he's called "guilty as hell."

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Grants Can Be Axed For Political Reasons, DOJ Atty Says

By Jared Foretek

A Trump administration lawyer said Thursday that the president had blanket authority to cancel every discretionary grant slated for states that broke against him in the general election, and it wouldn't amount to a violation of the Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantee.

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10th Circ. Reveals Judge Contacted Ex-Atty In 'Tiger King' Case

By Ivan Moreno

A Tenth Circuit panel considering a copyright infringement claim against Netflix over a video clip in its popular "Tiger King" docuseries has requested the parties' input on whether a judge on the panel should recuse himself after inadvertently contacting a former attorney of the plaintiff last month on an unrelated legal matter.

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Tracking Challenges To USPTO's Discretion Policy

By Dani Kass

Leaders at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have significantly altered the Patent Trial and Appeal Board playing field since March, making changes to institution reviews that have led to unprecedented levels of petition denials. A steady stream of companies has challenged those changes through mandamus petitions to the Federal Circuit, and here Law360 tracks where those petitions stand.

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SEC Must Provide Names To Compliance Chief In Fraud Suit

By Katryna Perera

An Illinois federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to comply with a chief compliance officer's request for the names of agency staffers familiar with his whistleblower claims as he defends allegations that he played a role in a purportedly fraudulent stock offering by a "sham" energy company.

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