Apollo Abandons $2B Approach For UK Heat Treatment Co.

By Irene Madongo

Private equity giant Apollo confirmed on Friday that it does not intend to make a firm offer for Bodycote in a potential deal that would value the U.K. industrial services company at more than $2 billion.

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3 Firms Guide TPG-Led Group's $2B Echo Realty Grocery Buy

By Al Barbarino

A global consortium led by TPG has agreed to purchase grocery-anchored Echo Realty in a transaction valued at about $2 billion, with plans to expand Echo's leasing and management business while growing acquisition initiatives, according to a Friday deal announcement. 

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Activist Warns SpaceX Investors Over Valuation, Governance

By Al Barbarino

SOC Investment Group is cautioning potential investors in SpaceX's upcoming initial public offering about perceived financial risks, saying it has an inflated valuation and issues over transparency and governance.

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More Skechers Investors Sue Over $9.4B Take-Private Deal

By Bonnie Eslinger

Additional investors have sued over Skechers' $9.4 billion take-private sale to private equity giant 3G Capital, with the latest complaint in Delaware Chancery Court alleging the company's founder and family used their majority voting power to push through an unfair deal.

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Analysis

Justices Signal Openness To Future SEC Disgorgement Cases

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's victory before the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday is likely to give the agency a leg up in settlement negotiations, but attorneys say that some defendants will continue to press judges to review the agency's disgorgement requests based on questions that the high court still hasn't answered.

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Don't Miss It: Hogan Lovells, Cooley Steer Hot Deals

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

A lot can happen in the world of mergers and acquisitions and equity fundraising over the course of a couple of weeks, and it's difficult to keep up with all the deals.

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Defense Tech Biz Valued At $2.2B After $200M Funding Round

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Precision robotics company Allen Control Systems on Friday announced that it has reached a $2.2 billion post-money valuation after closing its latest funding round with $200 million in tow.

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Fla. Judge Tosses Nearly All Counts In PE Fund Dispute

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge tossed most of the counts in a lawsuit brought by two men who alleged their former partner defrauded them in a private equity fund operation, saying the complaint contains repetitive claims and provides little information of wrongdoing. 

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Healthcare Analyst Charged In 'Wall-Crossing' Insider Case

By Pete Brush

A healthcare-sector securities analyst took in $350,000 by trading on insider information he received after being cleared to access company secrets in a process called "wall-crossing," federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Friday.

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DLA Piper Adds Ex-ArentFox Schiff Gov't Contracts Lawyer

By Jack Rodgers

DLA Piper LLP has hired a former ArentFox Schiff LLP government contracts partner who throughout his career has advised on multimillion-dollar deals for corporate, private equity and other clients.

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King & Spalding Continues Funds Growth With Proskauer Duo

By Andrea Keckley

King & Spalding LLP announced Thursday that it has hired two former Proskauer Rose LLP attorneys, one of whom co-led their prior firm's global finance and corporate and fund finance teams.

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Banks Should Reassess Warehouse Lines Amid Credit Stress

Growing stress in private credit markets means banks with warehouse lines to nonbank lenders should inventory exposures, revisit covenants and prepare for tougher regulator scrutiny, as repayment strains and weakening fund liquidity could turn seemingly indirect risks into material compliance concerns, say attorneys at Barack Ferrazzano.

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How End Of SEC 'Gag Rule' Affects Free Speech Certiorari Bid

The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescission of the so-called gag rule, which forbade defendants in settlements from denying the SEC’s allegations, may sway the outcome of a petition to the Supreme Court in a case challenging the rule on First Amendment grounds, say attorneys at Troutman.

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Series

The Biz Court Digest: Shoring Up Corporate Law In Maryland

Launched more than 20 years ago to improve complex corporate adjudication, Maryland's Business and Technology Case Management Program has been a solid success in some areas, but there always is room for improvement, says Bill Krulak at Miles & Stockbridge.

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Gibson Dunn, PE Firm Pay Charity $1M For Knicks VIP Seats

By Dorothy Atkins

Gibson Dunn and private equity firm Veritas Capital split the $1 million winning bid for two "Celebrity Row" seats in a Knicks fundraiser ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, the team's parent company announced Monday.

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Groom Law Joins Firms Matching New Milbank Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

Washington, D.C.-based Groom Law Group is the latest firm to match a new pay scale for associates that was set earlier this month by Milbank LLP, according to media reports Monday.

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9th Circ. Judge Faces Inquiry, Charges After Idaho Altercation

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Monday identified a judicial misconduct complaint against U.S. Circuit Judge Ryan D. Nelson after he was charged with misdemeanor battery stemming from an argument in an Idaho Falls parking lot that ended with him allegedly stomping a man's eyeglasses on the asphalt.

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Analysis

How A Texas Pastor Beat Mark Zuckerberg In Landmark Trial

By Craig Clough

Jurors who reached a landmark $6 million verdict in March finding Meta Platforms Inc. and Google liable for harming a teen's mental health didn't find Mark Zuckerberg credible, an impression that the plaintiff's attorney Mark Lanier credited to putting the well-prepared executive off his guard.

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King & Spalding May Be Sanctioned In $300M Fraud Lawsuit

By Aaron Keller

Two King & Spalding LLP partners face a sanctions hearing in a $300 million fraud lawsuit to determine whether they violated a rule requiring candor to the tribunal by falsely claiming attorneys for other parties were copied on letters to two Connecticut jurists, according to two state court orders.

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Another Lawmaker Joins Impeachment Push For Ga. Judge

By Courtney Bublé

A Republican House member on Monday introduced articles of impeachment for U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia after she was reprimanded for having sex with a police officer in her chambers within earshot of staff.

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Colorado Gov. Signs Bill Banning Fee Sharing With Non-Attys

By Emma Cueto

Colorado has enacted a ban on lawyers sharing fees with nonlawyer-owned firms, such as alternative businesses in Arizona, as well as a prohibition on deals with managed services organizations that involve paying a percentage of firm income.

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Brief

Todd Blanche Officially Nominated To Be AG

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Monday officially nominated Todd Blanche to be attorney general.

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Trump Taps DC Appeals Court Picks To Fill Final Vacancies

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump has announced two picks for the D.C. Court of Appeals, which will fill the remaining vacancies on the District of Columbia's top court.

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Mich. Dems Back Trump Judicial Pick After Blue-Slip Review

By Courtney Bublé

Michigan's Democratic U.S. senators, Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, announced on Monday they've returned their blue slips for the nomination of Michael Martin, a veteran career prosecutor, to be a judge in the Eastern District of Michigan.

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Chapman Law School Dean Says He Was Fired For Being Gay

By Hailey Konnath

The former dean of Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law says the university unlawfully fired him because he's gay and married to a man, according to a complaint filed in California state court.

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NJ Senators Advance Litigation Funding Disclosure Bill

By Carla Baranauckas

New Jersey state senators on Monday advanced legislation that would require disclosure of third-party litigation funding agreements over the objections of trial lawyers and litigation finance representatives, who warned that the bill could discourage funding for plaintiffs involved in costly cases.

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Law Student's Kirk Comment Discipline Stays During Appeal

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge on Monday kept intact a reprimand against a law student who allegedly celebrated following the death of Charlie Kirk during an appeal, saying that the student "again seeks the wrong remedy" in her request.

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100+ Ex-Prosecutors Question Chicago US Atty's Leadership

By Celeste Bott

More than 100 former Illinois federal prosecutors issued a statement Monday saying there's been a "failure of leadership" in the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago and that "once-forbidden political considerations are infecting prosecutorial decisions" in the wake of an Illinois federal judge accusing the office of mishandling grand jury proceedings in a case against six immigration activists.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein's Sentencing Delayed To July

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge has agreed to push SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's sentencing to July, after federal prosecutors speculated that his defense attorneys might come to the previously scheduled June hearing and declare that they aren't ready to proceed.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Elizabeth Cabraser

By Emily Field

When Elizabeth Cabraser began working with Robert Lieff as a clerk at his small practice in Northern California in the late 1970s, fresh out of law school, her job was to help him dispose of his remaining cases so he could retire early and become a winemaker.

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