Supreme Court Shuts Down 'Skinny Label' Drug Patent Suit

By Ryan Davis

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ended a patent suit over Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.'s generic version of a heart drug that uses a so-called skinny label, saying Amarin Pharma Inc. had not plausibly alleged that Hikma encouraged healthcare providers to infringe its patents.

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Justices Say FCC Fines Can Stand Without Jury Trial

By Christopher Cole

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Federal Communications Commission's authority to issue monetary penalties Thursday, knocking down challenges to nearly $200 million in fines against the Big Three wireless carriers for failing to protect consumer data privacy.

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5th Circ. Unblocks Texas App Age-Check Law During Appeal

By Lauren Berg

The Fifth Circuit on Thursday paused an injunction halting a Texas law that requires app store owners to verify users' ages and block minors from downloading apps or making in-app purchases without parental consent, saying the state will likely succeed in showing the district court erred in blocking the law.

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Blanche's AG Bid Could Face Rocky Path In Senate

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will be tapped for the permanent role, but he might not have a smooth path to confirmation.

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Deepfake Mocks Judge Spearheading Judiciary Deepfake Rule

By Jeff Overley

The New York federal judge developing policies for phony audiovisual materials revealed Thursday firsthand experience with the subject: an artificial intelligence video on social media that depicts him as a maniacal Nazi who recently sentenced a private equity executive to prison "for being a Republican."

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Georgia Fed. Judge Facing Impeachment Threat, New DQ Bid

By Emily Johnson

A Georgia federal judge reportedly disciplined for having sexual intercourse in her chambers and attending a political event is facing renewed pressure, as a former UPS employee seeks her disqualification from his dismissed racial discrimination lawsuit and a Georgia congressman drafts articles of impeachment to remove her from the bench.

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Draft House Bill Aims To Set Federal AI Regulatory Standard

By Allison Grande

A bipartisan pair of House members Thursday released a draft proposal to create a federal framework for AI governance that would require large developers to take steps to address and disclose "catastrophic" risks while prohibiting states from crafting or enforcing laws "targeting the development of AI models" for three years.

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NC Justices Launch Commission To Tackle Legal Deserts

By Elizabeth Daley

Forty-eight of North Carolina's 100 counties are classified as legal deserts, and a commission established by the state's supreme court will aim to address this dearth of attorneys at a meeting Friday, the North Carolina Judicial Branch said.

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OCC's Gould Defends Trump EO On Immigrant Bank Scrutiny

By Jon Hill

Republican tensions over President Donald Trump's recent order for greater immigration-related customer scrutiny at banks were on view Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives as one top regulator told a GOP lawmaker that her concerns about its industry impact were "overblown."

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DOJ Says Meta And Others Froze $3.8M Tied To Crypto Fraud

By Sydney Price

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that private sector corporations, including Meta Platforms Inc. and Google LLC, voluntarily froze over $3.8 million in stolen cryptocurrency during an event known as "Disruption Week."

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Conn. Looks To Wipe Out CFTC's Contract Crackdown Suit

By Alex Lawson

Connecticut has taken aim at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, blasting the agency's federal lawsuit to halt the state's efforts to police event contract trading as "wrongheaded."

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Feature

New Conn. Pollution Laws Focus On Releases, Not Transfers

By Aaron Keller

Under new release-based cleanup regulations that took effect March 1, Connecticut now requires pollution to be reported and remediated when it is found, not when property changes hands, a shift lawyers say expands reporting requirements and accelerates cleanup timelines.

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Interior Dept. Must Face Suit Over National Park Sign Removal

By Carolyn Muyskens

Conservation groups have standing to challenge the removal of information about climate change, slavery and Indigenous history from national park sites and can proceed with their lawsuit, a Massachusetts federal judge said Thursday.

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Feds Seek To Vacate Endangered-Lizard Listing To Settle Suit

By Ganesh Setty

Texas and the U.S. Interior Department asked a federal judge to approve a settlement vacating the Biden-era designation of a lizard species as endangered, after Texas argued that the move was unfounded and imperiled energy development around the Permian Basin.

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EPA Unlawfully Delayed Methane Rule, Groups Tell DC Circ.

By Elaine Briseño

Environmental groups told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act by extending without justification compliance deadlines for initiating requirements aimed at reducing methane pollution from the oil and gas sector.

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Fla. High Court Backs Accounting Methods In Utility Rate Hike

By David Minsky

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the state Public Service Commission's order approving accounting mechanisms used by a natural gas company in a rate increase plan, ruling that the regulator wasn't inconsistent with internal policy and within its discretion to approve the measures.

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Ex-FirstEnergy Execs Face New Bribery Charges After Mistrial

By Dorothy Atkins

An Ohio grand jury hit two former FirstEnergy executives Wednesday with a fresh round of corruption charges alleging they bribed a utility regulator to secure a controversial $1.3 billion bailout for two FirstEnergy nuclear plants, beefing up accusations against the executives after a jury deadlocked on the initial charges.

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Feds Tout Medicaid Fraud Crackdown In Ohio, Slam Hawaii

By Dan McKay

The Trump administration on Thursday praised Ohio's fight against Medicaid fraud and said Hawaii was doing too little, as federal officials pushed states to ramp up anti-fraud prosecutions or risk the loss of federal funding.

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Cities, Doctors' Group Seek Bar On ACA Marketplace Reforms

By Gianna Ferrarin

Several cities and groups representing doctors and small businesses urged a Maryland federal court to strike down recently finalized Affordable Care Act marketplace reforms, arguing they will strain community resources by increasing the population of underinsured and uninsured Americans.

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USPTO Mulling Certain Patent Apps After 'Atypical' Case

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is asking why it should keep reviewing patent applications that would not end up giving their owners rights to assert against alleged infringers, following a Federal Circuit decision in what the appellate court called an "atypical" appeal.

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Meta Says 9th Circ. Needn't Revisit Facebook Genocide Ruling

By Mike Curley

Meta Platforms Inc. is fighting a petition from two women asking the Ninth Circuit for a full court rehearing of their suit alleging that Facebook's 2009 algorithms contributed to the destruction of their villages during the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, saying the circuit's interpretation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act doesn't need revisiting.

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Analysis

Generics Cos. Get More Freedom In High Court Patent Ruling

By Ryan Davis

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Thursday shutting down a patent case involving a generic heart drug that uses a so-called skinny label establishes a road map for generics companies to avoid such suits and creates hurdles for branded companies pursuing infringement litigation, attorneys say.

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Trump Era Worse Than McCarthy For Speech, Law Dean Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

The dean of UC Berkeley's law school told an audience of lawyers and artists on Thursday that America is experiencing "an unprecedented assault on the Constitution, on the First Amendment, and on freedom of speech," comparing the country under President Donald Trump unfavorably to the McCarthy era.

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Live Nation Remedies Discovery To Wait On New Trial Motions

By Bryan Koenig

A New York federal judge said that state attorneys general will have to wait on discovery to bolster their bid for a Live Nation Entertainment Inc. breakup, preferring to first tackle the live music giant's bid to upend jury findings faulting the company for monopolizing the industry.

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9th Circ. Backs FMCSA Block On Calif. Bus Driver Break Rules

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday validated the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's conclusion that national hours-of-service regulations trump California's meal and rest break rules for bus drivers, saying the agency was justified in finding that the Golden State rules strain interstate commerce.

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USA Fencing Seeks Fees For 'Meritless' Trans Athlete Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

USA Fencing Association asked a judge to award it and its fellow defendants $92,000 in fees and costs after a suit accusing it of discriminating against women fencers by allowing transgender women to compete was dismissed, arguing the case was "meritless" and meant to harass.

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Calif. And Santa Barbara Beat Land Use Challenge, For Now

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge dismissed, for now, a lawsuit by a developer seeking to build a multifamily housing project near Santa Barbara's Old Mission over a new state law that allegedly singled out the project for additional environmental review, while acknowledging Tuesday there are "serious constitutional questions raised here."

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Colo. OKs Penalties For False Property Valuation Statements

By Sanjay Talwani

Colorado could impose criminal penalties on owners of nonresidential property who willfully give false valuation information to county authorities under legislation signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis.

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Colo. Changes Mobile Home Tax Rules, Drops Exemption Hike

By Sanjay Talwani

Colorado will change processes related to delinquent mobile home property taxes under legislation signed by Gov. Jared Polis but will not boost the exemption for mobile homes as proposed in the original version of the bill.

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House GOP Bill Would Cut DOL Funding, Eliminate OFCCP

By Irene Spezzamonte

The House Appropriations Committee introduced a funding bill Thursday that would cut the U.S. Department of Labor's budget by nearly $4 billion, including a decrease in the Wage and Hour Division's budget and the elimination of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

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Brief

Colorado Enacts PPE, Meat Plant Worker Protections

By MJ Koo

Colorado workers will no longer have to foot the bill for their own personal protective equipment under a new state law that also guarantees restroom breaks for meat processing workers.

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Compass Under Antitrust Probe After $1.6B Anywhere Deal

By Nate Beck

New York state has launched an antitrust investigation into Compass Inc. after the country's biggest real estate brokerage announced last year that it would acquire Anywhere Real Estate, the second-largest brokerage, in a $1.6 billion deal.

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Atkore Inks Additional $50M Deal In PVC Pipe Antitrust Row

By Hailey Konnath

Atkore Inc. has reached another settlement in litigation claiming it conspired with other polyvinyl chloride pipe producers to fix prices, this time agreeing to pay $50 million to a class of end-user plaintiffs, according to a motion for preliminary approval of the deal filed Thursday in Illinois federal court.

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Bolton To Plead Guilty In Classified Info Case

By Jared Foretek

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton will plead guilty to charges that he illegally retained classified national defense information.

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Fed. Circ. Homes In On 'Adherence' In Canvas Duty Appeal

By Jack McLoone

A Federal Circuit panel considered conflicting interpretations of an antidumping order on artist canvases Thursday as it reviewed whether the U.S. Department of Commerce properly found a company's products to be in scope, focusing questions on what it means for canvases to promote "adherence" of paint.

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Feds Appeal Trade Court's Emergency Tariff Refund Order

By Dylan Moroses

The federal government has appealed the U.S. Court of International Trade's order requiring refunds on all duties paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after the U.S. Supreme Court struck them down this year, according to filings in the trade court and Federal Circuit.

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Floor Importers Failed To Fight Fight Duty Rate, Fed. Circ. Told

By Dylan Moroses

Importers appealing a U.S. Court of International Trade ruling sustaining revised antidumping duties on Chinese wood flooring missed their opportunity to challenge the rate reached by the government, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney told the Federal Circuit on Thursday.

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5th Circ. Prods Feds On Controversy In Texas Dream Act Suit

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel pressed Texas and the federal government to explain where the controversy existed in a suit seeking to end a state law allowing in-state tuition for unauthorized immigrants, saying Thursday the parties "desired the same result."

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Judge Pans Feds' Fee Fight In 'Anemic' Detention Defense

By Tom Lotshaw

A Washington federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to pay $41,000 in attorney fees in a habeas case and blasted its contention that a lesser amount was warranted after it failed to meaningfully defend the unlawful detention of an asylum-seeker from Afghanistan.

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DHS Wants Some Migrants To Show Need For Work Permits

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday proposed rolling back work authorization for noncitizens paroled into the country, along with recipients of deferred action and those with final removal orders released on orders of supervision.

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Brief

Calif. Judge Orders DHS To Allow Detention Center Inspection

By Tom Lotshaw

A California federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to allow San Diego County officials to complete a health and safety inspection of the Otay Mesa immigrant detention center.

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NY AG Must Preserve Cohen Docs In Trump's Civil Fraud Case

By Frank G. Runyeon

The New York state trial court judge overseeing President Donald Trump's civil fraud case granted his request to preserve notes from private meetings between state litigators and Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen after the key witness said he felt "pressured" to testify.

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Texas AG Says ActBlue 'Fraud' Outweighs Free-Speech Concern

By Julie Manganis

Counsel for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton urged a skeptical Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday not to block an enforcement action against Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, arguing any "incidental" infringement of the group's First Amendment rights is outweighed by alleged evidence that it violated a Texas consumer protection law.

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Brief

Ex-Newark Deputy Mayor Gets Prison In Bribery Scheme

By Carla Baranauckas

A former Newark deputy mayor was sentenced to just over a year in prison in New Jersey federal court for accepting cash and luxury gifts from two real estate developers involved in redevelopment projects for city-owned properties.

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Yurok Tribe Sues California City Over Sacred Land Authority

By Crystal Owens

The Yurok Tribe is asking a California district court to block the city of Trinidad from asserting jurisdiction over matters affecting an Indigenous village site, arguing that the city exceeded its authority in appointing another tribe to oversee its protection.

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NTIA Chief Presses To Close 'Gap' In Gov't Spectrum Fund

By Christopher Cole

The head of the U.S. Department of Commerce agency that manages federal spectrum pushed Thursday to change a legal provision that could delay the transfer of government-held airwaves to the private sector.

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Legislative Update: Cannabis And Psychedelics Bill Roundup

By Sam Reisman

New York lawmakers gave final approval to legislation designed to curb the flow of illicit product into the state's cannabis market; Iowa's governor signed into law a bill to double the number of licensed medical cannabis dispensaries; and Louisiana legislation allowing terminally ill patients to access medical marijuana became law. Here are the major moves in cannabis and psychedelics legislation from the past week.

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Pot Business Tells 6th Circ. Mich. City Defied Court Order

By Susan Smiley

The clerk of a Michigan city intentionally sabotaged a plan to revitalize a deserted shopping center to prevent cannabis businesses from operating there, a real estate company told a Sixth Circuit panel Thursday in hopes of reviving its suit over the delays and setbacks.

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Jersey City Drops Suit Over Cops' Off-Duty Pot Use

By Jonathan Capriel

Jersey City dropped its federal lawsuit that sought to terminate police officers who used recreational marijuana while off duty after a New Jersey appeals court affirmed the officers' reinstatement, ruling that there was no conflict between federal firearm restrictions for drug users and state law.

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House Speaker's Ex-Chief Of Staff Will Join K&L Gates In DC

By Jack Rodgers

The former chief of staff for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will join K&L Gates LLP's Washington, D.C., office on June 15 as a government affairs counselor, the firm announced Thursday.

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Data Collection Push Signals New Era For Bank Compliance

An executive order pushing for broad bank collection of beneficiary data and a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network geographic targeting order in Minnesota should prompt financial institutions to run checks on customer diligence and privacy controls, as these directives may be part of a wider compliance shift, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

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FTC Sweep Signals Increased 'Made In USA' Claim Scrutiny

After the Federal Trade Commission's recent enforcement sweep targeting allegedly deceptive "Made in USA" claims, companies should expect continued scrutiny of both traditional and digital marketing channels, coupled with sustained focus on supply chain transparency and claim substantiation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Federal Officer Removal After Justices' La. Pollution Ruling

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Chevron USA v. Plaquemines Parish, companies seeking to use federal officer removal to move litigation out of state court should ask three questions, focusing on government contract language, federally directed activity and related conduct, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

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7 Ways Va. Employers Can Prep For New Noncompete Limits

As of July 1, Virginia noncompete agreements with employees fired without "cause" must provide "severance benefits" — but with those key terms undefined, employers should implement several flexible but defensible compliance strategies to limit their exposure once the rule is rolled out, say attorneys at Cooley.

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Series

Competing At Poker Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing poker in male-dominated rooms taught me to treat skepticism as background noise when my opponents seem to underestimate me, to apply pressure when it matters and to adapt without losing strategic discipline — skills that are all indispensable in restructuring and insolvency matters, says Alexis Gambale at Pashman Stein.

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Quinn Emanuel, Texas Boutique Match Milbank Associate Pay

By Kevin Penton

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and a Texas-based litigation boutique are the latest firms to match Milbank LLP's pay hikes for associates, with annual increases of $10,000 to $20,000 that top off at $455,000.

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Goldstein Seeks Sentencing Delay, Citing New Tax Claims

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein renewed his push Wednesday in Maryland federal court for a delayed sentencing, saying prosecutors blindsided his defense by including additional uncharged years of alleged tax avoidance in the government's sentencing memorandum.

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Analysis

'Parallel' DOJ, SEC Investigations Not So Parallel Anymore

By Phillip Bantz

The level of coordination between the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decreased under the Trump administration, resulting in disjointed investigatory efforts and misaligned timing in parallel investigations, experts say.

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'Kentucky Hammer' Tries To Control Attys, PI Market, Suit Says

By James Boyle

The principal attorney of personal injury firm Isaacs & Isaacs PCS, who advertises as the "Kentucky Hammer," has been accused by a former attorney at the firm of bullying his employees into signing unfavorable contracts and attempting to monopolize the local personal injury market.

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Baker Donelson Seeks 'No Recovery' Ruling In Ponzi Fallout

By Emily Sawicki

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC on Thursday asked a Mississippi federal court to issue a single check-box form ruling that states the firm does not owe a monetary judgment stemming from a jury's verdict finding it committed negligent supervision amid a timber company's nine-figure Ponzi scheme, which was perpetrated in part by two of the firm's then-partners.

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Calif. Bar Accuses More Attys In Unlicensed Practice Scheme

By Lauren Berg

Three more attorneys at the Los Angeles personal injury firm facing investigation for its involvement in a record $4 billion sex abuse settlement against Los Angeles County are facing disciplinary charges by the State Bar of California, alleging the firm illegally practiced law outside the state.

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SEC Disgorgement Powers Stay Intact After High Court Fight

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could collect ill-gotten gains from alleged fraudsters without having to identify victims who were financially harmed by the fraud, declining to place further limits on the agency's disgorgement powers six years after it last did so.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Robbins Geller's David Knotts

By Sydney Price

Right after graduating from Cornell University Law School, David Knotts, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, landed at one of the world's largest corporate defense firms.

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