The U.S. Senate on Thursday signed off on two more of President Donald Trump's picks for top financial regulator jobs, confirming Travis Hill and Michael Selig as chairs of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, respectively.
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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Trump's Picks To Lead FDIC, CFTC Win Senate Approval

By Jon Hill

The U.S. Senate on Thursday signed off on two more of President Donald Trump's picks for top financial regulator jobs, confirming Travis Hill and Michael Selig as chairs of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, respectively.

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Feds Urge Justices To Keep SEC Disgorgement Power Intact

By Katryna Perera

The Trump administration has joined the call for the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's disgorgement powers, urging the justices to find that alleged fraudsters should be required to give up illegal profits even if the government can't show investors lost money.

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Compliance Chiefs' Enforcement Risks Didn't Ease Up In 2025

By Sarah Jarvis

The landscape for chief compliance officers' liability might relax a bit in the coming years as experts anticipate the Trump administration will rely less on a "failure to supervise" theory of liability that financial regulators used to target one chief compliance officer this year.

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Chancery Keeps Alive Electric Vehicle Co. SPAC Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

Most counts have gone forward in a Delaware Court of Chancery suit alleging an unfair "blank check" company take-public merger with a since-reorganized electric vehicle company that faced allegedly undisclosed supply chain problems.

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AI Energy Co. Stem Inc. Beats SPAC Merger Investor Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

Artificial intelligence-driven energy storage company Stem Inc. and its brass no longer face investor claims of making misstatements ahead of a $1.35 billion merger with a blank check company after a judge found their latest complaint revisions didn't fix earlier issues.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Analysis

Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

By Ivan Moreno

The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

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CRYPTO & FINTECH

Theta, CEO Accused Of Crypto Fraud In Whistleblower Suits

By Katryna Perera

Two whistleblower complaints have been filed against Sliver VR Technologies, its blockchain subsidiary Theta Labs Inc. and their CEO, alleging they ran pump-and-dump and other fraud schemes to artificially inflate the company's token prices.

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Wis. Tribe Seeks To Block Kalshi Sports Contracts

By Ganesh Setty

A Wisconsin Native American tribe urged a federal court to preliminarily block prediction market platform Kalshi from offering sports event contracts on tribal lands, arguing such contracts threaten its gaming monopoly.

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CIVIL ENFORCEMENT

SEC Settles With Accountant Accused Of Penny Stock Fraud

By Sydney Price

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that a Canadian accountant will pay over $600,000 to end the agency's claims he was part of a scheme that promoted investments involving purported natural resource extractions that he knew were worthless to investors.

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Feature

The Biggest Rulings From A Busy Year At The 1st Circ.

By Chris Villani

The nation's smallest federal appellate panel punched above its weight in 2025, grappling with numerous suits against the Trump administration, high-profile criminal appeals, a $34 million legal fee bid and a hotly contested kickback law.

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WHITE COLLAR

Feds Say PE Firm Founder Funded Wife's Co. With $50M Fraud

By Sydney Price

The managing partner of a New Hampshire-based private equity firm was indicted for allegedly fraudulently soliciting over $50 million in investments for purported health and wellness companies, using the money to support his personal image and wife's skincare brand instead of properly paying investors and employees.

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DELAWARE

Chancery Sr. Magistrate Leaving Bench For Role As Neutral

By Rose Krebs

Delaware's Chancery Court will soon be losing its senior magistrate, as she is returning to private practice to serve as a professional neutral.

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INVESTOR ACTIONS

Sprouts Grocery Brass Face Suit Over Rosy Growth Forecast

By Emilie Ruscoe

The brass of specialty grocery chain Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. face a shareholder derivative suit alleging they hid the risks of faltering consumer spending, and ended up overpaying by $26.5 million on stock buybacks ahead of an October sales growth miss that caused the company's share price to fall.

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Brief

InnovAge Investors Get Final OK For $27M Deal, Atty Fees

By Katryna Perera

A Colorado federal judge has granted final approval to a $27 million settlement between InnovAge Holding Corp., its underwriters and a class of stockholders accusing the senior healthcare company of making misleading statements in an initial public offering that later caused stock prices to tank after a government audit exposed the alleged falsehoods.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Del. Dispatch: Key 2025 Corporate Cases And Trends To Know

The Delaware corporate legal landscape saw notable changes in 2025, spurred by amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law, ubiquitous artificial intelligence fervor, boardroom discussion around DExit, record shareholder activism activity and an arguably more expansive view of potential Caremark liability, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

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2025 Brought A New Paradigm For Federal Banking Regulation

A series of thematic shifts defined banking regulation in 2025, including a fundamental reform of prudential supervision, a strategic easing of capital constraints, steps to streamline merger reviews, and a new framework for fair access and entrants seeking to offer banking services, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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Series

Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Health, Legal Employers Face Unique Online Speech Hurdles

Employers in the legal and healthcare industries must consider distinctive ethical obligations and professional requirements when disciplining employees for social media posts, while anticipating an area of the law in flux as courts seek to balance speech rights and the workplace function, say attorneys at FordHarrison.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen the designer of an 88-facet diamond bring a copyright claim against a luxury watch retailer, collapsed firm Axiom Ince bring legal action against the solicitors' watchdog, and the Post Office hit with compensation claims from two former branch managers over their wrongful convictions during the Horizon information technology scandal.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Five firms lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the D.C. Circuit reinstated an order that blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from freezing grants for climate change projects.

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Florida Supreme Court Approves Limits For Non-Lawyer Roles

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on a rule change to spell out that nonlawyers at a law firm cannot supervise the work of attorneys or perform policymaking duties that affect the practice of law.

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Sidley Adds Williams & Connolly Mass Torts Trial Atty In DC

By Alison Knezevich

A trial attorney who spent more than two decades at Williams & Connolly LLP has moved to Sidley Austin LLP to help lead its product liability and mass torts practice.

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Yale Law School Appoints Deputy Dean To Top Spot

By Brian Steele

The deputy dean of Yale Law School, a career academic and public servant who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, will take over the top deanship position next year, the school announced Friday.

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Federal Courts Not Subject To FOIA, DC Judge Rules

By Jake Maher

The conservative litigation group America First Legal Foundation cannot demand documents from the federal Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Freedom of Information Act because they are not executive agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

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Analysis

More Pardon Seekers Going 'Straight To The White House'

By Phillip Bantz

A nonprofit's unusual plan to make a mass pardon request directly to the Trump administration highlights burgeoning optimism among white collar defendants about their chances of securing relief, and a recognition that the clearest path to clemency no longer runs through the traditional channels.

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Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader's Divergent Paths Led To Deal

By Aebra Coe

The blockbuster combination between Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP announced this past week involves two law firms that have charted very different paths in recent years. Here, a look at what events led up to the firms joining together at the deal table.

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DC Firm Hiring From Government Skyrocketed In 2025

By Alison Knezevich

As federal lawyers left in droves this year amid President Donald Trump's return to the White House, the number of attorneys who moved from government jobs to BigLaw firms in Washington, D.C., doubled in 2025 compared to the last post-presidential election year.

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Keesal Young Drops Part Of Stradley Ronon Poaching Suit

By Madison Arnold

Keesal Young & Logan wants to drop part of its California state court lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP unlawfully recruited 10 of its attorneys.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In one of the stories in corporate legal news from the past week, almost half of the in-house legal professionals in a recent survey said they were either actively or passively seeking new jobs, citing stress, a struggle to build multidisciplinary teams and anxiety around artificial intelligence.

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Gambling Tech Co. Loses Sanction Bid In NJ Defamation Case

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state judge rejected a gambling technology company's bid for sanctions in its defamation suit against investigative firm Black Cube and law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP on Thursday, ruling that Black Cube did not willfully disobey a court discovery order.

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Colo. Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart Retires

By Zach Dupont

After an extended leave of absence this year, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart announced her retirement from the state's high court Friday.

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Justices Let Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit Continue

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration has failed to show it will be irreparably harmed by a Fourth Circuit decision that revived immigration judges' lawsuit challenging restrictions on their ability to speak publicly.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Advisors LLC

Alston & Bird

Arnold & Porter

Ashurst LLP

Atkinson Andelson

Baker Botts

Beasley Allen

Berger Montague

Boardman & Clark

Boies Schiller

Brown & Connery

Brown Law Firm

Brown White & Osborn

Cadwalader Wickersham

Calcagni & Kanefsky

Clyde & Co

Cohen Milstein

Constantine Law Ltd

Cooley LLP

Cravath Swaine

DAC Beachcroft

DLA Piper

David Boies

Davis Polk

Fairfield & Woods

Farrar & Ball

Fennemore

Fieldfisher

Finnegan

Foley Hoag

FordHarrison

Freshfields

Fried Frank

Gateley PLC

Gibson Dunn

Gowling WLG

Grant & Eisenhofer

Gunderson Dettmer

Hagens Berman

Harbottle & Lewis

Hay & Kilner

Haynes Boone

Hodel Wilks

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Hart

Holmes Athey

Holwell Shuster

Jenner & Block

Joffe & Associes

Jones Day

K&L Gates

Kasowitz LLP

Kaster & Lynch

Kaster Lynch

Keesal Young

Keller Postman

Kennedys Law LLP

Keoghs LLP

King & Siegel

Kirkland & Ellis

Korein Tillery

Latham & Watkins

Law Office of Lester J. Marston

Lehotsky Keller

Levi & Korsinsky

Lewis Silkin

Liskow & Lewis

Marino Tortorella

Mayer Brown

McDermott Will & Schulte

McGuireWoods

Michelman & Robinson

Milbank LLP

Nelson Mullins

Nixon Peabody

Orrick Herrington

Paul Hastings

Perkins Coie

Pillsbury Winthrop

Proskauer Rose

Quarles & Brady

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Reinhart Boerner

Richards Layton

Robbins Geller

Robinson Calcagnie

Saul Ewing

Sharpe Pritchard

Sheppard Mullin

Shook Hardy

Shoosmiths LLP

Sidley Austin

Simons Muirhead Burton

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden Arps

Spratt Endicott

Steptoe LLP

Stone King

Stradley Ronon

Stroock & Stroock

Sullivan & Cromwell

Trethowans LLP

Troutman

Vedder Price

Venable LLP

Victor M. Glasberg & Associates

Williams & Connolly

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

Winston & Strawn

Womble Bond

Zimmer Citron

gunnercooke LLP

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Activision Blizzard Inc.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

American Medical Association Inc.

Apple Inc.

Arc Group World Wide Inc.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

B.C. Strategy Ltd.

Balfour Beatty PLC

Barclays PLC

Bauer Inc.

Binance Holdings Ltd.

BlackRock Inc.

Blickstein Group

Bouygues

Brigham Young University

Cato Institute

Citigroup Inc.

Comerica Inc.

Davies Group Ltd.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Equity Services Inc.

Exxon Mobil Corp.

FTI Consulting Inc.

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.

Ford Foundation

Galliford Try

George Washington University

Glass Lewis & Co. LLC

Google LLC

H. Lundbeck A S

HSBC Holdings PLC

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JetBlue Airways Corp.

Johnson & Johnson

KKR & Co. Inc.

Krka dd Novo Mesto

Lex Machina Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

Michelin Group

Microsoft Corp.

Mindbody Inc.

Mithun Inc.

Monsanto Co.

Nasdaq Inc.

Netflix Inc.

New York State Bar Association

New York University

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Playtech PLC

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.

S&P Global Inc.

Solicitors Regulation Authority Ltd.

South Carolina Bar

Spirit Airlines Inc.

Sprouts Farmers Market LLC

Stantec Inc.

Starbucks Corp.

Stem Inc.

Suncor Energy Inc.

The Boeing Co.

The Cigna Group

The Conference Board Inc.

The District of Columbia Bar

The Florida Bar

U.S. Bancorp

Vodafone Group PLC

Walmart Inc.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Yale University

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Colorado Judicial Branch

Colorado Supreme Court

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Judicial Center

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Financial Stability Oversight Council

Florida Supreme Court

Ho-Chunk Nation

International Trade Commission

New Jersey Attorney General's Office

New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Social Security Administration

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Government Accountability Office

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO)

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin