SEC Sues Proxy Adviser Firm ISS For Client Voting Records

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a Pennsylvania federal court to enforce a subpoena against Institutional Shareholder Services, alleging the proxy advisory firm is improperly withholding information about the voting advice ISS gives institutional investors due to fears of retaliation.

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DC Circ. Seems To Back SEC FOIA Withholding In Data Breach

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. Circuit panel appeared skeptical Tuesday that a civil liberties group should get access to the identities and internal documents of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officials involved in a 2022 "control deficiency" that resulted in the dismissals of over 40 administrative cases.

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Freddie Mac Asks 6th Circ. To Rehear Financial Crisis Case

By Jessica Corso

Freddie Mac is urging the Sixth Circuit to reconsider its recent revival of a shareholder lawsuit dating to the 2008 financial crisis, arguing an appellate panel "usurped" the lower court's authority by allowing investors to argue for class certification a third time.

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Venable Adds Ex-SEC Commissioner Crenshaw To DC Office

By Jack Rodgers

Venable LLP announced Tuesday it has hired Caroline Crenshaw, who was the lone Democratic member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission until her term ended in January, as a partner in the firm's Washington office.

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Binance Seeks Dismissal Of Terrorist Attack Victims' Suit

By Madeline Lyskawa

Binance and its former CEO pushed a federal judge in Manhattan to dismiss a lawsuit claiming the cryptocurrency exchange aided and abetted 30 terrorist attacks, saying the plaintiffs still couldn't plausibly allege that the company provided knowing and substantial assistance to foreign terrorist organizations.

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Underdog Sues 5 States To Shield Sports Wagers

By Aislinn Keely

Prediction market operator Underdog sued five states Tuesday to head off potential gambling enforcement actions over its sports event contracts, becoming the latest firm to argue its federally-regulated platform is beyond the reach of state gaming laws.

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10th Circ. Won't Block Utah Enforcement Amid Kalshi Appeal

By Aislinn Keely

A pair of Tenth Circuit judges on Tuesday declined to shield Kalshi from Utah gaming regulators while it challenges a lower court ruling that cleared the way for the state to enforce its gambling laws against the firm's sports event contracts.

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Gaming Group Says CFTC Can't Override NY's Gambling Laws

By Elaine Briseño

The American Gaming Association has pushed back against efforts by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to permanently bar New York from cracking down on prediction markets, arguing that states are responsible for tailoring sports betting rules for their communities.

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Brief

Ex-Mass. Town Official To Plead Guilty To Pot Investor Fraud

By Julie Manganis

A former elected official in the central Massachusetts town of Grafton has agreed to plead guilty to misleading investors into giving him nearly $500,000 for stakes in two cannabis businesses he planned to open, then using the funds to pay off debts for two other businesses, according to a Tuesday filing.

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Brief

Quantitative Trader's Trade Secret Trial Pushed To November

By Elliot Weld

A trial that was set to begin Sept. 14 in a case of a quantitative trader accused of stealing his former employer's trade secrets was pushed to November after a New York federal judge ruled Tuesday that the court and parties needed more time to litigate the admissibility of a defense witness.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week saw disputes involving a former NFL star and a $2.5 million solar venture, Morgan Stanley's role in Fox Corp.'s planned $22 billion acquisition of Roku Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s effort to pause more than $20 million in legal-fee payments to former Frank executives.

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Parler Legal Dustup Revealed Rifts, Jury Hears From Ex-CEO

By Cara Salvatore

Parler's ousted CEO testified Tuesday in his trial against former partner Rebekah Mercer that in 2020, her lawyers' pushback on restructuring provisions recommended by Parler's lawyers was an early clue that "something didn't seem right."

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Wachtell, Simpson Thacher Guide $3.9B EverBank, WaFd Deal

By Al Barbarino

EverBank Financial Corp. and WaFd Inc. have agreed to combine through a $3.9 billion reverse merger, in a deal steered by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. 

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SEC's Adit Case Maps 5 Fault Lines In Pre-IPO Funds

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent case brought against Adit Ventures Management offers fund counsel, limited partners and private market intermediaries a useful example of where a pre-initial public offering vehicle can fail, and how familiar fiduciary and anti-fraud principles apply, says Ben Dubin at VC Expert Services.

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DOJ Says Berkeley Law Is Racially Biased In Admissions

By Craig Clough

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education said Wednesday that the University of California, Berkeley School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants in its 2024 and 2025 admissions cycles by preferring Black applicants because of their race, violating federal civil rights law and recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

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Murdaugh Murder Retrial Venue Shift Fueled By Bias Concern

By Emily Sawicki

A South Carolina trial court has approved a request to move Alex Murdaugh's murder retrial to a different county, finding the disgraced attorney could not expect a fair trial in Colleton County, where his wife and son were killed and where he was previously convicted for the crimes.

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Virginia Law Prof Says He'll Take USPTO General Counsel Job

By Jack Rodgers

A University of Virginia School of Law professor who has taught tort, administrative, patent and international intellectual property law there for more than 15 years recently said he plans to become the new general counsel of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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Hogan Lovells Partner Tapped For Mass. Judgeship

By Julie Manganis

A Hogan Lovells Cadwalader senior partner has been nominated to a seat as an associate justice on the Massachusetts Superior Court, the governor's office announced Wednesday.

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Kilpatrick Atty Tapped For Yakima County Bench In Wash.

By Ben Adlin

Washington's governor appointed Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP litigator Bree R. Black Horse to the Yakima County Superior Court bench on Wednesday, filling the first new position added to that court in nearly three decades.

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