SEC Says Climate-Tied Investor Actions May Pose Legal Risk

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday released a report into its investigation of a successful push for eco-friendly board members at ExxonMobil, warning institutional investors and asset managers that joining forces to exert influence over corporations could open them up to additional scrutiny. 

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Feds Back High Court Review Of Robinhood Disclosure Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

The Trump administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to take up Robinhood Markets Inc.'s bid to clarify securities issuers' liability for omitting material interim financial information from registration statements, saying the Ninth Circuit erroneously imposes liability by "collapsing" two elements of a misleading-omissions violation.

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5th Circ. Ponders Stanford Scheme Receiver's $30M Fee Bid

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit judge on Wednesday questioned the rationale for restraining a portion of a receiver's fees, as the lawyer who clawed back $2.8 billion for victims of Robert Allen Stanford's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme argued he was entitled to $30 million.

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States Urge Justices To Fix Prediction Markets' Legal 'Chaos'

By Katryna Perera

A coalition of 39 states and the District of Columbia urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to resolve a circuit split over the regulation of prediction markets like Kalshi, saying the industry's "aggressive theory of preemption" threatens states' sovereignty and ability to protect their residents. 

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Crypto.com Beats Website Users' Tracking Suit, For Now

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge dismissed, for now, a proposed class action alleging Crypto.com's site operator allowed third parties to track visitors' browsing activities despite rejecting the use of cookies, ruling Monday the plaintiffs lack standing since the information that was allegedly collected wasn't sensitive enough to constitute concrete injury.

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SEC Says Adviser Cherry-Picked Best Trades For His Account

By Katryna Perera

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused a California investment adviser of a cherry-picking scheme that allocated profitable block trades to his personal account while assigning losing trades to his clients.

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Ex-Bank Chair Gets 5 Years For $23.6M Wire Fraud Scheme

By Rae Ann Varona

The former board chair and co-owner of the Puerto Rico-based Nodus International Bank was sentenced Wednesday to more than five years in federal prison for leading a scheme to fraudulently steal nearly $24 million from the now-collapsed bank, federal prosecutors announced.

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UWM Investor Sues To Halt $400M Stock Offering

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class of UWM Holdings Corp. stockholders urged a Delaware state court to stop the company from going forward with a $400 million stock offering, alleging that the residential mortgage lender's board of directors is offering the stock without sufficient disclosures.

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ATG Hid Alliance In Chancery Proxy Fight, Del. Justices Told

By Jarek Rutz

Empery Digital Inc. directors urged the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday to reverse a ruling requiring activist investor ATG Capital Opportunities Fund LP's board nominees to stand for election, arguing ATG failed to disclose an alleged voting arrangement with another stockholder, while ATG maintained the company is trying to impose disclosure requirements its bylaws do not contain.

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Latch Investors Get Final OK For Derivative Suit Settlement

By Sarah Jarvis

A New York federal court has given its final approval to a settlement that includes various corporate governance improvements for the home technology company Latch Inc., after shareholders sued the company's top brass for allegedly improperly recognizing revenue in financial disclosures which led to restatements and a stock price decline.

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Excess Insurers Tell 4th Circ. Under Armour Owes Interest

By Danielle Ferguson

Five excess insurers told the Fourth Circuit that Under Armour Inc. must pay prejudgment interest on its return of $90 million in advanced coverage for defense costs, arguing a Maryland federal judge erred in determining they weren't owed interest under state law.

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How SEC Is Changing The Shareholder Proposal Landscape

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission continues to place its shareholder proposal rule at the center of its agenda, now with a newly proposed rule that would rescind it entirely, showcasing an agency seeking to narrow its overall focus, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

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Series

Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

Recent banking developments in Illinois include significant new consumer protection legislation, three meaningful Seventh Circuit decisions, and a high-profile constitutional challenge to the state's new digital asset tax, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

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Why And How To Build A Neurodiversity-Informed Practice

By better understanding neurodiversity and implementing simple accommodations for clients with autism, ADHD or learning differences, attorneys can build stronger relationships with those who may otherwise struggle to obtain and benefit from legal services, while developing good habits that will benefit everyone they represent, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.

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Sheppard Mullin Hit With Class Action Over Data Breach

By Jake Maher

A former Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP paralegal launched a proposed class action against the firm in California federal court on Wednesday over a cyberattack it had in August, in which she says at least 1,000 people's names and Social Security numbers were stolen.

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IP Rights Group Urges Against Litigation Funding Disclosure

By Elliot Weld

An inventor rights advocacy group has told a federal courts rules committee that requiring the disclosure of who is funding civil litigation would put independent inventors at a disadvantage when trying to enforce patents against a larger company.

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Analysis

New Fraud Division Flexes Might In Latest Enforcement Policy

By Phillip Bantz

The National Fraud Enforcement Division's new corporate enforcement policy emphasizes the quick pursuit of certain types of fraud through data analysis and staff resources, expands the target list beyond traditional healthcare providers and highlights the division's growing dominance within the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

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Cornell Defendant Seeks To Nix James As Special Prosecutor

By Andrea Keckley

One of the seven men accused of drugging and raping a fellow Cornell University student at a fraternity home has asked a New York state court to void Gov. Kathy Hochul's appointment of New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case.

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Gov't Attys Could Face Sanctions Over AI Use Omissions

By Madeline Lyskawa

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has ordered four government attorneys to explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned for making factual misrepresentations about the U.S. Army's use of artificial intelligence to evaluate contract proposals.

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Split Congress Could Spur Competing Probes, Cleary Finds

By Courtney Bublé

If the new year brings an era of divided Congress, then "dueling investigations" into the same topics should be expected, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP said in a report it released Thursday.

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Fla. Judge Says Oct. 7 Attack Was 'Inflection Point' For U.S.

By David Minsky

U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman addressed a small group of attorneys in a Florida law office to speak on his book about the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, saying public debate over facts surrounding the event and underlying feud has reached an "inflection point" in America.

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Buzbee Faces $970K Fee Bid In Dismissed Conspiracy Cases

By Lynn LaRowe

A Mississippi lawyer is asking a Texas state court to award her more than $970,000 in fees after defeating claims that she and her law firm conspired with rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to retaliate against prominent Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee and two of his former clients.

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Dems Says GOP Broke Senate Rules In Jack Smith Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have accused Republicans of violating committee rules during a hearing last week with former special counsel Jack Smith.

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