SEC Drops Binance Suit In Latest Crypto Reversal

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday voluntarily ended a lawsuit accusing crypto platform Binance of mishandling customer funds and deceiving regulators, citing the agency's ongoing efforts to change the way it regulates the digital asset industry.

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House Introduces CFTC-Focused Crypto Market Structure Bill

By Aislinn Keely

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a long-awaited proposal to regulate crypto markets on Thursday that would establish a registration path at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and codify the boundaries of jurisdiction between commodities and securities regulators.

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Delaware Justices Asked To Review Corporate Law Rework

By Jeff Montgomery

A biopharmaceutical company stockholder has sought direct certification of a derivative suit to Delaware's Supreme Court, asking for state constitutional review of legislation approved in March that limits avenues for challenges to some corporate acts.

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Ex-Goldman Partner, Star Witness In 1MDB Trial, Gets 2 Years

By Stewart Bishop

Former Goldman Sachs partner and star 1MDB prosecution witness Tim Leissner was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for his role in a global conspiracy to siphon more than $2.7 billion for bribes and kickbacks from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund in order to facilitate Goldman-backed bond deals.

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2nd Circ. Upholds KeyBank Adviser's $1.1M Defamation Win

By Jessica Corso

The Second Circuit on Thursday upheld a $1.1 million award against a brokerage firm accused of making defamatory remarks about a former employee, ruling that Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitrators did not disregard the law in handing down the punishment.

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Investors Allege Manhattan Firm Aided $43M Ponzi Scheme

By Emma Cueto

A pair of investors filed suit against New York-based Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP and two of its former attorneys on Thursday, alleging that the midsize firm and the attorneys, who have since departed for Saul Ewing LLP, lied on behalf of a client who has since been charged with running a $43 million Ponzi scheme.

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Judge Tells FDIC 'Whistleblower' To Stop Texting Gov't Attys

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge threatened a self-proclaimed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. "whistleblower" with criminal referral if he reaches out to the agency's lawyers again, calling his claim that one attorney was trying to frame him with sending "harassing" messages sent to the attorney's wife "patently ridiculous."

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NASCAR Wins Defamation Claims Over LGBCoin Sponsorship

By David Minsky

A Florida state court judge ruled in favor of NASCAR on defamation claims brought by the founder of the LGBCoin cryptocurrency regarding communications to journalists, saying a published statement that the meme coin was almost worthless was "undisputably true."

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'Dr. Cash' Gets 3 Years For Bilking Elderly Fund Investors

By Pete Brush

A recidivist fraudster nicknamed "Dr. Cash" was sentenced in Manhattan federal court Thursday to three years in prison, after he admitted to defrauding clients who poured $4.8 million into his purported "Chairman's Fund."

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Javice Request To Sink Guilty Verdict Turned Aside By Judge

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge declined on Thursday to toss a verdict convicting Frank founder Charlie Javice of tricking JPMorgan Chase into buying the student aid startup for $175 million, saying he properly declined to sever her trial from that of her co-defendant.

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$45M Settlement, $9.65M Fee OK'd In Del. Cornerstone Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

Stockholders who challenged Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC's $5.8 billion take-private deal for Cornerstone Building Brands in 2022 secured a $45 million settlement Thursday, in a case that once saw a Delaware vice chancellor blast as "farcical" the two companies' early, alleged attempts to camouflage price negotiations to get around a standstill agreement.

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Investment Firm Says It Was Duped Into $349M Dental Deal

By Katryna Perera

Investment firm TSG8 SDB Group Holdings LP has filed suit in Delaware Superior Court claiming a Texas-based holding company tricked it into pouring $349 million into a specialty dental practices platform based on fake financials and phony growth claims, and hid the business's problems just long enough to cash out.

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Judge Trims Most, But Not All, Of Grifols Suit Over Share Price

By Katryna Perera

A New York federal judge Thursday tossed several defamation claims made by Spanish healthcare company Grifols SA against short seller Gotham City Research, finding that the claims are opinions and therefore inactionable, while keeping alive a claim tied to statements in the report that Grifols failed to disclose a $95 million loan, finding it was a factual statement.

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$17.5M TaskUs Investor Deal Gets Magistrate's Endorsement

By Sydney Price

A federal magistrate judge has recommended preliminary approval of a $17.5 million settlement between digital solutions providers TaskUs and its investors who claim the company made false statements about its turnover and Glassdoor ratings, saying the parties' revisions to the deal are justified.

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ZoomInfo Wants Out Of Investors' Accounting Fraud Claims

By Sydney Price

Software company ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. urged a Washington federal judge to toss a proposed investor class action accusing it of making missteps in an effort to retain new pandemic-era customers, claiming the "fraud-by-hindsight" allegations are inactionable.

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Real Estate CFO, Mogul's Daughter Dodge Two Trustee Claims

By Aaron Keller

The chief financial officer of bankrupt construction services company Gateway Development Group Inc. and the daughter of the company's chair have escaped a Chapter 7 trustee's claims that they helped the chair breach his fiduciary duties, with a judge ruling the claims aren't recognized under Connecticut law.

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PCAOB Taps New Acting General Counsel

By Sarah Jarvis

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on Thursday announced that Connor Raso has been appointed acting general counsel, following stints in the PCAOB's office of the general counsel and at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Brief

Clifford Chance Hires Investment Funds Partner From Kirkland

By Matt Perez

Clifford Chance LLP announced Tuesday the hiring of a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP for its funds and investment management practice in the U.S., a month after Kirkland picked up an investment funds partner from Clifford Chance.

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Buyer Beware Of Restrictive Covenants In Delaware

Based on recent Delaware Chancery Court opinions rejecting restricted covenants contained in agreements in the sale-of-business context, businesses need to craft narrowly tailored restrictions that have legitimate interests, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

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Series

Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.

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Analysis

3 Takeaways From The Judgments On Trump's Law Firm EOs

By Aebra Coe

Three federal judges have now weighed in on President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting law firms, with each ruling in favor of the firms and deeming the orders unconstitutional. Here are three takeaways from the combined 227 pages of those judges’ conclusions.

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DOJ Sidelines ABA From Vetting Trump's Judicial Picks

By Kevin Penton

The Justice Department plans to direct judicial nominees away from a long-standing vetting process by the American Bar Association, labeling it an "activist organization," according to a Thursday letter by Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

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Harvard Taps Paul Weiss High Court Litigator For Board

By Hailey Konnath

Kannon Shanmugam, a Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP partner and veteran U.S. Supreme Court litigator, has been selected to join the Harvard Corp. governing board, according to an announcement made Thursday.

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Analysis

Tariff Rulings Undercut Trump's Trade Authority, Dealmaking

By Dylan Moroses

U.S. trading partners have inadvertently found new leverage in tariff negotiations with the Trump administration after federal courts found several of the president's duties were improperly imposed, raising larger questions about future tariff authorization in the midst of a global trade spat.

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Influencer Hits Akin With Malpractice Suit Over Boxing Deal

By Lynn LaRowe

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and one of its Texas-based partners allegedly failed to understand California law in handling a financial dispute between a social media influencer and the company that hired him to participate in an amateur boxing competition, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in a Lone Star State federal court.

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For-Profit School Sued Over Thompson Coburn Leak Notices

By Emily Sawicki

A for-profit college operator is facing a proposed class action in Alabama federal court, alleging it failed to properly secure its data and notify students in a timely manner that its law firm, Thompson Coburn LLP, had been hit with a cyberattack causing a data breach of sensitive records.

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Fed. Circ. Revives Trump Tariffs As It Weighs Appeal

By Natalie Olivo

The Federal Circuit temporarily reinstated President Donald Trump's global tariffs Thursday, a day after the U.S. Court of International Trade held that an emergency law did not give the president "unbounded authority" to impose the measures.

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Trump Pardons Twice-Convicted Former Conn. Governor

By Brian Steele

President Donald Trump has pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland, a one-time chairman of the Republican Governors Association, who resigned from office in 2004 and served two stints in prison for corruption and lying to federal election officials.

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Ex-Atty's Death In Colo. Jail Sparks Suit Over Medical Neglect

By Craig Clough

The family of a disbarred attorney imprisoned for felony theft sued three members of the medical staff at the prison where he died, alleging in Colorado federal court Wednesday their neglect resulted in Steven Bachar dying from cardiac arrest after he asked for days for proper medical attention.

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Trump Names 4 Jurists, State AG Official For Fla. Judgeships

By Lynn LaRowe

President Donald Trump this week announced his nominations of four judges and a top official in the Florida Attorney General's Office to fill district judgeships in the Sunshine State's Middle and Southern Districts.

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Calif. Justices Propose Tweaking Rules For Bar Examiners

By Emily Sawicki

The California Supreme Court has proposed changes to the administration of the state's troubled bar exam, circulating a slate of amendments designed to clarify the role of the Committee of Bar Examiners, including spelling out its duty to review and approve all questions used in the exam.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Grant & Eisenhofer's Beth Graham

By Tracey Read

Elizabeth "Beth" Graham, a San Francisco-based principal at Grant & Eisenhofer PA and a member of its executive committee, played a key part in negotiating a $600 million settlement in April 2024 for plaintiffs in litigation arising from the 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment, earning her a spot among Law360's 2025 Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar.

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