Trump Greenlights Private Equity, Crypto 401(k) Investing

By Kellie Mejdrich

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that aims to make it easier for retirement plans to invest in a wider range of assets, including cryptocurrency, private equity and real estate.

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Trump 'Debanking' Order Calls For Scrutiny Of Bank Practices

By Jon Hill

President Donald Trump on Thursday directed federal regulators to investigate and potentially punish banks if they have turned away customers based on their political or religious beliefs, escalating his administration's crackdown on so-called debanking.

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Binance Partner To Pay $48.5M For Compliance Failure Claims

By Sydney Price

Cryptocurrency trust Paxos Trust Co. has agreed to pay a $26.5 million fine and place $22 million into beefing up its compliance program in a settlement with a New York regulator over its anti-money laundering policies and other alleged due diligence failures related to its stablecoin partnership with crypto exchange Binance.

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6th Circ. Halts FirstEnergy Production Of Bribery Probe Docs

By Jessica Corso

The Sixth Circuit on Thursday prevented shareholders of FirstEnergy Corp. from immediately accessing investigative documents prepared by BigLaw firms in the wake of a $1 billion bribery scandal, ruling that the utility company was likely to succeed in its claims that the disclosures were protected by attorney-client privilege.

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Crypto Buyers Win Class Cert. Against Kardashian, Celebs

By Lauren Berg

EthereumMax buyers accusing celebrities of promoting the cryptocurrency allegedly used in a pump-and-dump scheme can certify subclasses in four states, but not their nationwide class, a federal judge ruled, agreeing with famed boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. that there's a risk of California and Florida securities laws being inappropriately applied outside those states.

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Ex-Data Co. Execs Charged With $25M 'Round Tripping' Scam

By Pete Brush

Two executives from bankrupt California data company Near Intelligence Inc. fraudulently inflated the company's revenues by $25 million in a conspiracy that involved a third executive from advertising company MobileFuse LLC, according to a Manhattan federal court indictment unsealed Thursday.

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Novartis Faces $291M Trade Secrets Suit From Hedge Fund

By Elliot Weld

A hedge fund on Thursday accused Novartis, a former investment executive and the executive's longtime friend and business partner of scheming to steal its "innovative hedge fund strategy" after an investment deal between the biotech giant and the hedge fund went south. 

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Trump Taps Economic Adviser Miran For Fed Board Vacancy

By Sarah Jarvis

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has chosen Stephen Miran, the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a vacancy on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors until early 2026 while continuing to search for a permanent replacement.

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Fugitive Trader's Wife Can't Pause Liquidation In $67M Fraud

By Aaron Keller

The wife of a fugitive Oak Management Corp. trader cannot temporarily block a receiver's plan to liquidate frozen assets and reimburse victims who lost $67 million to her husband's fraud scheme, a Connecticut federal judge has ruled.

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Del. Court Weighs Final Leads For $13B Endeavor Stock Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

In a rare battle of extremes, attorneys for a single Endeavor Group investor urged a Delaware vice chancellor on Thursday to accept their suit challenging the company's $13 billion take-private deal in March over a suit filed by investment giant Icahn Enterprises LP and a multinational bank based in Sweden.

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Kids Cartoon Co. Gets Investor Suit Trimmed

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge issued a mixed ruling in a securities class action alleging that kids cartoon company Genius Brands International Inc. and its CEO engaged in a pump-and-dump scheme, finding that the third version of the complaint only plausibly pleads that investors relied on misstatements related to the airing frequency of the show "Rainbow Rangers."

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BioPharma Co.'s $15M Deal Over Ruined J&J Vaccines OK'd

By Katryna Perera

A Maryland federal judge on Thursday granted final approval to a $15 million settlement to close out a stockholder derivative suit claiming Emergent BioSolutions Inc. and its top brass made a mint selling stock before their allegedly lax oversight led to the contamination of over 15 million Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine doses.

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NC Biz Court Bulletin: Divorce Dust-Ups And Judicial Rebukes

By Hayley Fowler

Litigation in the North Carolina Business Court is heating up this summer with new complaints centered on fears a former state politician's divorce proceedings will impede his companies' operations and accusations that a climate technology company has failed to pay out a former engineer's ownership interest.

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Student Loan Co. Sued In Chancery Over 'Unfair' Lender Deal

By Jeff Montgomery

Stockholders of international student loan provider MPower Financing PBC have filed a lawsuit in Delaware's Court of Chancery to block new "highly dilutive" borrowing from the company's top lenders and stockholders, alleging unfair terms that could hand control to two hedge funds.

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M&A Ruling Reinforces High Bar For Aiding, Abetting Claims

The Delaware Supreme Court's recent decision in In re: Columbia Pipeline may slow the filing of aiding and abetting claims against third-party buyers in situations where buyers negotiate aggressively, putting buy-side dealmakers' minds at ease that they likely won't be liable for seeking the best possible deal, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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Series

Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.

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Bonus Spotlight

Milbank Offers Summer Bonuses Of Up To $25K To Associates

By Anna Sanders

Milbank LLP has become the first BigLaw firm to announce summer bonuses this year, offering up to $25,000 for associates and counsel after smaller shops also unveiled midyear payouts.

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'Breakdown In Civility' Gets Boies Schiller Sanctioned

By Grace Elletson

A California federal judge slapped Boies Schiller Flexner LLP with a $15,000 sanction Thursday in a former worker's suit claiming Levi Strauss & Co. declined to promote her out of sex bias, faulting the firm for a "uniquely eye-opening breakdown in civility and professionalism."

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Federal Courts Disclose New Cyberattacks On PACER System

By Lauren Berg

The federal judiciary on Thursday disclosed there have been escalating cyberattacks on its case management system, putting sealed and sensitive case documents at risk, and that it is taking steps to strengthen its security.

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Fox Rothschild Must Face Litigation Funding Suit, Court Told

By Rose Krebs

A married couple is urging a New Jersey state judge to reject Fox Rothschild LLP's bid to exit a malpractice suit alleging that they were unlawfully steered to cover medical expenses with high-interest loans from the firm's litigation funder client, saying they've "amply" pleaded claims of misconduct.

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Ex-Boston Heart CEO Defends Jenner & Block Fee Bid

By Rose Krebs

Boston Heart's former CEO is urging the Delaware Chancery Court to order the medical testing company to advance her legal fees to pay Jenner & Block LLP for its defense of her in criminal and civil cases, disputing Boston Heart's claims that the law firm's rates are "grossly inflated."

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DOJ's Boasberg Complaint Violates Judicial Privacy, Sen. Says

By Jake Maher

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has accused the U.S. Department of Justice of misusing private comments from a meeting of the Judicial Conference of the United States to pursue ethics charges against a federal judge who found probable cause to hold President Donald Trump's administration in contempt of court.

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2nd Circ. Says Trial Atty With Brain Disease Not 'Ineffective'

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed the convictions of a former New York City law enforcement union president along with its ex-financial adviser for defrauding members out of $500,000, rejecting among contentions that one defense lawyer's abilities were impaired at trial by a fast-moving neurodegenerative disease.

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Calif. Ethics Panel Clarifies Judge DQs In Racial Justice Cases

By Madison Arnold

A California judicial ethics committee has issued a formal opinion advising a judge who is a former prosecutor that a pending case involving a discovery motion under the state's Racial Justice Act does not require the judge's recusal.

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California Anti-Deepfake Law Struck Down By Judge

By Jared Foretek

A California federal judge has agreed to block a California anti-deepfake law as constitutionally and legally invalid, siding with conservative media companies and content creators who argued that the law infringes platforms' First Amendment rights to moderate content on their own and pressures them to censor speech.

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Democracy Forward Launches Appellate Practice

By Lynn LaRowe

The Democracy Forward Foundation has formed an appellate practice on the heels of a hiring spree that has doubled the nonprofit's legal staff since November with former BigLaw and government attorneys, as some private firms have pulled back from taking on cases that challenge the current White House.

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Trump Admin Asks Justices To Halt ICE Arrest Limits In LA

By Hailey Konnath

The Trump administration on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a California federal court's order temporarily blocking the government from conducting immigration arrests in the Los Angeles area without probable cause, arguing that it threatens officials' ability to enforce immigration laws.

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Sentencing Commission Plans To Reassess Fraud Guidelines

By Stewart Bishop

The U.S. Sentencing Commission on Wednesday said it will consider potential reforms to the federal sentencing guidelines for fraud offenses, including the outsized role of loss calculation in sentencing, one of several priorities the agency has marked for closer examination.

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