Coinbase Tells 2nd Circ. Only CFTC Oversees Event Contracts

By Rae Ann Varona

Event contracts that Coinbase offers, including sports event contracts, are swaps over which the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has "exclusive" jurisdiction, the company has urged the Second Circuit to rule, arguing Connecticut's laws have "no role to play" in regulating prediction markets.

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Dodd-Frank Act Is Focus Of Latest Amici In NJ-Kalshi Case

By Elaine Briseño

Multiple amici, including the drafter of the Dodd-Frank Act, weighed in on New Jersey’s petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review the regulation of prediction markets and sports betting, saying the statute was not meant to displace state gambling laws.

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Blue Owl Brass Sued Over BDC Liquidity Woes

By Jessica Corso

A Blue Owl Capital Inc. investor is suing the company's top brass in New York federal court, arguing that they should be forced to pay up for allegedly hiding from investors that the company's business development unit was struggling.

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Analysis

The Rise Of White Collar Sports Cheating Scandals

By Alex Lawson

Throughout the history of professional sports, teams have tried to get an edge. When those efforts have veered into impropriety, it's usually stemmed from violations between the lines: sign-stealing, equipment tampering or spying. But that dynamic is shifting.

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Deals Rumor Mill

SpaceX, DeepSeek And Anthropic Top Week's Deal Rumors

By Al Barbarino

SpaceX is seeking financing to purchase $40 billion of Nvidia microchips, Chinese AI company DeepSeek is close to securing a $12 billion funding round, and Anthropic could launch its initial public offering before Thanksgiving. In other reports, Barbie maker Mattel is facing increased pressure to sell after a rough run on the stock market. 

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Suit Alleges Compass Sought 'Back Channel' In DOJ Review

By Nate Beck

A shareholder is alleging in New York federal court that Compass sought to evade regulatory review of its $1.6 billion merger with Anywhere Real Estate by hiring an attorney connected to the Trump administration to push the deal through six months ahead of time.

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Judge Tosses Moderna Investor's RSV Vaccine Efficacy Suit

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts federal judge Thursday dismissed a shareholder's claims that Moderna lied about the effectiveness of its RSV vaccine, finding the investor did not present sufficient facts to suggest the drugmaker intended to mislead markets by citing a higher efficacy rate than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ultimately approved. 

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Webull Sued By Investor Over Chinese Gov't Links

By Jessica Corso

Trading platform Webull Corp. on Thursday was hit with an investor lawsuit accusing it of underselling its ties to China, shortly after a U.S. House committee released a report detailing how those ties could put customer data at risk.

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2nd Circ. Says Filed Rate Doctrine Bars Utility Bond Claims

By Katryna Perera

The Second Circuit has declined to revive a suit alleging Bloomberg LP reclassified certain utility company bonds to hike interest rates paid by electricity customers, finding that customers cannot challenge such rates because the utilities filed the interest rates with state regulators before issuing the bonds.

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Nikola's Pardoned Ex-CEO Seeks To Flip Ch. 11 Claim Ruling

By Emlyn Cameron

The former CEO of electric-truck maker Nikola has asked the Third Circuit to review a Delaware federal judge's decision that his nearly $70 million bankruptcy claim against his former company was properly subordinated in the debtor's Chapter 11, despite a pardon from President Donald Trump.

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Series

Mentalism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Convincing strangers I can read their minds may seem like an unusual second career for a legal practitioner, but both disciplines share several important requirements, including trust and preparation, says Warren Biro at Manatt.

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How States May Enter The Shareholder Proposal Landscape

Rescission of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's shareholder proposal rule doesn't herald the end of shareholder activism, but it allows state legislatures to play a central role in determining the future of shareholder proposals, with that uncertainty creating new opportunities for both issuers and activists, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

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How AI Is Reshaping The Structure Of Crypto Venture Deals

As founders at the intersection of crypto and artificial intelligence increasingly face capital-raising quandaries, parties structuring crypto venture deals should weigh how equity, token and hybrid financings allocate value to avoid tricky contractual governance and fiduciary law questions down the line, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.

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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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