Ex-Goldman Exec Convicted Of Ghana Bribery Plot

By Stewart Bishop

A former Goldman Sachs executive director was convicted Thursday for his role in what Brooklyn federal prosecutors say was a wide-ranging conspiracy to bribe Ghanaian officials in support of a Turkish energy company's push to obtain a lucrative power plant contract as the West African nation was reeling from an electricity crisis.

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FCC Lifts 39% Broadcast Ownership Cap In Controversial Vote

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 to eliminate the 39% national cap on broadcast TV audience share Thursday, with Republicans saying the change will help local stations survive and dismissing claims that the agency was exceeding its legal powers.

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Meta Owes Another $567M To Address Harm To NM Kids

By Lauren Berg and Cara Salvatore

Meta Platforms is on the hook for an additional $567 million after a New Mexico judge on Thursday determined that the Facebook and Instagram parent must take measures to protect its youngest users, following a jury's $375 million verdict that Meta hid the full scope of mental health harms its apps caused.

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Nexstar Execs Can't Be On Tegna Board, Judge Clarifies

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge clarified Thursday that Nexstar executives and other affiliated personnel cannot serve as Tegna directors under a temporary injunction blocking the broadcast giants' $6.2 billion merger, while admonishing the companies for not disclosing the appointment of three Nexstar officials to Tegna's board.

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Del. Chancery Sends Iridium CFO Dispute To Arbitration

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court has stayed a lawsuit over the authority of an interim chief financial officer at Iridium Industries Inc., ruling that a nearly three-decade-old stockholder agreement requires arbitrators, not the court, to decide whether the dispute belongs in arbitration.

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SpineFrontier CFO Sentenced To 4 Months In Kickback Case

By Carolyn Muyskens

The former chief financial officer of spinal implant startup SpineFrontier was sentenced Thursday to four months in prison for his involvement in an alleged conspiracy to pay surgeons kickbacks disguised as consulting fees.

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SEC Nets Win In Suit Over Ex-CEO's Alleged Revenue Scheme

By Sarah Jarvis

A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Thursday largely sided with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in its civil enforcement case against the former CEO of RTI Surgical Holdings, finding he misled investors by failing to disclose that the surgical implant company regularly shipped orders early to artificially inflate its quarterly revenues.

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Disbarred Atty And Son Must Face $17M SEC Fraud Suit

By Katryna Perera

A disbarred attorney and his son must face a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suit alleging they defrauded investors out of more than $17 million by running a Ponzi-like scheme disguised as an investment company for a start-up content streaming app, with a California federal judge finding the SEC brought specific examples of the duo's "alleged misuse."

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Blockchain Cybersecurity Co., CEO Settle SEC Suit For $1.2M

By Sydney Price

An Oklahoma-based blockchain cybersecurity company and its founder will pay more than $1.2 million in civil penalties to end the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit accusing them of raising more than $5 million by falsely claiming that the company had secured contracts and that it expected to generate millions of dollars in revenue.

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Fintech Seeks OCC Trust Charter For Crypto Loan Servicing

By Katryna Perera

Zaria, a fintech startup that includes a former Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP partner as an organizer, has applied for an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency charter to establish what it says is the first national trust bank to offer "digitally native" loan servicing.

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GOP Senators Float Repeal Of Calif. Vehicle Emissions Rules

By Linda Chiem

Four Republican senators on Thursday proposed revoking U.S. Environmental Protection Agency waivers granted to California for vehicle emissions regulations that have been in place for over a decade, following through on the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Golden State's authority to set stricter tailpipe emissions standards.

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Brenntag Agrees To Curb Chemical Leaks At NC Storage Site

By Hayley Fowler

German chemical distributor Brenntag has consented to a remediation plan to stop contaminants leaking into public waterways from its storage facility in North Carolina, according to an agreement filed in state court.

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DOJ Says Duke Law Favors Black, Hispanic Applicants

By Lauren Berg

Duke University School of Law intentionally discriminated against prospective white and Asian students in its efforts to pursue racial diversity in its incoming classes, the U.S. Department of Justice asserted Thursday.

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GAO Pans DOGE's Savings Claims, Ethics Practices

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said on Thursday that the Department of Government Efficiency's claim to have saved $110 billion from terminated contracts, grants and leases is based on incorrect and opaque cost estimates.

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CIT Judge Confused By Gov't Objection To Tariff Refund Class

By Jack McLoone

A U.S. Court of International Trade judge repeatedly expressed confusion Thursday over the federal government's objection to the certification of a class of importers seeking refunds of President Donald Trump's illegal global tariffs to address concerns about finalized entries.

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Google, Meta, Tiktok Still Subject To Calif. Feed Algorithm Law

By Mike Curley

A California federal judge has declined to block enforcement of a new California law that restricts personalized social media algorithm feeds, finding that Google, TikTok and Meta have failed to show the law infringes on their First Amendment rights.

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Judge Sets Feb. Trial In States' Generics Price-Fixing Suit

By George Woolston

A Connecticut federal judge has set a February trial date on claims from dozens of state attorneys general that generic-drug makers conspired to artificially inflate the prices of generic topical drugs.

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Paramount Gets Private Warner Deal Challenge Tossed

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court has dismissed a case from consumers looking to undo Paramount's completed merger with Skydance and block its planned purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, finding they failed to show any concrete harm from the deals.

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TitleMax Rebuffed In 4th Circ. Bid To Halt Pa. Usury Case

By Jon Hill

The Fourth Circuit has cleared Pennsylvania's banking regulator to continue its pursuit of $52.7 million in penalties from TitleMax for alleged interest-rate violations, rejecting a bid by the title lender's South Carolina arm to block the out-of-state enforcement proceeding. 

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Spirit Aero Fights Damages Ask In Boeing 737 Blowout Suit

By Rachel Riley

Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems on Wednesday said punitive damages aren't available to a mother and son suing it in federal court over a midair door plug blowout on a 737 Max jet flying out of Oregon because they have not alleged any misconduct by the supplier in the state.

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FCC Floats Plan To Clear 200 MHz For Direct-To-Device Use

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission proposed Thursday to open up more than 200 megahertz of the airwaves used by unlicensed devices for direct-to-device service from low Earth orbit satellites.

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Mich. Cannabis Agency Accused Of Aiding Buyout Plot

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan business owner has claimed in a suit filed in federal court on Thursday that the state Cannabis Regulatory Agency and several of its members coordinated with JARS Holdings to push him out of the cannabis business while smearing his professional reputation.

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Tax Prep Biz Owner Gets 30 Months For $5M Refund Scheme

By Zak Kostro

A Las Vegas tax preparation business owner was sentenced to 30 months in prison for conspiring to defraud the U.S. government by filing false tax returns and diverting portions of the resulting refunds to herself and an employee, the U.S. Justice Department said.

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Jones Day Hires Morgan Lewis Tax Partner In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Jones Day has hired a former Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP tax attorney who spent more than 11 years representing multinational businesses, partnerships, and high-net-worth individuals, the firm announced Wednesday.

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What Cos. Must Know About EPA Water Monitoring Proposal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's newly proposed rule that would require public water systems to monitor for 30 unregulated drinking water contaminants does not impose new obligations on companies, but the data collected could affect future policy, investigations and litigation, says Ayodeji Ayolola at Gordon Rees.

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5 Financial Statement Fraud Red Flags To Spot Post-Sripetch

The U.S. Supreme Court recently held in Sripetch v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that disgorgement exists to strip a wrongdoer of unjust enrichment, not merely to compensate victims for what they lost, shifting the work at the center of securities fraud cases in five ways, says Rand Manasse at Green Lane Partners.

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9th Circ. Rule Block Unlikely To Deter FinCEN Cartel Focus

The Ninth Circuit recently blocked the Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit's border cash reporting rule, interpreting it as an impermissible use of an emergency anti-money laundering tool, but regulators are more likely to see the opinion as a road map for building a more defensible rule, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

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FTC-Deere Deal Tells Cautionary Tale On Repair Access Limits

A recent proposed Federal Trade Commission antitrust settlement in Illinois federal court requires Deere & Co. to provide access to repair services previously available only to authorized dealers, and companies that limit access to aftermarket resources should ensure they can substantiate the reasoning behind any restrictions, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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Justices' FTC Ruling Weakens Qui Tam's Constitutional Base

The U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Trump v. Slaughter, expanding presidential control over those exercising executive power, suggests that courts may be receptive to arguments challenging the constitutional foundations of the False Claims Act’s qui tam mechanism, says Daniel Passeser at Wiggin.

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Opinion

After Monsanto, Defense Bar Must Build Case Against Lohr

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Monsanto v. Durnell has helped to demolish the foundation for its problematic 1996 ruling in Medtronic v. Lohr — so now defense counsel should lay the groundwork for the high court to overturn Lohr, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

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Series

Being A Sommelier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Being a sommelier has quietly shaped how I practice law by changing the way I think, communicate and connect with people, and offers a constant reminder that expertise is about making your knowledge useful and accessible to others, says Kara Du at Sheppard.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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No Simpson Thacher Malpractice In PIPE Case, Jury Finds

By Madison Arnold

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP escaped a malpractice lawsuit late Thursday over its representation of Patriot National Inc. in a private investment in public equity transaction in the years before the company's downfall.

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Dems Slam Skadden's 'Nothing To See Here' Trump Deal Reply

By Hailey Konnath

Three Democratic lawmakers on Thursday criticized Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's response to their request that the firm disclose details of its pro bono arrangement with the Trump administration, saying the firm's "three sentence letter essentially saying 'nothing to see here'" is "not going to cut it."

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New ABA Chief Seeks To 'Streamline' Org., Defend Democracy

By Emily Sawicki

The American Bar Association's new president, Barbara J. Howard, will focus on twin goals of defending democracy against expected unprecedented attacks associated with this year's midterm elections, while also reorganizing the association to run more efficiently, as she kicks off her one-year term this month.

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Richards Layton Under Fire Amid Bid To Avoid AI Sanctions

By Rose Krebs

A firm has asked a Delaware vice chancellor to allow it to submit more "factual information" regarding what it says are inconsistencies in Richards Layton & Finger PA's attempt to avoid sanctions for submitting a filing with errors generated by artificial intelligence.

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Analysis

The Dramatic Moments Set To Shape Tom Goldstein's Appeal

By Jeff Overley and Jared Foretek

Prurient revelations, brash recriminations and purportedly glaring judicial errors in Tom Goldstein's criminal case have captivated the appellate bar for nearly 19 months, and many of those moments will be center stage in the star attorney's imminent appeal.

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2nd Circ. Says Pillsbury Must Surrender $3.6M Retainer

By Jessica Corso

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP was ordered on Thursday to hand over a $3.6 million retainer it was paid to defend a client against criminal and civil fraud charges, with the Second Circuit upholding a ruling that the funds were part of an asset freeze order issued in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission case.

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Ex-GC Hijacked Accounts And Posted Klan Imagery, Suit Says

By Ben Adlin

A Washington state court granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday in a school fundraising company's lawsuit accusing its former general counsel of taking control of its social media accounts and allegedly replacing its LinkedIn photo with a manipulated image of its president in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

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Ex-Girardi Atty Gets Probation For Keeping Silent On Theft

By Lauraann Wood

A former Girardi Keese attorney was sentenced to one day time-served and two years of probation Thursday for staying quiet and failing to report disgraced plaintiff's attorney Tom Girardi's theft of millions of settlement dollars owed to Lion Air Flight 620 plane crash victims.

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Wash. Justices Offer Bar Waiver After July Exam Tech Failure

By Rachel Riley

The Washington State Supreme Court said Thursday it's offering to waive the bar exam requirement for first-time applicants who were unable to take the test last week due to an abrupt cancellation driven by technical issues at the Yakima Convention Center where it was scheduled to be administered.   

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