Asset Management

  • September 26, 2024

    4th Circ. Hints Rocket Mortgage Class Cert. Is On Shaky Ground

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday seemed skeptical that all potential class members who accused Rocket Mortgage of inflating their home values could prove they were injured under the U.S. Supreme Court's heightened pleading standard in TransUnion, putting the lower court's certification order on rocky footing.

  • September 26, 2024

    Qualcomm Eyes Massive Buyout Of Intel, Plus Other Rumors

    Qualcomm has approached struggling rival Intel with a takeover offer, Chevron's $53 billion acquisition proposal for Hess is expected to win regulatory clearance, and private Equity Firm BC Partners wants to buy a minority stake in EuroLeague. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • September 26, 2024

    Conn. Jury Finds Oil Trader Guilty In Petrobras Bribery Scheme

    A Connecticut federal jury convicted a former oil trader on charges that he sent millions in bribes through an intermediary to officials at Brazilian state oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro, capping a three-week trial on Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Quest Diagnostics Escapes 401(k) Mismanagement Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge tossed a proposed class action alleging Quest Diagnostics Inc. mismanaged its $5 billion retirement plan by failing to chop under performing investment funds from its lineup, pointing to proof that the company acted to rein in questionable funds.

  • September 26, 2024

    Southwest Airlines Touts Big Changes Amid Activist Pressure

    Southwest Airlines on Thursday revealed a number of developments key to a "transformational" plan meant to drive revenue growth as the airline faces pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, including the appointment of a new director and a $2.5 billion repurchase program.

  • September 26, 2024

    MLB Fan Gets Chance To Prove Ohtani Home Run Ball Is His

    A Florida state judge will allow Friday's auction of the ball Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani hit for a historic home run to begin, but will not let it be sold before an October hearing on whether an 18-year-old fan had the ball snatched from him at the ballpark that night.

  • September 26, 2024

    3 Firms Rep As Citi, Apollo Form $25B Private Credit Program

    Banking giant Citigroup and asset management firm Apollo on Thursday unveiled plans to launch a "landmark" $25 billion private credit direct lending program in North America, entering into an exclusive agreement that was guided by three law firms.

  • September 25, 2024

    SEC Fines Alphabet, Others Over Stock Ownership Reports

    Alphabet Inc., Goldman Sachs and several other entities and individuals were hit with a combined total of over $3.8 million in penalties on allegations they failed to report information about their holdings and transactions in a timely manner, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    In-House Counsel To Play Central Role At AI Cos., VCs Say

    Venture capital firms expect in-house counsel at artificial intelligence companies to play a bigger role in their businesses due to regulatory uncertainties around AI, while a professor who helped pioneer the technology warned that transparency of commercial AI businesses should be "top of mind," attorneys heard at the seventh annual Berkeley Law AI Institute Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    CFPB Gets Partial Win Over Debt Collector's Property Transfer

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and New York's attorney general secured a partial win in its suit over the head of a debt collection company's allegedly fraudulent transfer of a million-dollar property to his family members, with a New York federal judge ruling that they are only entitled to the daughter's share of the property's escrow proceeds.

  • September 25, 2024

    Texas Man, 6 Companies To Pay $10.5M Over Forex Scheme

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced Wednesday that it had secured a default judgment and $10.5 million in monetary relief against Rudy Avila and his six companies for defrauding more than 200 investors out of $6 million.

  • September 25, 2024

    3rd Circ. Backs Tossing MetLife Suit Over Drug Rebates

    The Third Circuit upheld MetLife's defeat of a lawsuit alleging it kept drug rebate profits for itself instead of lowering workers' health benefit plan costs, saying Wednesday the workers leading the suit hadn't shown they were harmed by missing out on speculative savings.

  • September 25, 2024

    Baker Botts, Latham Lead Natural Gas Producer's $270M IPO

    Natural gas producer BKV Corp. on Wednesday priced a $270 million initial public offering below its range, completing a long-awaited IPO nearly two years after filing plans, represented by Baker Botts LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP.

  • September 25, 2024

    Feds Say 'Wall Of Evidence' Supports Petrobras Bribery Case

    A Connecticut oil trader violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by sending millions in bribes to officials at Brazilian state oil giant Petrobras through a shady intermediary, federal prosecutors told a jury during closing arguments Wednesday, arguing that a "wall of evidence" points to the defendant's intent.

  • September 25, 2024

    IP Protection Firm's $426M SPAC Merger Is Scrapped

    Intellectual property management firm Zacco Holdings, formerly known as OpSec Group, and blank check company Investcorp Europe Acquisition Corp. I on Wednesday announced that they will be terminating their merger plans.

  • September 25, 2024

    Merrill, Harvest To Pay SEC $9.3M For Ignoring Clients' Limits

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday announced that investment advisory firms Harvest Volatility Management LLC and Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. will pay a combined $9.3 million to settle claims that they exceeded clients' designated investment limits over a two-year period, causing those clients to incur higher fees and losses.

  • September 25, 2024

    7th Circ. Doubts London Depo Should Trigger New Fraud Trial

    Seventh Circuit judges appeared skeptical Wednesday of a former investment manager's bid for a new trial after he was convicted of bilking investors of roughly $10 million because he could not physically confront a key witness who testified via deposition in London, saying he failed to adequately object to the circumstance.

  • September 25, 2024

    Cancer Detection Biz To Go Public Via $694M SPAC Merger

    Special purpose acquisition company Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp. on Wednesday announced that it has agreed to merge with and take public clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company YD Biopharma Ltd. in a deal that gives the combined company an estimated enterprise value of $694 million and was built by three firms.

  • September 25, 2024

    2nd Circ. Eyes New Trial In Yale Retirement Fee Fight

    The Second Circuit appeared inclined Wednesday to revive a class action against Yale University from employees alleging their $5.5 billion retirement plan was mismanaged, as all three judges on the panel pointed out possible issues with jury instructions before a post-trial verdict in Yale's favor in 2023.

  • September 25, 2024

    NYSE Cancels Proposal To Extend SPAC Merger Deadlines

    The New York Stock Exchange has pulled a proposal that would have provided special purpose acquisition companies with more time to complete mergers while remaining listed, several months after it sought regulatory approval for the extension.

  • September 24, 2024

    Bank Regulators, SEC Face GOP Inquiry Over Crypto Bulletin

    House Republicans have called for the Federal Reserve and other agencies to turn over a host of documents for what the lawmakers say is an inquiry into the origins and behind-the-scenes policymaking impact of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's cryptocurrency accounting guidance.

  • September 24, 2024

    'Be Careful What You Wish For' Post-Jarkesy, SEC Atty Says

    A trial lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told the defense bar Tuesday to "be careful what you wish for" after the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the agency's in-house court system, saying cases against gatekeepers "are not going away."

  • September 24, 2024

    'Joker' Producer's Broker To Pay $60M In Ponzi Scheme Suit

    An investor asked an Illinois state judge Tuesday for his early approval of a $60 million settlement with an investment adviser who convinced her and others to put money toward an international Ponzi scheme she says movie producer Jason Cloth carried out by raising new funds to pay off older investors.

  • September 24, 2024

    Ex-Foot Locker Exec To Pay $236K For Insider Trading

    A laid-off Foot Locker executive agreed to pay nearly $236,000 to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims that he engaged in insider trading during and after his time with the sportswear company, the agency announced Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    'The Predators Are Back,' Mich. Tax Foreclosure Attys Warn

    Lawyers for a proposed class accusing Michigan counties of unlawfully keeping proceeds of their tax-foreclosed home sales urged a federal judge Monday to bar a third-party claims firm and a "conspiring" Michigan attorney from trying to snatch away class members using tactics they called abusive and illegal.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Opportunities For Change In FHFA Practices

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine should lead to better cooperation between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Congress, and may give the FHFA a chance to embrace transparency and innovation and promote sustainable housing practices, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Supreme Court's ALJ Ruling Carries Implications Beyond SEC

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    In its recent Jarkesy opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the types of cases that can be tried before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house administrative law judges, setting the stage for challenges to the constitutionality of ALJs across other agencies, say Robert Robertson and Kimberley Church at Dechert.

  • 2nd Circ. ERISA Ruling May Help Fight Unfair Arb. Clauses

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    The Second Circuit recently held that a plaintiff seeking planwide relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act cannot be compelled to individual arbitration, a decision that opens the door to new applications of the effective vindication doctrine to defeat onerous and one-sided arbitration clauses, say Raphael Janove and Liana Vitale at Janove.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Series

    After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC

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    The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Proposed Customer ID Rule Could Cost Investment Advisers

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    A rule recently proposed by FinCEN and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make financial advisers collect more customer information parallels an anti-money laundering and counterterrorism rule proposed this spring, but firms may face new compliance costs when implementing these screening programs, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • What 2 Rulings On Standing Mean For DEI Litigation

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    Recent federal court decisions in the Fearless Fund and Hello Alice cases shed new light on the ongoing wave of challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opposite conclusions on whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • 4 Important Events In Bank Regulation: A Midyear Review

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    The first six months of 2024 have been fairly stable for the banking industry, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions and proposals from regulators have significantly affected the regulatory standards applicable to insured depository institutions, says Christina Grigorian at Katten.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Advisers Can Avoid Gaps In SEC Marketing Rule Compliance

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    A recent risk alert from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the enforcement history of the marketing rule indicate that advisers have encountered persistent difficulties in achieving compliance — but there are steps advisers can take to mitigate risks of violations, say Scott Moss and Jimmy Kang at Lowenstein Sandler.

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