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Compliance
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June 17, 2024
Ad Tech Judge Says No 'Moving Target' Damages, No Jury
A Virginia federal judge refused to consider the government's "late-arriving" math on how much federal agencies were overcharged by Google's digital advertising placement technology, according to an order unsealed Friday, a decision that allowed Google to successfully short-circuit the U.S. Department of Justice's damages claim and avoid a jury trial sought by the agency.
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June 17, 2024
SEC Fines Unlicensed Brokers $2.7M In Microcap Stock Case
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ordered two unlicensed brokers, including one from Florida, to collectively pay a $2.7 million fine for allegedly scamming elderly people into buying microcap shares in companies and lying that the stock was being offered to them at a discount.
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June 17, 2024
Ex-Stimwave CEO Gets 6 Years For Dummy Implant Scheme
The founder and former CEO of Stimwave Technologies was sentenced to six years in prison Monday after tearfully proclaiming her innocence to healthcare fraud charges, with a Manhattan federal judge saying it's "sad" the defendant doesn't recognize the harm she inflicted by selling nonfunctional pain management device components.
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June 17, 2024
Exxon Investor Deal Ends Suit Over Emissions Proposal
Activist investor Arjuna Capital has escaped Exxon Mobil Corp.'s lawsuit over a contentious greenhouse gas-related shareholder proposal the investor sought to include in the company's 2024 proxy statement after a Texas federal judge on Monday accepted the investor's promises not to resubmit the proposal.
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June 17, 2024
Google Says Texas Took Opposing Positions On Key Law
Google told a Texas federal court the state attorney general's office made arguments in the case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing display advertising technology that directly contradict arguments the state is making in a case challenging the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
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June 17, 2024
SEC Says Ripple's Remedies Not Comparable To Terraform's
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fired back at blockchain firm Ripple Labs' claims that a recent settlement with Terraform Labs supports a lower penalty amount, saying it can't be a direct comparison given Terraform is in bankruptcy and has made significant concessions Ripple hasn't.
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June 17, 2024
EEOC Went Too Far With Pregnant Worker Rule, Judge Says
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission overstepped its authority by requiring workplace accommodations for "purely elective abortions," a Louisiana federal judge ruled Monday, handing two states and several religious groups a temporary reprieve from agency regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
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June 17, 2024
Crypto Trading Firm Nabs NY BitLicense
Crypto trading firm and liquidity provider Cumberland DRW announced Monday that the New York Department of Financial Services has granted it a BitLicense, which allows it to operate a crypto business within the state.
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June 17, 2024
OECD Tax Plan Is Developing Nations' Best Choice, Prof Says
Developing countries could gain more revenue from the OECD's multilateral plan to tax the digital economy than the U.N. Tax Committee's bilateral alternative because they have small treaty networks, many customers and few large companies, an academic argued Monday during an Oxford University panel.
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June 17, 2024
Binance Says Hamas Attack Suit Can't Prove Fundraising Link
Binance Holdings Ltd. has urged a New York federal judge to dismiss claims the exchange abetted terrorism because the survivors of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel haven't shown a direct link between the platform's cryptocurrency services and the planning of the attack.
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June 17, 2024
Consulting Firms To Pay $11.3M Over Rent Help Site Breach
A consulting firm and its subcontractor have agreed to pay $11.3 million to resolve a False Claims Act suit alleging that they allowed the personal data of low-income New Yorkers to be compromised while operating a pandemic-era rental assistance program website.
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June 17, 2024
IRS Asks Court To Leave Alone Worker Retention Credit Pause
An Arizona federal court should reject a tax advisory firm's request to lift the IRS' moratorium on processing claims for the pandemic-era employee retention credit, the agency argued, saying the agency should be allowed to continue to run the program as it sees fit.
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June 17, 2024
Split Mass. Top Court Backs Strict View Of Prompt Pay Law
The top appeals court in Massachusetts said in a divided opinion Monday that contractors must pay overdue invoices before disputing claims under the state's prompt pay law, with two dissenting judges criticizing the majority for trying to rewrite the law "by judicial fiat."
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June 17, 2024
LA City Atty Accused Of Retaliating Against Criminal Chief
The former criminal chief of the Los Angeles city attorney's office is seeking more than $1 million over claims she faced a "barrage of retaliation" and was unfairly placed on leave after reporting the city attorney's alleged excessive on-the-job alcohol consumption, her refusal to prosecute certain companies and other purported misconduct.
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June 17, 2024
Conn. Worker Gets $144K Counsel Fee After Bias Trial Win
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection must pay nearly $139,000 in attorney fees to W. Martyn Philpot Jr. after a Black employee won a federal jury verdict on racial hostility claims, including accusations that he found a noose hanging near his desk in a state office building.
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June 17, 2024
Attys Accused Of Judge Shopping Must Turn Over Q&A Doc
Attorneys accused of a coordinated effort to "judge shop" amid federal suits challenging an Alabama law banning certain medical procedures for transgender youth must supply a document the court believes displays the attorneys' preparations for a panel hearing in which one of the attorneys allegedly committed perjury.
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June 17, 2024
NY Says IGRA Doesn't Keep State Lottery Off Tribal Land
The New York State Gaming Commission has asked a federal judge to throw out the Cayuga Nation's attempt to block lottery games from operating on tribal lands, arguing state lotteries do not fall under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act's jurisdiction.
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June 17, 2024
CFTC Fines Trafigura $55M In Novel Whistleblower Action
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a first-of-its-kind settlement Monday with Trafigura Trading LLC, which agreed to pay a $55 million penalty over allegations that it manipulated oil derivatives prices while discouraging employees from reporting potentially illegal activity.
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June 17, 2024
Don't Let Farm Org Rewrite Wage Rule Suit, DOL Tells Judge
A farm group shouldn't be allowed to revise its challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor's new wage rule for certain temporary workers, the agency told a Charlotte, North Carolina, federal judge, saying the revision attempt comes too late as the matter is already awaiting the judge's decision.
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June 17, 2024
Commercial Litigation Pro Joins Blank Rome In Pittsburgh
An attorney with more than 20 years of experience advising business clients on commercial litigation has joined Blank Rome LLP's Pittsburgh office after nearly four years as an in-house counsel for a healthcare technology provider.
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June 17, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Proposed amendments to Delaware's General Corporation Law that were prompted by several recent Chancery Court rulings sailed through the state Senate last week despite loud opposition from corporate law professors and other Chancery Court watchers, and Tesla shareholders filed two new suits against CEO Elon Musk.
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June 17, 2024
Texas High Court Restores Fossil Win Over Harassment Suit
The Texas Supreme Court reinstated Fossil Group Inc.'s defeat of a former sales associate's lawsuit alleging it did nothing to curb a supervisor's lewd online comments and sexual harassment, finding the fashion company took swift action when it learned of the misconduct.
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June 17, 2024
SEC Head Of Crypto Assets And Cyber Unit Departs Agency
The head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's crypto and cyber enforcement team said Monday that he has left the agency after nearly nine years.
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June 14, 2024
Ozy Trial Gets Heated, Exec Tells Of Lies, Google CEO Pops In
Courtroom tempers flared, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai dropped by and a former Ozy Media executive on Friday told the jury weighing fraud charges against the startup's charismatic founder Carlos Watson of how they nearly conned Buzzfeed into buying the company by faking its financials.
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June 14, 2024
Meta Halts AI Tech Debut In EU After Regulatory Backlash
Meta Platforms Inc. said Friday that it was putting on hold plans to expand its artificial intelligence offerings to the European market after the Irish privacy regulator raised concerns about the company's efforts to use public content posted on Facebook and Instagram to fuel these models.
Expert Analysis
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Could 'General Average' Apply To The Key Bridge Crash?
While the owner and operator of the vessel that struck Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge have sought legal protection under the Limitation of Liability Act, they could choose to invoke the long-standing principle of general average, if supported by the facts of the crash and the terms of their contracts with cargo owners, says Julie Maurer at Husch Blackwell.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic
Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Breaking Down EPA's Rule On PFAS In Drinking Water
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized the first enforceable federal drinking water regulation for PFAS, which, along with reporting and compliance requirements for regulated entities, will have a number of indirect effects, including increased cleanup costs and the possible expansion of existing Superfund sites, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Unpacking The Interim Vet-Owned Small Biz Verification Rule
Government contractors that intend to bid for service-disabled veteran-owned small business set-aside contracts should immediately consider the potential impacts of a recently issued rule that specifies how contracting officers will verify that they have certified their status, say Derek Mullins and Beth Gotthelf at Butzel.
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The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals
Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.
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Compliance Strategies To Mitigate 3 New Areas Of AI Risk
The era of artificial intelligence-assisted corporate crime is here, but several concrete mitigation strategies can allow companies to address the new, rapidly evolving threats posed by deepfakes, information barrier evasion and AI model manipulation, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Refresher On Employee Qualifications For Summer Interns
Before companies welcome interns to their ranks this summer, they should consider the extent to which the interns may be entitled to the same legal protections as employees, including the right to be paid for their hours worked and to receive at least minimum wage and overtime, says Kate LaQuay at Munck Wilson.
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Expect An Increase In Robinson-Patman Act Enforcement
Recent actions by the Federal Trade Commission and prominent lawmakers should be viewed as a harbinger of renewed scrutiny of price discrimination in all industries and a sign that Robinson-Patman Act investigations and enforcement actions are likely to see an uptick, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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The Drawbacks Of Banking Regulators' Merger Review Plans
Recent proposals for bank merger review criteria by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. share common pitfalls: increased likelihood of delays, uncertainties, and new hurdles to transactions that could impede the long-term safety and soundness of the banks involved, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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'Beauty From Within' Trend Poses Regulatory Risks For Cos.
Companies capitalizing on the current trend in oral supplements touting cosmetic benefits must note that a product claim that would be acceptable for an externally applied cosmetic may draw much stronger scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when applied to a supplement, say Natalie Rainer and Katherine Staba at K&L Gates.
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SEC Off-Channel Comms Action Hints At Future Enforcement
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent enforcement action against Senvest does not shed light on how the agency will calibrate penalties related to off-channel communications violations, it does suggest that we may see more cases against standalone investment advisers, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Perspectives
Criminal Defendants Should Have Access To Foreign Evidence
A New Jersey federal court recently ordered prosecutors to obtain evidence from India on behalf of the former Cognizant Technology executives they’re prosecuting — a precedent that other courts should follow to make cross-border evidentiary requests more fair and efficient, say Kaylana Mueller-Hsia and Rebecca Wexler at UC Berkeley School of Law.
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McKesson May Change How AKS-Based FCA Claims Are Pled
The Second Circuit’s analysis in U.S. v. McKesson, an Anti-Kickback Statute-based False Claims Act case, provides guidance for both relators and defendants parsing scienter-related allegations, say Li Yu at Dicello Levitt, Ellen London at London & Stout, and Erica Hitchings at Whistleblower Law.
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How Cos. Can Prep For New Calif. Privacy Regulations
The California Privacy Protection Agency has been very active in the first quarter of 2024 and continues to exercise its rulemaking authority with proposed draft regulations, so retailers should prepare for California Consumer Privacy Act enforcement and figure out how best to comply, say attorneys at Dentons.
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5 Employer Actions Now Risky After Justices' Title VII Ruling
Last week in Muldrow v. St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that harm didn't have to be significant to be considered discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, making five common employer actions vulnerable to litigation, say Kellee Kruse and Briana Scholar at The Employment Law Group.