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Compliance
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June 13, 2024
Manatt Picks Up Crypto Co. DCG's Legal Head As New Partner
The former top lawyer for Digital Currency Group has departed the cryptocurrency company to join professional services firm Manatt as a financial services partner based in New York, focusing on blockchain, emerging companies and venture capital, the firm announced Thursday.
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June 13, 2024
FERC Gains Full Bench With 3rd Nominee Confirmation
The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed former Massachusetts Undersecretary for Energy and Climate Solutions Judy W. Chang to fill a vacant commissioner slot at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, giving the agency a full complement of five commissioners.
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June 13, 2024
Bond Denial Upheld For Army Construction Project
An Illinois federal judge affirmed an arbitration award relieving two insurers of covering a $1.8 million bond issued to a subcontractor retained for a U.S. Army construction project, upholding the arbitrator's finding that the status of the project wasn't accurately represented at the time of bond procurement.
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June 13, 2024
Trade Groups Join EPA Vehicle Emissions Rule Fight
A coalition of trade associations and auto dealers on Thursday called for the D.C. Circuit to vacate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's final rule requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and vans.
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June 13, 2024
How 3 Firms Cleared 2 Ex-Autonomy Execs In HP Fraud Case
A California federal jury's rejection last week of fraud charges against the founder and former finance vice president of British software company Autonomy validated an approach by the defendants' three law firms — Steptoe, Clifford Chance and Bird Marella — to form a "seamless" collaboration throughout the trial, from jury selection to closing arguments.
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June 13, 2024
Biden Picks CFTC's Goldsmith Romero For FDIC Chair
The White House said Thursday that President Joe Biden will nominate Christy Goldsmith Romero, a Democratic member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, for the top job at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
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June 13, 2024
FTC Urged To Get Moving On Stalled Privacy Rulemaking
Nearly three dozen consumer advocacy groups are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to stop dragging its feet on efforts announced almost two years ago to craft sweeping data privacy and security rules, arguing that time is running out for the agency to clamp down on companies' "historic" drive to amass personal information and track consumers online.
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June 12, 2024
Senate Confirms 2 FERC Nominees, Puts 3rd Nominee On Deck
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed two nominees to fill vacant commissioner slots at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and scheduled a Thursday vote for a third nominee.
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June 12, 2024
FTC Tells DC Circ. It Can Modify $5B Meta Privacy Deal
The Federal Trade Commission told the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday that it has the authority to reopen its in-house proceedings in order to revise a $5 billion privacy settlement with Meta Platforms, saying the courts do not have oversight of the agency's administrative order.
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June 12, 2024
'83 Wolfpack Suit May Throw NIL Peace For A Loop
As the NCAA cheered a settlement aimed at marshaling payments to athletes for their names, images and likenesses last week, experts say a new suit from one of college basketball's most historic teams illustrates the shortcomings of a hasty effort to right past wrongs.
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June 12, 2024
FDIC Head Must Go To Change Status Quo, GOP Reps. Say
House Republicans on Wednesday criticized Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Martin Gruenberg for not immediately resigning in the wake of a probe of the agency's workplace culture, but some Democrats took issue with the scope of a report on the investigation's findings while applauding his rumored successor.
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June 12, 2024
Chopra Rejects Fresh 'Earnings' Attack On CFPB Funding
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra told U.S. senators on Wednesday that an emerging line of attack on his agency's funding doesn't hold water, brushing aside a legal theory that has bubbled up in the aftermath of a recent U.S. Supreme Court defeat for critics of the agency.
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June 12, 2024
Texas Anesthesia Co. Appealing To Duck FTC Suit To 5th Circ.
U.S. Anesthesia Partners Inc. gave notice Wednesday that it will ask the Fifth Circuit to review a Texas federal judge's mid-May decision refusing to toss Federal Trade Commission allegations of a monopolistic "roll-up" of Lone Star State anesthesia practices.
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June 12, 2024
EPA Tells DC Circ. Emissions Rules Should Stay In Place
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fired back at attempts to pause two final rules establishing greenhouse gas emissions standards for power plants and expanded methane emissions control requirements for oil and gas infrastructure, urging the D.C. Circuit to keep the rules in place amid myriad legal challenges.
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June 12, 2024
Cabot Execs Misled Investors On Fracking Impact, Suit Says
Insiders of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., now known as Coterra Energy Inc., were hit with a shareholder derivative suit alleging they did not disclose that Cabot was not safeguarding drinking water from the company's fracking operations, which eventually led to criminal charges and reputational and financial damages.
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June 12, 2024
CalPERS Opposes $5B Atty Fee In Musk Pay Fight
The nation's largest public pension fund lined up Wednesday against a proposed $5 billion-plus fee for stockholder attorneys whose Delaware Court of Chancery suit blocked Tesla CEO Elon Musk's one-time $56 billion compensation plan, one day ahead of a Tesla shareholder vote to resurrect the pay deal.
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June 12, 2024
GOP, Dems Fight Over Climate Investment 'Collusion'
House Judiciary Democrats and Republicans traded barbs and competing staff reports Wednesday over investment industry initiatives to combat climate change that the GOP called a "climate cartel" and their partisan rivals said is simply responsible, and voluntary, investing.
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June 12, 2024
Miss. Social Media Age Law Faces Free-Speech Challenge
Mississippi is the latest state to enact a law that requires social media companies to verify the age of all users, but a challenge seeking to block that law from taking effect is already on the docket in federal court with a preliminary injunction hearing slated for this month.
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June 12, 2024
Lumen Board Faces Investor Suit Over Lead Cable Liability
The board members of Louisiana-headquartered telecommunications company Lumen Technologies Inc. face a shareholder derivative suit alleging they breached their fiduciary duties following revelations about, and subsequent scrutiny of, lead components of the company's physical cable networks.
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June 12, 2024
'Natural' Toothpaste Brand Loaded With PFAS, Moms Say
Natural toothpaste company RiseWell LLC falsely advertised its kids toothpaste as "natural" and "safe to swallow," two mothers alleged Tuesday in a proposed class action, saying a U.S. Department of Defense-certified laboratory test found 750 times more "forever chemicals" in the toothpaste than researchers found in heavily tainted kale.
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June 12, 2024
FTC Asks 4th Circ. To Pause Novant Hospital Purchase
The Federal Trade Commission has asked the Fourth Circuit to pause Novant Health's purchase of a North Carolina hospital while enforcers appeal an order from the lower court that refused to put the deal on hold for the commission's in-house merger challenge.
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June 12, 2024
Conn. Eatery Owners Threatened To Kill Ex-Worker, DOL Says
A Connecticut restaurant group and its leaders ordered workers to lie to federal investigators during a wage and hour probe and threatened to kill an ex-worker for helping the U.S. Department of Labor, the agency said in a complaint filed in federal court.
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June 12, 2024
Ex-WWE Employee's Sex Abuse Suit Paused For 6 Months
A former World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. legal staffer's sexual abuse and trafficking lawsuit against the company, WWE founder Vince McMahon and a former executive will remain paused until December, a Connecticut federal judge ordered, about two weeks after a prosecutor entered an appearance in the case.
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June 12, 2024
Freshfields Adds Ex-Kirkland, Davis Polk Attys In New York
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP bolstered its corporate offerings in New York this week with M&A partner Joshua Ayal and capital markets partner Jacqueline Marino.
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June 12, 2024
Terraform To Settle With SEC For $4.5B After Fraud Trial
Crypto firm Terraform Labs has agreed to a $4.47 billion settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after a Manhattan jury found the firm and its founder Do Kwon liable for fraud in April.
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.