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Corporate
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December 03, 2024
Chancery Orders Revenue Trust For Healthcare Co. 'Poaching'
A home health company formed through secret poaching by an allegedly disloyal former CEO, two officers and two private equities has been ordered to earmark much of its future revenue to a trust for the corporate victims, in a Delaware Court of Chancery ruling that described the subterfuge as "stunning."
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December 03, 2024
Monthly Merger Review Snapshot
The U.S. Department of Justice moved to block a $3 billion UnitedHealth Group deal, a pair of fashion brand companies abandoned their planned tie-up and the Federal Trade Commission pushed its bid to pause Tempur Sealy's $4 billion purchase of retailer Mattress Firm.
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December 03, 2024
USPTO Abandons Polarizing Proposal Over Double Patenting
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has withdrawn an extremely controversial proposal tied to double patenting, citing "resource constraints" in a Federal Register notice set to be published Wednesday.
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December 03, 2024
OpenAI Must Disclose Execs' Messages To News Orgs.
The New York Times, Daily News, other news organizations and writers can gain access to the social media messages of executives at OpenAI in their litigation accusing the company of using copyright-protected material to train ChatGPT after a New York judge rejected efforts to block the disclosure of the messages.
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December 03, 2024
AmEx Loses Arbitration Bid Due To 'Ironic' Unpaid $17M Bill
A Rhode Island federal judge on Monday rejected sending a proposed antitrust class action over American Express Co.'s swipe-fee rules back to arbitration after the company refused to pay arbitration fees totaling $17 million, observing that AmEx's actions created its own "ironic dilemma: a credit card company not paying its bills."
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December 03, 2024
Microsoft Asks FTC Watchdog To Look Into Leaked Probe
A Microsoft deputy general counsel on Tuesday asked the Federal Trade Commission's inspector general to look into whether commission management improperly told a news outlet that the FTC had opened a broad antitrust investigation of the tech giant.
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December 03, 2024
Partner Of Ex-Abercrombie CEO Denies Guilt, Gets $10M Bail
The romantic partner of former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries was released on $10 million bond Tuesday after pleading not guilty in New York federal court to charges he helped operate a prostitution and trafficking ring that preyed on male models.
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December 03, 2024
Vidal Aimed To Put USPTO Rulemaking In The Spotlight
Kathi Vidal's tenure as director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been marked by dedication to making the agency's decisions and processes more transparent, attorneys said ahead of her mid-December departure.
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December 03, 2024
Insurance Execs Charged With $250M Fake Policy Scheme
An insurance company and two executives issued bogus insurance policies purporting to offer over $250 million in coverage to companies and homeowners, according to an indictment announced by the Manhattan district attorney Tuesday.
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December 03, 2024
Attys For Sears Ex-CEO, Appraisal Camp Clash In Chancery
A lawyer for Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores' former top fiduciary told a Delaware vice chancellor on Tuesday that case law does not support carving out stockholder proceeds from a fiduciary breach settlement in order to pay shareholders whose separate appraisal lawsuit was foiled by SHOS' bankruptcy.
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December 03, 2024
4 Mass. State Court Rulings You May Have Missed In Nov.
An age discrimination case was undone by the fine print of an employment agreement, while an "utterly inadequate" document search led to a five-figure sanctions order, among other notable recent decisions in Massachusetts state court.
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December 03, 2024
US-China Feud Simmers As Beijing Unveils New Export Curbs
The Chinese government on Tuesday banned exports of several critical minerals to the U.S., citing national security concerns, a day after the Biden administration announced new restrictions of its own targeting Beijing's semiconductor operations.
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December 03, 2024
Former FirstEnergy CEO Rips SEC's 'Belated' Suit Against Him
Former FirstEnergy Corp. chief executive officer Charles Jones slammed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement action against him over his alleged part in the company's widely publicized bribery scandal relating to its nuclear program, calling the suit "belated" and arguing the agency failed to back up its claims.
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December 03, 2024
No Standing In 'Threadbare' Voice Assistant Suit, Google Says
Google wants a D.C. federal judge to toss a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of blocking rival voice assistant products from running on Android and other devices, contending that the complaint has failed to articulate an injury "with even a modicum of detail."
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December 03, 2024
Robotics Co. Hit With Investor Suit Over Accounting Errors
Investors in supply chain automation company Symbotic on Tuesday accused executives of hiding faulty accounting processes, prompting financial reporting errors that tanked the company's stock when the issues came to light.
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December 03, 2024
Trump Argues Immunity Extends To Local Prosecutions
President-elect Donald Trump told the New York state judge presiding over his hush money case that the criminal charges and guilty verdict should be thrown out, arguing in an expansive motion released Tuesday that allowing a local prosecution to proceed would upset the republic's balance of power.
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December 03, 2024
Judge Trims Fraud Claims From Mead Johnson Formula Suit
An Illinois federal judge on Monday partially granted a bid by Mead Johnson to toss a class action alleging at least seven types of infant formula it sold contained undisclosed heavy metals, throwing out some warranty and fraud claims and claims related to products the lead plaintiff didn't purchase, but allowing the rest of the complaint to move forward.
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December 03, 2024
Exelon Promotes Ex-FERC Commissioner To Top Legal Role
Utility company Exelon Corp. announced Tuesday that a former Reed Smith LLP partner and former member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has been named its next chief legal officer, and also said it's also expanding the top legal role.
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December 03, 2024
Blank Rome Beats Subpoenas Seeking Attys' Comp Info
A Philadelphia federal judge on Tuesday tossed subpoenas that would have compelled Blank Rome LLP to share compensation information regarding three of its attorneys who are facing a malicious prosecution lawsuit, a day after the firm moved to quash the subpoenas.
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December 03, 2024
Celsius Founder Cops To Fraud That Sunk $25B Crypto Lender
Celsius Network founder Alex Mashinsky told a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday that he lied when he told the public that the fallen $25 billion crypto lender's tokens were a safe investment, pleading guilty to fraud charges ahead of a January criminal trial.
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December 03, 2024
Exelon Asks For Corp. AMT To Account For Repairs Deduction
Power companies should be allowed to account for an industry-specific tax deduction on repair costs to determine whether they're subject to the corporate alternative minimum tax, utility giant Exelon said in a comment letter to the U.S. Treasury Department released Tuesday.
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December 03, 2024
OneTaste Execs Say Former Member's Journals Fabricated
Two former OneTaste executives facing forced labor conspiracy charges claim a former employee's journals were fabricated for a Netflix documentary about the sexual wellness company and were further edited by an FBI agent before being produced to the defense in discovery.
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December 03, 2024
CFPB Pitches Plan For Tighter Regulation Of Data Brokers
In a late push before the Biden administration's end, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved Tuesday to clamp down on the so-called data broker industry with a new draft rule that pivots off existing credit reporting protections for consumers.
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December 02, 2024
Apple Accused Of Gagging Workers, Spying On Their IPhones
A manager at Apple claims the tech giant is stomping on employees' rights by forbidding discussion of coworkers' compensation and encouraging the use of personal iPhones at work so that it can snoop on workers, according to a lawsuit lodged Monday in California state court.
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December 02, 2024
Government Mole Faces Tough Cross From Madigan's Atty
An attorney for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan got his chance Monday to question the ex-Chicago alderman who recorded his client while cooperating with the government, pushing him to admit that Madigan never explicitly conditioned his support on legal business for his law firm or told the alderman to vote against developers who didn't hire him for tax work.
Expert Analysis
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Short-Seller Implications Of 10th Circ.'s Overstock Decision
The Tenth Circuit's Oct. 15 decision in Overstock Securities Litigation provides clarity on the pleading standard for a market manipulation claim under the Exchange Act, and suggests that short sellers might not be able to rely on the fraud-on-the-market presumption typically invoked by securities plaintiffs, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.
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Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity
Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.
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Crypto.com's Suit Against SEC Could Hold Major Implications
Crypto.com's recent lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could affect the operation and regulation of crypto markets in the U.S., potentially raising more questions about the SEC's authority to regulate the industry when it's unclear whether another agency is ready to assume it, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.
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Testing The Waters As New Texas Biz Court Ends 2nd Month
Despite an uptick in filings in the Texas Business Court's initial months of operation, the docket remains fairly light amid an apparent wait-and-see approach from some potential litigants, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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How DOJ's Visa Debit Monopolization Suit May Unfold
The U.S. Department of Justice's recently filed Section 2 monopolization suit against Visa offers several scenarios for a vigorous case and is likely to reveal some of the challenges faced by antitrust plaintiffs following the U.S. Supreme Court's split 2018 American Express decision, say attorneys at Mintz.
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New Export Control Guidance Raises The Stakes For Banks
Recent guidance from the Bureau of Industry and Security alerts banks that they could be liable for facilitating export control violations, the latest example of regulators articulating the expectation that both financial institutions and corporations serve as gatekeepers to mitigate crime and aid enforcement efforts, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Opinion
Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO
The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.
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Don't Phone A Friend: Disclosing Friendships With Executives
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent settlement against a former Church & Dwight chairman for violating proxy disclosure rules by neglecting to disclose his friendship with an executive officer amid a CEO search illustrates the perils of relying solely on responses to questionnaires circulated to boards, say attorneys at BCLP.
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Planning For Cyber Incident Reporting Requirements In Sports
Attorneys at Wiley discuss the proposed rules under the Cybersecurity Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act that would impose extensive reporting requirements on professional and collegiate athletic organizations, universities and sports venues, including defining a covered entity and analyzing the types of events that would trigger reporting.
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Why Diversity Jurisdiction Poses Investment Fund Hurdles
Federal courts' continued application of the exacting rules of diversity jurisdiction presents particular challenges for investment funds, and in the absence of any near-term reform, those who manage such funds should take action to avoid diversity jurisdiction pitfalls, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.
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The Ups And Downs Of SEC's Now-Dissolved ESG Task Force
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force, which was quietly disbanded sometime over the summer, was marked by three years of resistance from some stakeholders to ESG regulation, a mixed record in the courts and several successful enforcement actions, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Series
Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.
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The OIG Report: Bad Timing For FEC To Be Underresourced
With less than two weeks to the election, the Federal Election Commission’s job has never been more urgent, but a report from its Office of the Inspector General earlier this year found that the agency is facing a resource squeeze that will only get worse without corrective action, says Diana Shaw at Wiley.
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Opinion
It's Time To Sound The Alarm About Lost Labor Rights
In the Fifth Circuit, recent rulings from judges appointed by former President Donald Trump have dismantled workers’ core labor rights, a troubling trend that we cannot risk extending under another Trump administration, say Sharon Block and Raj Nayak at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy.