Chinese Tea Chain Serves Up IPO Plans In Rocky Market

By Tom Zanki

Chinese teahouse company Chagee Holdings Ltd., represented by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and underwriters' counsel Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, on Thursday unveiled plans for an estimated $396 million initial public offering, joining a volatile IPO market rocked by uncertainty over President Donald Trump's tariff policy.

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Cooley-Led Drone Operator Launches Plans For $75M IPO

By Tom Zanki

Drone systems developer Airo Group Holdings Inc. launched plans Thursday for an estimated $75 million initial public offering amid choppy market conditions, represented by Cooley LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP.

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SEC Urged To Look At FINRA's 'Unprecedented' Review Delay

By Sarah Jarvis

Shareholders of Entrex Carbon Market Inc. have urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to review what they say is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's harmful failure to act on the carbon offset trading platform's requests for a name change and approval of stock splits.

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Nevada Can't Sue Kalshi Over Sports, Elections Betting

By Jessica Corso

A Nevada federal judge has ruled that the state cannot prohibit online trading platform KalshiEx LLC from allowing users to place bets on the outcome of sports events and elections because both are currently permitted under federal law, preventing the state from pursuing legal action against the company.

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Senate Dems Press Fed's Bowman On Political Independence

By Jon Hill

President Donald Trump's pick for Federal Reserve supervision czar told senators on Thursday that the central bank should have independence to set monetary policy, but she declined to say whether its regulatory policy should be subject to White House review.

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Ready Capital Brass Face Suit Over Real Estate Loan Losses

By Sydney Price

Executives and directors of real estate finance company Ready Capital Corp. were hit with a shareholder derivative suit alleging they failed to disclose that the company's nonperforming commercial real estate loans were damaging its bottom line and would force it to take "aggressive action" to preserve its finances.

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NY AG Calls For 'Common-Sense' Rules In Crypto Legislation

By Aislinn Keely

New York Attorney General Letitia James sent a letter to leaders of both chambers of Congress on Thursday urging them to ensure that any crypto legislation includes strong guardrails to protect consumers, national security and market stability.

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Grayscale Settles Bitcoin Rival's Conn. Biz Interference Suit

By Aaron Keller

Cryptocurrency firm Osprey Funds LLC and its larger digital asset management rival Grayscale Investments LLC have agreed to settle a lawsuit over the transition of a Grayscale bitcoin investment trust into an exchange-traded fund, or ETF.

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No Plan To Trim Do Kwon Case After Crypto Memo, Feds Say

By Pete Brush

A U.S. Department of Justice memo outlining the Trump administration's cryptocurrency policy and enforcement priorities has not prompted prosecutors to alter their $40 billion criminal fraud case against Terraform founder Do Kwon, a government lawyer told a Manhattan federal judge Thursday.

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Fla. Judge Won't Revisit 'Let's Go Brandon' Coin Class Cert.

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida federal judge won't reconsider his partial certification of a class of purchasers of meme-inspired cryptocurrency LGBCoin in a suit alleging the price of the tokens cratered after its much-hyped plan to sponsor the coin's eponymous NASCAR driver fell apart.

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YouTuber Defends Calling Logan Paul Crypto Project A 'Scam'

By Sydney Price

A YouTuber who called social media personality Logan Paul's failed crypto project a "scam" objected to a magistrate judge's recommendation to keep Paul's defamation claims in play, arguing the word has no objective definition.

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2nd Circ. Says Investor Can't Join $250M Sri Lanka Bond Suit

By Katryna Perera

The Second Circuit on Thursday held that a U.S.-based investor can't intervene in a lawsuit between the Sri Lankan government and Hamilton Reserve Bank over more than $250 million in foreign bonds, finding that the investor failed to show how his property interest in the bonds overlapped with the bank's claims.

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How Latin American Finance Markets May Shift Under Trump

Changes in the federal government are bringing profound implications for Latin American financial institutions and cross-border financing, including increased competition from U.S. banks, volatility in equity markets and stable green investor demand despite deregulation in the U.S., says David Contreiras Tyler at Womble Bond.

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Meta Case Brings Customer-Facing Statements Issue To Fore

Now that Facebook v. Amalgamated Bank has returned to California federal court after the U.S. Supreme Court in November found it improvidently granted certiorari, it will be worth watching whether customer-facing communications, such as Facebook's privacy policies, are found to be made in connection with the sale of a security, says Samuel Groner at Fried Frank.

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A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process

The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.

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Series

Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

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Trump Floats Using Firms That Cut Deals For Trade Dealings

By Hailey Konnath

President Donald Trump said during a Cabinet meeting Thursday that he wants to use BigLaw firms that have reached deals with the White House to "help us out" with making trade deals, telling Cabinet members, "I have a lot of legal fees I can give to you people, and we may as well use them."

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Analysis

Mass. Officials, Feds On A 'Low Boil' After Midtrial ICE Arrest

By Brian Dowling and Chris Villani

The midtrial immigration arrest of a Dominican national during his Massachusetts court case has raised tensions between federal and state prosecutors and threatens to injure cooperation between the offices, experts say.

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Justices Uphold Order To Return Man Deported To El Salvador

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a federal judge's order requiring the Trump administration to quickly bring back a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and imprisoned there, ordering the lower court to clarify the government's obligations and requiring the government to share the steps it has taken.

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Jury To Hear Judge Had 48 Guns In Retrial Over Shooting Wife

By Gina Kim

Jurors in the upcoming retrial of a California jurist accused of murdering his wife while intoxicated can hear that he had 48 firearms and thousands of ammunition rounds in his home, after the presiding judge ruled Thursday it was relevant to show he committed an intentional act he knew was inherently dangerous.

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Sidley Snaps Up Cadwalader Real Estate Finance Team

By Grace Dixon

Sidley Austin LLP recruited a team of real estate finance attorneys from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, including the co-head of the firm's real estate financing group and three other partners, Law360 Real Estate Authority has learned.

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Carlton Fields Beats DQ Bid In Fla. $500M Miss America Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge denied a bid to disqualify Carlton Fields in a $500 million lawsuit over the ownership of the company that runs the Miss America pageant, saying such a remedy is extraordinary, and that the allegations are "scattered and speculative."

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Prosecutor's Sexting With Ex-Judge Was Misconduct, DOJ Says

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice has concluded that a federal prosecutor in Alaska who accused former U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred of coercing her into a sexually charged "abusive relationship" committed intentional professional misconduct when she stayed silent about their interactions and continued arguing cases in his courtroom.

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Dems Will Get More Answers From Pick For DC US Atty

By Courtney Bublé

In a compromise with concerned Democrats, the Republican leader of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday that the nominee for the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia will answer an extensive questionnaire as part of his confirmation process.

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Judge DQs Atty Suing FIFA Over Antitrust Allegations

By Elaine Briseño

A Puerto Rican federal judge on Thursday disqualified an attorney suing FIFA and local affiliates over allegedly blocking rival soccer leagues, saying the lawyer cannot simultaneously be a plaintiff, counsel and factual witness.

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