Archegos Founder Convicted Of $100B Fraud On Wall Street

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal jury on Wednesday convicted Archegos founder Bill Hwang of illegally injecting over $100 billion into Wall Street markets with lies to banks that ballooned stocks and his assets, before running his family-office hedge fund into the ground.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC Probes NYSE's Bid To Extend SPAC Merger Deadlines

By Tom Zanki

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision wants more time to investigate a New York Stock Exchange proposal that would lengthen deadlines to complete certain mergers involving special purpose acquisition companies to 42 months, saying NYSE's proposal departs from typical time limits intended to protect investors.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Thoma Bravo's Qualtrics Bid Fell Short, SAP Tells Chancery

By Leslie A. Pappas

Thoma Bravo LP may have offered $1.2 billion more than Silver Lake Management to buy Qualtrics International Inc. from software company SAP SE in 2023, but other aspects of the bid were less attractive than Silver Lake's $12.5 billion offer, an attorney for SAP directors told Delaware's Court of Chancery on Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pledging 'Accountability,' Biden's FDIC Pick Faces Senate Test

By Jon Hill

President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plans to stress her regulatory credentials and determination to fix the agency's troubled work culture when she goes before a U.S. Senate panel on Thursday for a confirmation hearing.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Nasdaq Says It's Immune To SPAC's 'Racial Animus' Claims

By Emilie Ruscoe

The Nasdaq Stock Market has asked a Brooklyn federal judge to toss claims it "arbitrarily and capriciously" derailed a minority-led special purpose acquisition company's plans, arguing in a Wednesday filing that it's immune to such claims as a self-regulatory organization.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ellenoff-Led SPAC Raises $200M To Pursue Healthcare Merger

By Tom Zanki

SIM Acquisition Corp. I, a special-purpose acquisition company formed to pursue a healthcare merger, began trading Wednesday after pricing a $200 million initial public offering, represented by Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP and underwriters counsel Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Shein Investors Could Have Recourse If ESG Abuses Exposed

By Najiyya Budaly

Expectations that the Shein fast-fashion group will float on the London Stock Exchange have raised questions over what recourse investors have to recoup losses in the English courts if a future emergence of human rights abuses in a company's supply chain triggers a drop in its share price.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Behnam Tells Senate CFTC Is Ready To Be Retail Crypto Cop

By Aislinn Keely

U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam sought to assure lawmakers that his agency is ready to protect retail investors if it is given oversight of digital asset markets during a Wednesday Senate hearing setting the stage for a coming legislative proposal on the future of cryptocurrency regulation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC Exchange Plan Can't Stand Post-Chevron, Uniswap Says

By Jessica Corso

Decentralized finance firm Uniswap Labs is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission not to adopt a rule that could force it and other cryptocurrency trading platforms to register with the agency as securities exchanges, saying the rule will not survive a legal challenge now that the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Chevron deference. 

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BitMEX Cops To Flouting Anti-Money Laundering Rules

By Gina Kim

Offshore crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX pled guilty in New York federal court on Wednesday to a charge alleging it violated the Bank Secrecy Act by knowingly failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering and customer identification programs, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

AdaptHealth Investor Attys Get 25% Of $51M Deal, With Caveat

By Sydney Price

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday granted final approval to a $51 million settlement between AdaptHealth and investors over allegations tied to its merger with a blank check company, but the plaintiffs' counsel must wait for certain shares to be sold before they can collect their $12.8 million fee.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

CFTC Says Internal Criticism 'Not Relevant' To Sanctions Bid

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission says that criticism leveled against it by one of its own members is "not relevant" to the agency's case against a foreign exchange firm accused of a $300 million fraud and has asked a New Jersey federal court not to consider the comments in deciding whether to issue sanctions against the regulator.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Deutsche Bank Settles Ex-Trader's Malicious Prosecution Suit

By Elliot Weld

Deutsche Bank has settled a lawsuit brought by a former trader who claimed the bank scapegoated him when the U.S. Department of Justice began an investigation into suspected interest rate rigging, according to a Wednesday filing in New York federal court.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Best Text Practices In Light Of Terraform's $4.5B Fraud Deal

Text messages were extremely important in a recent civil trial against Terraform Labs, leading to a $4.5 billion settlement, so litigants in securities fraud cases need to have robust mobile data policies that address the content and retention of messages, and the obligations of employees to allow for collection, say Josh Sohn and Alicia Clausen at Crowell & Moring.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Faegre Drinker Confirms Operational, Administrative Layoffs

By Aebra Coe

A spokesperson for Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP confirmed to Law360 Pulse on Wednesday that the firm laid off "less than 5%" of its total operations and administrative staff earlier this year.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ocasio-Cortez Seeks Impeachment Of Justices Thomas, Alito

By Katie Buehler

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez filed articles of impeachment against U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito on Wednesday following a year of revelations about their repeated failures to disclose the acceptance of luxury travel and gifts, refusals to recuse in certain cases and other purported ethics violations.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Judge Newman Faces More Hurdles In Bid To End Suspension

By Ryan Davis

With the dismissal of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's lawsuit against her colleagues over her suspension, experts say she faces significant challenges in securing a different outcome on appeal or persuading the court's other judges to let her hear cases again.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Senate OKs Two DC Judge Noms As 8 Seats Remain Unfilled

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Senate confirmed two nominees to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on Wednesday, as lawmakers try to pick up the pace in filling the local court's persistent vacancies.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Pick Defends Articles On Biological Sex, Judge Diversity

By Courtney Bublé

A state judge nominated to serve on the U.S. Northern District of California bench fended off questions from Republicans about articles she wrote in recent years regarding biological sex and diversity in the judiciary.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Kasowitz IP Pro Says Firm Gave Him Boot, Withheld Pay

By Bonnie Eslinger

Former Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP partner Jay Deshmukh filed a lawsuit in New York state court against his former firm Tuesday, saying the firm "deliberately" fired him weeks before his one-year anniversary so it could hold back more than half his annual pay.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Judge Slams 'Whopping' Brief In Terror Suit As Dickensian

By Craig Clough

A New York federal magistrate judge lectured attorneys in a lawsuit alleging a Pakistani bank funded terrorism, saying a recent joint status letter exceeded the limit by 70 pages and the parties are turning the case into a modern Jarndyce v. Jarndyce from the Charles Dickens classic "Bleak House."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Giuliani Urges DC Court Not To Disbar Him Over Trump Work

By Alison Knezevich

Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday urged the D.C. Court of Appeals to let him keep his law license, saying he did not commit misconduct in his work on former President Donald Trump's challenge to Pennsylvania's 2020 presidential election.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Former McElroy Deutsch CFO Hits Ch. 11 Amid Theft Cases

By Jake Maher

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter's former chief financial officer filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey this week as he awaits sentencing for embezzling over $1.5 million from the firm over a period of years via fraudulent bonuses.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feds Say Guo Ran 'Fraud Empire' As Racketeering Trial Wraps

By Rachel Scharf

Manhattan federal prosecutors urged a jury on Wednesday to convict Chinese dissident Miles Guo for operating his political movement as a vast racketeering conspiracy that "brainwashed" supporters into spending more than $1 billion on scam investments.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Says Alaska Judge Reprimand Bolsters 4th Circ. Bias Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A former public defender awaiting a bench ruling on her sexual harassment claims against the federal judiciary said Wednesday that the judge deciding her case should note a recent ruling reprimanding an Alaska federal judge for his "sexualized relationship" with a clerk in which the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council determined that intent was irrelevant.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »