Aviation Co. AAR To Pay $55M Over Alleged Bribery Schemes

By Hailey Konnath

AAR Corp. has agreed to shell out $55 million to resolve allegations from both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Department of Justice that the aviation services provider bribed government officials in Nepal and South Africa, the agencies announced Thursday.

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Fed, OCC 'Asleep At Wheel' On Merger Policy, Warren Says

By Jon Hill

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday accused top federal bank regulators of blowing off calls for tougher merger scrutiny and leaving the financial system exposed to dangerous megadeals, blasting them as "asleep at the wheel" as the Capital One-Discover merger inched closer to approval.

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FTC Says PBMs Can't Get Preliminary Block In Insulin Case

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission urged a Missouri federal judge Thursday not to temporarily block its in-house case accusing pharmacy benefits managers of artificially inflating insulin prices through unfair rebate schemes, arguing Congress clearly empowered such in-house adjudications and the officials who handle them.

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Ex-AT&T Exec Gets New Bribery Trial Date After Jury Deadlock

By Celeste Bott

The former head of AT&T's Illinois division, who is accused of bribing ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, will be tried again in June after his case resulted in a hung jury earlier this year, a federal court judge said Thursday.

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Bank Groups Seek Halt Of CFPB's $5 Overdraft Fee Rule

By Katryna Perera

Bank groups have asked a Mississippi federal judge to put an interim hold on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rule establishing a $5 overdraft fee cap at larger banks and credit unions, arguing that the agency is trying to unwind more than a half-century of regulatory interpretation at a great potential cost to the industry.

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CFTC Urges 7th Circ. To Uphold $231M Crypto 'Ponzi' Penalty

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has urged the Seventh Circuit to uphold a $231.5 million judgment against a man they say ran a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, arguing it is "undisputed" that the agency has authority to regulate the trading of bitcoin and ether.

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Ex-Biopharma Exec Settles SEC Insider Trading Claim

By Emilie Ruscoe

A former biopharmaceutical executive will pay nearly $156,000 to end U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims that he bought up shares of his employer's acquisition target and the target's shareholder ahead of the announcement of the acquisition.

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Atkins-Tied Crypto Group Lays Out Its Priorities For New SEC

By Aislinn Keely

Crypto industry group The Digital Chamber, which counts U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair nominee Paul Atkins as an advisory board member, has urged the Wall Street regulator to "reset its historically troubled relationship" with the crypto industry by rolling back certain rule proposals and resolving non-fraud suits against crypto firms soon after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year.

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UBS Unit To Pay $3.5M Over FINRA Preferred Stock Claims

By Sarah Jarvis

The brokerage unit of UBS has agreed to pay nearly $3.5 million to settle the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's allegations that it did not have the proper supervisory system to catch unsuitable recommendations for short-term trades of syndicate preferred stocks.

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Addiction Group Pays $2M In Mass. AG False Billing Probe

By Brian Dowling

An addiction treatment physician group with offices across western Massachusetts will pay $2 million to settle allegations that it overcharged for visits and billed for tests that were not medically necessary, the state's attorney general said Thursday.

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Uber Sues Seattle Over Courier Account Deactivation Law

By Rae Ann Varona

A Seattle ordinance aimed at preventing app-based workers from being unfairly deactivated from apps they use poses "grave constitutional problems," Uber alleged in a suit filed Wednesday in Washington federal court, saying the local law forces the transportation company to express views inconsistent with how it approaches privacy and safety.

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PhRMA Wins Bid To Halt W.Va. Drug Discount Expansion Law

By Hannah Albarazi

The country's biggest pharmaceutical lobbying group has won preliminary injunctions against a West Virginia law that the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America claims unconstitutionally expands a federal drug discount program, with a federal judge finding that the law threatens to create a situation where "the fox guards the henhouse."

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Generic-Drug Cos. Get State AGs' Trial Order Flipped

By Matthew Perlman

A Connecticut federal court has sided with the generic-drug makers accused of price-fixing by state-level enforcers and will allow a narrower case involving 15 drugs to move ahead prior to a much broader case involving more than 100 medications.

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EU Opens In-Depth Probe Of Liberty's $3.6B MotoGP Deal

By Jared Foretek

European antitrust regulators are investigating Liberty Media's proposed acquisition of Dorna Sports, citing concerns that the €3.5 billion deal could harm competition in motorsports broadcasting and drive up licensing costs.

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CMA Issues Guidance For New Digital Competition Rules

By Matthew Perlman

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority released guidance Thursday laying out how the agency intends to use its new powers to impose rules and obligations on large technology companies, ahead of the regime's launch next year.

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Casinos Say DOJ Has No 'Starting Point' For Room Rates

By Bryan Koenig

Las Vegas casino hotels urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday not to revive the first algorithmic price-fixing case to reach an appeals court, in a brief that took direct aim at the Justice Department's amicus intervention in the room rate lawsuit.

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Tencent Removes 2 Epic Directors Following DOJ Scrutiny

By Jared Foretek

Two Epic Games directors appointed by Tencent Holdings are stepping down from Epic's board after the U.S. Department of Justice said their positions could constitute antitrust law violations, the agency has announced.

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Juice Co. Pres. Supplied Tainted Drink To Low-Income Students

By Jonathan Capriel

A Washington-based fruit juice company executive pled guilty to charges related to selling tainted juice — some of which found its way into free or low cost lunches provided to students from low-income households — federal prosecutors announced on Thursday along with her nearly $750,000 penalty.

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Denmark Says $500M Recovered In Dividend Tax Fraud Suits

By David Hansen

Denmark's tax administration has recovered a total of 3.6 billion Danish kroner ($500 million) in money lost to suspected dividend tax refund fraud after entering settlements of civil cases in several countries in 2024, Denmark's tax minister announced.

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McKesson Urges Justices To Keep Hobbs Act's 'Exclusivity'

By Ali Sullivan

McKesson Corp. is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve circuit courts' "exclusive" jurisdiction for Federal Communications Commission orders, warning that regulatory consistency nationwide could be undermined if lower courts are allowed to step in.

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FERC Chair Plays Coy On Impact Of LNG Export Study

By Keith Goldberg

Willie Phillips, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, wouldn't say on Thursday how the agency would incorporate a recently released federal study on the economic and environmental effects of liquefied natural gas exports into its reviews of proposed export terminals, and cited limits on FERC's authority.

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Compliance Lessons From Raytheon's FCPA Settlement

A recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act action involving aerospace and defense company Raytheon underscores the importance of risk management related to retaining and overseeing third parties — especially in higher-risk jurisdictions — and the promotion of a companywide culture of compliance, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.

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Ledbetter's Legacy Shines In 2024 Equal Pay Law Updates

The federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act turned 15 this year, and its namesake's legacy is likely to endure in 2025 and beyond, as demonstrated by 2024's state- and local-level progress on pay equity, as well as several rulings from federal appellate courts, say attorneys at Fisher Phillips.

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The Story Of 2024's Biggest Bank Regs, And Their Fate In 2025

U.S. federal bank regulators were very active in 2024 with initiatives ranging from antitrust and capital to proposals regarding controlling shareholders and incentive-based compensation, but many regulations face an uncertain future under the new administration, say attorneys at Latham.

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Musk Pay Fight Shows Investor Approval Isn't Universal Cure

The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent denial of a motion revising its prior rescission of Elon Musk's nearly $56 billion compensation package is a reminder of the heightened standard corporate boards must meet in conflicted controller transactions and that stockholder approval doesn't automatically cure fiduciary wrongdoing, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

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Considering European-Style Lockboxes For US M&A In 2025

The lockbox mechanism, commonly used in Europe, offers an attractive alternative to the postclosing price adjustments that dominate U.S. merger and acquisition transactions in private equity, particularly with the market's demand for transparency likely to remain steadfast under Trump, says Laurent Campo at Potomac Law.

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Advancing Storage-Integrated Power Generation In Turkey

Recent proposals by energy regulators in Turkey have laid the groundwork for further development of electricity generation plants with integrated energy storage facilities — offering opportunities for project developers and investors, and a possible model for U.S. regulators, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

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Opinion

A New Tax On Employers Could Help Curb Illegal Immigration

To better enforce the law against hiring immigrants unauthorized to work in the U.S., Congress should enact a punitive excise tax on compensation paid to such immigrants and amend the False Claims Act to allow qui tam actions against employers for failure to pay such tax, says Ajay Gupta at Moore Tax Law Group.

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2024 Has Been A Momentous Year For ESG

Significant developments in the environmental, social and governance landscape this year include new legislation, evolving global frameworks, continued litigation and enforcement actions, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that has already affected how lower courts have viewed some ESG challenges, say attorneys at Katten.

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Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

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MoFo, Irell Latest Firms To Unveil Competitive Bonuses

By Aebra Coe & Hailey Konnath

Morrison Foerster LLP and litigation boutique Irell & Manella LLP have joined a chorus of firms announcing associate bonuses that meet or exceed the BigLaw standard for associate bonuses this year, with MoFo offering up to $218,200 and Irell handing its lawyers as much as $175,000.

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Podcast

Approach The Bench: What Judges Had To Say This Year

By Cara Bayles

Jurists weighed the benefits of partisan elections, praised innovations in telehearings and worried about the future of the profession in nearly a dozen interviews with Law360 this year.

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Gunster $8.5M Data Breach Deal Needs More Info, Judge Says

By Matt Perez

A Florida federal judge this week denied preliminary approval of an $8.5 million settlement in a data breach class action against Gunster and demanded more information on payouts, the plaintiffs' standing in the case and a historical breakdown of settlement rates.

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NJ Bar's Diversity Plan Isn't Biased, Panel Says

By Tracey Read

A New Jersey state appeals court reversed and remanded on Friday a lower court's ruling that found the state bar association's diversity practices to be an unlawful, discriminatory quota system.

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If Gov't Shuts Down, Judiciary Will Be Funded Until Jan. 10

By Courtney Bublé

If there is a government shutdown, the federal judiciary would be funded at least until Jan. 10, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said Friday.

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Analysis

How Lawyers May Sue The Trump Administration … Again

By Cara Bayles

During the last Trump administration, BigLaw firms challenged White House policies, focusing on immigration, environmental regulations and healthcare. This time around, attorneys could rely on old tools, and some new tactics, to stall the executive branch.

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Biden Exceeds Trump's Record On Judges By One

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Friday the last two judicial nominations from President Joe Biden, making his total of lifetime judicial appointments 235, just one over President Donald Trump's 234.

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High Court Bar's Future: Williams & Connolly's Sarah Harris

By Katie Buehler

Sarah M. Harris of Williams & Connolly LLP never planned on being a U.S. Supreme Court advocate, or even an appellate one. She stumbled upon that career path after realizing her initial goal of becoming a national security or government lawyer wasn't the right fit.

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No, Microsoft Isn't Driving DOJ's Google Antitrust Suit: Judge

By Bryan Koenig

A D.C. federal judge pushed back Friday on Google's efforts to paint Microsoft as the true plaintiff in the Justice Department's search monopolization lawsuit, casting doubt during a hearing that Google should get even more information about Microsoft's relationship with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

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Feature

Litigator On The Roof: The Acting, Singing Mass. Solicitor

By Chris Villani

The top appellate lawyer in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General will be ringing in the new year by performing a comical cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, the latest show in a lengthy side career in music.

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Hagens Berman Settles Suit Over Effexor Deal Atty Fees

By Bryan Koenig

A pharmaceutical reseller's in-house counsel and founder moved Friday to drop a Mississippi federal court breach of contract suit accusing Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP of stiffing him on his share of a $13 million attorney fees award from an antitrust class settlement, citing a resolution to the dispute.

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Q&A

A Judge Reflects: West Wing Call, 'Alford Plea?' Early Exit

By Hayley Fowler

When Chief Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III of the North Carolina Business Court hangs up his robes for the last time on Dec. 31, he'll leave behind a white-hot docket of high-profile cases and a profusion of opinions that helped mold the court into a tribunal fit to rival Delaware's Court of Chancery.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Andrea Keckley

This week's Legal Lions leader comes from the public sector, as federal prosecutors secured a $650 million settlement from McKinsey & Co. to resolve a lawsuit over the consulting giant's role in Purdue Pharma's promotion of OxyContin.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen the University of Southampton sue a drone-maker over the rights to an uncrewed aircraft patent, Importers Service Corp. and its subsidiary ISC Europe take action against a former director who allegedly owes the company over £1.1 million ($1.4 million), and DAC Beachcroft face a fraud claim by a "prolific litigant." 

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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