The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's sole Democratic member has spoken out against its postelection retreat from prosecuting crypto cases, warning that recent actions like the voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit against Coinbase threaten to undermine the agency's enforcement staff.
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TOP NEWS

SEC's Crypto Turn Could Undermine Staff, Dem Member Says

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's sole Democratic member has spoken out against its postelection retreat from prosecuting crypto cases, warning that recent actions like the voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit against Coinbase threaten to undermine the agency's enforcement staff.

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Interview

Time To Abolish IPO 'Bureaucracy,' Law Professor Says

By Tom Zanki

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's long-established practice of vetting initial public offering filings through back-and-forth comment letters with companies — essentially a screening process intended to rectify faulty disclosures before public dissemination — is a bureaucratic relic that should be done away with, a law professor argues.

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SEC, Ex-Silvergate CFO Trade Shots Over Enforcement Case

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday urged a New York federal court not to throw out its claims that the former chief financial officer of defunct crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital concealed the bank's rocky financial position, saying that the executive is mischaracterizing its claims.

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Del. Judge Orders Trial On AMC Stock Swap Coverage Fight

By Jeff Montgomery

A Delaware Superior Court judge ordered a jury trial Friday on an AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. insurer's claim that it never consented to cover part of a $99.3 million settlement with theater chain stockholders who challenged a preferred share conversion and reverse stock split.

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Beyond Meat Fries Investors' Fast-Food Production Woes Suit

By Lauren Berg

A Los Angeles federal judge has tossed, for good, a reworked investor class action accusing Beyond Meat of concealing major problems with its efforts to scale production on plant-based meat substitutes for fast-food chains like McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut.

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WHITE COLLAR

Financial Adviser Denied Bond After Admitting $37M Tax Fraud

By Anna Scott Farrell

A Mississippi federal judge denied bond to a financial adviser who admitted promoting an illegal tax shelter involving royalty deductions that caused a $37 million tax loss, according to court documents.

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Brief

NY Man Found Guilty Of $7M Crypto Investment Scheme

By Elliot Weld

A New York man has been found guilty by a California federal jury of 14 counts related to allegations that he stole millions of dollars' worth of investment funds and moved them to sports betting sites located outside the U.S.

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DELAWARE

Bioventus Hit With Del. Derivative Suit After NC Class Deal

By Jeff Montgomery

A Bioventus Inc. stockholder sued 15 current and former directors and officers of the medical device venture in Delaware's Court of Chancery to recover for the company tens of millions in losses tied to alleged mismanagement and corporate duty failures over a two year period.

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INVESTOR ACTIONS

Aimmune Shareholders' $27.5M Deal Over Sale To Nestle OK'd

By Bonnie Eslinger

Aimmune Therapeutics Inc. stockholders won preliminary approval in California federal court on Friday for a $27.5 million settlement of their securities fraud class action alleging that Aimmune was falsely undervalued before its merger with Nestlé Health Science SA.

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Space Co. Lied About Rocket Launch Timeline, Investors Say

By Sydney Price

Aerospace company Rocket Lab USA Inc. has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action in California federal court alleging it intentionally concealed issues that would delay the test and commercial launches of a vehicle it developed.

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BANKRUPTCY

Carbon Project Investor C-Quest Hits Ch. 7

By Rick Archer

Carbon project developer C-Quest Capital has filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in a Delaware bankruptcy court as its ex-CEO faces charges he fraudulently obtained millions of dollars worth of carbon credits.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Chancery Ruling Holds Authorized Share Takeaways For Cos.

The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent ruling in Salama v. Simon resolved statutory ambiguity in favor of boards seeking authorized share increases, and has important implications for litigators presenting extrinsic evidence in support of contract or statutory interpretation arguments, says Robin Wechkin at Sidley.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Analysis

Presidents v. Courts: Lincoln, Trump & Judicial Power Limits

By Jeff Overley

Amid fears of President Donald Trump disobeying judges with impunity, debate has focused on famous instances of officials defying the U.S. Supreme Court. But some of the clearest insights into America's handling of White House disregard for courts exist in relatively obscure cases from the Civil War era, when unprecedented presidential actions provoked extraordinary responses from the judiciary — and underscored the limits of its powers.

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NYC Bar Slams Trump's Order On Covington Attys

By Emily Sawicki

The New York City Bar Association has joined the chorus of legal groups decrying President Donald Trump's order suspending security clearances held by Covington & Burling LLP attorneys representing former special counsel Jack Smith, calling it an "improper use of government power."

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Ex-Commerce Official To Chair Gibson Dunn Sanctions Group

By James Mills

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP is creating a new sanctions and export enforcement practice group and bringing in a former U.S. Commerce Department official as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office to lead it.

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Ex-White House Cyber Pro Joins Sidley As DC Privacy Partner

By Tracey Read

The former chief of staff at the White House Office of the National Cyber Director has returned to the private sector as a Sidley Austin LLP privacy and cybersecurity practice partner in Washington, the firm said Thursday.

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WH Appeals After Watchdog Chief Is Permanently Reinstalled

By Ali Sullivan

A D.C. federal judge ruled Saturday that President Donald Trump's firing of the head of the Office of Special Counsel was illegal, finding that the federal employment watchdog can only be ousted for cause.

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Dems Claim DOJ Atty's 'Quid Pro Quo' Violated Ethics Rules

By Dorothy Atkins

Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee senior members lodged ethics complaints against acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, accusing the recently appointed Bove of violating ethics rules by allegedly pushing prosecutors to drop criminal bribery charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a "quid pro quo" deal with President Donald Trump.

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Group Blasts Judge's Call For Women In Contraception MDL

By Carolina Bolado

A judicial organization dedicated to fighting "leftist lawfare" filed a complaint Thursday against the Florida federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation over the hormonal contraceptive drug Depo-Provera, claiming that her comments about women needing to be represented in the MDL leadership show an impermissible bias.

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Roc Nation Aims To Get Out Of Buzbee Conspiracy Suit

By Ryan Boysen

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's company Roc Nation has asked a Texas federal court to let it exit a lawsuit that claims Roc Nation conspired to "finance" malpractice suits against attorney Tony Buzbee in retaliation for an abortive lawsuit Buzbee filed accusing the rap star of rape.

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GOP Rep. Reintroduces The JUDGES Act

By Courtney Bublé

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee's courts panel has reintroduced a bill to create 66 new and temporary federal judgeships, which former President Joe Biden vetoed at the end of last year.

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Up Next At High Court: Gun Violence Liability & Nuclear Waste

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday to consider Mexico's attempt to hold gun manufacturers and distributors liable for cartel-related gun violence and a nuclear waste site dispute that could determine who can challenge future agency actions.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

While many companies are removing diversity language from their public websites, a new survey shows that about half of its respondents do not plan on changing their DEI programs. And the general counsel for the new Tiger Woods/Rory McIlroy golf league talked about his love of the sport and the legal work involved in the new venture.

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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 billionaire Zakay brothers, founders of Topland Group, become embroiled in a legal dispute with each other, Unilever sue three major perfume companies over alleged illegal price-fixing, and the publisher of Vogue magazine file an intellectual property suit against Cornucopia Events. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP and Kontnik Cohen LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court held that cases dismissed voluntarily can later be eligible for special judicial relief and reopening, even if a statute of limitations would typically block the lawsuit.

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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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Promo that reads 2024 Practice Groups of the Year Promo that reads Law360 Pulse In-House Counsel Satisfaction Survey

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arnold & Porter

Ashfords LLP

Aylstock Witkin

Baker Botts

Baker McKenzie

Birketts LLP

Bohrer PLLC

Bradley Arant

Buzbee Law Firm

Clyde & Co

Cohen Milstein

Cohen Ziffer

Covington & Burling

DLA Piper

David M. Garvin PA

Dechert LLP

Devonshires Solicitors

Donnelly Conroy

Enyo Law

Farnan LLP

Farrer & Co.

Fasken

Gibbons PC

Gibson Dunn

Glancy Prongay

Goldberg Kohn

Gowling WLG

Greenberg Traurig

Hecker Fink

Hill Dickinson

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Holwell Shuster

Horwich Farrelly

Howes Percival

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Kahn Swick

Kellogg Hansen

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kobre & Kim

Kontnik Cohen

Latham & Watkins

Law Offices of Shawn Halbert

Leigh Day

Lerner David

Linklaters LLP

Littler Mendelson

MJ Legal PA

Monteverde & Associates

Monzack Mersky

Moore & Van Allen

Morgan Lewis

Norton Rose

O'Neil Cannon

Osborne Clarke

Osen LLC

Paul Weiss

Phillips McLaughlin

Proskauer Rose

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Robbins Geller

Rogers Joseph O'Donnell

Scott&Scott

Seeger Weiss

Seila Law

Setfords Solicitors

Shakespeare Martineau

Sidley Austin

Sparacino PLLC

Taylor Rose

Thomas & Thomas

Tin Fulton

Weil Gotshal

Wiley Rein

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

3M Co.

A.P. Moller-Maersk

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.

AT&T Inc.

AXA SA

American Bar Association

American Farm Bureau Federation Inc.

Apple Inc.

BLOM Bank SAL

Beyond Meat Inc.

Binance Holdings Ltd.

Bioventus

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc.

Boston College

Braintree

California Chamber of Commerce

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.

Coinbase Global Inc.

Costco Wholesale Corp.

Deere & Co.

Defender Association of Philadelphia

Delaware State Bar Association

Eli Lilly & Co.

Epic Games Inc.

FSI International, Inc.

Firmenich International SA

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

Givaudan

HSBC Holdings PLC

Halliburton Co.

ITC Ltd.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.

Investments Ltd.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

KFC Corp.

Legal Services Alabama Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Ltd.

M & F Worldwide Corp.

McDonald's Corp.

Mears Group Inc.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA

Moelis & Co.

Natera Inc.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Nestle SA

New York City Bar Association

Ozone Networks Inc.

PGA TOUR Inc.

Permasteelisa SpA

Persuit

Pfizer Inc.

Pizza Hut Inc.

Quest Capital

ROC Nation LLC

Rimini Street Inc.

Rocket Lab USA Inc.

Seiko Epson Corp.

Smith & Wesson Brands Inc.

Social Science Research Network

Symrise AG

Tempur Sealy International Inc.

The Golf Channel LLC

Therapeutics Inc.

Tilray Inc.

TripAdvisor Inc.

Twitter Inc.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Unilever PLC

Uniswap Labs

Vanity Fair

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Industry and Security

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Companies House

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Delaware Court of Chancery

European Commission

Executive Office of the President

Federal Housing Finance Agency

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

International Chamber of Commerce

Judicial Conference of the United States

National Archives and Records Administration

National Security Council

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Foreign Assets Control

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Government Accountability Office

U.S. Office Of Special Counsel

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court