Securities

  • October 08, 2024

    AI Software Co. Touted Inflated Revenue, Investor Claims

    Artificial intelligence software company iLearningEngines has been hit with a proposed class action alleging investors were damaged when a short seller report revealed that the company was overstating its Indian revenue by nearly 99% by contracting with a related party to inflate sales.

  • October 08, 2024

    FTX's Ellison To Give Up 'Substantially All Of Her Assets'

    Former FTX insider Caroline Ellison agreed to give up "substantially all of her assets" and cooperate with the FTX bankruptcy estate in a deal to resolve the claims against her in an adversary proceeding that sought to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from the collapsed crypto exchange's former leadership.

  • October 08, 2024

    Chancery OKs $9.75M In Atty Fees For SPAC Stock Drop Suits

    Settlements and attorney fee rulings closed the book Tuesday on two GigCapital-related blank check deals that settled before trial in Delaware's Court of Chancery, with a vice chancellor approving combined public stockholder payouts and fee awards of $7.25 million and $2.5 million.

  • October 08, 2024

    Elanco Misled Investors About Dog Medicine Safety, Suit Says

    An Elanco investor lodged a proposed securities class action against the animal pharmaceutics company on Monday, telling a Maryland federal court that the company misled investors about the safety of a canine dermatitis treatment it was developing and its timelines for drug launches.

  • October 08, 2024

    SEC Approves Nasdaq Plan To Accelerate Delistings

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a Nasdaq rule change that would enable the stock exchange to accelerate removals of struggling companies that try to delay delistings through the use of reverse stock splits.

  • October 08, 2024

    Whole Earth Sued In Chancery For Docs On Take-Private Deal

    A stockholder of global food company Whole Earth Brands sued the company in Delaware's Court of Chancery late Monday for alleged failure to provide requested books and records on the company's agreement in February to be taken private by an affiliate of Sababa Holdings Free LLC.

  • October 08, 2024

    Crypto.com Sues SEC Over 'Unlawful' Crypto Approach

    Crypto.com became the latest crypto exchange to push back on a potential enforcement case from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday when it sued the regulator after allegedly receiving a notice that the agency believes it operates as an unregistered broker-dealer and clearing agency.

  • October 08, 2024

    Morgan Lewis Lands Capital Markets Pro From Davis Polk

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced Tuesday that it has added to its capital markets and public companies practice with the hiring of an attorney who formerly was at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and served as an attorney-adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • October 08, 2024

    Willkie Adds Faegre ERISA Litigation Co-Head With Duo Hire

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is expanding its Midwest team, announcing Tuesday it is bringing in a Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigator and a Chapman and Cutler LLP finance expert as partners in its Chicago office.

  • October 07, 2024

    AbbVie's Top Brass Escape Suit Over Rinvoq Claims, For Now

    An Illinois federal judge Friday tossed AbbVie investors' suit challenging directors' statements about the potential for its rheumatoid arthritis drug Rinvoq to be approved for other conditions, a possibility that collapsed over safety risks with Pfizer's competing drug Xeljanz, finding the investors don't allege the directors knew Xeljanz's results would affect Rinvoq.

  • October 07, 2024

    Seinfeld-Inspired Investors Sue Bitwise Over $2M Crypto Losses

    A group of family-owned investment companies named after a gag from "Seinfeld" sued crypto asset manager Bitwise and its executives for allegedly duping them into staying invested in one of its funds as it sought a conversion to a less-preferable structure, causing them $1.9 million in losses.

  • October 07, 2024

    Activist Short Seller Blasts 'Preposterous' SEC Fraud Suit

    The founder of Citron Research, a newsletter for short sellers, has asked a California federal court to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fraud suit against him and his investment advisory firm, arguing the suit "strategically omits" the disclaimers it accused the founder of not making.

  • October 07, 2024

    Morgan Lewis Taps SEC Enforcement Vet As DC Partner

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced on Monday that it has bolstered its securities enforcement and litigation team by hiring as a new partner the former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission division of enforcement associate director, a 17-year agency veteran who supervised many of the SEC's groundbreaking or noteworthy crypto actions, including one against Kim Kardashian.

  • October 07, 2024

    5th Circ. Casts Doubt On SEC's Updated Short-Selling Rules

    A Fifth Circuit panel on Monday appeared skeptical of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's arguments for maintaining two regulations aiming to bolster transparency around short selling in the marketplace, with one judge asking whether the agency was "having cake and eating it too," by claiming that the rules were not interconnected in a way that was fatally flawed.

  • October 07, 2024

    FTX Gets OK For Ch. 11 Plan After Objections Overruled

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge said he would confirm the Chapter 11 reorganization plan of FTX Trading Ltd. after overruling several objections Monday, beginning a process of distributing billions of dollars to customers less than two years after the cryptocurrency exchange collapsed.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Won't Hear Commerzbank RMBS Fight With US Bank

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a bid by Commerzbank AG to revive more of its claims against U.S. Bank NA in a long-running lawsuit over pre-2008 residential mortgage-backed securities trusts, declining to review a recent Second Circuit decision in the case.

  • October 07, 2024

    5 Decisions To Know By Outgoing Mass. Chief Judge

    Chief Massachusetts U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, who announced Monday that he will step back from full-time judicial service next summer, has presided over numerous significant cases in recent years, including a dispute over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's disgorgement powers and a birth defects suit against GlaxoSmithKline.

  • October 07, 2024

    Trio Of 1st Circ. Criminal Cases Turned Away By Top Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review three white collar cases on appeal from the First Circuit, including challenges to a cryptocurrency founder's conviction for investor theft and an Illinois attorney's fraud and money laundering conspiracy verdict.

  • October 07, 2024

    Coinbase Says Ripple Appeal Supports Its Own 2nd Circ. Bid

    Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase told a New York federal judge that the Second Circuit would be best served by reviewing the firm's bid to toss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement suit against it now that the SEC has appealed a judgment with similar legal questions in its case against Ripple Labs.

  • October 07, 2024

    Feds Seek Tape, Allege Witness Tampering In WeWork Case

    Prosecutors asked Sunday to subpoena a recording of an incident in which they say a former investment firm CEO who is accused of making a fraudulent offer for WeWork shares had improper contact with a witness expected to testify at the ex-CEO's upcoming trial.

  • October 07, 2024

    DOJ Fraud Assistant Chief Joins McGovern Weems In DC

    An official in the U.S. Department of Justice's Fraud Section has left to join McGovern Weems LLC after a decade with the federal agency, bringing extensive trial experience to the white collar firm.

  • October 07, 2024

    CM Law Grows With Litigation Partners In NY, DC And Texas

    CM Law PLLC, formerly known as Culhane Meadows Haughian & Walsh PLLC, has grown with the addition of three litigation partners in New York; Washington, D.C.; and Texas.

  • October 07, 2024

    Winston & Strawn Adds Digital Assets Pro From K&L Gates

    Winston & Strawn LLP has hired as a partner for its transactions department and as a member of its digital assets and blockchain technology group an attorney who formerly worked at K&L Gates LLP and co-chaired its digital assets industry group.

  • October 07, 2024

    High Court Rejects Pleas To Hear 7 Patent Cases

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down seven petitions seeking review of decisions in patent cases, including appeals dealing with double patenting, patent eligibility and Patent Trial and Appeal Board procedures.

  • October 07, 2024

    High Court Turns Away Case On Shareholder Opt-Out Rights

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a petition brought by an AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. shareholder who asked the court to weigh in on whether a Delaware Court of Chancery judge violated her due process rights by blocking her from opting out of a settlement over the movie chain's controversial reverse stock split. 

Expert Analysis

  • Big Banks Face Potential Broader Recovery Plan Rules

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's recent call for potentially subjecting more banks to recovery planning standards would represent a significant expansion of the scope of the recovery guidelines, and banks that would be affected should assess whether they’re prepared, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Practical Private Equity Lessons From 2 Delaware Deals

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    A pair of Delaware Chancery Court cases remind private equity sponsors that specificity is crucial through the lens of deal certainty, particularly around closing conditions and agreement sections of acquisition agreements, say Robert Rizzo and Larissa Lucas at Weil Gotshal and William Lafferty at Morris Nichols.

  • New Laws, Regs Mean More Scrutiny Of Airline Carbon Claims

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    Recent climate disclosure laws and regulations in the U.S. and Europe mean that scrutiny of airlines' green claims will likely continue to intensify — so carriers must make sure their efforts to reduce carbon emissions through use of sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen and carbon offsets measure up to their marketing, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • 4 Tips For Drafting Earnouts To Avoid Disputes

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    Amid slowed merger and acquisition activity, buyers and sellers are increasingly turning to earnout provisions to get deals done, but these must be carefully drafted to avoid interpretative differences that can lead to later disputes, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • What DOL Fiduciary Rule Means For Private Fund Managers

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    Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the U.S. Department of Labor's recently released final fiduciary rule, which revises the agency's 1975 regulation, could potentially cause private fund managers' current marketing practices and communications to be considered fiduciary advice, and therefore subject them to strict prohibitions.

  • Best Practices For Chemical Transparency In Supply Chains

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    A flurry of new and forthcoming regulations in different jurisdictions that require disclosure of potentially hazardous substances used in companies' products and processes will require businesses to take proactive steps to build chemical transparency into their supply chains, and engage robustly and systematically with vendors, says Jillian Stacy at Enhesa.

  • What 11th Circ. Fearless Fund Ruling Means For DEI In Courts

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent backing of a freeze on the Fearless Fund's grants to women of color building new companies marks the latest major development in litigation related to diversity, equity and inclusion and may be used to question other DEI programs targeted at providing opportunities to certain classes of individuals, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Unpacking The Latest Tranche Of Sanctions Targeting Russia

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    Hundreds of new U.S. sanctions and export-control measures targeting trade with Russia, issued last week in connection with the G7 summit, illustrate the fluidity of trade-focused restrictions and the need to constantly refresh compliance analyses, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Considerations For Cooperation Contracts In Loan Trades

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    Significant challenges to settling trades can arise when lenders of syndicated bank loans enter into defense-oriented cooperation agreements, which are growing in popularity, but working through these issues on the front end of a trade can save hours down the road, says Robert Waldner at Crowell & Moring.

  • Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation

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    Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

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