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November 14, 2024
Judge Vows Atty Fee Trims For Handling Of $90M Google Deal
A California federal judge overseeing Google's $90 million antitrust deal with Play Store developers on Thursday blasted counsel representing smaller developer plaintiffs and the administration company handling the settlement, criticizing the administrator's work as "the worst performance I've seen" and vowing to trim the attorney fees "substantially."
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November 14, 2024
Calif. Privacy Agency Inks 1st Settlements With Data Brokers
The California Privacy Protection Agency has issued its first monetary penalties in its almost four-year existence, announcing Thursday that a pair of data brokers would pay nearly $70,000 to resolve claims that they failed to comply with the registration requirements of a groundbreaking state data deletion law.
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November 14, 2024
Ex-JP Morgan Rep To Stop Soliciting Clients Amid Arbitration
A former J.P. Morgan Securities LLC employee who left to work for Morgan Stanley has agreed not to solicit customers from her former employer while the parties arbitrate the broker-dealer's claims she lured clients with more than $12 million in assets away to its rival.
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November 14, 2024
Judge Presses SEC Over 'Rogue Employee' In PE Fund Fight
A Texas federal judge grilled the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the circumstances that led to a private equity fund suing the regulator alleging it carried out a "fishing expedition" investigation, asking the agency about a "rogue employee" during a hearing Thursday.
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November 14, 2024
Kraft Mac & Cheese Artificial Ingredients Claims Survive
An Illinois federal judge said Wednesday that Kraft Heinz Co. can't escape a proposed class action alleging that its Kraft macaroni and cheese products, which are labeled as containing no artificial preservatives, actually do contain those artificial ingredients.
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November 14, 2024
'The World Has Changed': Google's $700M Deal Gets 2nd Look
The California federal judge considering Google's $700 million antitrust deal with states and consumers told plaintiffs' counsel Thursday to review the settlement terms to ensure that they comport with Google Play store changes he ordered in Epic Games' separate lawsuit, saying "the world has changed" since they struck the deal.
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November 14, 2024
LuLaRoe Hit With $164M Verdict In Contract, Fraud Trial
Troubled multilevel marketing company LuLaRoe has been saddled with a $164 million jury verdict in California state court for breaching its contract with a clothing supplier and fraudulently hiding assets in real estate ownership entities and a race car company to avoid paying up.
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November 14, 2024
Crypto And Private Fund Groups Push SEC On Dealer Rule
Crypto industry groups and private fund associations tag-teamed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday during a hearing over two cases relating to the agency's expanded definition of securities dealers, telling a Texas federal court that the new rule marked a dramatic overreach by the regulator.
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November 14, 2024
Judge Floats Musk Hypo As AT&T Exec Seeks Acquittal
An Illinois federal judge posed a hypothetical to federal prosecutors Thursday asking whether it would be a bribery violation if Elon Musk donated heavily to support a presidential candidate who would likely reward him if he wins, as he weighs a former AT&T executive's attempt to avoid a retrial on charges he bribed ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
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November 14, 2024
McDonald's Vendor Says Partner Owes Him $6M Over Ice-Out
A longtime property management vendor for McDonald's Corp. is accusing a business partner of pushing him out of their company just as it was poised to triple the number of sites it would maintain for the fast-food chain, in a $6 million lawsuit filed Thursday in Massachusetts state court.
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November 14, 2024
AT&T Questions FCC's Legal Authority Over 'Unlocking' Rule
AT&T has told the Federal Communications Commission that its proposal requiring mobile providers to unlock a customer's device within 60 days of signing up won't stand up in court.
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November 14, 2024
FTC's Holyoak Says New Comment Portal Shows Merger Bias
Federal Trade Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said Thursday the design of a new portal allowing the public to comment on pending deals shows signs of the current leadership's view that all mergers are bad.
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November 14, 2024
Senate Panel Delays Votes On Patent Eligibility And PTAB Bills
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday postponed planned votes on legislation aimed at reducing decisions that inventions are ineligible for patents and setting new limits on Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges, but approved a bill to let the patent office collect demographic data on inventors.
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November 14, 2024
Split 5th Circ. Affirms SEC's Kroger Proxy Decision
A divided Fifth Circuit on Thursday rejected a "purely theoretical" challenge brought by conservative shareholders unhappy that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission greenlighted the exclusion of a shareholder proposal from Kroger Co.'s 2023 ballot, noting that the case was moot since the company authorized a vote on the proposal anyway.
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November 14, 2024
EEOC Says Texas, Think Tank Can't Scrap Bostock Guidance
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged a federal court to shoot down Texas' challenge to workplace harassment guidance the agency issued based on the U.S. Supreme Court's Bostock decision, arguing the state failed to demonstrate that the guidelines had caused them any harm.
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November 14, 2024
Paramount Ruling Breaks Key Litigation Tool, Chancery Told
A Delaware magistrate in a Chancery decision shielding company records from stockholder demands based on anonymous, presuit sources and purportedly new, post-demand requests threatens one of the few sources available for probing corporate wrongdoing, a stockholder attorney told a vice chancellor on Thursday.
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November 14, 2024
Trump Names Solicitor General, SDNY Picks
President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday he is tapping for solicitor general the lawyer who represented him before the U.S. Supreme Court and will name his former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to be U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
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November 14, 2024
DOJ Deputy Says Biden Stance Led To Fewer Harmful Mergers
The deputy head of the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division offered a full-throated defense Thursday of the Biden administration's aggressive competition enforcement record, arguing, with a Republican takeover imminent, that "more demanding standards" for transaction remedies prompted real change by merging companies seeking to avoid a merger challenge.
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November 14, 2024
Ben & Jerry's Says Unilever Broke Their Deal Over Gaza
Ben & Jerry's sued its parent company, Unilever, Wednesday in New York federal court accusing the consumer goods giant of breaching their settlement agreement that allows the ice cream company freedom in taking political stances by trying to dismantle its independent board and muzzle its stance on the war in Gaza.
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November 14, 2024
NHTSA Fines Ford $165M, Second-Largest Civil Penalty
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday said it has issued Ford Motor Co. a fine of up to $165 million — the second-largest civil penalty in the agency's history — over the carmaker's failure to recall vehicles promptly.
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November 14, 2024
47 AGs Support FCC's Robocall Database Reforms
A bipartisan coalition of 47 attorneys general encouraged the Federal Communications Commission to implement new rules aimed at improving the effectiveness of the Robocall Mitigation Database, or RMD, writing in a comment letter that the database is "currently one of the most important sources of information available for anti-robocall enforcement actions."
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November 14, 2024
Australia Bill Seeks To Expand Rules On Reporting Ownership
Australia's government wants to fight tax avoidance by making owners of equity derivatives disclose significant owners to regulators and investors, expanding access to that information and giving securities regulators new powers to issue freezing orders for noncompliance, the Australian Treasury said Thursday.
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November 14, 2024
BCLP Brings On SEC Enforcement Atty In Atlanta
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP's newest addition in Atlanta is an experienced enforcement attorney who spent time with both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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November 14, 2024
Ex-Worker Says Johnson & Johnson Fired Her For Disabilities
Johnson & Johnson was sued in Georgia federal court Wednesday by a former employee who said she was discriminated against for her disabilities, then fired for failing to relocate to New Jersey despite an agreement allowing her to work remotely from any East Coast location.
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November 14, 2024
'We'll Leave It To Others': SEC's Gensler Hints At Exit
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler gave a lengthy speech Thursday about his legacy and what remains to be done on regulations related to investors' climate, artificial intelligence and crypto concerns.
Expert Analysis
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How Biden Admin Has Used Antitrust Tools, And What's Next
The last four years have been marked by an aggressive whole-of-government approach to antitrust enforcement using a broad range of tools, and may result in lasting change regardless of the upcoming presidential election result, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits
Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.
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How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure
Updated incentives, penalties and enforcement resources in the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently published final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations should help companies decide how to implement export control compliance programs and whether to disclose possible violations, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Making Sure Your Co. Isn't In The Next Section 13(f) Sweep
Enforcement actions taken against 11 institutional investment managers for alleged failures to file forms required by Section 13(f) of the Securities Exchange Act serve as a reminder that firms should carefully monitor their obligations to avoid becoming the target of the next enforcement sweep, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Series
Florida Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
With the implementation of H.B. 989, the third quarter of 2024 has been transformative for banking law and regulation in Florida, and this new law places a strong emphasis on fair access to banking, and prohibits ideologically or politically motivated decisions by financial institutions, says Sha’Ron James at Gunster.
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11th Circ. Kickback Ruling May Widen Hearsay Exception
In a $400 million fraud case, U.S. v. Holland, the Eleventh Circuit recently held that a conspiracy need not have an unlawful object to introduce co-conspirator statements under federal evidence rules, potentially broadening the application of the so-called co-conspirator hearsay exception, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney
A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.
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Navigating Complex Regulatory Terrain Amid State AG Races
This year's 10 attorney general elections could usher in a wave of new enforcement priorities and regulatory uncertainty, but companies can stay ahead of the shifts by building strong relationships with AG offices, participating in industry coalitions and more, say Ketan Bhirud and Dustin McDaniel at Cozen O’Connor.
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How A Trump Win Might Affect The H-1B Program
A review of the Trump administration's attempted overhaul of the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program suggests policies Donald Trump might try to implement if he is reelected, and specific steps employers should consider to prepare for that possibility, says Eileen Lohmann at BAL.
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Challenge To Ill. Card Fee Law Explores Compliance Hurdles
A recent federal lawsuit challenging an Illinois law that will soon forbid electronic payment networks from charging fees for processing the tax and tip portions of card transactions, fleshes out the glaring compliance challenges and exposure risks financial institutions must be ready to face next summer, says Martin Kiernan at Amundsen Davis.
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Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures
Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.
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Harris Unlikely To Shelve Biden Admin's Food Antitrust Stance
A look at Vice President Kamala Harris' past record, including her actions as California attorney general, shows why practitioners should prepare for continued aggressive antitrust enforcement, particularly in the food and grocery industries, if Harris wins the presidential election, says Steve Vieux at Bartko.
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Opinion
This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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5th Circ. Shows Admin Rules Can Survive Court Post-Chevron
The Fifth Circuit's textual analysis of the Fair Labor Standards Act, contributing to its recent affirming of the U.S. Department of Labor’s authority to set an overtime exemption salary threshold, suggests administrative laws can survive post-Chevron challenges, say Jessi Thaller-Moran and Erin Barker at Brooks Pierce.