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Corporate
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September 24, 2024
SEC, CFTC Issue $118M Fines In Latest Text Message Actions
Federal regulators said Tuesday that the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and nearly a dozen other financial firms have agreed to pay fines totaling nearly $120 million to settle recordkeeping violations tied to employee use of unapproved communication methods like text messages to conduct business.
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September 24, 2024
Do GCs Even Know Company's AI Use? Survey Raises Doubts
Top legal officers appear badly misaligned with other executives or are misinformed on the use of artificial intelligence at their companies, especially in the human resources area, according to a new survey released Tuesday.
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September 23, 2024
Chamber Says X Ruling Boosts Bid To Nix Calif. Climate Laws
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the state of California have filed competing briefs on how a recent Ninth Circuit decision blocking parts of a social media law applies to the state's corporate climate disclosure rules, with the Chamber arguing the ruling reinforces how the latter violate the First Amendment.
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September 23, 2024
3rd Circ. Probes SEC's 'Close To Vacuous' Reply To Coinbase
Members of a Third Circuit panel on Monday pressed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on its brief denial of crypto exchange Coinbase's request for rulemaking around digital assets, digging into how much of an explanation the agency owes the industry about its decision to forego setting rules for now.
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September 23, 2024
Google Executive Says There's No Internal Ad Tech Advantage
A Google executive pushed back Monday on some of the U.S. Justice Department's most important allegations of a conflict of interest in the search giant's control over online display advertising placement technology, arguing that website publishers are in charge of how ads are placed and priced.
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September 23, 2024
Coinbase Brings On Ex-Citadel Legal Chief With SEC Chops
Coinbase announced on Monday it has hired Ryan VanGrack to serve as its vice president of legal, where he will be overseeing civil litigation, regulatory probes, employment and intellectual property matters for the crypto exchange after spending seven years with Citadel Securities as general counsel.
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September 23, 2024
Calif. Gov. Vetoes Privacy Bill, OKs Social Media Addiction Law
California's governor has refused to enact legislation that would have required browser developers to make it easier for consumers to stop the sale and sharing of their personal information, while approving a bill that will block online platforms from using algorithms to deliver addictive feeds to children without parental consent.
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September 23, 2024
Mallinckrodt Brass Can't Avoid Investor Suit Over 2nd Ch. 11
A New Jersey federal judge ruled Monday that senior leaders of drugmaker Mallinckrodt cannot escape a lawsuit brought by shareholders alleging the company tricked them into thinking it had recovered from bankruptcy and would make a $200 million payment to opioid claimants, finding the investors sufficiently pleaded securities law violations.
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September 23, 2024
Starbucks Wins At 9th Circ. In 'S'mores' Lip Gloss IP Theft Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Monday refused to revive lip balm company Balmuccino's claims that Starbucks breached an implied contract and misappropriated trade secrets by stealing its idea for coffee-flavored "S'mores Frappuccino" lip gloss, agreeing with the lower court's order that Balmuccino's claims were filed too late.
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September 23, 2024
Helicopter Co. Used Code Names To Oust Supplier, Jury Hears
Under the code name "Project Cicada," Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. worked for years to replace California-based digital avionics equipment supplier Rogerson Aircraft Corporation with a competitor, a jury heard in a Texas state court Monday, using Rogerson's trade secrets to prep the rival for the eventual shift.
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September 23, 2024
Petco, Shareholders Battle In Chancery Over Controller Clout
Attorneys for Petco Health & Wellness Co. Inc. face an "uphill battle" in branding as "wrongly decided" a landmark Court of Chancery ruling earlier this year that struck down an agreement giving a company's controlling stockholder board-trumping power, Delaware's chancellor cautioned on Monday.
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September 23, 2024
Toyota Accused Of 'Rotten' Forklift Emissions Compliance
Toyota has been misrepresenting the true emissions levels of the engines in its forklifts and construction machinery, leading businesses to believe the engines were far more environmentally friendly than they actually were, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.
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September 23, 2024
Battery Exec Can't Avoid Depo In $2B Plant Fight
Battery manufacturer Gotion cannot block the deposition of its U.S. President Li Chen in a legal fight over the future of a proposed gigafactory in a Michigan town, a federal magistrate judge ruled Monday.
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September 23, 2024
CFTC Fines Piper Sandler $2M In Latest Text Messaging Action
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission both announced settlements Monday in their ongoing probe into the financial industry's use of personal devices to discuss company business, with the CFTC issuing a fine against a subsidiary of Piper Sandler & Co. while the SEC said that a cooperative investment adviser would not have to pay anything.
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September 23, 2024
DOJ Adds AI Risk To Corporate Compliance Program
The U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division is now weighing how companies manage risk related to artificial intelligence and potentially stymie whistleblowers, one of several updates to the division's policies on evaluating corporate compliance programs announced by a senior official on Monday.
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September 23, 2024
Oracle Wins $58M In Atty Fees In Software Copyright Suit
Attorneys representing Oracle in its long-running software copyright battle with Rimini Street Inc. were awarded $58 million in fees Monday by a Nevada federal judge who called the tech giant's $69 million request "slightly excessive."
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September 23, 2024
Calif. Sues Exxon For Plastic Pollution And Recycling Deception
California's attorney general and a coalition of conservation groups hit Exxon Mobil Corp. with a pair of lawsuits on Monday claiming the petrochemical giant has inundated the state with harmful plastic waste while misleading people about recycling's ability to ever make a dent in the problem.
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September 23, 2024
Fired Sotera Exec's Vesting Suit Goes Forward In Del.
Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed on Monday some claims in a former Sotera Health Co. executive's suit accusing the lab-testing and sterilization firm of wrongly refusing to grant him severance benefits and equity awards worth millions, while holding other claims for trial.
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September 23, 2024
Walmart Keeps Win In Fabric Softener Slip-And-Fall Suit
An Ohio state appeals court on Monday declined to revive a man's suit alleging he slipped and fell on fabric softener while shopping at Walmart, finding that he hadn't produced any evidence that Walmart or its employees created or were aware of the spill in that aisle.
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September 23, 2024
Vanguard Agrees To Settle Investors' Tax Liability Suit
Vanguard agreed to settle a proposed class action by investors who accused the company of violating its fiduciary duties when it triggered a sell-off of assets that left them with massive tax bills, according to a Pennsylvania federal court order Monday.
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September 23, 2024
Ford Investor Claims Automaker's Execs Hid Warranty Costs
Directors and executives of Ford Motor Co. have been hit with a shareholder derivative suit alleging they covered up problems with the company's quality assurance procedures and made misleading statements about how much money was in warranty reserves, leading the company to overpay about $115 million when it bought back its own stock at artificially inflated prices.
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September 23, 2024
Boston Globe Secures Key Depo In Exec's Firing Suit
A Massachusetts state judge has OK'd The Boston Globe's request for a subpoena it hopes will show a fired executive had a habit of questionable corporate spending.
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September 23, 2024
Mass. General Asks Court To End Fat Removal Patent License
Massachusetts General Hospital is asking a judge to rule that a patent license agreement for a fat removal system it developed has been terminated, after the licensee allegedly defaulted on its payment obligations.
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September 23, 2024
Warner Bros. Fights To Keep NBA Streaming Suit In Court
Warner Bros. Discovery, whose subsidiary has been a broadcast partner with the National Basketball Association since 1988, has told a New York state court that the league acted in bad faith in structuring its new $76.7 billion rights deal specifically to circumvent a contractual matching rights clause.
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September 23, 2024
Davis Polk Vows Ex-Clerk Won't Touch Crypto Merger Suit
Local counsel for Galaxy Digital Holdings Inc. has told a Delaware vice chancellor that Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP will ensure that an incoming associate who clerked for the state's Supreme Court won't share information with attorneys defending the digital assets company in a merger suit that the state's highest court revived in May.
Expert Analysis
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Assessing Whether Jarkesy May Limit FINRA Prosecutions
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Jarkesy v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, holding that civil securities fraud defendants are entitled to jury trials, may cause unpredictable results when applied to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority prosecutions, say Barry Temkin and Kate DiGeronimo at Mound Cotton.
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Examining Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Of AI Inventions
In light of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data showing that patent applications for artificial intelligence inventions are likelier to get rejected based on patent-ineligible subject matter, inventors seeking protection should be aware of the difficulties and challenges pertaining to patent eligibility, say Georgios Effraimidis at NERA and Joel Lehrer at Goodwin.
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Series
Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer
My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.
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Amid SEC Rule Limbo, US Cos. Subject To ESG Regs In EU
Though the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is facing legal challenges to its climate-disclosure rulemaking, the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in the European Union will force U.S. companies to comply with exactly the kinds of ESG disclosures that are not yet mandated in the U.S., say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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Pros, Cons Of Disclosing Improper Employee Retention Credit
Employers considering the Internal Revenue Service’s second voluntary disclosure program, which allows companies to avoid penalties for erroneously claiming employee retention credits for the 2021 tax year by repaying the credits and naming the tax advisers who encouraged these abusive practices, should carefully weigh the program’s benefits against its potential drawbacks, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'
Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.
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Election Outlook: A Precedent Primer On Content Moderation
With the 2024 election season now in full swing, online platforms will face difficult and politically sensitive decisions about content moderation, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions from last term offer much-needed certainty about their rights, say Jonathan Blavin and Helen White at Munger Tolles.
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6 Considerations To Determine If A Cyber Incident Is Material
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance on material cybersecurity incidents covers a range of ransomware scenarios, from a company paying a sum and regaining operations to recovering payment via cyberinsurance, but makes it clear that no single factor determines whether a cybersecurity incident is material, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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How Anti-DEI Bill Could Affect Employers' Diversity Efforts
Sen. J.D. Vance's recently introduced Dismantle DEI Act would substantially limit employers’ ability to implement and promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but there are still steps employers can take to support a diverse workforce, says Peter Ennis at Cozen O’Connor.
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.
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Series
After Chevron: What To Expect In Consumer Protection At FTC
Although the Federal Trade Commission's bread-and-butter consumer protection law enforcement actions are unlikely to be affected, the Loper Bright decision may curb the FTC's bolder interpretations of the statutes it enforces, says Mary Engle at BBB National Programs.
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Comparing 5 Administrators' Mass Arbitration Procedures
Attorneys at DLA Piper compare the rules for mass arbitrations at five different arbitration providers — Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, American Arbitration Association, National Arbitration and Mediation, FedArb and New Era ADR — including their triggers, claim screening procedures, how and when they assess fees, and more.
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Whistleblowers Must Note 5 Key Differences Of DOJ Program
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently unveiled whistleblower awards program diverges in key ways from similar programs at other agencies, and individuals must weigh these differences and look first to programs with stronger, proven protections before blowing the whistle, say Stephen Kohn and Geoff Schweller at Kohn Kohn.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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Calif. Ruling Clarifying Paystub Compliance Is Win For Cos.
In rare good news for California employers, the state Supreme Court recently clarified that workers couldn’t win extra penalties in wage and hour cases by claiming their employer intentionally violated state paystub law if the employer believed it had complied in good faith, say Drei Munar and Kirk Hornbeck at Hunton.