SEC Drops Defense Of Biden-Era Climate Disclosure Rules

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday it would no longer defend regulations requiring some of the world's largest corporations to publicly disclose the effects climate change could have on their businesses, walking away from an Eighth Circuit challenge to the rules that the agency's acting chair called "unnecessarily intrusive."

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Analysis

FCPA 'Purgatory' Frustrates White Collar Bar, Anxious Clients

By Phillip Bantz

An abrupt pause in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement has created tension between clients eager to resolve investigations and their attorneys, who are having trouble reaching decision-makers at the U.S. Department of Justice and are more inclined to await further guidance from the government.

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9th Circ. Won't Stay Injunction Compelling Fed. Worker Rehire

By Emily Brill

A split Ninth Circuit panel has refused to block an injunction compelling the Trump administration to reinstate about 16,000 probationary employees to six federal agencies, saying the administration will likely lose its argument that the agencies weren't acting on an order from above when they fired the workers.

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Gibson Dunn, V&E Guide $1B Jamaica Energy Deal

By Al Barbarino

Excelerate Energy has agreed to purchase New Fortress Energy's Jamaica business for $1.055 billion, with legal support from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Vinson & Elkins LLP, the companies disclosed Thursday.

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DC Judge Seems Open To Fired Inspectors' Reinstatement Bid

By Ali Sullivan

A D.C. federal judge on Thursday questioned whether it would make practical sense to reinstate eight inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump while signaling openness to the federal watchdogs' argument that the president must follow the legally mandated process before they can be terminated.

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Eletson, Levona Ask 2nd Circ. To Not Delay Atty Removal

By Emily Sawicki

The new owners of reorganized international shipping group Eletson and a creditor-turned-affiliate have urged the Second Circuit to nix Reed Smith LLP's emergency motion for a stay in a lawsuit seeking to enforce a $102 million arbitral award, as the law firm fights to continue representing the shipping company's pre-bankruptcy shareholders.

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1st Circ. Denies Gov't Bid To Enforce Funding Freeze

By Julie Manganis

The First Circuit has declined to interfere with a Rhode Island federal judge's order that the government continue releasing federal funds while the Trump administration appeals a ruling blocking its efforts to enforce the freeze.

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Chamber Asks Justices To Review Duke Energy Monopoly Suit

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to review a decision that revived a case accusing Duke Energy of squeezing a rival out of the market in North Carolina, saying the appeals court was wrong to recognize a "Frankenstein's monster" theory of harm.

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Chase Sued Over Alleged Political 'Debanking' Of Fla. Biz

By Katryna Perera

A Florida company alleged in a suit on Thursday that JPMorgan Chase Bank is unlawfully blocking payments the company is trying to make to a manufacturer based on "wholly unsubstantiated and false" claims that the company's leader has Russian mafia ties and participated in interference of the 2016 presidential election.

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Labor Shortage Not Enough For H-2B Estate Manager Hire

By Tom Lotshaw

A biofuel business' holding company's inability to hire a domestic worker to manage an executive's new South Dakota estate doesn't demonstrate a "one-time" or "temporary need" allowing it to tap a foreign worker, a U.S. Department of Labor appeals board judge ruled.

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EV Co. Pumped Stocks Ahead Of 'Reverse' Splits, Suit Claims

By Emilie Ruscoe

Electric vehicle maker Mullen Automotive Inc. faces a proposed investor class action alleging that the company and a trio of its executives manipulated trading prices for the company's shares in advance of reverse stock splits that consolidated the number of shares of the company five times over roughly two years.

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Nikola Corp. Founder Says Trump Gave Him Full Pardon

By Rae Ann Varona

President Donald Trump has pardoned Trevor Milton, the Nikola Corp. founder convicted of fraudulently inflating the electric-truck maker's value on Wall Street, Milton announced in a late Thursday post on X.

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Pa. Coal Co. Gets OK For $23.5M Asset Sale In Ch. 11

By Rick Archer

A Pennsylvania bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved the sale of assets of bankrupt Corsa Coal Corp. for $23.5 million, overriding arguments against including litigation claims in the sale and for earmarking proceeds for environmental cleanup.

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Barretts Mediator Feinberg Blames Committee For Impasse

By Rick Archer

The mediator in the bankruptcy of talc miner Barretts Minerals Inc. has told a Texas bankruptcy court that Chapter 11 plan talks reached an impasse, saying the unsecured creditors in the case have not shown an "ability or willingness to engage."

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NM Case Shows Power Of Environmental Public Nuisance Law

A recent ruling from a New Mexico appeals court finding that a pattern of environmental violations, even without any substantial impact on a nearby community, can trigger nuisance liability — including potential damages and injunctive relief — has important implications for regulated entities in the state, says Kaleb Brooks at Spencer Fane.

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DOJ Immigration Playbook May Take Cues From A 2017 Case

A record criminal resolution with a tree trimming company accused of knowingly employing unauthorized workers in 2017 may provide clues as to how the U.S. Department of Justice’s immigration crackdown will touch American companies, which should prepare now for potential enforcement actions, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

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Series

Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer

With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.

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Judges Block Trump's Jenner & Block, WilmerHale Orders

By Lauren Berg, Ali Sullivan and Alison Knezevich

Jenner & Block LLP and WilmerHale both won temporary restraining orders late Friday blocking President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the firms, with two Washington, D.C., federal judges determining the firms have shown the orders are likely retaliation for their representation of certain clients.

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Skadden Offers $100M In Pro Bono Work To Avoid Trump Order

By Aebra Coe

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has reached a deal with President Donald Trump to avert an impending executive order that could have prevented it from taking on work connected to the federal government and its contractors, according to an announcement by the president Friday on social media platform Truth Social.

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Up Next At High Court: Terror Liability, Health Provider Choice

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench this week to consider whether a federal law subjecting Palestinian government organizations to federal jurisdiction violates due process principles and if the Medicaid Act's provider choice provision allows individual benefit recipients to sue states over the disqualification of healthcare providers. 

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Trump Grants Clemency To Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson

By Hailey Konnath

President Donald Trump has granted clemency to former Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson, who was facing nearly a decade in prison for lying to banks and investors to secure funding for his now-shuttered multimedia company, the White House confirmed Friday.

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Trump Pardons BitMEX Crypto Co., Four Ex-Executives

By Aislinn Keely

President Donald Trump has pardoned the business entity behind cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX and four of the firm's former executives years after they copped to Bank Secrecy Act violations and lax anti-money laundering controls, the White House confirmed Friday.

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Tubi Says Keller Postman Breached Deal In Arbitration Fight

By Emily Sawicki

The D.C. federal judge overseeing video streaming service Tubi Inc.'s tortious interference suit against Keller Postman LLC over mass arbitration claims ordered the parties on Friday to schedule a status conference for next month, in light of Tubi's claims that the firm violated an agreement.

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Ex-Paralegal Sues Ga. Personal Injury Firm Over 658 OT Hours

By Irene Spezzamonte

An Atlanta-based personal injury law firm didn't pay a former paralegal for 658 hours of overtime, and it erroneously considered her a salaried-exempt employee, according to a lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court.

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Roundup

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen sparkling winemaker Nyetimber hit a rival distillery with an intellectual property claim, Newcastle United's former owner Mike Ashley target the club's ex-vice president for damages tied to a fraudulent investment, and a real estate agency file a legal claim against law firm Winston & Strawn LLP. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

As a growing number of companies and their general counsel consider moving their incorporation out of Delaware, the state's governor has quickly signed into law a measure revising its corporation statutes, though there are still critics. And 98% of legal leaders in a recent survey said their budgets are increasing in 2025 to handle the extra work stemming from new diversity risks, tech changes and cybersecurity threats.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

UCLA School of Law's Supreme Court Clinic and Gair Gallo Eberhard LLP head this week's list of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Seventh Circuit ruling that upheld the conviction of a former Chicago alderman for making false statements about loans from a defunct bank.

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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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