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Compliance
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May 22, 2025
Life Insurer Strikes $335K Deal In Data Breach Suit
A woman who said her personal information was potentially compromised in a 2023 data breach at a life insurance and financial planning company asked a Connecticut federal court to sign off on the parties' settlement agreement, which would create a $335,000 settlement fund to resolve her proposed class action.
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May 22, 2025
Ill. AG, Trump Tower Strike $4.8M Deal To End Wastewater Row
Illinois' attorney general announced Thursday that the state has struck a deal with the owners of Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago to resolve litigation over the hotel's continual underreporting of the amount of wastewater it discharges into the Chicago River, in violation of environmental laws.
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May 22, 2025
No COVID-19 Coverage For Hotel REIT, Texas Panel Affirms
A group of insurers has no obligation to cover an Austin, Texas-based real estate investment trust's pandemic-related losses, a state appellate court ruled Thursday, finding that a contamination exclusion in the REIT's policies unambiguously bars coverage.
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May 22, 2025
Fla. Man Gets 6 Years For Laundering $1M Into Bitcoin
A Florida man was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison for running a "no questions asked" business that converted more than $1 million into bitcoin to help others — including romance scammers and a drug dealer — hide their funds, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said.
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May 22, 2025
Federal Gov't Backs States' BlackRock Coal Investments Suit
The federal government on Thursday threw its support behind a case from Texas and several other states that accuses investment groups including BlackRock Inc. of using their energy holdings to drive up coal prices under the guise of environmental concerns.
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May 22, 2025
Neb. Gov. Rejects Letting Districts Tax Outside Property
A Nebraska bill to let some local taxing districts impose taxes on property outside their boundaries, and to create statewide standards for inspections by public housing authorities, was vetoed by the state's governor.
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May 22, 2025
Congress Kills Calif. EV Program Waiver, Other Climate Rules
Congress on Thursday sent President Donald Trump four resolutions undoing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency actions, including the Biden-era approval of California's effort to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles in the state, drawing a promise of litigation from the state.
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May 22, 2025
Justices Allow Trump To Fire NLRB, MSPB Members, For Now
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled two fired members of the National Labor Relations Board and the Merit Systems Protection Board cannot return to work while they challenge President Donald Trump's authority to fire them without cause, handing the president a win in his crusade against a 90-year-old precedent limiting his power to fire employees at independent agencies.
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May 22, 2025
Judge Asks If DEI Is Now 'Homogeneity, Inequity And Exclusion'
A Massachusetts federal judge considering a challenge to the Trump administration's cuts to hundreds of National Institutes of Health grants pressed the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday for its definition of diversity, equity and inclusion, at one point asking hypothetically whether the government's policy is now "homogeneity, inequity and exclusion."
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May 22, 2025
Michigan Seeks 6th Circ. Rehearing In Enbridge Pipeline Row
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has asked the full Sixth Circuit to find she is protected by sovereign immunity from an Enbridge Energy lawsuit to halt her efforts to shut down an oil and natural gas pipeline.
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May 22, 2025
GOP FTC Drops Dems' Pepsi Price Discrimination Suit
The Republican-controlled Federal Trade Commission on Thursday dropped one of the last cases approved by agency Democrats before they handed over the gavel, abandoning a New York federal court complaint accusing Pepsi of giving a big box retailer better terms and promotional payments than smaller competitors.
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May 22, 2025
Silvergate Estate To Chip In For $37.5M Investor Settlement
Silvergate Capital and investors suing over its collapse have reached a $37.5 million deal with a "rare" source of partial funding to resolve claims that the failed crypto-focused bank misrepresented its safeguards against onboarding customers like FTX, the fraud-ridden crypto exchange that made up roughly a sixth of the bank's deposit base.
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May 22, 2025
Conn. AG Targets 'Bootleg' Weight Loss Drug Sellers
Connecticut has launched a consumer protection lawsuit in state court against a Florida-based company and its owner, accusing them of peddling untested and unsafe, research-level, "bootleg" GLP-1 weight loss drugs to customers.
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May 22, 2025
Contractor Settles DOJ's Aircraft Adhesive FCA Allegations
A federal contractor paid to make an external pod to carry communications equipment on military aircraft agreed to pay $512,000 to resolve allegations that it misrepresented or omitted important information regarding the adhesive used in a prototype as well as the testing procedures used on that prototype.
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May 22, 2025
Mass. Justices Say Worker's Raise Doesn't Doom Bias Claim
Massachusetts' top court on Thursday found that an employer may still face a discrimination claim for an alleged retaliatory action for union activity, even if the move left the worker with a pay bump.
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May 22, 2025
Senior FCC Democrat Attends Final Monthly Meeting
Geoffrey Starks, the senior Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, participated in his last agency meeting Thursday, where he announced he will leave the agency sometime within the next month.
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May 22, 2025
High Court Declines To Narrow Reach Of Federal Fraud Law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday held that using deceptive means to induce a business transaction may still be a crime even if the defendant doesn't seek to cause economic loss, a departure from earlier decisions that have narrowed the scope of federal fraud statutes.
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May 21, 2025
OCC 'Erred Across The Board,' Ex-Wells Fargo Exec Says
A former Wells Fargo risk officer has asked the Eighth Circuit to vacate steep sanctions that a top U.S. regulator imposed over her alleged role in the bank's fake accounts scandal, arguing she has been unfairly scapegoated and unconstitutionally prosecuted.
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May 21, 2025
Fox Accuses Smartmatic Of Destroying 'Critical' Evidence
Fox News on Wednesday called for Smartmatic to be sanctioned, claiming that nearly two-dozen executives and other employees at the voting tech company destroyed "critical" evidence related to the company's defamation case against the television network, an accusation that comes a week after Smartmatic said Fox deleted relevant texts.
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May 21, 2025
Judge Prolongs Pause On Trump's HUD, DOT Grant DEI Limits
A Washington federal judge Wednesday extended a block on federal grant conditions limiting homelessness aid and transportation funding to recipients who align with the Trump administration's policies against diversity and inclusion programming, as nearly two dozen localities joined New York, San Francisco and others challenging the terms.
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May 21, 2025
'DIY' Rape Kit Ban Challenge Seems To Leave 9th Circ. Split
A Ninth Circuit panel appeared divided Wednesday over a company's appeal in its case challenging Washington state's ban on self-administered DNA collection kits for sexual assault survivors, with one judge remarking the product "doesn't do a whole heck of a lot" if the evidence isn't admissible in court. Â
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May 21, 2025
CFTC Member Says Enforcement Needs More Transparency
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Christy Goldsmith Romero on Wednesday called on the agency to be more transparent about its enforcement decisions, while laying out the factors she weighs in crediting firms for self-reporting and cooperation.
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May 21, 2025
Wyden Urges Sens. To Switch Carriers Over Privacy Risks
AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile failed to put in place systems notifying senators about government surveillance requests, despite being contractually required to, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told his colleagues Wednesday, urging them in a letter to "seriously consider" switching mobile carriers for personal and campaign phones.
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May 21, 2025
Google, Character.AI Can't Escape Suit Over Teen's Suicide
A Florida federal judge on Wednesday greenlit the bulk of claims in a suit accusing Character.AI and Google of causing a 14-year-old's suicide after he became addicted to an artificial intelligence chatbot, saying the AI app can be considered a product for the purposes of a product liability claim.
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May 21, 2025
House Panel Advances Bills Easing Securities, Banking Regs
The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee this week approved 25 bills largely aimed at reducing capital markets and banking regulations, moving the deregulatory proposals forward for consideration by the full House.
Expert Analysis
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SEC Crypto Mining Statement Delivers Regulatory Clarity
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's March 20 statement clarifying that certain crypto mining activities do not constitute the offer and sale of securities marks the end of the SEC's enforcement-first approach and ushers in a more predictable environment for blockchain innovation and investment, says Jeonghoon Ha at Ha Law.
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State Extended Producer Responsibility Laws: Tips For Cos.
As states increasingly shift the onus of end-of-life product management from consumers and local governments to the businesses that produce, distribute or sell certain items, companies must track the changing landscape and evaluate the applicability of these new laws and regulations to their operations, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Nev. Fraud Ruling Raises Stakes For Proxy Battles
Though a Nevada federal court’s recent U.S. v. Boruchowitz decision involved unusual facts, the court's ruling that board members can be defrauded of their seat through misrepresentations increases fraud risks in more typical circumstances involving board elections, especially proxy fights, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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Law Firm Executive Orders Create A Legal Ethics Minefield
Recent executive orders targeting BigLaw firms create ethical dilemmas — and raise the specter of civil or criminal liability — for the government attorneys tasked with implementing them and for the law firms that choose to make agreements with the administration, say attorneys at Buchalter.
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NLRB Firing May Need Justices' Input On Removal Power
President Donald Trump's unprecedented removal of National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox spurred a lawsuit that is sure to be closely watched, as it may cause the U.S. Supreme Court to reexamine a 1935 precedent that has limited the president's removal powers, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.
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The OCC's Newly Relaxed Approach To Bank Crypto Activity
With the early March rescission of Biden-era interpretive guidance, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has loosened its approach to regulating national banks and federal savings associations' crypto-asset activities, possibly removing one barrier to banks engaging in such activities, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Contractor Remedies Amid Overhaul Of Federal Spending
Now that the period for federal agencies to review their spending has ended, companies holding procurement contracts or grants should evaluate whether their agreements align with administration policies and get a plan ready to implement if their contracts or grants are modified or terminated, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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5 Steps To Promote Durable, Pro-Industry Environmental Regs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's planned wave of deregulation will require lengthy reviews, and could be undone by legal challenges and future changes of administration — but industry involvement in rulemaking, litigation, trade associations, and state and federal legislation can help ensure favorable and long-lasting regulatory policies, say attorneys at Balch & Bingham.
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Trade Policy Shifts Raise Hurdles For Gov't And Cos. Alike
The persistent tension between the Trump administration's fast-moving and aggressive trade policies and the compliance-heavy nature of the trade industry creates implementation challenges for both the business community and the government, says Sara Schoenfeld at Kamerman.
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Firms Must Embrace Alternative Billing Models Or Fall Behind
As artificial intelligence tools eliminate inefficiencies and the Big Four accounting firms enter the legal market, law firms that pivot from the entrenched billable hour model to outcomes-based pricing will see a distinct competitive advantage, says attorney William Brewer.
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Opinion
7 Ways CFTC Should Nix Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens
Several U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulations do not work efficiently in practice, all of which can be abolished or improved in order to comply with a recent executive order requiring the elimination of 10 regulations for every new one implemented, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Key Insurance Issues Likely To Arise From NY Superfund Law
The recently enacted New York Climate Change Superfund Act imposes a massive $75 billion in liabilities on energy companies in the fossil fuel industry, which can be expected to look to their insurers for coverage, raising a slew of coverage issues both old and new, say attorneys at Wiley.
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How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of On-Camera Presence
As attorneys are increasingly presented with on-camera opportunities, they can adapt their traditional legal skills for video contexts — such as virtual client meetings, marketing content or media interviews — by understanding the medium and making intentional adjustments, says Kerry Barrett.
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Justices' TikTok Ruling Sets Stage For 1st Amendment Battle
The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling upholding a law requiring TikTok's sale sets the stage for an inevitable clash between free speech and government interests and signals that future cases will turn on whether a regulation poses a substantial burden on speech, say attorneys at Dykema.
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What Del. Corporate Law Rework Means For Founder-Led Cos.
Although the amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law have proven somewhat divisive, they will provide greater clarity and predictability in the rules that apply to founder-led companies navigating transactions concerning controlling stockholders and responding to books-and-records requests, say attorneys at Munger Tolles.