Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse

Fund manager Vanguard Group is to pay $29.5m to settle a lawsuit by 13 Republican state attorneys general who claimed the firm and rivals violated antitrust law through climate activism. Reuters notes that the suit in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas has been closely watched as a test of how far Republicans from energy-producing states would push Wall Street firms they accused of overemphasizing environmental matters. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, one of the plaintiffs, said Vanguard "agreed to strict passivity commitments" which prohibit the firm from dictating the strategy of companies in which it invests or to push shareholder proposals related to environmental or social concerns. Vanguard decided to settle the litigation to avoid the potential for tens of millions of dollars in legal fees and to get rid of the “distraction”, said sources.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

Avoid Common Client Account Mistakes    

Client trust account compliance remains one of the highest-risk areas for law firms, with small process gaps often leading to serious regulatory consequences. 
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Cashroom’s Legal Compliance Checklist for Law Firms is designed to help firms review their current approach, identify potential risk areas, and strengthen financial controls across client trust and IOLTA account management.

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A federal appeals court has declined to enforce a temporary decision blocking the Trump administration from stripping two-thirds of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights, reversing a lower court's ‌ruling. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San ⁠Francisco said ⁠Trump's 2025 order eliminating collective bargaining rights for swaths of ​government workers was legitimately grounded in national security concerns. The ​order "expresses that the President's primary - if not only - concern with union activity was its ​interference with national security," ⁠Circuit Judge Daniel Bress, a Trump appointee, wrote for the court.

 

U.S. News

Walmart has agreed to pay $100m to settle allegations from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding misleading pay practices for delivery drivers. The FTC, joined by 11 states, claimed that Walmart inflated base pay and tips in its Spark delivery program, leading drivers to lose significant earnings. Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said: "Labor markets cannot function efficiently without truthful and non-misleading information about earnings." As part of the settlement, Walmart will implement an earnings verification program to ensure transparency for drivers.

 

Bloomberg

US News and World Report

Wall Street Journal

Jefferies Financial Group has been sued by investors who claim the firm misled them into investing in a trade finance fund tied to now-bankrupt auto parts supplier First Brands. In a lawsuit filed in New York state court, British Virgin Islands-based Eugenia II Investment Holdings and Eugenia III Investment Holdings allege that Jefferies and its Point Bonita Capital fund falsely represented that they had “cash dominion” over receivables purchased from First Brands. The complaint claims that, in reality, First Brands retained control of the funds while allegedly double-pledging collateral and manipulating invoices as part of what federal prosecutors have described as a multibillion-dollar fraud. Jefferies has denied the allegations. First Brands founder Patrick James and his brother Edward James were indicted last month on fraud and conspiracy charges related to the company’s collapse and have pleaded not guilty.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

A federal judge in Manhattan has rejected a request from Binance to resolve claims through arbitration from customers who accused the trading platform of illegally selling unregistered tokens and causing significant losses. U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter said customers could pursue claims that arose by February 20, 2019 in court, because the cryptocurrency exchange did not sufficiently notify them that it modified their terms of use to require arbitration and waive the right to sue in a class action.

 

Reuters

AT&T is to settle a lawsuit by four New York City public pension funds by letting shareholders vote on whether it should disclose the breakdown of its 133,000-person workforce by race, ethnicity and gender. The funds last week sued to block the Dallas-based firm from soliciting shareholder proxies that would have excluded their diversity proposal from consideration at its 2026 annual meeting.

 

Reuters

The Federal Reserve is waging a behind-closed-doors legal challenge to two subpoenas issued in U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's criminal investigation of Chair Jerome Powell, the Wall Street Journal reports. Pirro is investigating testimony that Powell provided last summer around building renovations, a probe he has called improper. The Fed, in sealed proceedings, is asking a judge to quash the subpoenas, which could reduce or eliminate its obligation to respond.

 

Wall Street Journal

An adviser to Europe’s highest court has sided with European Union antitrust authorities in their dispute with Meta Platforms, dealing a setback to the U.S. technology company’s challenge over regulatory information demands. The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union's Advocate General Athanasios Rantos said judges should dismiss Meta's appeal and uphold a lower tribunal's ruling that backed the European Commission, the EU's competition enforcer. Reuters says the case underscores the increasing tendency by companies to challenge the EU antitrust enforcer over what they say are disproportionate regulatory demands.

 

PYMNTS.com

Reuters

Hunton Andrews Kurth has officially closed its Beijing office, marking the end of nearly two decades of presence in mainland China. The closure is part of a broader trend: over two dozen foreign law firms have shut their operations in Greater China over the past three years. The firm continues to operate regionally in Tokyo and Bangkok.

 

Law

DLA Piper has hired Ranesh Ramanathan, the head of capital solutions at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Ramanathan, who joined Akin in 2022 from Kirkland & Ellis, has a strong background in advising companies and investors on complex debt and equity situations. His previous experience includes serving as managing director and deputy general counsel at Bain Capital.

 

Bloomberg Law

The U.S. Treasury has threatened to sever Swiss private bank MBaer's access to the U.S. financial system on the grounds it had breached sanctions against Iran, Russia and Venezuela. "MBaer has funneled over a hundred million dollars through the U.S. financial system on behalf of illicit actors tied to Iran and Russia," U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "Banks should be on notice that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system using the full force of our authorities." Switzerland’s financial regulator Finma said it considers MBaer “to be a financial institution of primary money laundering concern.”

 

The Hill

Bloomberg

Reuters

swissinfo.ch

A Hong Kong appellate court has overturned fraud convictions against media mogul Jimmy Lai, a significant win in his ongoing legal struggles. Lai, 78, remains imprisoned due to a separate conviction under a national security law. The overturned convictions stemmed from allegations that Lai's consultancy misused rented office space. The judges ruled the prosecution did not prove false representations beyond reasonable doubt. Lai's children hope that U.S. President Donald Trump can assist in securing his release during an upcoming visit to Beijing. U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has called for Lai's release on humanitarian grounds.

 

Sky News

The Daily Telegraph

The Guardian