Keep your finger on the legal world's pulse

A former Citigroup executive claims in a lawsuit that she was dismissed after ‌raising regulatory and compliance questions. A source familiar with the case said the concerns involved a request to open a bank account connected to President Donald Trump. The heavily redacted complaint, filed in ​Brooklyn federal court, was filed anonymously, using the pseudonym Jane Doe. The plaintiff, a former managing director in Citi's wealth management division, ​claimed she had identified deficiencies in Citi's ​internal controls for risk management, anti-money laundering, reputation risk, and data compliance. Citigroup has denied the allegations in the ​lawsuit and said it had "absolutely zero merit."

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The Supreme Court has declined to hear Tata Consultancy Services' appeal regarding a $168m award to DXC Technology for the alleged stealing of trade secrets related to life-insurance software. Tata's appeal followed a lower court's decision that included $56m in compensatory damages and $112m in punitive damages. DXC's lawsuit, filed in 2019, claimed that Tata hired 2,200 former Transamerica employees to gain access to proprietary information. Despite Tata's denial of the allegations and claims that the information was not secret, a jury in 2023 recommended a $210m award, which was later reduced by U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr. DXC argued that the award was justified under U.S. law regarding unjust enrichment.

 

U.S. News

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from President Donald Trump's administration regarding the detention of certain convicted immigrants without bond hearings. The case stems from a lower court ruling that stated the U.S. Constitution's due process rights prohibit "unreasonably prolonged" detention without a hearing for non-U.S. citizens facing deportation. The dispute involves two green-card holders, G.M. and Carol Black, who were detained for extended periods without the opportunity for bail hearings. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found it unreasonable for Black to be detained for seven months and G.M. for nearly two years without a chance for bail. The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in October, with implications for immigration law and due process rights.

 

U.S. News

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has nominated Judge Melanie L. Cradle, the chief judge of the state appellate court, to the Connecticut Supreme Court, marking the first time in 250 years that a Black woman has been nominated. Prior to her current role, Cradle served as a superior court judge and an assistant state’s attorney. According to a report from the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law on state supreme court diversity updated in 2024, 20% of state supreme court seats are occupied by people of color, and 19 states have no justices who identify as people of color.

 

ABA Journal

Ohio-based www.AI.Law has accused Butler Labs of infringing its patented methods for generating AI-driven legal documents. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claims that Butler Labs, operating as Eve Legal, utilizes similar techniques involving user-inputted “unstructured data” into large language models (LLMs) to produce formatted legal drafts.

 

Bloomberg Law

AI is bifurcating the global labor market, according to a PwC study of data including over one billion job postings across 27 countries and territories. The technology is rewarding companies that use AI to enhance human skills, but those who use it merely to cut costs are being left behind, the study suggests. “The companies seeing the greatest returns on AI are using it to amplify human expertise, accelerate innovation and create entirely new sources of value,” observed Joe Atkinson, PwC’s global chief AI officer. “They’re pulling further ahead on productivity and growth than companies that focus primarily on automation.” Entry-level AI-exposed roles that require what have traditionally been senior human competencies, such as judgment, empathy, ethics, creativity and leadership, have grown 35% since 2019, while so-called “non-seniorized” entry-level positions, which don’t require such skills, have shrunk by 10%, PwC said.  

 

Bloomberg

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has appointed George G. Demos as director of its Division of Enforcement and Investigations, where he will oversee investigations and enforcement actions involving potential violations of PCAOB rules, professional standards, and applicable securities regulations. Demos brings extensive regulatory and legal experience to the role, having previously served as a litigation partner at DLA Piper LLP, senior counsel in the U.S. SEC’s Division of Enforcement, and an adjunct professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law. His appointment places him in charge of the PCAOB’s efforts to enforce audit and accounting standards and investigate potential misconduct within the public company auditing profession.

 

Bloomberg Tax

The Inspector General (IG), the Federal Reserve’s internal watchdog, is urging the central bank to strengthen how it protects employees and information ​during periods of international travel where foreign intelligence agencies might ‌be operational. The IG said the Fed currently lacks a formal program to prepare staff for international travel and does not make checks after staff trips to investigate whether anything suspicious has occurred. The central bank does not have ⁠a program to track employee foreign travel or to share risk assessments, ​and it does not have the tools to make sure staff comply with ​foreign travel rules, the watchdog said.

 

Reuters

Susan Carney Lynch has joined BCLP as a partner in its litigation and investigations department in Washington, D.C. With over 27 years of experience at the Department of Justice, Lynch has led numerous False Claims Act cases in the healthcare sector, working with various healthcare providers, including national and regional hospital systems and skilled nursing facilities.

 

Bloomberg Law

The General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), France’s domestic intelligence service, has ditched AI data tools from Palantir in favor of domestic provider ChapsVision to avoid “strategic dependency”, French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu has said. “We must use our own AI models; we cannot accept new strategic dependencies in ‌the digital sphere,” Lecornu posted on social media. “We cannot rely on tools developed by foreign powers. France must have its own tools.” The DGSI has worked with Palantir since 2016; it renewed its contract in December 2025, which was due to run until 2028.

 

Euractiv

Politico

The Guardian

A court in Australia has banned former Star Entertainment CEO Matthias Bekier ​from managing companies for six years and fined him A$700,000 ($494,620) over failure to handle ‌money laundering risks at the casino operator. The judgment comes months after the Federal Court found Bekier and former chief legal and risk officer Paula Martin breached their duties ​by failing to sufficiently address risks at the company. Much of the judgment was devoted to the pair's self-serving statements which referred to the distress of the case but not the failings that brought it about. "Although both contraveners relied upon evidence of reputational harm, professional consequences and, in Ms Martin's case, physical and psychological conditions, there was very little evidence demonstrating developed insight into the seriousness of the contraventions themselves," Justice Lee said.

 

ABC News

Reuters

A Los Angeles County civil grand jury has highlighted the deteriorating state of the L.A. Zoo, urging a shift to a public-private partnership for its survival. The jury's 2025-2026 report notes a significant decline in zoo membership, which dropped from 36,914 in April 2025 to 28,440 in February 2026, a 23% decrease. “Simply stated, to keep these important educational institutions afloat, almost all zoos across the United States have turned to public-private partnerships,” the jury said in its report. The zoo, which houses over 1,600 animals, has faced challenges in maintaining its national accreditation due to financial constraints and deteriorating facilities. The jury recommends that the city seek a new benefactor familiar with public-private partnerships by next April to ensure the zoo's legacy and future viability.

 

Los Angeles Times