CFPB's $5M Student Loan Deal Gets OK Over PIMCO Objections

By Jon Hill

A Pennsylvania federal judge has finalized a proposed $5 million settlement of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau case that alleged pandemic-era servicing failures involving securitized student loans, overruling objections that money manager PIMCO raised on behalf of loan investors.

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Colony Ridge Seeks Quick Appeal In 'Reverse Redlining' Suit

By Katryna Perera

A Texas real estate developer that recently lost a bid to exit a lending discrimination suit brought by the U.S. government and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has moved to begin a Fifth Circuit appeal, arguing the "novelty" of the case's reverse redlining theory warrants immediate appellate review.

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Credit Repair Co. Owes $50M In CFPB, Mass. AG Case

By Sydney Price

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Massachusetts' attorney general scored a $50 million win in their suit against a credit repair service and its owner after a Bay State federal judge determined that they violated federal and state consumer protection laws by falsely promising credit score improvements and illegally charging advance fees.

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SEC's Top Cop Departing After Record-Breaking Tenure

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that enforcement director Gurbir Grewal will be leaving the agency next week following a three-year tenure, during which the agency brought in record penalties and frequently clashed with crypto industry participants objecting to a string of lawsuits brought under Grewal's leadership.

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2nd Circ. Prods NY Appeals Court To Weigh Foreclosure Law

By Nate Beck

The Second Circuit has urged a state appeals court to provide input on a ruling retroactively canceling U.S. Bank's attempt to foreclose on a Queens condo in 2016 by applying a six-year statute of limitations in the state's 2022 Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act.

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Panel Revives Fraud Suit On Merchant Cash Advance Cos.

By Ryan Harroff

An Ohio state appeals court revived part of S&T Bank Inc.'s suit against more than 30 merchant cash advance companies that it accused of working with convicted fraudster Harold Sosna to help him run a check-kiting scheme that cost the bank $58 million.

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Former C-Quest Capital CEO Indicted For Carbon Credit Fraud

By Rae Ann Varona

Federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday announced criminal charges against Kenneth Newcombe, the former chief executive officer of carbon project developer C-Quest Capital, accusing him of scheming to submit altered data relating to cookstove projects abroad to obtain millions of dollars worth of carbon credits.

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Convicted Judge Owes Feds Retirement Funds, 7th Circ. Says

By Lauren Berg

A former Illinois judge convicted of running a $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme must cough up assets from her retirement accounts to cover her restitution obligations, the Seventh Circuit ruled Wednesday, agreeing with a Chicago district court that the government can access her retirement savings to satisfy that debt.

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Brief

4th Circ. Says Murdaugh Can't Appeal Fraud Sentence

By Elliot Weld

Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is serving life in prison for murder, was denied an appeal of a separate 40-year sentence after pleading guilty to stealing at least $9 million from clients by a Fourth Circuit panel that said he'd waived his right to appeal.

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Brief

NY Man Posed As Exec To Steal $810K Tax Refund, Feds Say

By Julie Manganis

A New York man has been charged with intercepting an unnamed Connecticut investment firm's $810,337 tax refund and then impersonating an executive of the company to steal most of it.

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Wells Fargo Says Atty Can't Blame It For Getting Scammed

By Daniel Ducassi

Wells Fargo has asked a Colorado state judge to dismiss claims brought by an attorney and conservative political figure alleging the bank failed to cancel his wire transfer from a client's account to what ended up being a scammer's Hong Kong account.

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Conn. Receiver Gains Access To Apt. Co-Op's BofA Accounts

By Brian Steele

Bank of America agreed to provide a court-appointed receiver with access to a distressed housing cooperative's bank accounts Wednesday amid efforts by the municipalities of Bridgeport and Stratford, Connecticut, to obtain a court order.

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Wells Fargo, AAA Misrepresent Arbitration Process, Suit Says

By Caroline Simson

Wells Fargo and the American Arbitration Association have been hit with a proposed class action accusing them of colluding to fraudulently induce consumers into accepting a fundamentally unfair arbitration process, thereby giving up their right to litigate claims over allegedly unfair overdraft fees.

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Q&A

Fried Frank's M&A Co-Head Views Rate Cuts, AI With Caution

By Al Barbarino

While it might be tempting to jump with joy about the Federal Reserve's recent rate cut, Philip Richter, co-head of Fried Frank's mergers and acquisitions practice, takes a more measured view. Here, Law360 talks to Richter about the rate cut, the upcoming presidential election, artificial intelligence and more.

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Crypto Fund Manager Bitwise Files Plans For XRP-Tied Fund

By Tom Zanki

Crypto-focused asset manager Bitwise filed a registration statement Wednesday that proposes to list the first exchange-traded product tied to the price of XRP, a digital currency that has long faced regulatory resistance.

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Series

A Day In The In-House Life: Best Egg CLO Talks Power Of Prep

On a typical Monday in her life, Best Egg Chief Legal Officer Amy Thoreson Long chronicles a remote workday in which she makes time for everything from getting ahead on regulatory issues and researching recent Supreme Court decisions to dog walks and podcast breaks.

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A Look At Recent Case Law On Expedited Judgment In NY

A number of recent New York state court decisions clarify and refine the contours surrounding Civil Practice Law and Rule 3213, providing landlords, lenders and other payees guidance on how to seek accelerated judgment in certain litigation, says Alexander Lycoyannis at Holland & Knight.

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Secret Service Failures Offer Lessons For Private Sector GCs

The Secret Service’s problematic response to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this summer provides a crash course for general counsel on how not to handle crisis communications, says Keith Nahigian at Nahigian Strategies.

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These Are The Legal Chiefs Who Command Top Dollar

By Michele Gorman

With the increasingly dynamic role of the top corporate lawyer playing out across sectors — as well as stock awards that far outpace the amounts they see in their salaries and bonuses — the pay packages for most general counsel and chief legal officers continue to stay strong.

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The 2024 Compensation Report: General Counsel

Law360 Pulse looks at the pay of the best-compensated legal chiefs at S&P 500 companies. Find out who’s making the most and which law firms and schools have the most alumni in these high-profile posts.

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NYC Mayor Adams May Face More Charges, Feds Say

By Frank G. Runyeon

Prosecutors told a Manhattan federal judge Wednesday it was "possible" they would charge New York City Mayor Eric Adams with additional crimes in his corruption case, indicating they have evidence he told witnesses to lie to the FBI.

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Bullying In Law Is Pervasive, Drives Turnover, Ill. Attys Say

By Aebra Coe

Nearly a quarter of those who responded to a recent large-scale survey of Illinois lawyers said they had been bullied at work within the last year, with those numbers spiking among women and other traditionally underrepresented attorneys in the profession, a report released Tuesday found.

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Ex-Federal Judge's Sex Misconduct Spurs New Criminal Trial

By Ryan Boysen

The sexual misconduct scandal that toppled a federal judge in Alaska has now caused a criminal conviction to be overturned, despite prosecutors' insistence that the judge's "out-of-court judicial misconduct" had no effect on the trial.

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Progressive Group Staffs Up For Judicial Nominee Fights

By Courtney Bublé

With a little over a month until Election Day, a progressive organization announced a slate of new hires to prepare for judicial confirmation battles and fight for court reform on Wednesday.

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Maine's First Female Federal Judge To Take Semiretired Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S District Judge Nancy Torresen, the first woman to hold a federal judgeship in Maine, will take semiretired status next year.

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Cahill Adds House Oversight Atty Who Handled Biden Probe

By Rachel Scharf

Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP announced Wednesday it hired the former head lawyer for the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, whose work includes guiding an impeachment probe into President Joe Biden.

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Kirkland Accuses Ex-IP Atty Of Delaying Bias Suit Discovery

By Dorothy Atkins

Kirkland & Ellis LLP told a California federal magistrate judge Wednesday that a former Kirkland intellectual property associate has delayed discovery production in her discrimination lawsuit against the firm, arguing that her discovery responses cite an erroneous legal standard, are non-committal and are "not even close to being proper."

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Tenn. Atty Sues Federal Court, Judges Over Gag Order Rule

By Jack Karp

A rule of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee barring attorneys from making "any extrajudicial statements" about cases pending in the district violates the First Amendment and should be blocked, according to a Nashville civil rights lawyer.

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MSU Halted Paying Legal Bills After Critical Report, Firm Says

By Danielle Ferguson

Michigan State University stopped paying outside counsel to defend its board of trustees chair after an investigative report appeared to support claims the chair bullied colleagues, the counsel said, filing a state complaint seeking two months' worth of fees.

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