Two years ago, we wrote about a cautionary tale in which a New York federal court allowed a complaint alleging that a popular set of NFT basketball cards were “securities” to survive dismissal, rejecting the argument that,...more
On March 6, 2024, the SEC announced its long-awaited adoption of final rules regarding climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings (the “Climate Rules”). The SEC dialed back the more prescriptive...more
3/15/2024
/ Business Strategies ,
Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Greenwashing ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
By any measure, the world has changed vastly since we issued our first Commercial Litigation Outlook in 2020. We are now on our fourth installment of providing insights and flagging trends for what to expect in the coming...more
2/16/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Banks ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Court ,
Commercial Litigation ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Copyright ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Merger Agreements ,
Patents ,
Trademarks
On March 15, 2023 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) proposed three new sets of rules (the “Proposed Rules”) which, if adopted, would require a variety of companies to beef up their cybersecurity policies and data...more
4/10/2023
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Management ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation S-P ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
We have previously discussed the thorny intellectual property implications of non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), units of data stored on a blockchain that signify ownership of a unique digital media item. But another emergent...more
Welcome to the third annual installment of Seyfarth Shaw’s Commercial Litigation Outlook, where our nationally recognized team provides insights about litigation issues and trends to expect in 2023. The continuing global...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: For thirty years, the FTC has published non-binding guidance on how to avoid making “unfair” or “deceptive” environmental claims in its “Green Guides.” The FTC has announced it may make its first update to...more
Continuing its push to make Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) issues a key agency priority, on May 25, 2022 the SEC announced two sets of proposed rule amendments taking aim at “greenwashing” in investment funds....more
A key enforcement power of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”)—its ability to elect to conduct in-house administrative proceedings before Administrative Law Judges (“ALJs”) instead of bringing an action in federal...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The ever evolving landscape of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and 401(k) plan investment options may have just become even more complicated....more
On March 7, 2022, the Delaware Chancery Court denied a motion to stay a putative class action pending the resolution of a federal securities class action, notwithstanding that the federal action was first-filed and concerned...more
Seyfarth has conducted a thorough analysis of the litigation filed in 2021 arising out of mergers and acquisitions for the year.1 While there is, as reported elsewhere, a marked decrease in class action filings arising from...more
Earlier this month, the New York Attorney General’s Office issued findings of its investigation into a data security incident involving EyeMed Vision Care LLC (“EyeMed”) as well as the agreement that it entered into with the...more
In our recent article on securities litigation in the burgeoning legal cannabis industry, we noted that companies in this space must be careful and thoughtful in their disclosures to avoid securities litigation exposure. In...more
For any company, going public is fraught with securities litigation risks. As highlighted in the recent New York State Appellate Court decision In The Matter of Sundial Growers, Inc. Securities Litigation, companies operating...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Special Purpose Acquisition Company (“SPAC”) transactions have dramatically increased since the start of 2020, bringing with them risk of securities litigation....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Two recent decisions on motions to dismiss in COVID-related class action securities litigations—one successfully dismissed, the other largely surviving—show that a bare allegation of failure to predict the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted a new investor marketing rule to replace and modernize its current advertising and cash solicitation rules. Neither of these rules has been...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) has issued a new rule codifying and clarifying its expectations for industrial banks and their parent companies to receive approval for federal deposit...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The SEC announced a new “human capital” disclosure requirement, to take effect thirty days after publication in the Federal Register. The language of the rule does not give much by way of guidance—on...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On Monday, June 22, 2020, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Liu et al v. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In an 8-1 decision, written by Justice Sotomayor...more
6/25/2020
/ 15 U.S.C. § 78u(d)(5) ,
Administrative Authority ,
Business Expenses ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equitable Relief ,
Kokesh v SEC ,
Lack of Authority ,
Liu v Securities and Exchange Commission ,
Net Profits ,
Remedies ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Seyfarth Synopsis: The COVID-19 pandemic has already spurred several private securities class action lawsuits and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) enforcement actions. Companies that deal with COVID-19 on a daily...more
6/13/2020
/ Business Disruption ,
Carnival Cruise Lines ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cruise Ships ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Zoom®
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an April 8, 2020 post on the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”)’s Business Blog, the Director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, Andrew Smith, provided helpful guidance on the use of artificial...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In an April 7, 2020 memorandum, New York’s Chief Administrative Judge laid out New York Courts’ plan to begin resume hearing non-essential matters, including asking judges to schedule remote conferences if...more
4/9/2020
/ Case Management ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Court Schedules ,
Discovery ,
Litigation Strategies ,
New Jersey ,
New York ,
Remote Hearings ,
Remote Working ,
Rules of Court ,
Teleconferences
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Chief Judge of New York, in a recent address, has endorsed remote operations statewide for essential and emergency matters and specifically noted that discussions are underway to begin permitting...more