In its April 17 decision in Cunningham v. Cornell University, the U.S. Supreme Court established a plaintiff-friendly standard for ERISA prohibited transaction claims, resolving a circuit court split. As a result, plan sponsors…
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/ Business Organizations, Civil Procedure, Finance & Banking, Labor & Employment Law
A few months ago, we wrote about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to grant review in Labcorp v. Davis. As we noted at the time, Labcorp raises a long-debated question of class-action law: Can a federal court certify a class…
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/ Civil Procedure
A recent Fourth Circuit decision extends the trend of cases refusing to use federal statutes to invalidate arbitration agreements waiving the right to bring class claims in federal court.
The statute at issue in Espin v…
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/ Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Civil Procedure
Under Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933, all offers and sales of securities, including offers or sales of limited partnership interests or membership interests in a private fund, must be registered with the Securities and…
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/ Administrative Law, Finance & Banking, Securities Law
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Lytle v. Nutramax Laboratories, Inc. affirming the certification of a class of owners of elderly dogs, alleging that the…
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/ Civil Procedure
The FTC’s new Hart-Scott-Rodino rule, which we described in a previous publication, took effect earlier this month. Below are five key takeaways for corporate counsel..…
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/ Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Mergers & Acquisitions
On January 24, 2025, the United States Supreme Court agreed to answer a question that has divided the circuits: Can a federal court certify a class containing members who lack any Article III injury? In Davis v. Laboratory…
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/ Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law
As in most industries, private fund sponsors are increasingly assessing and beginning to adopt artificial intelligence-powered tools to rapidly analyze large volumes of data, identify trends and patterns and to generally make…
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/ Finance & Banking, Science, Computers, & Technology, Securities Law
On Jan. 15, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera, firmly indicating that employers must establish by a “preponderance of the evidence” that an employee is exempt from the Fair Labor…
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/ Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law
The differing waiver rules governing the fragile attorney-client privilege and the robust work product doctrine protection predictably create stark differences when family members communicate with each other. This type of…
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/ Business Organizations, Finance & Banking, Securities Law
Glue is an object commonly found in schools, yet the “glue” that binds class action commonality appears to be a scarce commodity for students with disabilities and their parents. In September 2024, the Fourth Circuit decided…
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/ Civil Rights, Education Law
On Friday, Nov. 15, a federal judge in Texas struck down the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2024 rule regarding salary minimums for exemptions from minimum wage and overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act that had…
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/ Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law
Two Missouri pets—and what’s in their prescription food—may ultimately determine where and how class actions are litigated. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court held oral argument in Royal Canin U.S.A., Inc. v…
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/ Civil Procedure
On Oct. 10, the Federal Trade Commission, with the concurrence of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, issued a final rule amending the rules that implement the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and…
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/ Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Business Organizations, Mergers & Acquisitions
When a class action lawsuit ends, class counsel typically seek a fee award. Under Rule 23(h), the district court must make findings of facts and conclusions of law to support an award of “reasonable attorney’s fees and…
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/ Civil Procedure