Although the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a damages award for trade secret misappropriation and breach of a confidentiality agreement, it found that the district court erred in its determination of when...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a decision on enhanced damages and prejudgment interest, concluding that the district court correctly applied the appropriate standard for enhanced damages in accordance...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated 80 enforcement actions against public companies and subsidiaries in fiscal year 2024, marking a 12% decline from FY 2023 but still up nearly 5% compared to the...more
As news stories about AI have surged, so have enforcement actions by the SEC alleging fraudulent statements about AI capabilities....more
On August 7, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York permanently enjoined Ripple from future violations of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933—that is, from the unregistered offer and sale of...more
On June 25, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied motions by Umpqua Bank to decertify a class of alleged Ponzi scheme victims and for summary judgment on the class’s entitlement to...more
Following a recent court decision and pronouncement from the governor, New York employers may see a decline in the number of "frequency of pay" lawsuits brought by manual workers for failure to pay on a weekly basis. This...more
In March 2023, the SEC imposed a total monetary settlement of $79.5 million in SEC v. Barksdale et al., of which $56.3 million consisted of disgorgement and prejudgment interest. This was the largest monetary penalty imposed...more
It should come as no surprise that one of the goals of an investment fraud is the theft of customer funds for the scammer’s personal benefit. In legal parlance, this aspect of a fraudulent investment scheme is called...more
Total monetary value of settlements fell to lowest level in last eight fiscal years. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed 91 enforcement actions against public companies and subsidiaries in fiscal year...more
The PTAB requires that all petitioners in IPR and PGR proceedings disclose the real party(ies)-in-interest. While that might seem like a mere formality, a false disclosure can lead to very harsh consequences....more
The following is an edited version of a conversation between Goodwin partners Jonathan Hecht and Isaac Vinyarsh. Before joining Goodwin, Jonathan spent more than a decade in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, including...more
Who may be interested: Registered Investment Advisers. Quick Take: The SEC recently settled charges against an investment adviser (Adviser) and one of the Adviser’s partial owners for breach of fiduciary duty in...more
As of February 9, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Payward Ventures, Inc. and Payward Trading Ltd, better known as Kraken, of failing to register the sale of their cryptocurrency...more
On Monday the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist order to Kim Kardashian for failing to disclose that she received $250,000 to promote EthereumMax’s digital tokens, “EMAX tokens,” on...more
Most forms of California business entities have statutory buyout procedures allowing the company or its owners to avoid claims by a disgruntled owner for judicial dissolution by purchasing the disgruntled owner’s interest....more
The California Supreme Court issued the following decisions last week: Hoffmann v. Young, et al., Case No. S266003: Under Civil Code section 846, landowners generally owe no duty of care to keep their property safe for...more
On May 27, 2022, the Circuit Court of Cook County ruled that Illinois’ recently enacted prejudgment interest statute is unconstitutional. Hyland v. Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation, et al., No. 2017-L-003541...more
In 2021, Governor Pritzker signed into law SB 0072, which represented an amendment to the Illinois Prejudgment Interest Statute, 735 ILCS 5/2-1303. The relevant part of the Amendment provides, “In all actions brought to...more
The SEC announced another FCPA settlement in 2022. FCPA enforcement, in general, is picking up. Tenaris, a global supplier of steel pipes and related services for the energy industry, agreed to pay the SEC $78 million to...more
Former CEO Indicted for Misleading Investors About COVID-19 Test Kits - A federal grand jury in New Jersey indicted Marc Schessel—the former CEO of SCWorx Corp.—on two counts of securities fraud for allegedly misleading...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the denial of a defendant’s post-judgment motion for a new trial based on a failure to preserve an O2 Micro challenge. The Court also reversed the denial of a...more
On May 27, 2022, Judge Marcia Maras in the Circuit Court of Cook County issued a memorandum, holding Illinois’s recently enacted prejudgment interest statute unconstitutional, and holding that the legislation violated both...more
The California Supreme Court on May 23, 2022, released its decision in Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc., and, in doing so, placed additional obligations on California’s already burdened employers....more
We previously advised employers that the California Supreme Court agreed to review the Court of Appeal decision Gustavo Naranjo v Spectrum Security Services, Inc. (“Naranjo”), decided by the Second Appellate District in 2019....more