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  • BLOCKCHAIN—Better Markets, ‘Shadow SEC’ comment against crypto assets proposal

    BLOCKCHAIN—Better Markets, ‘Shadow SEC’ comment against crypto assets proposal

    BLOCKCHAIN—Better Markets, ‘Shadow SEC’ comment against crypto assets proposal
    October 21, 2026 | By Anne Sherry, J.D.
    Both letters suggest the SEC is obliging the crypto industry. Two comment letters urge the SEC to repropose or outright withdraw Regulation Crypto Assets, the proposed framework for non-security crypto assets subject to an investment contract. A group of law professors known as the “Shadow SEC” says that while the proposal does some things right, it suffers from two fundamental overreaches when it carves out crypto assets from certain registration and disc...
ANTITRUST—C.D. Cal.: Wireless spectrum investor fails in second attempt to tune-in Sherman Act claims against T-Mobile

ANTITRUST—C.D. Cal.: Wireless spectrum investor fails in second attempt to tune-in Sherman Act claims against T-Mobile

October 21, 2026 | By Justin Marcus Smith, J.D.
The spectrum investor succeeded this time in pleading that T-Mobile is a monopsonist, but it failed to show antitrust harm in a context where wireless carriers must acquire a “critical mass” of 2.5 GH...
DISCRIMINATION—DISABILITY—D. Colo.: Hearing-impaired deputy who resigned over safety concerns advances ADA claims

DISCRIMINATION—DISABILITY—D. Colo.: Hearing-impaired deputy who resigned over safety ...

October 21, 2026 | By Kathleen Kapusta, J.D.
“At least a few courts throughout the country have concluded that a jury could find that a plaintiff was constructively discharged when they were subject to an unsafe or dangerous working environment.” A sheriff’s deputy with a hearing impairment—who had been assigned to train in the jail setting and who resigned after having been denied her requested accommodations—sufficiently established that her working conditions were so intolerable that a reasonable person in her position would have had…
ENFORCEMENT—U.S.: Cert petition asks Court to resolve post-Jarkesy split on issue exhaustion

ENFORCEMENT—U.S.: Cert petition asks Court to resolve post-Jarkesy split on issue ...

October 20, 2026 | By Rodney F. Tonkovic, J.D.
Is the issue-exhaustion requirement satisfied if presenting the claim would be "clearly useless?" A respondent in a FINRA disciplinary action has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether statutory issue-exhaustion requirements bar courts from hearing structural constitutional challenges to agency proceedings. The petition argues that the Sixth Circuit wrongly refused to consider his claim that the SEC's imposition of monetary sanctions violated his Seventh Amendment right to a jury…
New Mexico Court Orders Meta to Pay $25B Over Privacy Misrepresentations

New Mexico Court Orders Meta to Pay $25B Over Privacy Misrepresentations

October 21, 2026 | By Tom Leithauser
A New Mexico state court today imposed a $25 billion penalty on Meta Platforms, Inc., after finding that the social media giant misrepresented its privacy practices in violation of the state’s Unfair Practices Act. Meta said it would appeal. “Facebook promised users that they (the users) controlled their data. This was false,” Francis Mathew, a judge for the state’s First Judicial District Court, said in his judgment . “Facebook did not disclose to the public that it had designed the open…
DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE HOSPITALS—D.D.C.: Disproportionate share hospitals’ challenge to 2023 final rule was premature, untimely, and moot

DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE HOSPITALS—D.D.C.: Disproportionate share hospitals’ challenge ...

October 21, 2026 | By Justin Marcus Smith, J.D.
A recent D.C. Circuit opinion made clear that not every Medicare payment rule is a final Medicare payment determination, and the hospitals in this matter failed to challenge a Notice of Program Reimbursement final payment determination. Disproportionate share hospitals that challenged the calculation of their Medicare reimbursements under a 2023 HHS final rule filed premature administrative appeals with the HHS Provider Reimbursement Review Board (PRRB), held the federal district court in…
FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY—OCC finalizes GENIUS Act payment stablecoin rule for 2027

FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY—OCC finalizes GENIUS Act payment stablecoin rule for 2027

October 21, 2026 | By Kathleen Bianco, J.D.
Application intake remains contingent on Office of Management and Budget approval, while the final rule and the GENIUS Act take effect January 18, 2027. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized regulations implementing the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act for permitted payment stablecoin issuers and foreign payment stablecoin issuers under its jurisdiction, along with certain custody activities by OCC-supervised entities. The…
TRADEMARK—D. Ariz.: Polish start-up company’s suit against GEICO moves forward

TRADEMARK—D. Ariz.: Polish start-up company’s suit against GEICO moves forward

October 21, 2026 | By Thomas K. Lauletta, J.D.
However, the company’s motion for injunctive relief was denied. The U.S. District Court of Arizona at Phoenix denied the defendant insurance company GEICO’s motion to dismiss a Polish start-up gifting company’s pleas for declaratory relief based on a reverse-domain-hijacking theory and a claim of tortious interference with contract under Arizona law. However, citing the gifting company’s failure to show a likelihood to succeed on the merits of its case, the court denied its motion for a…
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: FTC accepts consent order conditioning Publicis's $2.2 billion acquisition of LiveRamp on neutrality and data firewalls

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: FTC accepts consent order conditioning Publicis's $2.2 ...

October 20, 2026 | By Wendy Biddle, J.D.
The FTC alleges the deal would let Publicis use a dominant data connectivity provider to foreclose rivals in media agency and audience data services; a five-year order is designed to prevent that. The FTC issued an administrative complaint challenging Publicis Groupe S.A.'s proposed acquisition of LiveRamp Holdings, Inc. and simultaneously accepted for public comment, an Agreement Containing Consent Orders along with a Decision and Order and Order to Maintain Assets that would allow the…
WARNINGS ISSUES—FOOD AND BEVERAGES—D.C. App.: Consumer sufficiently stated negligent failure to warn claim against Trader Joe’s

WARNINGS ISSUES—FOOD AND BEVERAGES—D.C. App.: Consumer sufficiently stated negligent ...

October 21, 2026 | By Susan L. Smith, JD, MA
The consumer, who had eaten the company’s breaded fish fillets, required surgery to remove a fish bone lodged in her esophagus. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the Superior Court and remanded the case of a woman who appealed the trial court’s order granting a grocery company’s motion to reconsider and dismiss the negligence cause of action in her complaint. The woman, who ate breaded fish fillets she purchased from the grocery store, subsequently had surgery…
DISCRIMINATION—SEX—D.N.H.: Coca-Cola bottler cannot escape EEOC suit over women-only leadership forum

DISCRIMINATION—SEX—D.N.H.: Coca-Cola bottler cannot escape EEOC suit over women-only ...

October 20, 2026 | By Wendy Biddle, J.D.
Excluding men from a paid, employer-sponsored conference plausibly caused harm under Muldrow , the court found, and a candidate-pool-expansion rationale did not support dismissal. A federal district court in New Hampshire denied dismissal of a Title VII suit challenging a beverage bottler's decision to send only women to a two-day professional forum, concluding that the EEOC plausibly alleged that excluded male employees suffered cognizable harm. The agency identified three alleged harms: lost…

EXPERT INSIGHTS—California and Illinois Expand Collective Bargaining Rights for Rideshare Drivers
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October 21, 2026 | By Stephen Taeusch & Ruth Yohannes
California and Illinois recently advanced state-administered labor relations models that operate outside the traditional framework of the National Labor Relations Act. This alert summarizes these developments in each state and pro...

EXPERT INSIGHTS—Second Circuit Revives Shelved Grocery Workers' Waiting Time Suit
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October 21, 2026 | By Gerald Maatman, Jr. & Jennifer A. Riley & Olga Romadin
Teaser Duane Morris Takeaways: On October 13, 2026, in Santos v. Lidl US, LLC, No. 25-2357 (2d Cir. Oct. 13, 2026), the Second Circuit vacated a district court’s dismissal of a grocery worker’s time-shaving claims under the Fair L...

EXCHANGES AND MARKET REGULATION—SIFMA calls on SEC to re-work portions of exemptive order on TSVs
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October 21, 2026 | By Mark S. Nelson, J.D.
Much of the group’s comments focus on notice to issuers, the lack of a searchable portal, and concerns about whether TSVs observe certain investor protections. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) subm...

FRAUD AND MANIPULATION—Federal court dismisses Brag House Holdings IPO spinoff investor suit
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October 21, 2026 | By R. Jason Howard, J.D.
Private emails, WhatsApp messages, and oral statements about the proposed restructuring were not prospectus communications, and group reliance allegations could not support the Section 10(b) claim. The U.S. District Court for the ...

CISA, Partners Issue Warning About Prolific Ransomware Group
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October 21, 2026 | By Tom Leithauser
Cyber defense agencies in the U.S., Germany, and United Kingdom yesterday warned that a prolific ransomware group has been disrupting critical infrastructure and offered advice on preventing attacks. “Since August 2024, SafePay ra...

Citing Cyber Risks, EC Opens Digital Services Act Probe of Booking.com
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October 21, 2026 | By Tom Leithauser
Citing the risk of phishing and cyber fraud, the European Commission today opened a formal investigation of travel site Booking.com over potential violations of the European Union’s Digital Services Act. The EC will “assess whethe...

STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES: Challenge to Democratic states’ shield laws is the latest tactic in abortion pill fight
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October 21, 2026 | By Sheila Lynch-Afryl, J.D., M.A.
Three Republican states requested to file a complaint with the Supreme Court challenging the shield laws in three Democratic states. A new round of abortion-related litigation is testing the limits of state authority in the post-D...

EXPERT INSIGHTS—Hospital Mergers And In-House Pharmacies: Licensing, Payor Contracting And Operational Issues That Cannot Wait Until Closing
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October 21, 2026 | By Dae Lee & Lucas Morgan
Hospital mergers involve extensive negotiations over governance, reimbursement, physician relationships and integration. However, the hospital's pharmacy operations may receive less attention until the transaction approaches closi...

BANKING OPERATIONS—Consumer groups urge OCC, FDIC to deny Avant bank charter
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October 21, 2026 | By Colleen M. Svelnis, J.D.
The organizations alternatively requested a public hearing, asserting the application lacks essential data on refinancing rates, default rates, and underwriting processes. In a joint comment letter , the Center for Responsible Len...

FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY—ABA, Better Markets respond to proposed GENIUS Act stablecoin rule
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October 21, 2026 | By Colleen M. Svelnis, J.D.
Both the ABA and Better Markets requested revision of Treasury's proposed rules under Section 3 of the GENIUS Act, but they differed over reasonable belief protections and liability standards for digital asset service providers. I...

PATENT—N.D. Ill.: Motorola preserves induced infringement claims against Hytera over two-way radio technology
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October 21, 2026 | By Saurabh Kashyap, B.A., M.A., LL.B., LL.M.
Evidence that Hytera promoted compatibility between newer radios and older equipment allowed Motorola's induced infringement claims to proceed. Motorola Solutions, Inc. can pursue claims that Chinese communications equipment manuf...

TRADEMARK—E.D. Cal.: British software provider establishes prior use of ‘CLAIMABLE’ but common-law service-mark rights not enforceable
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October 21, 2026 | By Mandavi Singh, LL.M.
More than a decade of genuine commercial use established common-law service-mark rights, but limited customer reach and insufficient geographic evidence defeated nationwide enforceability. A British claims management software prov...

ANTITRUST—N.D. Cal.: Discovery dispute resolved over subpoena of non-party Google by consumers in litigation over Apple's iCloud
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October 21, 2026 | By Kenneth H. Ryesky, M.B.A., J.D.
Google's concerns over improper handling of sensitive proprietary information were already addressed in stipulated protective order issued earlier in litigation. A federal magistrate judge in San Jose, California has ordered a res...

PRIVACY—7th Cir.: Hospitals cannot remove patient privacy suits under federal officer statute
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October 21, 2026 | By Martin A. Steinberg, J.D.
Hospitals’ compliance with federal electronic health record requirements did not make them federal actors entitled to remove state-law privacy claims to federal court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed dis...

JURISDICTION—ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS—Del. Super.: Uber wins dismissal of rider’s claims in assault case due to inconvenient forum
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October 21, 2026 | By Pankhuri Bhatnagar, B.A. LL.B.
Based on an analysis of six factors, the court concluded that Delaware had no connection to the underlying dispute apart from the company’s incorporation in the forum. In an action brought by a New York resident against rideshare ...

CPSC NEWS—BABY PRODUCTS—Papablic recalls bedside sleepers over entrapment, suffocation hazards
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October 21, 2026 | By WK Editorial Staff
The firm will provide a full refund after receiving proof that the product has been destroyed. Papablic is recalling about 248 convertible bedside sleepers with play yard extensions because the products can pose entrapment, suffoc...
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