Meme Coin Pump and Dumps
With the proliferation of outstanding cases and investigations into major cryptocurrency exchanges, the SEC made an unofficial stance through their staff statement published on February 27, 2025—most meme coins are not considered securities. A "meme coin" is a type of "crypto asset inspired by internet memes, characters, current events, ...
Reddit Beats Trademark Claim By WallStreetBets Founder
On June 11, 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of an intellectual property suit brought by Jaime Rogozinski, the founder of Reddit, Inc.'s r/WallStreetBets message board. According to his complaint against Reddit, Mr. Rogozinski started the forum in 2012 to help those recovering from the 2008 financial crisis. ...
New York’s Retail Worker Safety Act Goes into Effect
On June 2, 2025, the New York Retail Worker Safety Act ("NYRWSA") went into effect, which New York State enacted to protect retail workers from the higher risks of violence which they unfortunately endure at work. The NYRWSA also covers workers contracted to work in the employer's retail setting, such as third-party cleaners or maintenance ...
US House Introduces Bipartisan Digital Asset Regulation Bill
House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn Thompson and House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill introduced bipartisan legislation to regulate digital assets, the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. • Legislation proposes requiring customer-facing digital assets firms, including brokers and dealers, to segregate customer ...
Justice Preserved For Elderly Investors In SEC Case Against Silver and Gold Coin Dealer
During times of economic unrest, elderly investors are particularly vulnerable to swindlers who prey on investors' mistrust of volatile stocks for the certainty of precious metals. After all, securities have a history of devastating retirement funds whereas gold and silver have buoyed their value since ancient times. On February 1, 2022, the ...
Tariffs will trigger SEC Disclosure Obligations
In February 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that imposes tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada, and China. In May 2025, the Court of International Trade granted a permanent injunction on the tariff orders nationwide.[1] The Trump administration filed an emergency appeal of that decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the ...
SEC warns investors of Relationship Investment Scams
On April 16, 2025 the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") published a press release regarding the unveiling of the Office of Investor Education and Advocacy's ("OIEA") new anti-fraud public service campaign. The campaign warns investors of relationship investment scams and the dangers they pose on investors' financial future. Relationship ...
Second Circuit Confirms Alignment Between New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws in Race Discrimination Case
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated a racial discrimination claim brought under the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), offering a notable interpretation of the law that aligns it with the more liberal standards of the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL). The ruling came in Flanagan v. Girl Scouts of Suffolk County, ...
Judge Vacates Abortion Accommodations in EEOC Rule
On May 21, 2025, a federal judge in Louisiana ordered the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to remove mandates in its Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) rules that provided reasonable accommodations to employees who underwent abortion procedures. The PWFA requires covered employers to provide a "'reasonable accommodation' ...
New York Court Interpreters’ Pay Bias Suit Fails
On May 22, 2025, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declined to reinstate a case alleging that the New York court system discriminates against court interpreters by paying them less because they are foreign-born. The state court system was first sued in May 2022, alleging that despite having specialized skills, court interpreters ...
Polluting Corporate Disclosures: Acting SEC Chairman Issues Statement on Climate-Related Disclosure Rules
On February 11, 2025, Former Acting Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Mark T. Uyeda ("Uyeda"), issued a statement directing his staff to dial back enforcement of the Climate-Related Disclosures for Issuers Rule (the "Climate Disclosures Rule" or the "Rule"). This statement came while Paul Atkins ("Atkins")—who has ...
The PIP and Its Place in Discrimination Litigation
The notification of a Performance Improvement Plan, also known by its punctuating acronym "PIP," can be a distressing knell signaling an employee's indeterminable last day of employment. Adding to that, a PIP can stay on an employee's record for some time, can block or delay a transfer or promotion while the PIP is in effect, and undoubtedly ...
From DExit to Senate Bill 21: Codifying the Demise of Shareholder Primacy in Delaware
Delaware's dominance as the favored jurisdiction of corporations in the United States has been tested in recent years, as several high-profile companies—particularly those with controlling shareholders—have initiated or threatened to pursue reincorporation in states believed to offer a more management-friendly statutory regime, such as ...
Senate Advances GENIUS Act To Regulate Stablecoins
On May 19, 2025, the proposed Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act of 2025 (the "GENIUS Act"), cleared a major procedural hurdle when the Senate voted 66-32 to advance it two weeks after it was blocked. The bill, introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, sets up a regime to regulate stablecoins. Stablecoins ...
Freelancers with Assistants Covered Under New York’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act
On April 24, 2025, the New York Supreme Court First Appellate Department held that freelance workers can bring claims pursuant to Administrative Code of City of NY § 20-930 et seq., also known as the Freelance Isn't Free Act ("FIFA"), even where they work with other people to fulfill a freelance project. Plaintiffs-Appellants Joseph Chen, ...
Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation
According to National Economic Research Associates' 2024 Securities Class Action Litigation report, there were 229 federal securities class action suits filed in 2024, equaling the total number of filings in 2023. Standard cases, containing Rule 10b-5, Section 11, and/or Section 12 claims, increased for a second straight year, 20% relative ...
Disciplining Disability-Related Behaviors Can Be Discrimination—A Recent Federal Case Shows How
If you have a mental health or neurological disability and your school or employer is aware of it, taking adverse actions against you for behavior caused by that disability can constitute illegal discrimination. A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Spring v. Allegany-Limestone Central School District shows ...
DoorDash Delivery Workers Claim the Company Continues to Steal Wages Despite Recent Settlement
On April 23, 2025, dozens of DoorDash delivery workers gathered outside the company's office on Fifth Avenue in New York City to protest its practices of allegedly failing to pay workers their wages or "deactivating" them from the company's platform before paying them all wages owed. The rally outside DoorDash's office comes after DoorDash ...
Your Receipt Is Watching You
Opting for a digital receipt may feel like a paperless convenience. Tap, pay, get a receipt in your inbox or on your phone. No clutter, no handling of chemical-coated paper, no problem. Digital receipts are efficient and increasingly popular. One provider of digital receipt services describes digital receipts as a simple technological transition: ...
DOL Declines to Enforce Biden-Era Order that Increased Federal Contract Workers’ Minimum Wages
On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor said that it would no longer enforce Executive Order 14026 signed by former President Joseph Biden in April 2021 that raised the minimum wage for workers on federal contracts from $10.95 to $17.75 as of January 1, 2025. The decision comes after Donald Trump rescinded 18 executive orders on March ...