Daily Compliance News: July 11, 2025, The What is a COI Edition
Nonprofit Basics: Conflict of Interest Policies and Best Practices for Approving Insider Compensation
Nonprofit Basics: Insider Transactions and Nonprofits – What’s the Big Deal?
Conflicts of Interest in Healthcare and Elsewhere
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF) and Gamification: Your Questions Answered
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 124: Listen and Learn -- Duty of Loyalty (Corporations)
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 282: Listen and Learn -- Duty of Loyalty (Corporations)
What to Do When Your University, FBI, or DOJ Knocks on Your Door: Responding to University, Criminal, and Civil Investigations
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – The ADV season
Videocast: Asset management regulation in 2020 videocast series – DOL: What’s ahead
Podcast: Credit Funds: Compliance Considerations for Valuation
CONVERGE18-Preview Podcasts-David Bunker on COIs in the Gig Economy
Podcast - Credit Funds: A Framework for Addressing and Mitigating Conflicts of Interest
Day 7 of One Month to Better Investigations and Report-How Investigations Inform Remediation
Day 15 of One Month to Better Compliance Through HR-Employment Separation Issues
Bill Beutler on Editing Wikipedia
Rules for rewarding 'super' condo board members
Bill on Bankruptcy: US Airways Need a Merger More than AMR
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, applying Virginia law, has affirmed a district court’s ruling that a “bump-up” provision in a D&O policy applied to bar indemnity coverage for the settlement of...more
This case addresses whether attorney’s fees are warranted due to an inequitable conduct and conflict of interest defense. Background - UCANN filed suit in the District of Colorado in July 2018, accusing Pure Hemp of...more
On August 23, 2023, in its efforts to promote transparency for investors by increasing visibility into compensation schemes, sales practices, and conflicts of interest, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the rejection of attorney fees, finding that neither inequitable conduct nor a conflict of interest rendered the case exceptional given the limited factual record...more
In In the Est. of Lemme, an administratrix of an estate hired her boyfriend to do legal work. No. 07-21-00300-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 8829 (Tex. App.—Amarillo December 1, 2022, no pet. history). ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Incentive awards for class representatives are impermissible, according to a ground-breaking decision last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Though not an employment case, the...more
It is not atypical for class actions to be brought seeking damages that can be characterized as nominal in nature. An oftentimes powerful incentive for potential class representatives to put their names on a putative class...more
In Part 1 of this series, I explained the role of defense counsel in class action settlements. In this Part 2, I will explore the role of class counsel. I embark on this journey with some trepidation, because as a defense...more
Areas of Discussion: - In this Presentation, we will discuss the following: - Duty of loyalty; - Authority for trustee compensation; - Factors for reasonable compensation; - Other issues arising from trustee...more
Third-party litigation and arbitration funding is increasingly being utilized in the United States. Are the corresponding financing costs recoverable in arbitrations? According to the N.Y. Times, dispute resolution funding...more
The Eastern District of New York recently held that a former class counsel’s spouse was an inadequate class representative due to the conflict of interest created by the relationship....more
Trying to collect attorney’s fees based on a void contract? Surprisingly, you can, according to a recent California Court of Appeal case. In California-American Water Co. v. Marina Coast Water Dist., the California Court of...more
Class actions, especially those with nationwide scope and the specter of huge payouts, have long been the stuff of nightmares for in-house counsel and corporate executives. The press regularly report on settlements where...more
A piece of federal legislation reflects a significant effort by Congress to curb perceived abuses of the federal class action procedure. The legislation is the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 – on March 9...more
A fair amount of attention has been given in the legal media to the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017, H.R. 985, which has passed the House of Representatives and is currently under consideration by the Senate....more
Twelve years after he introduced the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has introduced the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 (“the Act”), which would significantly change the...more
On February 10, 2017, U.S. Rep. and House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Bob Goodlatte (R-Va), introduced a new version of his Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 (H.R. 985) (the "Act"). The Act, while bearing the...more
In In re Estate of Williams, attorney Don Ford was appointed an administrator of an estate and hired himself as an attorney for the estate. No. 05-15-00392-CV, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 5990 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 6, 2016, no pet....more
Showtime and Top Rank Slug It out over "Fight of the Century" - Who said boxing was dead? Fight fans still bitter over the May 2015 Floyd Mayweather–Manny Pacquiao bout that was far more mega-bore than mega-brawl...more
The Nevada Supreme Court has adopted California’s independent counsel rules, holding that an insured is entitled to select its own counsel where an insurer’s coverage reservation creates an actual conflict of interest between...more
An apparently frustrated Delaware Vice Chancellor recently approved yet another disclosure-only settlement of yet another challenge to a merger, but seemed intent on signaling that such proposed class-action settlements might...more
The Seventh Circuit’s message to the bar in Levitt v. Southwest Airlines Co. (In Re: Southwest Airlines Voucher Litigation), No. 13-3264 (7th Cir. Aug. 20, 2015), was “short and simple: when in doubt, disclose.” Slip Op. at...more
In re Estate of House, 2014 Wash. App. LEXIS 3006 (Wash. Ct. App. 2014) - A release waiving any and all claims that the parties may have or may acquire, bars recovery for unknown claims existing at the time the release...more
It is axiomatic that the class action vehicle exists for the benefit of the claimants. An inherent conflict of interest may arise between the class and plaintiffs’ counsel over the issue of attorney fees, and resolution of...more