President Obama has signed a bill allowing companies to sue to defend their trade secrets, reports USA Today. Those thefts cost the American economy more than $300 billion a year, according to the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property.

“The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, adds a civil component to the federal law making it a crime to steal intellectual property,” the newspaper report says. “Lawmakers said criminal penalties remain an important deterrent, but that the FBI’s resources to investigate and prosecute trade secret theft are limited.”

“Unfortunately, all too often, some of our competitors, instead of competing with us fairly, are trying to steal these trade secrets from American companies, and that means a loss of American jobs, a loss of American markets, a loss of American leadership,” Obama said.

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A federal judge sentenced the leader of digital currency company Liberty Reserve to 20 years in prison for running a global money-laundering scheme that prosecutors said was unprecedented in size and scope, reports Reuters.

Arthur Budovsky, 42, had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money related to his role in Liberty Reserve, which allowed cybercriminals to conceal and move their illegal proceeds anonymously through a digital currency. Authorities shut down the company in 2013.

“Liberty Reserve operated a widely used digital currency, processing more than $8 billion in financial transactions and earning Budovsky over $25 million, prosecutors said,” according to the report. “Much of its business came from criminals seeking to launder proceeds from Ponzi schemes, credit card trafficking, identity thefts and computer hacking, prosecutors said.”

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Photo by Mike Mozart of JeepersMedia

Regulators fighting the merger plan of Office Depot and Staples face a decision from a judge that may hinge on the veracity of the government’s relevant product market, reports Policy and Regulatory Report, a Mergermarket Group company. The issue of whether the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) gerrymandered its market has repeatedly surfaced during the government’s pursuit of a preliminary injunction against the proposed merger.

PaRR Global (Policy and Regulatory Report) spoke to various independent sources to assess holes in the arguments of both the FTC and the merging companies.

In its case, the FTC defined the relevant product market as “consumable office supplies,” such as pens and paper, which constitute a so-called cluster market, according to the PaRR analysis.

A cluster market is used in antitrust theory to group separate individual relevant product markets, such as the individual market for paper and the individual market for pens, into a wider market for analytical convenience.

Clustering is appropriate “only when the individual products face similar competitive conditions,” according to the government’s proposed findings of fact.

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Quyen Truong, former assistant director and deputy general counsel of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has joined Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP as a partner in the firm’s Washington, DC office.

Truong, a member of the firm’s national Financial Services/Class Action Practice Group, was instrumental in building the new federal agency while implementing the Dodd-Frank Act for finance reform, the firm says in a release. Among other responsibilities, she advised leadership on analysis of consumer financial laws, oversaw review of all enforcement actions and responded to legal challenges to the agency.

“Quyen’s proven track record bridging the technical complexities of financial reforms and their regulatory implications will complement our already prominent Financial Services/Class Action practice and enhance our ability to provide high level strategy and counsel to our clients,” stated Julia Strickland, chair of the Financial Services/Class Action Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.  “We are thrilled that she chose Stroock when she decided to return to the private legal sector.”

While at the CFPB from 2012-2016, Truong was instrumental in helping the Bureau to define the scope of its authorities and develop a new regulatory and enforcement framework for the financial industry.  As a senior leader at the CFPB, she represented the Bureau on the inter-agency Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), managed enterprise risks, and coordinated activities with the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and banking regulators in high stakes litigation, regulatory and oversight proceedings.  As head of litigation, she also directed the CFPB’s amicus program to advance the agency’s policy and legal interpretations in private litigation.

“Stroock to me epitomizes an ideal law firm in which to work with the financial industry, because of the high quality of its lawyers, their focus on this industry, and their close relationships with market leaders,” says Truong.  “The firm and its clients share my belief that doing right by customers is crucial to achieving business success. I am confident that as we continue to build the practice, we will advance both business and consumer interests.”

Prior to joining the CFPB, Truong served at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as risk management and litigation counsel where she oversaw the investigation and litigation of claims of regulatory violation, fraud, officer/director and other professional liability, following the financial crisis.  In addition, she has held public and private positions with Dow Lohnes PLLC, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Howrey LLP and Mayer Brown LLP.

“Quyen’s unique government background, coupled with her 25 years of regulatory policy, compliance and litigation experience adds significant value for our market-leading financial services clients,” noted Alan M. Klinger, Stroock’s co-managing partner.  “We embrace every opportunity to grow our Washington, DC office through highly talented and skilled legal leaders from the government sector.”

Truong received her J.D. from Yale Law School where she was a John M. Olin Fellow in Law, Economics & Public Policy, and her B.A. from Yale University, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

Atlanta-based LabMD was a successful company that tested blood, urine, and tissue samples for urologists, and had about 30 employees and $4 million in annual sales. Then one day in 2008, the company’s general manager received a phone call from a man who claimed to be in possession of a file containing LabMD patient information, including more than 9,000 Social Security numbers, reports Bloomberg.

Then came the sales pitch: His company, Tiversa, offered an investigative service that could identify the source and severity of the breach that had exposed this data and stop any further spread of sensitive information — at a cost of about $38,000. After some back-and-forth, LabMD told Tiversa to direct all communication through its lawyers. Then the Federal Trade Commission came calling.

LabMD’s woes could end up finishing off the once-promising business.

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Former Sprint Corp chief executive William Esrey and former chief operating officer Ronald LeMay sued the United States government for allegedly concealing its investigation into accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP’s promotion of tax shelters sold to the executives, Reuters is reporting.

The suit involves a 2002 Internal Revenue Service investigation into Ernst & Young’s promotion of tax shelters to its clients, including the two executives and settled the audit with EY in July 2003, without informing the executives, the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs alleged that the IRS helped EY conceal the details of investigation from them, which meant they could not defend themselves against allegations by Sprint about their participation in the EY-promoted tax shelter schemes, Reuters reports.

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Elizabeth Holmes
Photo by Max Morse for TechCrunch

Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into whether Theranos Inc. misled investors about the state of its technology and operations, according to people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and the New York State Department of Health have received subpoenas in recent weeks seeking documents and testimony about representations made to them by the Palo Alto, Calif., blood-testing company, some of the people said.

Theranos once claimed it had made “breakthrough advancements” that made it possible to run “the full range” of lab tests on a few drops of blood pricked from a finger. But some regulators and former employees have voiced doubt about the tests.

“Theranos was valued at $9 billion in a funding round in 2014 and the majority stake of Elizabeth Holmes, the startup’s founder and chief executive, at more than half that,” The Journal reports.

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Michael J. Rivera has joined Schiff Hardin LLP as a partner in the Financial Markets and Products Group.

The firm said Rivera defends businesses and individuals in criminal and civil government investigations and enforcement proceedings and conducts internal investigations.

He has experience in securities and financial investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Department of Justice (DOJ). He also counsels companies on compliance and regulatory issues under the federal securities, anti-money laundering, and anti-corruption (FCPA) laws.

He is resident in the firm’s Washington, D.C. and New York offices.

In a release, the firm said:

In addition to working over two decades in private practice at Fried Frank LLP, and, most recently, Venable LLP, Mike gained valuable experience as a government investigator and prosecutor. From 2010-2013, Mike served as Chief Investigative Counsel for the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). At SIGTARP, Mike managed a premier white collar fraud unit of seasoned federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents engaged in investigations and prosecutions of complex financial frauds. Mike also functioned as SIGTARP’s lead liaison to the senior staff of law enforcement agencies, federal prosecutor offices, securities and bank regulators, and President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF).

“Mike’s breadth of experience makes him a valuable counselor to a wide variety of our clients, from public companies, hedge funds, and accounting firms to securities professionals, executives, and lawyers,” said Marci A. Eisenstein, Schiff Hardin’s Managing Partner. “He is a welcome addition to our firm, particularly as we build out our regulatory capabilities in Washington, D.C.”

Paul Dengel, leader of the firm’s Financial Markets and Products Group, said, “As a public servant, Mike led complex, high-profile securities fraud investigations. In private practice, he helps clients understand, anticipate, and respond to investigations. Relying on his counsel, our clients can make smarter compliance decisions.”

Mike began his legal career as a staff attorney in the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where he conducted investigations into insider trading, disclosure and reporting violations, fraudulent securities transactions, and other violations of the federal securities laws.

“Given the current regulatory and enforcement climate, companies must be more mindful than ever of their compliance policies and obligations,” said Mike. “I look forward to advising Schiff Hardin’s clients on current and pending securities regulations and, when necessary, guiding them through complex investigations and enforcement proceedings.”

Mike earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his B.S. from St. John’s University, where he graduated magna cum laude.

Donald Trump has made another new significant hire as he prepares for the possibility of a contested convention, bringing William McGinley, a prominent Republican political attorney and a veteran of past delegate battles, into his campaign, reports Politico.

“In 2012, McGinley served as counsel to the convention’s rules committee and he is currently a partner at Jones Day, the same law firm as Don McGahn, Trump’s top political attorney. McGinley is expected to travel to Florida this week, POLITICO has learned, where Republican National Committee members are gathering for their spring meeting amid an ongoing fight over the rules that will govern the convention,” according to the report.

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The State Department has agreed to a conservative legal group’s request to question several current and former government officials about the creation of Hillary Clinton’s private email system, reports the Associated Press.

A judge granted the group, Judicial Watch, limited discovery to ask the officials why Clinton relied on an email server in her New York home during her tenure as secretary of state.

If the judge approves of the agreement, lawyers from Judicial Watch will be allowed to depose Clinton’s top aides, including former chief of staff Cheryl D. Mills, deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin and undersecretary Patrick F. Kennedy, the report says.

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A coalition of U.S. state attorneys general received guidance from well-known climate scientists and environmental lawyers in March as some of them opened investigations into Exxon Mobil for allegedly misleading the public about climate change risks, documents seen by Reuters showed, Reuters is reporting.

The report says Peter Frumhoff of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has urged action on climate change, and Matt Pawa, who litigated against Exxon in a global warming case, were listed as presenters at a March 29 meeting of more than a dozen state prosecutors. That information came from emails between the offices of attorneys general in New York and Vermont.

Environmental groups are pushing in court, at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and in the offices of pension funds to demand more accountability on climate issues from big oil companies,” the report says.

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On April 6, 2016, after more than five years of anticipation, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued the final fiduciary rule and related guidance. The final fiduciary rule amends and expands the definition of a fiduciary that provides “investment advice” to reflect changes in the financial industry and the state of investment advice as it exists today, reports Sherman & Howard LLC.

“The final rule focuses on ‘conflicts of interest,’ and serves to sweep in a large number of investment advisers who were not previously treated as fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). To temper the scope and impact of the final rule, the DOL also issued two new prohibited transaction exemptions (along with certain amendments to existing exemptions),” the report says.

in the article, the firm offers guidance intended to address concerns of these investment advisers with respect to certain prohibited transactions under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, while still protecting retirement plans and participants.

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Microsoft sued the U.S. government Thursday, arguing that a law that can prohibit technology companies from telling customers when law enforcement comes looking for their data is unconstitutional, reports The Seattle Times.

This action is seen as the latest high-profile challenge to the reach of law enforcement into cyberspace, following Apple’s fight against an FBI order to disable an encryption measure on an iPhone connected to the San Bernardino mass shooting.

“When law-enforcement agencies get a warrant to grab email or other data stored online, they can request a court order to bar Internet service providers from informing the user their documents were seized,” the report says. “Microsoft said it has received about 5,600 federal demands for consumer data in the past 18 months, almost half accompanied by such gag orders.”

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Donald Trump’s campaign lawyer, Donald F. McGahn II, the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission and a partner in Jones Day, will be instrumental in helping the candidate navigate the labyrinthine delegate and convention rules as the Republican presidential nomination fight enters the home stretch, according to a profile published by The Washington Post.

“For a while, McGahn’s colleagues at Jones Day either didn’t know the firm was representing Trump or didn’t mind. That changed late last month when McGahn organized a meeting between the candidate and more than a dozen lawmakers at the firm’s Washington office,” the report says.

A recent report by David Lat, a former federal prosecutor who runs the blog Above the Law and closely monitors the chatter within the nation’s white-shoe legal shops, quoted a number of his Jones Day sources, anonymously, saying that they were deeply embarrassed by the Trump affiliation.

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Abbott Laboratories didn’t cause medical providers to submit false payment claims to Medicare for unapproved stents, a Texas jury ruled, thwarting a whistle-blower’s lawsuit seeking as much as $1 billion, reports Bloomberg.

A former salesman for Abbott’s predecessor Guidant claimed the company pushed bile duct stents that were intended for short-term purposes for more complex vascular use. His 2006 lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. government accused the company of encouraging doctors and hospitals to code bills to Medicare falsely.

“Abbott, which acquired Guidant’s stent business in 2006, denied during the trial in Dallas federal court that it induced anyone to submit false claims to Medicare. Its lawyers told jurors the use of biliary stents for peripheral vascular or arterial disease was accepted medical practice and Medicare knowingly approved payments,” Bloomberg reports.

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The Justice Department has sued to stop Halliburton Co. from acquiring oilfield services rival Baker Hughes, the Associated Press and CNBC are reporting.

The deal would combine two of the world’s three leading providers of those services to oil and gas companies and would create a bigger rival to the industry leader, Schlumberger.

“But Justice Department officials say in their lawsuit that the Halliburton-Baker Hughes deal threatens to raise prices and eliminate competition,” the report says.

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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Whistleblower Office announced on April 4 that it would issue an award of more than $10 million to a whistleblower whose information led to a successful CFTC enforcement action, reports Katz, Marshall & Banks on its website.

“The award was the largest the agency has ever issued. The recipient of the award and the company penalized were not disclosed — steps purposefully taken by the CFTC to protect the confidentiality of whistleblowers who are concerned about the effect that blowing the whistle may have on their career,” the firm wrote.

“Awards like this one show whistleblowers that blowing the whistle is worth the risk, and will go a long way toward solidifying the CFTC Whistleblower Program,” said Lisa J. Banks a partner in the firm.

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The FBI’s upcoming interview of Hillary Clinton will be a turning point in the race for Democratic nominee, especially since Clinton won’t be able to speak to FBI director James Comey and his agents in the same manner her campaign has communicated with the public, writes H.A. Goodman in the Huffington Post.

The questions could include: “Why didn’t you know that intelligence could be retroactively classified?” and “Did President Obama or his staff express any reservations about your private server?”

Others could include: “How was your private server guarded against hacking attempts?” and “What was the political utility in owning a private server and never using a State.gov email address?”

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Just days after the city of Dallas filed an R-rated defense of the City Council’s vote to ban Exxxotica from the city-owned convention center, the porn expo has fired back that Dallas officials knew exactly what they were getting when they took the porn expo’s $28,080 last year, writes Robert Wilonsky for The Dallas Morning News.

The porn expo’s response is in response to a March 25 Dallas filing, which claimed Exxxotica’s organizers misrepresented the amount of nudity and sexually oriented activity that would take place during Exxxotica’s first event at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center last August. “As far as Dallas’ attorneys are concerned, broken promises to keep women (mostly) clothed trump Exxxotica’s allegations that the City Council trampled its First Amendment rights when it voted to ban the event two months ago,” reports Wilonsky.

U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater will hear Exxxotica’s motion for a preliminary injunction on April 18.

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Day Pitney LLP and Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC announce the launch of their joint Title IX Investigations Initiative. This initiative will allow the firms to provide both existing and new clients greater services in the wake of a growing number of Title IX investigations, the firm says.

Title IX, enacted in 1972, prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded educational programs and activities. This is a growing area of concern for many public and private schools, colleges and universities. Besides applying to faculty employment and sport team participation, Title IX also applies to how academic institutions are handling complaints of sexual harassment and sexual violence.

“Our collaborative practice will promptly investigate allegations and provide the results of that investigation to the academic institution – the idea is to combine the best practices from law enforcement and internal corporate investigations with experience in working within the unique setting of academia,” says Day Pitney attorney Steven Cash, who has served at the federal and state level in the executive, legislative and judicial branches, including the Manhattan District Attorney’s Investigations Division, and as Counsel on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

The New York Times recently reported how some colleges have increased budgets and have even hired teams within schools to handle the increasing number of cases in an article, “Colleges Spending Millions to Deal With Sexual Misconduct Complaints.”

“Our goal is to provide academic institutions with a team that has the necessary skills that are not generally found in educational facilities, including prosecutorial, investigative, and Title IX litigation experience,” said Paul Thaler, Managing Partner of Cohen Seglias’ Washington, DC office. “ In addition we understand the sensitivity required by academic institutions to oversee these investigations.”

The Title IX Investigations Initiative’s team also includes Christopher Carusone, former Chief Deputy Attorney General in the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and Secretary of Legislative Affairs and Executive Deputy General Counsel in the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office; Stanley A. Twardy, Managing Partner at Day Pitney and former United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; and Helen Harris, Day Pitney partner and White Collar group chair.