The SEC Signs on to Arbitration

The SEC Signs on to Arbitration

September 29, 2025

The SEC Signs on to Arbitration

By: George Calhoun

Early last week, on September 17, 2025, the SEC announced that it will no longer consider the presence of a mandatory arbitration provision in a company’s charter or bylaws when deciding whether to accelerate the effectiveness of a registration statement.  This policy shift will permit companies to include arbitration clauses in their governing documents to require securities litigants (including class action plaintiffs) to pursue their claims in arbitration proceedings rather than court cases.  The decision leaves open how arbitration provisions might apply in direct actions versus derivative actions.  Nonetheless, this could result in a significant reduction in private securities litigation. The SEC focused its decision on the recent trend in U.S. Supreme Court precedent concerning the Federal Arbitration Act and…

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Cal. High Court Softens Draconian Arbitration Fee Rule

August 19, 2025

Cal. High Court Softens Draconian Arbitration Fee Rule

By: Robert Ward

California law has often tested just how much room the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) leaves for states to regulate consumer arbitration agreements. Last week, in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court,[1] the California Supreme Court determined that at least one claimant-favoring provision of the California Arbitration Act (CAA), California Code of Civil Procedure § 1281.98 comes close to, but does not cross, that line. At the same…

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Ready, Set, Go: More States Adopt Privacy Laws

July 30, 2025

Ready, Set, Go: More States Adopt Privacy Laws

By: Nicole Kardell

Note the below chart was updated on July 24, 2025 to reflect recent developments. The number of U.S. states that have adopted privacy laws grows regularly. Fortunately, there seems to be quite a bit of crossover, at least when it comes to thresholds that companies must meet in order to trigger compliance requirements. We provide below a chart that summarizes these thresholds by state, including…

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Facebook and the FTC: A Wake-Up Call for Companies Collecting Personal Data

March 21, 2018

Facebook and the FTC: A Wake-Up Call for Companies Collecting Personal Data

By: Michelle Cohen

The FTC is reported to be joining state and international regulators in examining Cambridge Analytica’s actions with data accessed from Facebook, including how the data analytics company obtained the information, what it did with the information, and whether Facebook complied with existing obligations, including a 2012 FTC consent decree. The situation underscores the importance of and need for clearly defined regulations governing corporate practices like…

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Full Metal Cryptojacket

February 28, 2018

Full Metal Cryptojacket

By: James Trusty

In retrospect, it all seems so predictable. International capitalism creates virtual currencies. Banks are avoided. Millennials hail a new world order of anonymous or nearly untraceable market transactions. Numerous parties and exchanges hold on to large quantities of virtual currencies. But then the bad guys show up. And I’m not talking about the regulators. Last month, in what looks like the biggest cryptocurrency breach in history, hackers stole over $534 million…

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Coming Soon: Digital Asset Regulation

February 20, 2018

Coming Soon: Digital Asset Regulation

By: George Calhoun

In January, Bitcoin dropped to approximately 50% of its 2017 peak price.  Other digital currencies saw similar declines. Most market observers blamed these massive price fluctuations on related events: (i) widespread reports of fraud and price manipulation, and (ii) increasing prospects for the regulation of digital assets and currencies. Indeed, 2018 has brought us federal charges against fraudulent coin offerings and public statements by the…

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The Extraordinary Reach of FTC Ex Parte

February 6, 2018

The Extraordinary Reach of FTC Ex Parte

By: Ifrah Law

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) is granted extraordinary authority to participate in ex parte discussions with judges, conduct investigations and enact enforcement actions like asset freezes and TROs without notice to the parties it is targeting. Often the first time a company learns it is under investigation is when it is served a subpoena and its business operations are shut down. Usually the process of…

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Social Media’s Hesitation to Promote Cryptocurrencies Explained

February 5, 2018

Social Media’s Hesitation to Promote Cryptocurrencies Explained

By: Ifrah Law

In a paradox of sorts, cryptocurrency’s continued survival may hinge on its submission to greater regulatory oversight. Such a notion is paradoxical in the sense that cryptocurrency’s origins can be traced to a “stick it to the man” mentality in which currency is decentralized and not tied to any one governmental body. Thus, submitting to regulatory oversight seems anathema to cryptocurrency’s credo. That is, until…

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Articles and Presentations by Our Firm Attorneys

The SEC Signs on to Arbitration

The SEC Signs on to Arbitration
By: George Calhoun

Cal. High Court Softens Draconian Arbitration Fee Rule

Cal. High Court Softens Draconian Arbitration Fee Rule
By: Robert Ward

Ready, Set, Go: More States Adopt Privacy Laws

Ready, Set, Go: More States Adopt Privacy Laws
By: Nicole Kardell

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