Courts Not Aggressively Applying Jarkesy to Bar Agency In-House Judges

Agencies Avoid Disaster After High Court’s In-House Judge Ruling

Companies have lost most of their initial attempts to bar agency in-house judges from hearing a wide range of disputes based on recent US Supreme Court precedent, though one of their most significant wins could send the issue back to the justices.

Federal courts sided against challengers in 34 of 38 rulings involving arguments that the high court’s 2024 decision in SEC v. Jarkesy prevents agencies from bringing enforcement actions in proceedings without a jury, according to a Bloomberg Law review of cases. […]

Agencies prevailed in seven of nine appeals court decisions and 27 of 29 district court rulings in the Bloomberg Law review. The analysis included orders on motions seeking preliminary injunctions, dismissals, and summary judgments.

Can the ultimate insiders avoid insider trading?

The bill is gaining momentum. The House Administration Committee, which is in charge of Congress’s operations, had a hearing yesterday on regulating members’ securities transactions. The overwhelming sentiment on the committee from members of both parties was that current restrictions on securities trading were insufficient. […]

Fitzpatrick told us yesterday’s hearing was a positive step but he and his faction are cautious that opponents — many of whom have millions of dollars invested and have the close ear of House leaders — could try delaying the bill into oblivion.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) noted that the House Administration Committee hasn’t scheduled a markup meeting, when the committee would vote on sending it to the full House, and expressed concerns that yesterday’s hearing was largely for show.

Asked when a markup could take place, Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin) told reporters to “stay tuned.” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee), another backer of the bill, said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) committed to him that the bill would get a markup.

Charlie Javice wants conviction tossed due to ‘judge’s clerks ties to JPMorgan lawyers’

Charlie Javice, who was convicted for defrauding JPMorgan Chase out of $175 million, is demanding a new trial — claiming the judge’s law clerks got jobs with the banking giant’s law firm after her trial finished.

In a motion filed in Manhattan federal court, the 33-year-old’s lawyers alleged that both of US Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein’s clerks had accepted jobs at Davis Polk & Wardwell, the powerhouse law firm that represents JPMorgan Chase.

“This commitment … was not disclosed to defense counsel until October 2025 (after trial and sentencing), is an apparent conflict of interest that creates, at a minimum, an appearance of impropriety,” Javice’s lawyers wrote in the Monday filing.

Meme Numbers

I wrote yesterday about a public company chief executive officer who announced a plan to buy 690,420 shares of his company’s stock. “Those are the meme finance numbers,” I wrote, “and they have magic powers. If you do stuff in units of 69 and 420 then your stock will go up.” I got several emails from readers saying that I am old and out of touch and now the meme numbers are 6 7. Is that true? As a father of elementary school aged children, I personally encounter the 6 7 meme far more often than 69 or 420, thank God, but presumably the schoolchildren aren’t buying the meme stocks? Elon Musk is 54 years old; his memes are 69 and 420. Still I suppose if you’re a forward-looking meme stock CEO maybe you do have to start doing stuff in units of 6 and 7.