Welcome to A&O Shearman's Need-To-Know Litigation Weekly, which analyzes notable U.S. decisions, orders and developments each week in areas of Securities Litigation, Government/Regulatory Enforcement, M&A and Corporate Governance, Antitrust Litigation and IP Litigation. This weekly newsletter is intended to supplement our various publications and thought leadership concerning these important substantive areas.
Securities Litigation
Southern District of New York Dismisses Putative Securities Act Class Action Against LNG Producer With Prejudice
On October 13, 2026, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an opinion explaining his June 15, 2026, dismissal of a putative securities class action against a liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) producer (the “Company”), certain of its officers, its controlling stockholder, and the underwriters of the Company’s IPO (collectively, “Defendants”). FirstFire Global Opportunities Fund LLC v. Venture Global, Inc., No. 25-cv-4642-JSR (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 13, 2025).Read More
Southern District Of New York Grants Motion To Dismiss Securities Class Action Against Medical Device Manufacturing Company
On October 19, 2026, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion to dismiss a putative securities fraud class action against a contract medical device manufacturing company (the “Company”), and certain of its current and former officers (the “Individual Defendants”), alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. Pembroke Pines Pension Fund for Firefighters & Police Officers v. Integer Holdings Corp., No. 1:25-cv-10251 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 19, 2026).Read More
Government/Regulatory Enforcement
SDNY Court Denies Motion To Dismiss First Prediction Market Insider Trading Prosecution
On October 26, 2026, U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett of the Southern District of New York denied a motion to dismiss the indictment in United States v. Gannon Ken Van Dyke—the first criminal insider trading prosecution arising from prediction market trading.Read More
DOJ Announces First “Near Miss” Non-Prosecution Agreement Under Its 2026 Corporate Enforcement Policy
On October 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that its National Security Division (“NSD”) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina had entered into a non-prosecution agreement (“NPA”) with a networking equipment company based in North Carolina.Read More
M&A and Corporate Governance
Delaware Court Of Chancery Invalidates Board’s Rejection Of Activist’s Director Nomination Notice
On August 28, 2026, Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will of the Delaware Court of Chancery in a post-trial decision on expedited claims invalidated the board of directors’ rejection of an activist investor’s nomination notice in a proxy context involving a publicly traded corporation that holds Bitcoin as a primary asset (the “Company”). ATG Cap. Opportunities Fund LP v. Lane, C.A. No. 2026-0447-LWW (Del. Ch. Aug. 28, 2026).Read More
Delaware Chancery Counts Stockholder Consents Obtained Post-Litigation in Majority Vote Removing Director
On September 15, 2026, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick entered post-trial judgment for defendant after a summary proceeding under Section 225 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), which governs proceedings for contested board seats, challenging plaintiff’s removal from the board of directors of a private security technology company. Freiberg v. Xonar Tech. Inc., C.A. No. 2026-0093-KSJM (Del. Ch. Sept. 15, 2026).Read More
Antitrust Litigation
Federal Judge Issues Continuing Summary Judgment Ruling In Turkey Price-Fixing Litigation, Narrowing Direct-Action Plaintiffs’ Claims For Trial
Following its July 7, 2026 summary judgment decision, which addressed the motions of certain other defendants, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Judge Sunil R. Harjani) issued another summary judgment decision on October 19, 2026 addressing the direct-action plaintiffs’ claims against the remaining defendants: various turkey processors and an industry benchmarking consultant.Read More
Ninth Circuit Revives Aligner Antitrust Class Actions And Clarifies Rule-Of-Reason Burden Shifting In A Refusal-To-Deal Framework
On October 5, 2026, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant and remanded two consolidated antitrust class actions brought under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2. Read More
Intellectual Property Litigation
Federal Circuit Holds That A Claim Covering A Scientific Impossibility Is Not Indefinite, But Is Not Enabled
On October 1, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court for the District of Delaware’s judgment invalidating claims 1, 11, and 18 of U.S. Patent No. 6,711,385 (“the ’385 Patent”), but on enablement grounds rather than the indefiniteness grounds that were the subject of the appeal. Satius Holding, LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., No. 2025-1446 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 1, 2026).Read More
Ninth Circuit Finds LLM Coding Agent Outputs Did Not Violate Digital Millenium Copyright Act by Not Including Attribution
In Doe v. GitHub, Inc., No. 24-7700 (9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2026) the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, on interlocutory appeal, affirmed a district court dismissal of claims under the DMCA related to LLM-based coding tools trained on open-source code.Read More