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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

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HOOPS - Pillsbury Winthrop junior associate Meghan Hammond has nailed 46 out of 48 matchups thus far in Politico Playbook's NCAA pool. Meghan Tribe reportsthat at one point, Hammond, who practices in the firm's D.C. office, was one of eight people across the country with a perfect bracket. “It's not so much that I'm a basketball savant, as it's kind of a Slumdog Millionaire kind of thing,” she says.

UPWARD - Payouts by corporations to settle shareholder class actions tripled last year, compared with 2017. Amanda Bronstad reports that corporations shelled out $5 billion in 2018, according to a report by Cornerstone Research. The annual report found that there were 78 securities class action settlements in 2018, three fewer than in 2017, but five surpassed $100 million, including the $3 billion deal with Brazilian energy giant Petrobras. At the same time, the average settlement tripled to $64.9 million, compared with 2017, exceeding the average over the past nine years and reflecting a trend toward larger settlements overall.

DULL/IMPORTANT - The U.S. Supreme Court today will hear a major case testing the power of federal agencies. Business groups have long pushed to overturn or weaken the high court's 1997 decision in the Auer case that directs courts to defer to an agency's “reasonable interpretation” of its own ambiguous regulations. Tony Mauro reports that the U.S. Justice Department argues in the current case, Kisor v. Wilkie, that the Auer doctrine should be significantly narrowed but not reversed.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

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Jury Asked to 'Send a Message' to Monsanto in First MDL Trial Over Roundup

Register Now! What Do Clients Want From Outside Counsel?

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

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OPPOSITION - EU lawmakers have approved controversial new copyright rules intended to make it easier for rights holders to make money when their content is used on digital platforms. Simon Taylor reports that large platforms like Google, Facebook and YouTube had opposed the new rules, which will require them to compensate publishers, artists and musicians.

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WHAT YOU SAID

“He loved making people laugh. That was his whole thing.”

— BENJAMIN SCHLADENHAUFFEN, FATHER OF DECHERT ASSOCIATE CAMERON SCHLADENHAUFFEN, 31, WHOSE DEATH LAST MONTH WAS DEEMED THE RESULT OF AN ACCIDENTAL OVERDOSE CAUSED BY A COMBINATION OF DRUGS.

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