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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

TAKE US TO YOUR LEADER - The SEC is seeking, through its enforcement actions, to shape the behavior of high-ranking executives, and it plans to do so by targeting their bonuses when their firms engage in wrongdoing, Law.com's Andrew Goudsward reports. SEC officials signaled at the SEC Speaks conference last week that they're pursuing a more aggressive use of a section of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that empowers the commission to clawback certain compensation bonuses and stock sale profits from CEOs and CFOs when their firms have to reissue an accounting statement because of misconduct. The portion of the statute, known as Section 304 or SOX 304, does not require the CEO or CFO to be personally liable for the misconduct that gave rise to the restatement, only that they presided over a firm where misconduct took place, a fact SEC officials pointed out to an audience of securities enforcement lawyers last week. "These orders provide a form of public accountability for senior executives who presided over a firm at which misconduct occurred that required their firms to restate their financials," SEC Deputy Enforcement Director Sanjay Wadhwa said at the conference. "And by requiring these executives to reimburse the company for certain types of compensation and profits from stock sales, these SOX 304 orders further incentivize senior executives to prevent and detect misconduct at their firms."

TUMULTUOUS TECH - When you talk to most in-house counsel about their current challenges, acquiring and retaining talent is still at the top of the list. However, as Law.com's Heather Nevitt writes in this week's Barometer newsletter, there seems to be a significantly different tone in the tech world. Yes, tech unicorns seem to be still hiring for that chief legal spot, but at the same time a bevy of tech companies are laying off employees or announcing hiring freezes, leaving those in that space feeling a little uneasy. Jason Winmill, a consultant for corporate legal departments, said in-house counsel should brace themselves for such layoffs. Attorneys working in the tech industry especially may soon have no choice but to find another job. "If this happens, the best-case scenario will be that this can be managed through retirements and voluntary reductions," Winmill said. "But that's a rosy scenario, and it's not likely to materialize everywhere." To receive the Law.com Barometer directly to your inbox each week, click here.

WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ - Weil, Gotshal & Manges partners David R. Singh and David L. Yohai have entered appearances for video-streaming service Philo Inc. in a pending digital privacy class action in connection with the use of a Facebook tracking pixel on Philo's website. The complaint, filed July 25 in California Northern District Court by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and Carney Bates & Pulliam, accuses Philo of violating the federal Video Privacy Protection Act by disclosing visitors' personally identifiable information to Facebook without consent. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson, is 3:22-cv-04296, Newlands v. Philo, Inc.  >> Read the filing on Law.com Radar and check out the most recent edition of Law.com's Who Got the Work?℠ column to find out which law firms and lawyers are being brought in to handle key cases and close major deals for their clients.

ON THE RADAR - Tesla was hit with a false advertising class action on Wednesday in California Northern District Court. The complaint alleges that Tesla's autopilot technology erroneously causes vehicles to miss turns, run red lights and veer into traffic, and therefore Tesla does not sell vehicles with 'full self-driving capabilities' as promised. The suit was brought by Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 3:22-cv-05240, Matsko v. Tesla Inc. et al. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com.   

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