c.-ryan barber

March 21, 2017 | National Law Journal

As members of Washington's legal elite gathered Tuesday morning for the second day of Judge Neil Gorsuch's confirmation hearing, the veteran appellate litigator Ted Olson wasn't there—but he was close. Olson, a former U.S. solicitor general and now a Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner, appeared on Capitol Hill to assail an Obama-era agency that he's also fought in the courts: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

By C. Ryan Barber

16 minute read

March 20, 2017 | National Law Journal

In times of presidential transition, it is common across the federal bureaucracy for agency heads to resign and allow the incoming administration to appoint new leadership. At the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Elliot Kaye has stayed put. The dynamic has not simply staved off Trump's pro-business, deregulatory push. The commission's three Democrats appear poised to seize on the waning days of their majority and move forward on safety regulations—and their call for higher penalties against companies.

By C. Ryan Barber

23 minute read

March 17, 2017 | New York Law Journal

The U.S. Justice Department argued Friday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be stripped of its independence, a reversal of an earlier stance that the president only had the power to remove the Obama-era agency's director for cause, not at will.

By C. Ryan Barber

13 minute read

March 15, 2017 | National Law Journal

Brent McIntosh, co-leader of Sullivan & Cromwell's cybersecurity practice, was nominated on Tuesday to lead the U.S. Treasury Department's general counsel office. McIntosh joins a team of other attorneys from the firm who have taken or been nominated for key posts in the Trump administration.

By C. Ryan Barber and Mike Scarcella

20 minute read

March 13, 2017 | Corporate Counsel

The nascent legalized marijuana industry has never been easy for regulators, forcing difficult decisions over how to enforce federal laws in states that have cleared cannabis for medical and—in some cases—recreational use. But the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has a decidedly simpler calculation: If a marijuana company misleads investors, it's as ripe an enforcement target as another firm.

By C. Ryan Barber

12 minute read

March 09, 2017 | National Law Journal

Benefitting from a client roster that includes big banks, British Airways and Volkswagen AG, longtime Sullivan & Cromwell partner Jay Clayton raked in $7.6 million in the year leading up to his nomination to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

By C. Ryan Barber

20 minute read

March 08, 2017 | National Law Journal

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week revealed the identity of a company that tried for weeks to remain anonymous as it fought the federal agency over an investigation. Future Income Payments, a California-based provider of "pension advances," sued the CFPB in January to prevent the agency from pursuing any investigation and disclosing its name.

By C. Ryan Barber

10 minute read

March 07, 2017 | National Law Journal

Rachel Brand, former chief regulatory litigation counsel for the U.S. Chamber's Litigation Center, is poised to become the third-in-command at the Justice Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a position where she would play a lead role defending agencies she has challenged. At her confirmation hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Brand was asked how she will transition from agency challenger to agency defender.

By C. Ryan Barber

15 minute read

March 07, 2017 | Legal Week

Former Cravath presiding partner to lead US bank's legal team after 'sham account' scandal

By C Ryan Barber

4 minute read

March 07, 2017 | International Edition

Former Cravath presiding partner to lead US bank's legal team after 'sham account' scandal

By C Ryan Barber

4 minute read