In-house lawyers understand that they’re hired to represent the entity that issues their paychecks, not the executives and staff. But as evidenced by the testimony of two Penn State University officials, a company’s lawyers and constituents can understand the relationship differently.

Bank of America Corp.

Susan Merrill, who spent six years as head of enforcement for the New York Stock Exchange regulatory arm and the entity that succeeded it, will join Bingham McCutchen’s broker-dealer group in New York this week. Merrill stepped down last month as chief of enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a private corporation that regulates brokerage firms and trading markets.

Donald Trump will not be taking over the bankrupt casino and entertainment company that bears his name, but he and his daughter will retain a stake in the entity under the terms of a deal Trump struck with the bondholders who will take the company out of bankruptcy, according to court records. Trump agreed not to compete with Trump Entertainment in New Jersey and five neighboring states; he remains free to use the Trump name elsewhere.

The PTO is fighting a challenge to regulations governing appeals of agency re-examinations of issued patents. The case, brought by German company Sigram Schindler Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH in the Eastern District of Virginia in August, challenges the PTO’s rules for appealing PTO decisions on ex parte re-examination proceedings.