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With the New Year comes new beginnings. But, for Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, 2017 brought the end of his aspirations to be appointed to the highest court in the nation. In an unprecedented move, Republicans in the Senate refused for 293 days to hold a confirmation hearing for Judge Garland. He was nominated in March 2016 to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. After languishing for ten months, Judge Garland’s nomination expired when the 114th Congress adjourned on January 3. President-elect Trump will now have an opportunity to nominate a justice of his choosing. But, given a lengthy and potentially combative nomination process, there is unlikely to be a ninth Justice seated until the Fall of 2017.

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken a strong stance in favor of protecting investors and the integrity of public markets against insider trading. In its decision, authored by Justice Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court upheld a criminal conviction for trading on confidential inside information received second-hand from a relative of the tipper.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week charted a middle course after agreeing to consider a case in which corporate petitioners had asked the court to greatly shrink protections offered investors under federal securities law. Sound familiar? It should.