Jury Told Ex-Finance CEO Is The Fall Guy In $100M Fraud Case

By Stewart Bishop

Counsel for the founder of Beneficient on Tuesday told a Manhattan federal jury that the founder of the Dallas-based financial services firm did not defraud its onetime business partner GWG Holdings out of more than $100 million, saying a group of former insiders are trying to scapegoat the executive for GWG's downfall.

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Judge Eyes Ballot Deadline In Feud Over BJ's Climate Study

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday said he's eager to cut to the chase in a dispute over whether BJ's Wholesale Club must allow shareholders to vote on a climate study proposal, suggesting the case could be resolved ahead of a looming proxy ballot deadline. 

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Del. Supreme Court Upholds Ruling On Truth Social Shares

By Jessica Corso

The Delaware Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling granting additional stock to the founding shareholder in the company that took President Donald Trump's Truth Social Media public, turning away a request from the shareholder for a second shot to prove it is owed even more shares.

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Calif. Sex Abuse Boutique Sues Wood LLP For Bad Tax Advice

By Emily Sawicki

A West Hollywood boutique law firm formed to represent victims of sex abuse on UCLA's campus has filed a professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duty suit against Robert W. Wood and Wood LLP, claiming in California state court that their allegedly faulty financial advice caused the loss of $2 million in interest.

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$210M Appeal Bond Should Be $25M, Oil Exec Tells 5th Circ.

By José Luis Martínez

The founder of Exxon-acquired company InterOil has asked the Fifth Circuit to approve a $25 million supersedeas bond as opposed to an amount exceeding $210 million due to a final judgment against him and his family.

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Texas Court Weighs If $42M Gas Trespass Verdict Is Time-Barred

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court wanted to know when the clock started ticking to file suit in a trespassing case involving an energy company that allegedly interfered with nearby wells by injecting toxic gas underground, asking Tuesday whether the nearly $42 million verdict against the energy company should stand.

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Texas Firm Seeks Immediate Appeal In $2.3M LNG Case

By Caroline Simson

A Texas infrastructure firm is urging a Massachusetts federal judge to allow it to immediately appeal her order refusing to vacate a $2.3 million arbitral award issued in a dispute stemming from a liquefied natural gas facility project, saying the order turns on certain controlling questions of law.

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Brief

Solar Contractor Drops $31M Bond Dispute With Zurich

By Hope Patti

A solar energy contractor agreed to drop its suit accusing a pair of Zurich insurers of defaulting on a $30.9 million bond that guaranteed the performance of a subcontractor working on a solar plant in Klickitat County, Washington.

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Joe Gibbs Racing's Fast-Track Trial Is 'Unrealistic,' Court Told

By Hayley Fowler

Joe Gibbs Racing LLC's bid to set a November trial date in a trade secrets suit against former competition director Chris Gabehart and rival team Spire Motorsports is "aggressive and unrealistic," Gabehart has argued in asking to instead push the trial to May 2027.

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Gaming Co. Escapes Blackjack IP Claims Over Pleading Gaps

By Zach Dupont

The owners of a trademarked blackjack game had its claims dismissed against gambling giant Penn Entertainment Inc. and one of its Colorado casinos after a federal judge found the claims alleging the casino illegally continued using the blackjack game for years after its license expired weren't sufficiently pled.

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NJ Panel Rejects Arbitration In Wrongful Death Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

A staffing company and New Jersey's public transportation provider must face in court claims they negligently caused a vehicle crash that killed a woman, a state appeals court ruled, saying there isn't proper evidence to support the claim the woman signed an arbitration clause.

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Pesticide Study Admin Says Ex-Worker's Suit Is A 'Do-Over'

By Abigail Harrison

Counsel for a former administrative adviser in a national pesticide safety study organization named in an ex-worker's wrongful firing lawsuit urged a North Carolina federal court Tuesday to dismiss the matter, arguing the adviser is immune from constitutional claims that have already been litigated elsewhere.

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FHFA Says High Court Ruling Dooms Shareholder Verdict

By Jared Foretek

An attorney for the Federal Housing Finance Agency told the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday that the agency had clear authority to act in its own interest as conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the wake of the 2008 housing market crash rather than prioritize the interest of the companies' shareholders.

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Live Nation Fails In Bid For Quick Nix Of Antitrust Damages

By Matthew Perlman

A New York federal court has refused to rule immediately on Live Nation's bid to strike expert testimony and set aside the damages awarded to state enforcers in the antitrust case accusing the company of monopolizing the live entertainment industry.

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Amazon, Zulily Get Antitrust Case Postponed To Oct. 2027

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal judge agreed Monday to push the trial date in now-defunct online retailer Zulily's lawsuit accusing Amazon of stifling competition from other e-commerce platforms from January 2027 to October 2027 due to scheduling conflicts with overlapping antitrust proceedings against Amazon.

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Ukraine Co. Brings $5M Drone Award To NY For Enforcement

By Joyce Hanson

A Ukrainian company has urged a New York federal court to enforce an approximately $5 million arbitral award it won against a U.S.-based safety supply company for partly reneging on an $84.5 million contract to provide shipments of drones.

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Pan Am Games Bus Contractor Says Arbitration Is Unfair

By Caroline Simson

A Peruvian consortium that provided ground transportation services for the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, has filed an emergency petition asking a New York federal court to halt its $17 million arbitration with a United Nations entity, saying the tribunal is actively preventing the consortium from presenting its case.

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Buyer Sues PE Firm, Alleging Fraud In $26M Manufacturer Sale

By Jarek Rutz

A Michigan-based buyer has sued a private equity firm and two executives in Delaware's Court of Chancery, accusing them of orchestrating a yearslong scheme to inflate a manufacturing company's value and fraudulently induce a $26 million sale.

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Lender Asks If Weed Co. Cash-Seizure Ban Applies At Maturity

By George Woolston

A lender has asked a New Jersey federal court whether an order that blocked it from seizing a cannabis company's assets or cash amid a dispute over whether the company defaulted on loans applies to any default over the failure to pay the principal and interest due at maturity.

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Evaluating Congressional Investigation Risk In Deal Diligence

Given the increasing frequency and sophistication of congressional investigations into corporate business practices, companies conducting transactional due diligence should add procedures to assess and mitigate the unique challenges and wide-ranging risks that can arise from Capitol Hill’s scrutiny, say attorneys at Covington.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On ESI Control

Several recent federal court decisions have perpetuated a split over what constitutes “control” of electronically stored information — with judges divided on whether the standard should turn on a party's legal right or practical ability to obtain the information, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Norton Rose Faces $100M Suit Over Withdrawn Patent App

By Celeste Bott

Norton Rose Fulbright was sued in Illinois state court Tuesday by an advertising tech company claiming that the law firm mishandled a patent application and caused it to be deemed withdrawn, but kept the company in the dark about the loss of its valuable patent rights for over a year.

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Lockheed Birth Defect Trial Judge 'Disappointed' By Attys

By Cara Salvatore

A Florida federal judge said Tuesday he's "puzzled and disappointed" in counsel who appear "unprepared" on the eve of trial in a suit by children who blame their birth defects on Lockheed Martin's chemical handling practices at an Orlando defense system manufacturing and research facility.

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Hunter Biden Blasts Winston & Strawn Tactics In Fee Row

By Emily Sawicki

As a discovery dispute between Hunter Biden and Winston & Strawn LLP drags on amid a suit over allegedly unpaid legal bills, the former president's son accused the BigLaw firm, which once represented him in a Delaware criminal case and other matters, of resorting to "what is uncomfortably close to an ad hominem attack" against him.

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Analysis

Bondi's Proposed Rule Change May Shield Her In Ethics Case

By Phillip Bantz

A federal rule change that Pam Bondi proposed before she was fired as U.S. attorney general could stymie an ethics complaint against her in Florida, which is expected to be refiled after the state bar declined to take up the case during her tenure, experts say.

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Messner Reeves Accused Of $8.3M Trust Account Fraud

By Zach Dupont

Colorado law firm Messner Reeves LLP was hit with a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court from five businesses claiming it stole more than $8 million from them in a fraudulent loan scheme involving a now-defunct sports arena and hotel project in Las Vegas.

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Alston & Bird Says Goliath Investors Can't Claim Malpractice

By Carolina Bolado

Alston & Bird LLP urged a Florida federal court on Wednesday to toss a malpractice suit claiming the firm facilitated a $328 million cryptocurrency scam at Goliath Ventures Inc., arguing that the proposed class of Goliath investors who brought the suit were never clients of the firm.

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Analysis

House GOP Again Pushes Data Privacy Bill To Override States

By Allison Grande

House Republicans on Wednesday took their latest crack at establishing a cohesive nationwide data privacy framework, floating legislation that would give consumers more control over their personal information while preempting a growing patchwork of state laws, although early criticisms indicate that the issues that have long stymied these efforts persist.

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330+ Groups Urge DOJ To Restore Immigration Aid Staff

By Courtney Bublé

More than 300 legal services providers, faith-based institutions and community groups are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to fully restore a program that allows nonlawyers to assist low-income and indigent persons in immigration proceedings.

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Acting DOJ Inspector General Tapped For Permanent Post

By Jack Karp

President Donald Trump has nominated the U.S. Department of Justice's acting inspector general, who investigated the FBI's probe into Trump's links with Russia, to remain in that role on a permanent basis, according to a White House announcement.

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Paint Co. Says Injury Firm Used Stolen Data To Solicit Clients

By Abigail Harrison

A paint company has asked a North Carolina federal court to boot the opposing counsel in a putative data breach class action, accusing them of finding stolen data on the dark web and using it to solicit potential plaintiffs before victims were even notified of the breach.

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