PSEG Deputy GC, Former Prosecutor Tapped As Next NJ AG

By Carla Baranauckas

New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill named utility lawyer and veteran prosecutor Jennifer Davenport on Monday as her choice for state attorney general, selecting a longtime law enforcement leader she said will be central to her administration's agenda on affordability, public safety and government accountability.

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Del. Justices Put ITG On Hook For $250M Reynolds Settlement

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's Supreme Court stubbed out an eight-year ITG Brands LLC legal battle to avoid paying R.J. Reynolds more than $250 million to cover health-related settlement payments to Florida after ITG's acquisition of four of the cigarette company's brands, according to a ruling issued Monday.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

Litigation in Delaware's Court of Chancery sprawled from a dispute over control of banana plantations along Africa's Congo River to a fight over the late musician Prince's estate last week. Along the way, a court ruling rejected a motion for a quick decision favoring Blue Bell Creameries director and officer calls for liability releases in a tainted ice cream saga that dates to 2015.

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Full 5th Circ. Denies Nexstar's Bid To Overturn Union Order

By Katherine Smith

The full Fifth Circuit declined to reconsider a panel decision to back a National Labor Relations Board order requiring Nexstar to start bargaining with a newly installed Communications Workers of America affiliate at two of its Denver television stations.

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PCAOB Challenger Tells DC Circ. He Should Stay Anonymous

By Katryna Perera

An anonymous accountant challenging the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has told the D.C. Circuit he should be allowed to proceed in district court as a John Doe plaintiff, aiming to reverse a ruling that he cannot continue to litigate the suit pseudonymously.

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NY AG Says UPS Was Grinch With Seasonal Workers' Wages

By Irene Spezzamonte

UPS "played the Grinch" by failing to pay seasonal workers it hires between October and January for work they performed outside their shifts, leading to millions in unpaid wages and overtime, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Monday.

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Danske Bank Exits DOJ Probation Under $2B AML Deal

By Sarah Jarvis

Danske Bank announced Monday that it has finished a three-year corporate probation imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a $2 billion settlement over allegations the Danish lender misled U.S. banks about its anti-money laundering controls for high-risk customers in Estonia.

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Starbucks Investors Get Claims Against Ex-CFO Revived

By Sydney Price

A federal judge in Seattle has reinstated claims against Starbucks' former chief financial officer in a suit accusing the coffee giant's leaders of misleading shareholders about its struggling plan to reinvent itself, saying the investors plausibly allege the ex-executive was a controlling person under the securities laws.

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Colo. Agriculture Co. Says Firms' Malpractice Cost It $12M

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado agricultural manufacturer has filed a malpractice lawsuit in state court against a pair of Denver law firms and an attorney, alleging they mishandled their representation of the manufacturer in a derivative action that cost the company more than $12 million.

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Judge Exits ESOP Suit Against BDO, Citing His Wife's Tie

By Kellie Mejdrich

A Massachusetts federal judge recused himself from a proposed class action alleging that accounting giant BDO USA and company executives sold stock at an inflated price to an employee stock ownership plan in a $1.3 billion deal, citing his wife's financial interest in a company involved in the case.

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Walmart Adds To Visa, Mastercard Swipe-Fee Deal Objections

By Katryna Perera

Walmart has become the latest retailer to object to a proposed new settlement between Visa, Mastercard and a class of potentially millions of merchants to resolve two decades of antitrust litigation, claiming the class plaintiffs and counsel have "sold out their fellow class members."

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

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Bonus Spotlight

Susman Godfrey Bests Market With Bonuses Of Up To $280K

By Andrea Keckley

Susman Godfrey LLP announced on Tuesday that it is topping New York's bonus scale with payouts that range from a median of $120,000 for first-year associates to a median of $280,000 for the most senior associates.

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Kasowitz Hid Plummeting Profits From Ex-Partner, Suit Says

By Andrea Keckley

A former Kasowitz LLP partner has accused the firm and its founder, renowned litigator Marc Kasowitz, of misrepresenting its finances and failing to pay him the millions he is owed in a lawsuit in New York state court, alleging the firm's profits have plummeted due to poor management.

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Hagens Berman Sanctioned For Bot Errors In OnlyFans Case

By Emily Sawicki

A California federal judge sanctioned Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP for submitting four briefs that contained errors blamed on ChatGPT while representing OnlyFans users pursuing proposed class fraud claims against the online platform, tossing the suit but allowing the users a chance to refile.

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DOJ Says NY Court Can't Handle Maurene Comey Firing Suit

By Adrian Cruz

The U.S. Department of Justice has said former prosecutor Maurene Comey's suit challenging the circumstances of her firing should be dismissed, arguing that it is an attempt to sidestep the Civil Service Reform Act.

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Fired Top Antitrust Official Warns Of 'Politicization'

By Courtney Bublé

The former No. 2 at the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division until he was terminated this year testified Tuesday about the "politicization" of antitrust enforcement.

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Levona Says New Docs Show Reed Smith Lied In $102M Feud

By Emily Sawicki

Levona Holdings Ltd. is pressing a Manhattan federal court to vacate what it calls a fraudulent $102 million arbitral award issued to international shipping company Eletson, arguing that new documents released under the crime-fraud exception show that the company and its prior attorneys at Reed Smith LLP lied during the arbitration.

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Ex-State High Court Chiefs Start Group To Defend Rule Of Law

By Jake Maher

A group of over 40 former chief judges of state supreme courts across the country this week launched a new project to speak out against attacks on the judiciary's independence and educate about the rule of law. 

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Quinn Emanuel Fee Fight Bound For Texas Or Mass. Court

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts federal judge is weighing whether to kick Quinn Emanuel's bid for $30 million in legal fees from a former client's parent company, Nano Dimension Ltd., to state court or to the Texas bankruptcy court where the client is undergoing Chapter 11 proceedings.

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Bullivant Houser Files For Ch. 11 After November Closure

By Rose Krebs

The now-shuttered Bullivant Houser Bailey PC has filed for Chapter 11 protection in California, with its chief dissolution officer saying the bankruptcy was filed so the firm can liquidate its assets as it continues "an orderly wind-down" of its operations.

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Corporate Transparency Act Is Constitutional, 11th Circ. Says

By Kevin Pinner

The Corporate Transparency Act is constitutional because it regulates economic activities with a substantial impact on interstate commerce and doesn't violate protections against unreasonable searches, the Eleventh Circuit said Tuesday, reversing a lower court's decision.

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