Prepetition Waivers Sway Invitae Judge On Kirkland Hire

By Vince Sullivan

A New Jersey bankruptcy judge approved the retention of Kirkland & Ellis LLP as bankruptcy counsel for debtor Invitae Corp. Tuesday, the same day he approved a $239 million sale of its assets to Labcorp.

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Margolis Edelstein Gets Rehearing In Del. Malpractice Case

By Rose Krebs

Delaware's Supreme Court has granted Margolis Edelstein's bid for a rehearing by the full five-justice court of an April ruling that revived an insurer's malpractice suit claiming its incompetence caused the insurer to have to settle a case for $1.2 million.

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Remote Atty Is No Reason For Mistrial, 10th Circ. Says

By Emily Sawicki

In a published opinion Tuesday, a Tenth Circuit panel ruled that the remote court appearance of a plaintiff's attorney who contracted COVID-19 was not grounds to declare a mistrial after a Black utility worker lost his Title VII workplace discrimination case in Kansas, finding that the plaintiff could not show that he was prejudiced by his lead counsel's absence.

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Judge Forged Note For Parking Discount, Watchdog Says

By Greg Lamm

A Washington state judicial conduct board has accused a part-time district court judge of forging a note embossed with a court seal and using another judge's signature stamp to get a reduced parking rate offered to government employees.

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NJ Law Firm Scores Exit In Benicar MDL Fees Suit

By George Woolston

A New Jersey federal judge on Tuesday granted Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman LLC attorneys a quick win in a proposed class action claiming they took excessive fees from plaintiffs' settlements in multidistrict litigation over the blood pressure drug Benicar, ruling the suit alleges identical claims to another suit that has been dismissed.

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1st Circ. Questions SEC Walk-Back In Conn. Atty's Fraud Case

By Julie Manganis

A First Circuit panel indicated Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to have it both ways by avoiding a retrial of a fraud case against a Connecticut attorney while keeping in place an earlier win.

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Stormy Daniels Tells NY Jury 'Fear' Drove Hush Money Deal

By Frank G. Runyeon, Stewart Bishop and Rachel Scharf

Adult film star Stormy Daniels detailed for a Manhattan jury on Tuesday how a sexual encounter with Donald Trump in 2006 led to an alleged $130,000 hush money payment in 2016, describing how it was "fear and not money" that led her to make the deal.

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Coverage Recap: Day 9 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Rachel Scharf, Stewart Bishop and Frank Runyeon

Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day nine.

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Florida Judge Delays Trump's Classified Docs Trial Indefinitely

By David Minsky

The Florida judge overseeing the criminal case that accuses former President Donald Trump of holding onto classified documents upon leaving office extended indefinitely the planned May 20 start of the trial, citing "myriad and interconnected pretrial" issues regarding the Classified Information Procedures Act, according to a federal court order filed on Tuesday.

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Trump's Georgia Charges Unaffected By 1890 Ruling, DA Says

By Peter McGuire

A "historically unique" 19th-century U.S. Supreme Court ruling has zero bearing on Georgia prosecutors' allegations that former President Donald Trump and others filed falsified documents in federal court in a criminal attempt to overturn election results, according to a filing in state court.

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Pashman Stein Sued For Malpractice Over Firm Breakup Work

By Jake Maher

A New Jersey intellectual property attorney facing claims from Pashman Stein Walder Hayden PC that he owes $88,000 in unpaid legal fees denied those allegations and countered with his own claims that Pashman Stein committed malpractice in representing him in the breakup of his old firm.

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Colo. Judge Tells Cos. Their Warring Briefs Aren't Helping

By Thy Vo

A Colorado federal judge has warned a medical device distributor and a Stryker subsidiary warring over a $2.3 million sanctions request that neither of their briefs appeared to provide "meaningful assistance" to help him determine what to award.

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Law Firm Must Face COVID Test-Kit Fraud Suit, NJ Court Told

By Emily Sawicki

A medical supply business has urged a New Jersey federal court to reject a Texas law firm's bid to walk away from or transfer a more than $2.45 million lawsuit alleging it took part in a scheme to dupe the company into paying for COVID-19 test kits that were never delivered. 

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US News' Suit Over SF Ranking Probe Premature, Judge Says

By Henrik Nilsson

A California federal judge on Tuesday tossed without prejudice U.S. News & World Report's lawsuit challenging the San Francisco City Attorney's subpoenas seeking information about its methodology for ranking hospitals, saying the suit jumps the gun because U.S. News is not bringing a valid pre-enforcement claim.

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Chase Aims To Sink Florida Law Firm's $100K Wire Theft Suit

By Madison Arnold

JPMorgan Chase Bank NA has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a Florida law firm, saying it is not responsible for the $100,000 payment that a client mistakenly transferred to a fraudster instead of the firm's account at the bank.

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PNC Bank Entitled To Atty Fees In Defamation Suit, Court Says

By Katryna Perera

The Georgia Court of Appeals granted an appeal by PNC Bank to receive attorney fees from a customer-launched defamation suit it defeated, finding that the award is mandatory under Georgia law while also ruling that the bank does not have to turn over documents requested by the suing customer.

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Texas Law Firm's Claims Partly Tossed In Click-To-Call Ad Suit

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas federal judge has partially dismissed a Houston-based personal injury outfit's claims against a legal referral service it accuses of buying internet keywords that infringe the firm's trademarks in a "click-to-call" scheme meant to steal clients and business from the firm, finding some of the allegations were "conclusory" and that others were unsupported by the facts.

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7th Circ. Ruling Imperils Anonymity In NCAA, Netflix Cases

By Rose Krebs

Anonymous plaintiffs suing the NCAA and Netflix in separate cases in Indiana federal court must explain why they should be allowed to keep their identities hidden following a recent Seventh Circuit ruling that established "a stringent standard" relating to anonymity, a magistrate judge has ruled.

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Insurer Seeks Hearing Cancellation In Arbitrator Bias Dispute

By Jennifer Mandato

An insurer seeking the removal of an arbitrator in a Bermuda reinsurance coverage dispute told the Second Circuit on Tuesday that a hearing on the issue should be canceled as an award was issued in the arbitration, rendering the dispute moot.

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Northeast Firms Harris Beach, Murtha Cullina To Join Forces

By Christine DeRosa

Midsize law firms Harris Beach PLLC and Murtha Cullina LLP on Tuesday announced plans to combine starting next year, creating one firm with a footprint across Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and nearby states.

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Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Susman's Brook, Shackelford

By Sydney Price

Susman Godfrey LLP attorneys Davida Brook and Stephen Shackelford Jr. learned very early on in their working relationship that they needed to trust each other. That concept, they say, has been foundational to their success as defamation attorneys, and those who have worked alongside them say everyone else has reason to trust them, too.

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Atty Dons Muppet Head To Open Sesame Place Race Bias Trial

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A federal jury in Philadelphia on Tuesday gazed at the googly eyes and blue fur of an attorney who donned the head of Sesame Street's Grover to tell them that performers wearing the fluorescent bodysuits of other beloved Muppets discriminated against children at a Pennsylvania theme park because of the color of their skin.

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