Trump Judge Won't Exit Over 'Nothingburger' Atty Encounter

By Lauren Berg

The New York judge who ordered Donald Trump to pay $465 million in penalties in his civil fraud case Thursday rejected the former president's demand that he step down from the case, saying a brief hallway encounter with an attorney acquaintance was a "nothingburger" that did not influence his decision.

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DA Says Trump Immunity Ruling Doesn't Affect NY Convictions

By Elliot Weld

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told a New York judge Thursday that the U.S. Supreme Court's presidential immunity ruling has no bearing on Donald Trump's fraud conviction in his hush-money case since the charges relate to unofficial acts.

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Analysis

The Biggest Copyright Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report

By Ivan Moreno

The justices ruled there's no time limit for how far back copyright plaintiffs can pursue infringement damages as long as their claims are timely, and an Ohio jury said video game developers didn't infringe a tattoo artist's works by depicting the images on basketball players. Here's a look at some of the most notable copyright decisions so far in 2024.

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Shkreli Says He Has Right To Use Wu-Tang Clan Album Copies

By Aislinn Keely

Martin Shkreli pushed back on a crypto project's bid to force him to hand over copies of the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album he once owned, saying his original purchase agreement of the album entitled him to make the copies and the album's current crypto owner hasn't shown how Shkreli's duplicates irreparably harm the value of the original.

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Foley Hoag Hit With Overtime Wage Suit By NY Support Tech

By Andrea Keckley

A former support technician at Foley Hoag LLP accused the firm of "egregious violations of wage and hour laws" in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York federal court.

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'AntiVaxMomma' Gets Jail Time, Despite Duress Claim

By Rachel Scharf

A Manhattan judge sentenced a woman to at least 1½ years in jail Thursday for selling fake COVID-19 immunization credentials under the Instagram handle "AntiVaxMomma," rejecting the defendant's claim that she didn't have enough time to weigh a plea offer before admitting her guilt.

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4th Man Gets Jail In NYC Public Housing Anti-Bribery Sweep

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former New York City public housing superintendent to 19 months in prison for accepting $95,000 in bribes, bringing to four the number of people sentenced to time behind bars in the 70-defendant anti-corruption sweep.

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2nd Circ. Revives NYC's Coverage Rift With Captive Insurer

By Hope Patti

The Second Circuit revived New York City's coverage dispute against a captive insurer, reversing a lower court's finding that it lacked diversity jurisdiction after having already granted the city an early win on the coverage issues.

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6th Circ. Judge Questions GM's Arbitration Argument Delay

By Danielle Ferguson

A Sixth Circuit judge pressed General Motors on Thursday about why it waited three years to argue that some plaintiffs were bound by arbitration agreements in a class action over allegedly defective transmissions, saying a major car company should be aware most consumers sign such contracts.

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Brief

Fisher-Price, Mattel Ink $19M Deal Over Recalled Baby Sleeper

By Elliot Weld

Fisher-Price and parent company Mattel asked a Buffalo federal judge for preliminary approval for a $19 million payment to settle a class action over a recalled baby sleeper that a group of consumers claims was falsely advertised as safe.

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Brief

Celeb Video Platform Cameo Fined $100K Over Paid Promos

By Elliot Weld

Celebrity video platform Cameo will pay $100,000 as part of a 30-state settlement over claims it failed to inform customers that its advertising service for businesses involved paid promotions.

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CSX Gets Trial Win In NY Railroad Switch Injury

By Mike Curley

A New York federal jury has sided with CSX Transportation Inc. in a suit by a man who alleged he was injured when a railroad switch closed on his foot, finding the company was not negligent on the day of the man's injury.

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Google Bias Case Tossed After Reported Settlement

By Elliot Weld

A Manhattan federal judge dismissed a suit brought by a former Google executive who claimed he was fired after alleging that a female colleague sexually harassed him, citing a reported settlement with the company.

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Fla. Judge Will Consider Coordination Of Truth Social Suits

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida judge said Thursday he would not formally consolidate two lawsuits related to the special purpose acquisition company deal that took Donald Trump's Truth Social public but said he would consider setting up some coordination for judicial efficiency.

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Paramount-Skydance Deal Is Redstone Windfall, Investor Says

By Katryna Perera

A shareholder of Paramount Global Class B common stock on Wednesday sued chairwoman Shari Redstone and several members of its board over the allegedly "unfair" merger with Skydance Media LLC, claiming the deal is being orchestrated to cash out Redstone's investments in Paramount at a substantial premium compared to other stockholders.

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Ackman Sets $4B IPO Target For New Pershing Square Fund

By Tom Zanki

Hedge-fund giant Bill Ackman expects the initial public offering of his new closed-end fund to raise $2.5 billion to $4 billion as he seeks to shore up investor support just days before the IPO's anticipated pricing, according to a securities filing Thursday.

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Nevada Man Accused Of Threatening To Kill Judges

By Lynn LaRowe

A Las Vegas man who allegedly sent threats to kill and assault federal and state officials in New York, Montana, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. – including federal judges – has pled not guilty to a 22-count indictment unsealed this week in Nevada federal court.

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SEC Says Consensys 'Rushed To Court' Over Probe Notice

By Emilie Ruscoe

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has argued cryptocurrency firm Consensys improperly "rushed to court" to head off an enforcement action alleging certain products require brokerage registration.

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NY Jury Convicts Int'l Bank Safe Deposit Box Scammer

By Sydney Price

Following a seven-day trial, a New York federal jury in Brooklyn found a member of an alleged organized crime group guilty of stealing millions in cash and goods from European banks.

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Simpson Thacher, Kirkland Lead KKR's $4.8B Instructure Buy

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Educational software company Instructure Holdings Inc., advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, on Thursday revealed that it has agreed to be bought by private equity giant KKR, led by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, in an all-cash take-private deal with an enterprise value of roughly $4.8 billion.

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Mr. Cooper Picks Up Flagstar Resi Mortgage Unit For $1.4B

By Grace Dixon

Flagstar Bank NA announced Thursday that it has inked a $1.4 billion deal to sell its residential mortgage servicing business to nonbank mortgage originator Mr. Cooper, as Flagstar and parent New York Community Bancorp eye a turnaround.

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Chicken Soup's Atty Wants Out Of $3M Conn. Pet Food Feud

By Ryan Harroff

The Graubard Miller attorney defending Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul Inc. in a manufacturer's $3 million contract suit asked a Connecticut state court to let her leave the case, writing in her motion to withdraw that Chicken Soup has refused to cooperate on the case.

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Reed Smith's Rebeca Mosquera Takes Reins At ArbitralWomen

By Caroline Simson

Reed Smith LLP attorney Rebeca Mosquera was elected earlier this month as the new president of ArbitralWomen, a position she told Law360 is "not only a great honor, but a huge responsibility."

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Proskauer Adds Milbank Real Estate Atty In NY

By Jack Rodgers

Proskauer Rose LLP has hired a special counsel from Milbank LLP who joins the firm after six years with his prior platform to continue his practice focused on private equity investors and other clients involved in real estate and private fund matters, the firm announced Thursday.

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The Rise Of State And Local Environmental Leadership

While Congress is deadlocked, and a U.S. Supreme Court with a hostility toward the administrative state aggressively dismantles federal environmental oversight, state and local governments are stepping up with policies to shape a more sustainable future for all species, says Jonathan Rosenbloom at Albany Law School.

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Analysis

How Being A Female Litigator May Aid Harris' Presidential Bid

By Aebra Coe

Female litigators regularly confront implicit biases and double standards when it comes to "their appearance, voice, attire, demeanor and their advocacy," according to the author of an American Bar Foundation research report on first chair trial lawyers.

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'Terrible Decisions': Ex-McElroy Deutsch CFO Gets 5 Years

By Carla Baranauckas

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP's former chief financial officer was sentenced Friday in a New Jersey state court to five years in prison and ordered to pay restitution for embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and failing to pay income tax.

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Analysis

How Barrett Became The High Court's Justice To Watch

By Katie Buehler

Justice Amy Coney Barrett has revealed a unique trifecta of caution toward overly broad opinions, devotion to the factual record and concern for the practical effects of court rulings that separates her from the other right-leaning justices and contains the potential to broker more moderate rulings in future terms.

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Cadwalader Suing Lloyd's Over Cyberattack Coverage Denial

By Lynn LaRowe

Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP has filed suit against insurer Lloyd's of London in North Carolina state court, alleging the company has failed to reimburse the law firm for expenses related to a November 2022 data breach.

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Attys Face Sanctions For Fake Citations In Whistleblower Suit

By Rachel Rippetoe

A Virginia federal judge has asked lawyers representing a plaintiff in a whistleblower case to defend why they should not be sanctioned for including seemingly fabricated case sources in a brief objecting to a protective order, questioning whether it was a case of "ChatGPT run amok."

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Ex-Thompson Hine Atty Says Firm Can't Oppose NY Jurisdiction

By Xiumei Dong

Former Thompson Hine LLP income partner Rebecca Brazzano fired back at efforts by two firm partners to dismiss her lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, contending among other arguments that they waived their right to contest personal jurisdiction by filing another motion that attempts to force arbitration that didn't raise the jurisdiction issue.

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Cuomo Harassment Document Fight Heads To NY Appeals Court

By Rachel Scharf

A Manhattan judge on Friday allowed both the New York attorney general and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to appeal parts of a decision requiring the state to produce unredacted transcripts of some witness interviews in the sexual harassment investigation that led to Cuomo's resignation.

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Rutgers Fights Contempt Bid By Student Who Filed Bias Suit

By Rose Krebs

Rutgers University wants a New Jersey state court to reject a bid by a law school student who filed a discrimination suit against it to hold the school in contempt for moving ahead with disciplinary measures against him, arguing there is "no basis" to grant the request.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Boyden Gray PLLC leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the full Fifth Circuit struck down as unconstitutional the Federal Communications Commission's system for subsidizing telecommunications service for rural and low-income users.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

What a news week! President Joe Biden started it off by announcing he would not seek re-election, but then said he would push for reform of the U.S. Supreme Court in his remaining time. And the Boeing Co. confirmed it has finalized its agreement with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to one count of criminal conspiracy to defraud, related to safety issues and two fatal plane crashes.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen U.K. band The 1975 face action by Future Sound Asia after its performance in Malaysia resulted in a festival's cancelation, Spectrum Insurance hit by The Motoring Organization following their dispute over information misuse, and a former police constable pursue defamation against a colleague for allegedly instigating a campaign of harassment against her. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Assa Abloy Resolves DOJ Merger Monitor Dispute

By Bryan Koenig

Assa Abloy told a D.C. federal judge that it's agreed "in principle" on how a monitoring trustee will review its compliance with a U.S. Department of Justice merger lawsuit settlement, resolving a simmering dispute over its complaints of an open-ended multimillion-dollar investigation.

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Georgia Judge Won't Block Prosecutor Oversight Commission

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia judge has rejected an attempt to temporarily block a new state commission created to investigate and discipline state prosecutors, finding it doesn't violate Georgia's constitution.

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SEC Sues Banker And Ex-Prosecutor Alleging $1.6M Fraud

By Rae Ann Varona

A Georgia banker fraudulently bilked approximately $1.6 million from unsuspecting investors for "furs and furniture" and other expenses while a former Florida prosecutor ignored several red flags when holding on to the investments, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a Georgia federal court.

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Colorado's New Chief Justice Sworn In

By Daniel Ducassi

Chief Justice Monica M. Márquez started her three-year term leading the Colorado Supreme Court on Friday after being sworn in during a closed-door ceremony.

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Girardi Can't Show Ex-CFO's Spending Habits In Fraud Trial

By Gina Kim

Jurors in Tom Girardi's upcoming fraud trial won't hear details about the spending habits of Girardi Keese's former CFO, who's accused of a "side fraud" that bilked millions without Girardi's knowledge, after a California federal judge agreed with prosecutors Friday that the evidence appears more prejudicial than probative.

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Hunter Biden's Attys Made 'False Statements,' Judge Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

The California federal judge overseeing Hunter Biden's criminal tax trial threatened to sanction the presidential son's lawyers Wednesday, saying they made "false statements" in a motion to dismiss that cited a Florida federal judge's order disqualifying the special prosecutor in Donald Trump's classified documents case.

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