Bankman-Fried Seeks Trump Pardon On FTX Fraud Conviction

By Dorothy Atkins

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence, has asked President Donald Trump to pardon him for defrauding customers who placed billions of dollars with the fallen cryptocurrency exchange, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney.

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OpenAI Joins Anthropic In Confidentially Filing IPO Plans

By Hailey Konnath

OpenAI said Monday that it had confidentially submitted a proposed initial public offering to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, an announcement that comes a week after artificial intelligence rival Anthropic said it had done the same.

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Home Decor Biz Files Ch. 11 With Over $100M Debt, Sale Plans

By Alex Wittenberg

Simply Interior Homes, which makes home textiles and decor, filed for Chapter 11 protection Monday in Delaware bankruptcy court with at least $100 million in debt and a plan to sell its business.

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White & Case, Reed Smith Lead $1.2B Space SPAC Deal

By Jarek Rutz

Spacecraft developer Quantum Space LLC said Monday it plans to go public through a merger with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VI, a special purpose acquisition company, in a deal that values the combined company at about $1.2 billion and would give the business new funding to build out its national security-focused spacecraft platform.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Sydney Price

At the Delaware Chancery Court, a trial over World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.'s $21.4 billion merger with Ultimate Fighting Championship's parent company has been canceled, and a Reddit investor has filed a suit claiming the company used artificial intelligence to challenge his grievance about a charter provision.

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Clearing House To Pay $40.7M Over 'Slush Fund' Claims

By Sarah Jarvis

Axos Clearing LLC owes more than $40.7 million to more than 100 claimants for allegedly turning a blind eye as the brokerage firm Worden Capital Management LLC used the claimants' accounts as personal slush funds, following Worden Capital's expulsion by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

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Gibson Dunn, PE Firm Pay Charity $1M For Knicks VIP Seats

By Dorothy Atkins

Gibson Dunn and private equity firm Veritas Capital split the $1 million winning bid for two "Celebrity Row" seats in a Knicks fundraiser ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, the team's parent company announced Monday.

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Brief

Johnson & Johnson Paying $1B For Oncology Startup Firefly

By Al Barbarino

Johnson & Johnson said Monday it has agreed to acquire Firefly Bio Inc. for $1 billion in cash, adding a proprietary technology that targets hard-to-treat tumors. 

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Brief

Freshfields-Led Arcline Bids $535M For Continental Aerospace

By Nate Beck

Freshfields LLP advised private equity firm Arcline Investment Management on a proposed acquisition of aircraft parts maker Continental Aerospace Technologies in a $535 million deal.

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Opinion

SEC Enforcement Reforms Must Address Post-Wells Limbo

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent changes to how it notifies companies of a potential enforcement action fail to address what happens after the Wells process is over, highlighting the need for meaningful process reform that includes a formal closure determination, says Kimble Cannon at Mahdavi Bacon.

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Groom Law Joins Firms Matching New Milbank Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

Washington, D.C.-based Groom Law Group is the latest firm to match a new pay scale for associates that was set earlier this month by Milbank LLP, according to media reports Monday.

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9th Circ. Judge Faces Inquiry, Charges After Idaho Altercation

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Monday identified a judicial misconduct complaint against U.S. Circuit Judge Ryan D. Nelson after he was charged with misdemeanor battery stemming from an argument in an Idaho Falls parking lot that ended with him allegedly stomping a man's eyeglasses on the asphalt.

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Analysis

How A Texas Pastor Beat Mark Zuckerberg In Landmark Trial

By Craig Clough

Jurors who reached a landmark $6 million verdict in March finding Meta Platforms Inc. and Google liable for harming a teen's mental health didn't find Mark Zuckerberg credible, an impression that the plaintiff's attorney Mark Lanier credited to putting the well-prepared executive off his guard.

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King & Spalding May Be Sanctioned In $300M Fraud Lawsuit

By Aaron Keller

Two King & Spalding LLP partners face a sanctions hearing in a $300 million fraud lawsuit to determine whether they violated a rule requiring candor to the tribunal by falsely claiming attorneys for other parties were copied on letters to two Connecticut jurists, according to two state court orders.

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Another Lawmaker Joins Impeachment Push For Ga. Judge

By Courtney Bublé

A Republican House member on Monday introduced articles of impeachment for U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia after she was reprimanded for having sex with a police officer in her chambers within earshot of staff.

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Colorado Gov. Signs Bill Banning Fee Sharing With Non-Attys

By Emma Cueto

Colorado has enacted a ban on lawyers sharing fees with nonlawyer-owned firms, such as alternative businesses in Arizona, as well as a prohibition on deals with managed services organizations that involve paying a percentage of firm income.

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Brief

Todd Blanche Officially Nominated To Be AG

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Monday officially nominated Todd Blanche to be attorney general.

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Trump Taps DC Appeals Court Picks To Fill Final Vacancies

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump has announced two picks for the D.C. Court of Appeals, which will fill the remaining vacancies on the District of Columbia's top court.

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Mich. Dems Back Trump Judicial Pick After Blue-Slip Review

By Courtney Bublé

Michigan's Democratic U.S. senators, Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, announced on Monday they've returned their blue slips for the nomination of Michael Martin, a veteran career prosecutor, to be a judge in the Eastern District of Michigan.

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Chapman Law School Dean Says He Was Fired For Being Gay

By Hailey Konnath

The former dean of Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law says the university unlawfully fired him because he's gay and married to a man, according to a complaint filed in California state court.

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NJ Senators Advance Litigation Funding Disclosure Bill

By Carla Baranauckas

New Jersey state senators on Monday advanced legislation that would require disclosure of third-party litigation funding agreements over the objections of trial lawyers and litigation finance representatives, who warned that the bill could discourage funding for plaintiffs involved in costly cases.

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Law Student's Kirk Comment Discipline Stays During Appeal

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge on Monday kept intact a reprimand against a law student who allegedly celebrated following the death of Charlie Kirk during an appeal, saying that the student "again seeks the wrong remedy" in her request.

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100+ Ex-Prosecutors Question Chicago US Atty's Leadership

By Celeste Bott

More than 100 former Illinois federal prosecutors issued a statement Monday saying there's been a "failure of leadership" in the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago and that "once-forbidden political considerations are infecting prosecutorial decisions" in the wake of an Illinois federal judge accusing the office of mishandling grand jury proceedings in a case against six immigration activists.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein's Sentencing Delayed To July

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge has agreed to push SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's sentencing to July, after federal prosecutors speculated that his defense attorneys might come to the previously scheduled June hearing and declare that they aren't ready to proceed.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Elizabeth Cabraser

By Emily Field

When Elizabeth Cabraser began working with Robert Lieff as a clerk at his small practice in Northern California in the late 1970s, fresh out of law school, her job was to help him dispose of his remaining cases so he could retire early and become a winemaker.

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