Former American Media Inc. CEO and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker told a New York jury on Thursday that he paid off Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep her from going public about an affair with Donald Trump, who became enraged when news of the affair surfaced just days before the 2016 election.
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TOP NEWS

Ex-Tabloid CEO Says Trump Was Furious When Affair News Hit

By Stewart Bishop and Frank Runyeon

Former American Media Inc. CEO and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker told a New York jury on Thursday that he paid off Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep her from going public about an affair with Donald Trump, who became enraged when news of the affair surfaced just days before the 2016 election.

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Weinstein May Be Retried After NY Court Overturns Conviction

By Rachel Scharf

Harvey Weinstein seems poised to go to trial again in New York and testify in his own defense after the state's highest court overturned the movie mogul's rape conviction Thursday in a contentious, split opinion that found his first jury proceeding was unfair.

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Justices Skeptical Of Trump's Absolute Immunity Bid

By Katie Buehler

A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared open Thursday to the idea of limited immunity for former presidents related to the office's core constitutional powers, but divisions emerged among the justices over how to determine when acts outside of that narrow category are potentially subject to criminal prosecution.

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Coverage Recap: Day 3 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Frank G. 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 adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day three.

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Trump Can't Overturn $83M Verdict For Defaming Carroll

By Elliot Weld

Former President Donald Trump was denied a bid Thursday to get a new trial or to overturn a Manhattan federal jury's $83 million defamation verdict awarded to columnist E. Jean Carroll stemming from her sexual assault claims against Trump.

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EMPLOYMENT & BENEFITS

Ex-Defender Says Feds Can't Hide Other Harassment Reports

By Hayley Fowler

A former assistant federal defender wants to make certain #MeToo evidence public following the trial in a case accusing the judiciary of botching its probe into her own sexual harassment complaint, saying the contents of similar allegations concerning the Federal Defender's Office have already been publicly revealed.

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WHITE COLLAR

Attys, Insurance Agent Found Guilty Of Tax-Avoidance Scheme

By Hayley Fowler

Two St. Louis tax attorneys and a North Carolina insurance agent on Thursday were found guilty on all counts of conspiring to defraud the federal government and aiding in the filing of false tax returns for their role in a tax avoidance scheme that prosecutors claim cost the Internal Revenue Service more than $4 million.

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NJ Couple Convicted Of Luring Immigrants Into Forced Labor

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A New Jersey federal jury has convicted a Burlington County couple on charges related to luring two undocumented immigrants to the United States and forcing them to perform domestic labor and childcare in their home, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

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PI Ordered To Stay Away From Jury That Issued $10B Verdict

By Craig Clough

A California judge on Thursday kept in place an order for a private investigator to cease contacting jurors who delivered a $10 billion verdict in March against his client, telling him, "it doesn't sit well with me" that he's "going and bothering jurors" by visiting them at their homes.

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Ex-Philly Union Leader's 3rd Trial Ends In Deadlock

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal jury on Thursday night was unable to reach a verdict in the government's case alleging former Philadelphia labor leader John Dougherty threatened a Live! Casino construction contractor with "financial ruin" if he didn't pay his electrician nephew for work he didn't perform, marking a mistrial for the previously twice-convicted union figurehead and his relative.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Fed. Circ. Defines Foreign IP Damages, Raises New Questions

In Brumfield v. IBG, the Federal Circuit recently clarified which standard determines the extraterritoriality of the patent statute after the U.S. Supreme Court's WesternGeco decision, opening a new avenue of damages for foreign activities resulting from certain domestic activities while also creating some thorny questions, say Amol Parikh and Ian Howard at McDermott.

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Teach Your Party Representative The Art Of Nonverbal Cues

As illustrated by recent reports about President Donald Trump’s nonverbal communication in court, jurors notice what’s happening at counsel table, which may color their perceptions of the case as a whole, so trial attorneys should teach party representatives to self-monitor their nonverbal behaviors, says Clint Townson at Townson Consulting.

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Series

Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar

By Rachel Rippetoe

In the past year, plaintiffs have won settlements and judgments for millions and billions of dollars from companies such as Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Facebook and Fox News, with many high-profile cases finally wrapping up after years of fighting. Such cases — involving over-the-top compensation packages, chemical contamination, gender discrimination and data mining — were led by attorneys whose accomplishments earned them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2024.

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Senators Urge ABA To Look Into Rape Questions On Bar Apps

By Cara Bayles

Several members of the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to the American Bar Association on Friday urging it to study how state bar applications require would-be attorneys to disclose sexual violence.

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TikTok GC To Step Down, Work On Overturning US Law

By Bonnie Eslinger

The global general counsel for TikTok and parent company ByteDance will be stepping down from his role in June to take on a different job within the social media giant, the company announced Friday: fighting a new federal law requiring ByteDance to divest in TikKok or face a ban in the U.S.

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Paul Weiss Partner Gertzman Remembered As Moral Leader

By Aebra Coe

Michael E. Gertzman, the former chair of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP's litigation department who died Wednesday, is being remembered "as a mentor, role model, partner and friend."

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Analysis

Thomas' Long Quest To Undo A 'Grave Constitutional Error'

By Jeff Overley

A quarter-century after Justice Clarence Thomas cast a pivotal vote against jury trial rights and rapidly regretted it, his relentless campaign to undo the controversial precedent is suddenly center stage with a serious shot at succeeding, as judges and lawyers increasingly deem the decision dubious and the U.S. Supreme Court chips away at its edges.

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Analysis

How Legos, 'Working Girl' Sealed $10B Sibling Rivalry Win

By Craig Clough

A father-son attorney team used Legos and an argument borrowed from the 1988 film "Working Girl" to help a Los Angeles jury understand how their client's own brother illegally stole his multibillion-dollar real estate business, leading to a $10 billion verdict for their client and his other brothers, the attorneys told Law360.

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Trump Casts Tabloid Deal As 'Standard Operating Procedure'

By Frank Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

Donald Trump's attorneys tried to undermine Manhattan prosecutors' lead witness in his criminal trial on Friday, casting his deal to boost his presidency with the help of a friendly tabloid baron as nothing more than a savvy business relationship that was perfectly legal.

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Coverage Recap: Day 4 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Stewart Bishop

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 ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day four.

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The Week In Trump: Tabloid Testimony, High Court Drama

By Phillip Bantz

Donald Trump and his attorneys have been fighting high-stakes legal battles on several fronts as they grappled with a criminal hush money trial in Manhattan, argued at the U.S. Supreme Court for presidential immunity and tried to quash criminal election interference-related charges in Georgia.

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2 NC Sens. Seek Atty Fee Cap In Debt Collection Suits

By Travis Bland

Two Republican North Carolina lawmakers have proposed state legislation that would close a loophole for attorney fees in debt collection actions while giving courts more power to determine a reasonable charge.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

A report by LexisNexis' CounselLink found that average law firm partner billing rates rose 5.4% in 2023, and a federal jury in Colorado rejected a former in-house attorney's claim that Loeb & Loeb LLP and one of its ex-partners acted outrageously in filing a lawsuit accusing him of stealing a medical device company's trade secrets.

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Florida's Top Judge Tapped For 2nd Term As Chief Justice

By Madison Arnold

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz will serve a second term as the top administrative officer of the state's judicial system.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Aidala Bertuna & Kamins PC leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after New York's highest state court overturned Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction in a contentious, split opinion that found the former movie mogul's first jury proceeding was unfair.

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen budget airline Ryanair file a claim against NATS PLC after the air traffic controller's system collapsed, Mastercard and Visa Europe face group claims from Christian Dior and dozens of other beauty retailers, an intellectual property clash between the publisher of The Sun and ITV, and ISC Europe sue a former director for alleged money laundering. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Promo that reads Law360 Pulse 2024 AI Survey

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Aidala Bertuna

Allen & Overy

Alston & Bird

Arnold & Porter

Baker McKenzie

Baron & Budd

Bernstein & Bernstein (Detroit, MI)

Bernstein Litowitz

Blank Rome

Bohm Law Group

Boies Schiller

Bryan Cave

Burnett Law PA

Clarke Willmott

Clyde & Co

DLA Piper

Dean Omar

Ecoff Campain

Edmonds Marshall McMahon

Freshfields

Gibson Dunn

HCB Solicitors

HWG LLP

Habba Madaio

Hamlins LLP

Haynes & Boone

Hill Dickinson

Hogan Lovells

Husch Blackwell

Kaplan Hecker

Keller Rohrback

Kirkland & Ellis

Larson LLP

Latham & Watkins

Lauro & Singer

Lewis Brisbois

Lieff Cabraser

Loeb & Loeb

Margulis Gelfand

McDermott Will & Emery

McDonald Hopkins

McKool Smith

Mishcon de Reya

Moore & Van Allen

Morgan Lewis

Myerson Solicitors

NechelesLaw

Nexa Law

Norton Rose

O'Melveny & Myers

Outten & Golden

Paul Weiss

Pomerantz LLP

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Reynolds Porter

Robbins Geller

Ropes & Gray

Ross LLP

Scott&Scott

Shook Hardy

Sidley Austin

Skadden Arps

Stackhouse Law

Stephenson Harwood

Susman Godfrey

Taylor Wessing

Trump & Trump

Vogelzang Law

Wedlake Bell

Wells Marble & Hurst

White & Case

Wigdor LLP

Williams & Connolly

Wilson Sonsini

Zucker Steinberg

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

3M Co.

American Bar Association

American Media Inc.

Bulgari SpA

ByteDance Ltd.

Christian Dior SA

Deutsche Bank AG

ECI Software Solutions Inc.

Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc.

Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation

Fendi SRL

Guerlain

Harbor Global LLC

HashiCorp Inc.

ICICI Bank Ltd.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

International Business Machines Corp.

Johnson & Johnson

LVMH Moet Hennessy

LexisNexis Group Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

Lloyds Bank PLC

MasterCard Inc.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA

Microsoft Corp.

Monsanto Co.

NBCUniversal Media LLC

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

New York University

Power Integrations Inc.

RELX PLC

Ryanair Holdings PLC

S.A.C. Capital Advisors LP

Sales Inc.

Sephora SA

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.

Tesla Inc.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The Home Depot Inc.

The Kraft Heinz Co.

The New York Times Co.

TikTok Inc.

Trading Technologies International Inc.

Twitter Inc.

University of Southern California

University of Virginia

Wells Fargo & Co.

Wilmington Trust Corp.

Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Zurich Insurance Group AG

easyJet plc

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arkansas Teacher Retirement System

British Business Bank

Companies House

European Union

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Election Commission

Federal Trade Commission

Financial Ombudsman Service

Florida Supreme Court

Internal Revenue Service

Judicial Conference of the United States

Los Angeles Superior Court

Manhattan District Attorney's Office

New York City Police Department

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court