NY Atty General Indicted Following Pressure From Trump

By Lauren Berg

New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted in Virginia federal court Thursday on charges related to mortgage fraud, three weeks after President Donald Trump wrote a social media post encouraging U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action because James and two other political opponents were "guilty as hell."

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Analysis

False-Statement Case Puts Comey In Rare Company

By Phillip Bantz

Former FBI director James Comey is the latest addition to the relatively short list of government officials who have been criminally charged over the past several decades with making false statements to Congress.

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Menendez Witness Avoids Prison After 'Honest' Testimony

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge allowed a former insurance broker from New Jersey to avoid prison Thursday, after prosecutors said his "extensive" cooperation helped secure the conviction of former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez on corruption charges.

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Weinstein Says Jurors Traded Threats, Tainting Verdict

By Cara Salvatore

Harvey Weinstein's legal team said his June sexual assault convictions were tainted by juror misconduct, including physical threats and an unfounded bribery claim, arguing in a motion for a new trial that a judge refused to properly investigate.

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Treasury Looks To Cut Suspicious Activity Reporting 'Noise'

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's enforcement arm Thursday released clarifications about requirements related to suspicious activity reports, specifying among other things that financial institutions do not have to document their decisions not to file the reports.

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Ex-Army Officer Gets 6 Years For Leaking Info On Dating Site

By Gina Kim

A former U.S. Army officer has been sentenced in Nebraska federal court to nearly six years in prison after pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge for spilling classified national defense information regarding military targets in Russia's war against Ukraine to someone on a foreign dating site.

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7th Circ. Nominee Taibleson Advances To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced on party lines the nomination of Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin, to serve on the Seventh Circuit, as well as four district judicial nominees and five U.S. attorney nominees.

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Judge Narrows Evidence Ahead Of Boeing 737 Max Trial

By Ben Adlin

A Washington federal judge on Thursday ruled on which evidence will be allowed in a Nov. 3 trial in LOT Polish Airlines' lawsuit against Boeing, in which LOT accuses the aerospace giant of tricking it into leasing defective 737 Max jets that were later grounded after two fatal crashes.

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Fintech Exec May Claim Double Jeopardy Amid Judge Shuffle

By Julie Manganis

A former executive of payment processor Allied Wallet has filed a double jeopardy motion after the initial Massachusetts federal judge overseeing the fraud case recused himself, a second declared a mistrial and exited due to a family emergency, and a third flagged a potential conflict with a prosecutor.

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Ga. Prosecutors Get More Time To Replace DA In Trump Case

By Emily Johnson

A Georgia state judge has extended its deadline requiring a prosecutors group to replace a disqualified district attorney to oversee the election interference case against President Donald Trump and others, rejecting two defendants' opposition to anything beyond the original two-week deadline.

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Conn. Official Pushed Firm That Hired Family, Witnesses Say

By Aaron Keller

Two local Connecticut officials on Thursday testified that Kosta Diamantis, a former state budget official accused of corruption, pushed them to hire a construction management firm they considered expensive and unnecessary without disclosing that the firm had hired his daughter and was allegedly paying him kickbacks.

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Sullivan & Cromwell Impersonators Hit With NY Fraud Claims

By Emily Sawicki

New York Attorney General Letitia James is attempting to take down a slew of businesses whose names are variants of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, accusing them of attempting a scheme to fraudulently redirect checks meant for the global corporate law firm.

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Megan Thee Stallion Wins Sanctions Over Deleted Messages

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida magistrate judge Thursday sanctioned online personality Milagro "Mobz World" Cooper for deleting thousands of text messages and WhatsApp data after being told to preserve evidence in rapper Megan Thee Stallion's defamation and cyberstalking suit against her.

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Justices May Decide Whether Restitution Is A Punishment

Forthcoming oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Ellingburg v. U.S. will focus on whether criminal restitution qualifies as criminal punishment under the U.S. Constitution — a key question as restitution has expanded in reach and severity, while providing little meaningful compensation for victims, says Lula Hagos at George Washington University Law School.

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Strategies For Defending Banks In Elder Abuse Cases

Several recent cases demonstrate that banks have plenty of tools to defend against claims they were complicit in financial abuse of older adults, but financial institutions should also continue to educate customers about third-party scams before they happen, say attorneys at Troutman.

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Series

Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

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Tort Report: Nuked 'Nuclear Verdict' Stays, Texas Justices Say

By Y. Peter Kang

The fate of a "nuclear verdict" that was used to jump-start tort reform campaigns across the country and a settlement of a suit over a Kiss guitar technician's death lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Jenn Mascott Of WH Counsel's Office Confirmed To 3rd Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 50-47 on Thursday to confirm Jenn Mascott, currently serving in the White House Counsel's Office, to the Delaware seat on the Third Circuit.

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Baldoni Atty Faces LA Malpractice Suit Over Client 'Betrayal'

By Emily Sawicki

Entertainment attorney Bryan Freedman has been accused in Los Angeles County Superior Court of turning his back on a former client, allegedly convincing him to sign an unfavorable settlement on trademark claims against "It Ends With Us" star Justin Baldoni, only to later begin representing the actor and director.

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Calif. Supreme Court Justice Martin Jenkins To Retire

By James Mills

California Supreme Court Justice Martin J. Jenkins, the first openly gay man and the third African American man to sit on the bench, will retire at the end of October, the court announced Thursday.

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