Ex-Wachtell Lipton Atty Tied To Stolen BigLaw Info Trades

By Chris Villani

A former Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz attorney who later worked for investment bank LionTree LLC is an unindicted co-conspirator in a sweeping alleged insider trading scheme that involved stolen information from several prominent law firms, according to a review of publicly available information.

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DLA Piper Accused Of 'Frivolous' Suit To Please Chipotle GC

By Gina Kim

DLA Piper aggressively litigated a "frivolous" computer fraud lawsuit against a nonprofit volunteer in order to appease the then-general counsel of Chipotle, a client, who referred the case to the firm, according to a malicious-prosecution complaint filed Thursday in California state court. 

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Levin Simes Atty Sidelined For 'Outrageous' Uber Remarks

By Hailey Konnath

A Levin Simes LLP attorney has agreed to take on a more limited role in multidistrict litigation over Uber driver sexual assaults after he made "outrageous" remarks during a meeting with Uber's lawyers, calling one a "pedophile," "rapist" and "scumbag," among other vulgar insults, according to a stipulation.

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Combs Accuser's Atty May Face Contempt Over AI Sanctions

By Rose Krebs

An attorney has been ordered to appear in New Jersey federal court to explain why he shouldn't be held in contempt for not complying with a sanctions order over an AI-hallucinated case citation he filed in his client's civil lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs.

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Prosecutors Oppose Move To Put Off Goldstein Sentencing

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors are claiming that SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein may have violated his pretrial release conditions when he racked up over $1.7 million in gambling income last year, telling a federal judge not to delay sentencing for the famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer.

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Disbarred Atty Can't Escape Tax Evasion Case, 2nd Circ. Says

By Lauren Berg

A disbarred English attorney who assisted the heirs of an American businessman in evading taxation on their inheritance cannot use an "extraordinary" post-conviction remedy to overturn part of the verdict and a $4 million restitution bill, the Second Circuit ruled Friday.

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Texas Atty Cleared Of Claims She Misled Client

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday sided with an attorney in a dispute with an ex-client who claimed the attorney misled him, saying the client accepted the attorney's condition to settle their dispute when he cashed a check.

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Vartabedian Katz Sanctioned Over Atty Privilege Violation

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas state court has leveled $120,000 in sanctions against Vartabedian Katz Hester & Haynes LLP for wrongfully obtaining privileged information through discussions with a former in-house counsel of Pioneer Natural Resources in connection with a dispute over oil and gas leases.

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Ex-Holland & Knight Atty Asks For End To File Access Case

By James Boyle

An attorney accused by Fritz & Bianculli LLC of accessing private records has asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to toss the remaining counts of the complaint, saying the firm failed to prove he accessed the records when he practiced at Holland & Knight LLP.

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Montgomery McCracken Sues Lit Funder Over Unpaid Fees

By James Boyle

Philadelphia-based firm Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP alleges in a recently filed claim that it is owed more than $300,000 in legal fees for defense work it provided for a litigation funding company which was represented by a former partner.

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Mike Lindell's Atty Sanctioned Again For False Case Citation

By Andrea Keckley

A Colorado federal judge has sanctioned the attorney defending Mike Lindell in a defamation lawsuit brought by a Dominion Voting Systems executive for a second time after finding an incorrect citation in a filing, despite the attorney's representation that the mistake was a product of human error, not artificial intelligence.

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Prosecutor Faces Probe Into Withheld Immigration Case Info

By Bonnie Eslinger

The lead assistant federal prosecutor for Rhode Island's civil division is under investigation for allegedly withholding information in an immigration case, according to an order from the Ocean State's top federal judge.

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Fed. Circ. Doubts Ability To Review Sanctions From VLSI Saga

By Dani Kass

Former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal's sanctions against OpenSky Industries LLC and Patent Quality Assurance LLC may be beyond the reach of the Federal Circuit's jurisdiction, a panel suggested Friday.

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Dispensary Owners Want Blank Rome DQed From Loan Suit

By Mike Curley

The owners of a New Jersey dispensary are asking a California federal court to disqualify Blank Rome LLP and its attorneys from representing a lender in a $1.6 million loan dispute, because the firm represented them as well and used confidential information in the lender's suit.

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Walgreens Loses Atty Sanctions Bid In Georgia Bias Suit

By Madison Arnold

The attorney for a former pharmacist suing Walgreens for discrimination has escaped a sanctions bid after a Georgia federal judge found the chain gave the lawyer too little time to respond to a motion to dismiss claims.

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Goliath Investors Add Companies To Alston & Bird Scam Suit

By Adrian Cruz

Months after suing Alston & Bird LLP for its alleged role in a $328 million cryptocurrency scam at Goliath Ventures Inc., a proposed class of investors added a number of financial institution defendants and claims to their original complaint.

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Alleged Would-Be Trump Assassin Aims To DQ Pirro, Blanche

By Christine DeRosa

The California man accused of an attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner last month is seeking to disqualify U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche from handling his case as they may be witnesses or victims in the matter.

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Montana PFAS Defendants Seek 'Forum Shopping' Sanctions

By Brian Steele

The city of Stamford, Connecticut, and a local fire district spent two years litigating a PFAS suit against 3M Co. and others before suddenly transferring their claims more than 2,000 miles away in a clear effort at forum shopping, the corporate defendants said in seeking sanctions.

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Telecom Tower Owners Found In Contempt Over Sale Defiance

By Nadia Dreid

A New York federal judge said he is tired of his orders being ignored after years of overseeing a fight over a corporate coup, and has ruled to hold the majority shareholders of a telecommunications infrastructure firm "and the person who controls them" in contempt of court.

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The Ethics And Practicalities Of Representing AI Agents

With autonomous artificial intelligence agents now able to take action without explicit instructions from — or the awareness of — their human owners, the bar must confront whether existing frameworks like informed consent and client privilege will be sufficient on the day an AI agent calls seeking counsel, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

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Legal Industry Bounces Back, Gaining 2,400 Jobs In April

By Tracey Read

The legal sector is once again on a positive trajectory, gaining 2,400 jobs last month, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Top Atty In DOJ Appeal Over Law Firm Exec Orders To Depart

By Jake Maher

The lead federal prosecutor on the Trump administration's appeal to reinstate executive orders targeting four law firms is stepping down from his government role at the end of May, he publicly announced this week.

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Tort Report: Tesla's Legal Exposure Seen As High As $14.5B

By Y. Peter Kang

A new report stating that Tesla faces billions in legal liabilities and a $140 million football brain injury verdict against the NCAA 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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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Morrisons sued by a former logistics partner, EDF and Cripps LLP face a claim brought by a family estate near Hinkley Point C and a former BBC broadcaster file a defamation claim against a Welsh news site over articles linking her to Russian state media and conspiracy theories. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits section said agency investigations will focus on benefit plan managers' loyalty conflicts, including pursuit of socially conscious goals. Meanwhile, Dell became the latest company to consider Texas as its new legal home. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The National Immigrant Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a split Seventh Circuit panel rejected the Trump administration's argument that immigrants unlawfully in the United States have no due process rights.

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

By Adam LoBelia

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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