Jordan Rookie Card Was 'Crap,' Buyer Says At Seller's Trial

By Pete Brush

A longtime sports trading card merchant told a Manhattan federal jury Thursday that two men accused of perpetrating a $2 million scam sold him a faked mint-condition Michael Jordan rookie card as part of a $260,000 deal.

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2nd Circ. Seems Reluctant To Wrap Up EEOC Union Bias Suit

By Anne Cullen

The Second Circuit appeared skeptical Thursday of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's push to wind down a more than half-century-old race discrimination case against unions and apprenticeship programs, questioning whether bias still pervaded the organizations' practices.

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Getty Loses 2nd Circ. Bid Over $88M Stock Sale Breach Order

By Jessica Corso

A divided Second Circuit on Thursday upheld a ruling requiring Getty Images to pay out nearly $88 million to investors who said they were blocked from purchasing shares in the company once it became public, finding Getty breached a contract promising the investors those shares.

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Retired NY Judge Avoids $273K Fee Bid In Fla. Condo Suit

By Lynn LaRowe

A retired New York federal judge's pending appeal of the dismissal of his defamation action against condominium board members means that for now he can avoid their demand for nearly $273,000 in fees and costs, a Florida federal judge has ruled.

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Musk Child's Mom Says Grok Created Nonconsensual Images

By Hailey Konnath

Influencer Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children, has sued Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI, claiming she was depicted in sexually explicit imagery generated by Grok without her consent and that xAI has "chosen to willfully turn a blind eye and even celebrate" similar sexual exploitation.

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NY Bill Criminalizes Unlicensed Cryptocurrency Businesses

By Frank G. Runyeon

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York State Sen. Zellnor Myrie on Thursday announced a proposed law to criminalize operating a cryptocurrency business without a license, saying crypto has become an "ideal vehicle for money laundering."

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Trump Admin Defies Funding K-12 Mental Health Grants

By Mark Payne

The Trump administration is fighting an effort by a coalition of U.S. states to preserve at least six months of funding for K-12 mental health grants meant to help students process gun violence, arguing that an earlier court ruling doesn't require the feds to fund the grants.

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Equinor Win Makes Wind Projects 2-For-2 In Restart Bids

By Keith Goldberg

A D.C. federal judge on Thursday allowed work to resume on the Empire Wind project, the second time this week that a federal court has enjoined the Trump administration's stoppage of offshore wind projects under construction.

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Brief

MSG Bid To Punish Oakley Over $642K Owed Will Go Forward

By David Steele

Madison Square Garden's quest to get former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley to pay court-ordered attorney fees will continue, according to a Thursday order by the New York federal judge overseeing the litigation over his 2017 arena ejection.

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NLRB Attys Say Brooklyn Dispensary Stifled Union Organizing

By Katherine Smith

A Brooklyn, New York, cannabis retailer is being accused of using surveillance, unlawful termination and harassment to stifle the labor rights of its employees and refusing to engage in collective bargaining, according to the National Labor Relations Board's Brooklyn office.

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Brief

$332M Colgate-Palmolive Pension Deal Nabs Final Nod

By Grace Elletson

A New York federal judge handed final approval to a $332 million deal ending a class action accusing Colgate-Palmolive of shorting retirees who opted for lump-sum payments, but has yet to rule on the pensioners' attorneys' bid for $99 million in fees.

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Ex-CEO Of COVID Vax Maker Accused Of Insider Trading

By Sarah Jarvis

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday sued the former CEO of healthcare contractor Emergent BioSolutions Inc., alleging insider trading amid troubles manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine, while signing a $900,000 settlement with the company over its approval of an executive trading plan.

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Visa, Mastercard Defend Swipe-Fee Deal Amid Objections

By Katryna Perera

Visa and Mastercard have again urged a New York federal judge to grant the first green light to a new settlement between the card issuers and a class of potentially millions of merchants to resolve two decades of antitrust litigation, pushing back against objections from Walmart and other merchant industry groups.

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Playlist, EGYM Merging To Create $7.5B Wellness Platform

By Al Barbarino

Fitness and wellness company Playlist has agreed to merge with German fitness technology company EGYM in a deal that will value the combined business at $7.5 billion, the companies announced Thursday.

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Simpson Thacher Guides New Mountain's $1.2B Fund Close

By Isaac Monterose

New Mountain Capital LLC, guided by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, has closed its second noncontrol private equity fund with $1.2 billion raised, aiming to use the funds to target companies in industries such as healthcare technology and life sciences, the alternative investment firm announced on Thursday.

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White & Case Adds Life Sciences Team From A&O Shearman

By Andrea Keckley

White & Case LLP announced the addition of four life sciences intellectual property litigators from Allen Overy Shearman Sterling on Thursday, marking its latest IP-focused hires from the London-based firm.

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Dechert Adds Ex-NYC Deputy Mayor To Co-Lead Trial Practice

By Lauren Berg

Dechert LLP announced Thursday that it has hired veteran trial lawyer Randy Mastro, who previously served as former New York City Mayor Eric Adams' first deputy, as a partner and co-chair of the firm's securities and complex litigation practice.

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Easing Equity Research Firewall Shows SEC Open To Updates

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent agreement to modify a decades-old settlement meant to limit investment bankers’ influence over research analysts within major broker-dealer firms reflects a shift toward a commission that recognizes how rules can be modernized to lighten compliance burdens without eliminating core safeguards, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

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4 Ways GCs Can Manage Growing Service Of Process Volume

As automation and arbitration increase the volume of legal filings, in-house counsel must build scalable service of process systems that strengthen corporate governance and manage risk in real time, says Paul Mathews at Corporation Service Co.

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Series

Fly-Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Much like skilled attorneys, the best anglers prize preparation, presentation and patience while respecting their adversaries — both human and trout, says Rob Braverman at Braverman Greenspun.

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As Goldstein Trial Begins, Gov't Points To 'Lavish' Lifestyle

By Jared Foretek

An accountant for billionaire investor Alec Gores said that Thomas Goldstein had suggested he open a foreign account for Gores' poker-related transactions or even classify him as a professional player for tax purposes, although Gores was just getting started in the high-stakes poker world.

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Simpson Thacher Offers Stipend To Lure Summer Associates

By Tracey Read

In an effort for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to attract top students who want to pursue public interest work, the firm said it will pay a stipend of $42,500 for the 2026-2027 cycle for those who opt to spend their 1L summer in a qualifying public service, government, academic, in-house legal or nonprofit role.

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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.

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Judiciary AI Rule Draws Fire As Judges Get Deepfakes Survey

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary policymakers heard extensive concerns Thursday regarding high-profile plans to formally screen evidence generated with artificial intelligence, and they set the stage for more feedback by preparing an AI survey for every federal trial judge.

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ICE Detention Facilities Nearly Doubled Last Year, Report Says

By Tom Lotshaw

An American Immigration Council report said the Trump administration detained record numbers of noncitizens last year, most without criminal records, and held them in a rapidly expanding network of facilities that could soon rival the federal criminal prison system.

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Fla. High Court Opens Door To Non-ABA Accrediting Entities

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday changed the bar exam admission requirements to allow graduates of law schools accredited by entities other than the American Bar Association to sit for the Florida bar exam.

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5th Circ. Revives Allstate's Fraud Suit Over Car Crash Billing

By Gina Kim

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived Allstate's racketeering suit alleging doctors and personal injury lawyers unleashed a barrage of unnecessary treatments for car accident patients and caused Allstate to pay $4.7 million in claims, finding the insurer sufficiently pled details about the conspiracy and specifics surrounding each allegedly fake medical billing.

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Sens. Advance Indiana Judge Nominee Grilled Over Sermons

By Courtney Bublé

A federal judicial nominee for Indiana who came under scrutiny by a Republican senator for his past sermons as an ordained elder was voted out of committee Thursday alongside five other judicial nominees.

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Trump US Atty Pick In NM Bumped To First Assistant

By Emily Sawicki

A New Mexico federal judge has ruled the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for New Mexico is not validly serving in the role but declined to disqualify the prosecutor from a slate of cases pending in the district, instead determining the lawyer may continue to work in the federal prosecutor's office as first assistant.

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Wash. Judges To Pick US Atty As Floyd's Term Set To Expire

By Gina Kim

The chief judge for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday announced the court's intent to select a U.S. attorney to serve on a temporary basis if President Donald Trump's pick, Charles Neil Floyd, who has been serving on an interim basis, isn't confirmed by the Senate by next month. 

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