Analysis

Trump's Epstein Directive Puts SDNY Prosecutor In A 'Pickle'

By Phillip Bantz

Manhattan chief federal prosecutor Jay Clayton appears to have been backed into a "horrible" corner with a "no-win" outcome as a result of a directive from President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats, experts say.

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Ex-SDNY Chief Rejects Claim Of Broken FTX Plea Promise

By Pete Brush

Former interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon told a federal judge Thursday that she never promised crypto lobbyist Michelle Bond any kind of no-prosecute deal as the government negotiated a guilty plea with Bond's husband, former FTX executive Ryan Salame.

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Family Of Wrongfully Convicted Man Awarded $80 Million

By Marco Poggio

A federal jury on Wednesday awarded $80 million to the family of a Buffalo, New York, man who spent 27 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of a 1976 murder — the largest wrongful conviction jury verdict awarded to a single person in U.S. history, attorneys said.

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Priest Privilege Can't Cloak Info In NY Child Sex Abuse Case

By Elizabeth Daley

A man who alleged he was sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest in Brooklyn should have full access to the cleric's psychological treatment reports that were forwarded from a facility to his supervising bishop, a New York state appeals court has affirmed, denying clergy-penitent or doctor-patient privilege.

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SEC Walks Away From SolarWinds Data Breach Case

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that it was voluntarily dismissing a lawsuit accusing software developer SolarWinds Corp. and its chief information security officer of failing to warn investors about lax cybersecurity standards prior to suffering a massive data breach.

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NY Medical Cannabis Cos. Say State Flubbed Enforcement

By Sam Reisman

The large, vertically integrated companies that make up New York's medical cannabis trade have accused New York's marijuana regulators in state court of failing to halt the flow of illicit pot products into the state's regulated marketplace.

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Conn. Faces Tough 2nd Circ. In 3M PFAS Enforcement Dispute

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

A Second Circuit panel on Thursday appeared receptive to 3M's argument that Connecticut's state lawsuit accusing it of polluting the environment with forever chemicals contained in consumer products actually belongs in federal court, where a similar lawsuit against the company is playing out.

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Subletting Co. Settles NYC's Illegal STR 'Matchmaker' Claims

By Isaac Monterose

A subletting company has agreed to resolve claims that it was used as a "'matchmaker'" of sorts for advertising and setting up illegal short-term rentals in New York City, the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement announced.

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NY Appeals Court Reinstates Holland & Knight In Fuel Dispute

By Joyce Hanson

A New York state appeals court has reversed an order disqualifying Holland & Knight LLP and one of its partners from representing a fuel company in an arbitration proceeding being conducted in New York over its supply of allegedly defective marine fuel.

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2nd Circ. Nixes REIT's CLO Fund Mismanagement Claims

By Isaac Monterose

The Second Circuit has backed the dismissal of mismanagement and fraud counterclaims lodged by a real estate investment trust and its subsidiary in a dispute involving a collateralized loan-obligation investment fund, ruling that related agreements for the fund don't support their counterclaims.

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Trump Pardons Nursing Home Owner In $39M Tax Fraud

By Asha Glover

President Donald Trump granted clemency to a nursing home operator who had been sentenced to three years in prison for a $39 million employment tax fraud scheme involving care centers he owned across the country.

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Hedge Fund Can Register $1.4B PDVSA Judgment In Delaware

By Caroline Simson

Affiliates of hedge fund Gramercy won permission Thursday to register New York judgments totaling more than $1.4 billion against Venezuela's state-owned oil company in Delaware, where a long-awaited auction of Venezuela's most significant seizable asset to satisfy creditors owed some $20 billion is drawing to a close.

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Chinese Logistics Co. Investors Sue Over 95% Stock Crash

By Katryna Perera

Investors of China-based Jayud Global Logistics have filed suit in New York federal court, alleging the company's stock price was artificially inflated through fake social media posts before it suddenly collapsed by 95% in one day, leaving everyday shareholders holding the bag.

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Libra Buyers Push For Asset Freeze Over Alleged Fund Moves

By Sydney Price

Buyers of the collapsed crypto project Libra who allege operators misled them into buying the token with the help of an endorsement from Argentine President Javier Milei are again asking a Manhattan federal judge to freeze proceeds from the asset sale to purportedly stop evidence destruction.

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UiPath Execs Want Derivative Suit Axed Over Board Demand

By Katryna Perera

The top brass of UiPath have hit back against a derivative suit in Delaware Chancery Court, arguing the plaintiff shareholder did not make a presuit demand on the company's board and that the complaint merely copies claims from a separate federal class action that was dismissed.

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DocGo Investors Get First OK For $12.5M Settlement

By Sydney Price

Investors of mobile medical provider DocGo have received preliminary approval of their $12.5 million settlement of claims that the company deceived stockholders before a $432 million contract with New York City to provide emergency migrant housing came under public scrutiny.

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Keurig Buyers Denied Class Cert. In K-Cup Antitrust Row

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge on Thursday denied class certification to direct purchasers of Keurig K-Cups who accuse the coffee machine company of stifling competition, saying the coffee pod buyers failed to show that common questions predominate those affecting only individual class members, particularly when it comes to antitrust injury.

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State AGs Want Further HPE-Juniper Integration Barred

By Bryan Koenig

The Democratic state attorneys general challenging the controversial U.S. Department of Justice settlement clearing Hewlett Packard Enterprise's $14 billion purchase of Juniper Networks want a California federal judge to bar the companies from "further integration" while they push the court to reject the deal outright.

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States Back Hockey Players In Antitrust Fight Over Contracts

By Elaine Briseño

More than a dozen states have thrown their support behind current and former players in an antitrust lawsuit against the National Hockey League and its pipeline junior organizations, arguing a lower court's dismissal ignores how exclusive recruiting territories reduce competition for labor.

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NoMo SoHo Hotel Owner Seeks $125M Sale In Ch. 11

By Emily Lever

A New York bankruptcy judge agreed Thursday to approve sale procedures for the insolvent owner of the NoMo SoHo Hotel in Manhattan, setting it on a path to wrap up the process in just 20 days.

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Judge Raises Sanctions In Eletson Affiliate Ownership Row

By Rick Archer

The New York bankruptcy judge overseeing Eletson Holdings' Chapter 11 case has raised sanctions against three Cypriot corporations connected to the shipping company's former owners to $5,000 a day for failing to reverse changes to the board of an Eletson affiliate.

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NY Judge Denies Feds' Bid To Review $230M Yacht Ruling

By Joyce Hanson

A New York federal judge on Thursday refused the U.S. government's request that he reconsider his earlier ruling declining to require the owners of a seized $230 million superyacht to post a multimillion-dollar bond while they appeal his judgment of forfeiture.

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Cybersecurity Co. Axonius Names 1st GC From Azra Games

By Christine DeRosa

Cybersecurity company Axonius Inc. has found its first general counsel in a veteran legal leader who has worked at software and technology companies including Azra Games and Iterable as it prepares for an initial public offering.

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Rule Amendments Pave Path For A Privilege Claim 'Offensive'

Litigators should consider leveraging forthcoming amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which will require early negotiations of privilege-related discovery claims, by taking an offensive posture toward privilege logs at the outset of discovery, says David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law.

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Series

My Miniature Livestock Farm Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Raising miniature livestock on my farm, where I am fully present with the animals, is an almost meditative time that allows me to return to work invigorated, ready to juggle numerous responsibilities and motivated to tackle hard issues in new ways, says Ted Kobus at BakerHostetler.

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Bonus Spotlight

Law Firms Begin Upping The Ante For Associate Bonuses

By Tracey Read

Trial boutique Wilkinson Stekloff LLP is exceeding the year-end associate bonus scale set by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, announcing bonuses late Wednesday that are 150% of market.

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CFPB Will Shift Remaining Lawsuits Over To DOJ

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be handing off its enforcement lawsuits and other litigation to the U.S. Department of Justice as the Trump administration prepares for the consumer agency to run out of money, Law360 has learned.

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Comey Says DOJ's Conduct 'Shocks The Conscience'

By Hailey Konnath

James Comey on Thursday reiterated his request that the U.S. Department of Justice be forced to disclose all grand jury materials related to his indictment, noting the government has conceded that the grand jury never saw the operative indictment and saying the purported misconduct "shocks the conscience."

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NJ Panel Expands Scope Of Ex-Reed Smith Atty's Bias Claims

By Rose Krebs

A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday ruled that a former Reed Smith LLP attorney is entitled to pursue more damages and obtain expanded wage data in her gender discrimination suit against the firm, saying a trial court incorrectly applied certain statutes when it limited the damages and data she could seek.

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X Corp. Ends $90M Fee Suit Against Wachtell

By James Mills

X Corp. has ended its California state lawsuit against Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz over $90 million in legal fees tied to the fight over Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, according to a court filing.

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Analysis

Meta Loss Shows Time Not On Enforcers' Side In Tech Cases

By Bryan Koenig

Meta's triumph over a Federal Trade Commission antitrust case Tuesday hinged on a D.C. federal judge's finding that the company lacks a monopoly in the present day, highlighting some of the challenges of using slow-moving litigation to challenge fast-moving markets.

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Senate Panel OKs Miss. Judge, US Atty Nominees After Delay

By Courtney Bublé

After weeks of holdup, nominees for Mississippi federal courts and U.S. attorneys were voted out of committee on Thursday, following an impasse between Republican senators.

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Brief

Senate Passes Bill To Protect State Judges From Threats

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bipartisan bill to beef up security for state and local judges.

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DOJ Antitrust Chief Says Agriculture A 'Top Priority'

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Department of Justice's top antitrust official said enforcers have already opened several investigations in the agriculture sector, including into meatpackers at the direction of President Donald Trump, and called the industry a "top priority" for the agency.

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