Christopher Ellis, a Brooklyn man who spent decades imprisoned for murder, was released after a New York trial judge vacated his conviction, finding his attorneys had been denied hundreds of pages of police notes pointing to at least 11 other suspects. He is now suing the Nassau County Police Department, alleging civil rights violations.
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MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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'They Didn't Listen': Acquitted NY Man Files Civil Rights Suit

By Marco Poggio

Christopher Ellis, a Brooklyn man who spent decades imprisoned for murder, was released after a New York trial judge vacated his conviction, finding his attorneys had been denied hundreds of pages of police notes pointing to at least 11 other suspects. He is now suing the Nassau County Police Department, alleging civil rights violations.

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Another Record-Breaking Year For NY Lobbying: Watchdog

By Andrea Keckley

The amount of money spent on lobbying in New York state reached a new high — again — in 2025 despite lower dollar amounts from that year's top spenders, a state ethics and lobbying watchdog said Thursday.

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Up Next At High Court: SEC And FCC Enforcement Authority

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court's final argument session of this term kicks off Monday, when the justices will consider the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's authority to seek disgorgement orders against alleged wrongdoers without proving investors were harmed. Here, Law360 breaks down the week's oral arguments.

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Analysis

DOJ's NFL Probe May Reshape Sports Broadcasting Law

By David Steele

Though antitrust charges are in play in the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into the NFL's deals with services like Amazon Prime and Netflix, experts say they don't see a strong federal case against the league's broadcasting practices, as focus may shift to updating a decades-old law governing how sports leagues negotiate television deals.

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Nussbaum-Linked Law Firms Hit Ch. 11 Facing Scheme Suits

By Vince Sullivan

Two commercial real estate law firms headed by Mark J. Nussbaum filed for Chapter 11 protection in New York, listing at least $353 million in disputed unsecured claims tied to the firms' hard money lending practices that have been described in litigation as a Ponzi scheme.

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AI Co. Execs Faked Customers For Fraud Scheme, Feds Say

By Jessica Corso

The former chief executive officer and former chief financial officer of a bankrupt artificial intelligence firm were indicted in Brooklyn Friday on charges that they defrauded investors and banks by lying about having customers in order to inflate company earnings to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

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Analysis

DOT Immigrant License Crackdown's Effects On Trucking

By Linda Chiem

New lawsuits and a tricky compliance landscape have besieged a trucking industry navigating the Trump administration's aggressive enforcement of restrictions on immigrant commercial truck drivers, as motor carriers, freight brokers and other ground-based shippers worry about escalating rates, driver turnover and service disruptions.

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NY High Court Suspends Judge Over Racist Remarks

By Elizabeth Daley

A veteran judge who used the N-word among colleagues and claimed in court that a Black defendant was likely to be violent and "played the race card" has been suspended without pay by New York's highest court.

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PERSONAL INJURY & MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

Pittsburgh Expo, Wild Animal Co. Sued Over Capybara Bite

By Jonathan Capriel

An allegedly dangerous and untrained capybara bit a child's hand at a Pittsburgh "pet expo" and left a deep wound, according to a lawsuit filed by the child's parent, who is seeking compensation for medical bills, the permanent damage to the child's hand and humiliation suffered by the child.

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SECURITIES & WHITE COLLAR

Church Board Member Indicted In $3.8M Theft

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A New York City grand jury has indicted a former church board member on counts related to the theft of more than $3.8 million from the Manhattan-based Swedish Church of New York, also known as the Swedish Seamen's Church.

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SEC Brings Fraud Suit Over Bitcoin Latinum Crypto Offering

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday brought a fraud suit over a crypto project known as Bitcoin Latinum, accusing its founder and affiliated business entities of bilking investors out of $16 million with false claims that the token would be insured and "asset-backed."

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Fintech Founder Can't Stay SEC Fraud Case Amid Countersuit

By Emilie Ruscoe

A fintech founder can't hit pause on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims he defrauded investors in a special purpose acquisition company as another court weighs whether to toss his claims that the regulator sued him improperly during last year's government shutdown.

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GMO Trust To Pay $6.8M In Yen Stablecoin Loss Settlement

By Sydney Price

GMO-Z.com Trust has agreed to pay $6.8 million to end a class action from buyers of the GYEN stablecoin who say they suffered losses when the coin was "de-pegged" from the Japanese yen, according to a motion for final settlement approval.

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Ex-Rep. Didn't Fund Venezuelan Opposition, Accountant Says

By David Minsky

A forensic accountant testified in Florida federal court on Friday that his investigation into the finances of politician David Rivera found that no funds were given to Venezuelan opposition officials, telling jurors how he followed the money trail of the one-time congressman accused of secretly lobbying for a foreign government.

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COMPETITION

Bayer Loses Bid To Block J&J's Cancer Drug Survival Claims

By Lauren Berg

A Manhattan federal judge Friday refused to block Johnson & Johnson from advertising its prostate cancer drug as having a lower risk of death compared with Bayer's medication, saying Bayer has not shown it is likely to succeed on its claims that its rival's advertising campaign is false or misleading.

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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

NorthStar Inks $300M SPAC Deal As Space Debris Risk Rises

By Al Barbarino

NorthStar Earth & Space said Friday it will merge with a blank-check company in a deal valuing NorthStar at $300 million, as the Canadian company bets that increasingly congested orbits will require continuous monitoring to avoid collisions and service disruptions.

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Nexstar-Tegna Deal Blocked Amid DirecTV, AGs' Challenge

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction barring, for now, the $6.2 billion merger of broadcast giants Nexstar and Tegna, ruling that state attorneys general and DirecTV are likely to prevail in proving that the deal is anticompetitive and will harm consumers as well as distributors.

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GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

States Seek Win To Restore DOE's Diversity Grant Cuts

By Joyce Hanson

Eight states have asked a Massachusetts federal judge to restore $160 million to federal programs providing professional development to new teachers cut by the U.S. Department of Education last year, which the states said were unlawfully targeted by the Trump administration as diversity initiatives.

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BANKRUPTCY

Fla. Judge Confirms Cosmetic Co.'s Ch. 11 Exit Plan

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida bankruptcy judge said Friday she would confirm a cosmetic company's reorganization plan after the debtor ironed out a deal with creditors that reduced the founder's equity stake in the company.

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IMMIGRATION

Tufts Grad Settles Immigration Cases, Returns To Turkey

By Carolyn Muyskens

Tufts University graduate Rümeysa Öztürk has returned to her native Turkey after completing her doctorate and reaching a settlement with the federal government to end her immigration proceedings, her attorneys said Friday.

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REAL ESTATE

Roundup

Real Estate Recap: Learning From Loan-Guarantor Litigation

By Real Estate Authority Staff

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including a deep dive into how an uptick in lender-guarantor claims is shaping new loans.

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PEOPLE

Arnold & Porter Hires SDNY Alum From McGuireWoods

By Andrea Keckley

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP announced on Friday that it has hired a Southern District of New York alum from McGuireWoods LLP.

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Dentons Brings On K&L Gates Employment Ace In NJ, NY

By Jake Maher

Dentons US announced this week it has brought on a former K&L Gates LLP partner of over 20 years in its labor and employment group in New Jersey and New York.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

2 Discovery Rulings Break With Heppner On AI Privilege Issue

While a New York federal court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner suggests that some litigants’ communications with AI tools are discoverable, two other recent federal court decisions demonstrate that such interactions generally qualify for work-product protection under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, says Joshua Dunn at Brown Rudnick.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

California Is Latest Battleground In Defining Access To Justice

By Brandon Lowrey

A pair of dueling California ballot initiatives both purport to increase consumers' access to justice — a righteous cause, most would say. If only the initiatives' backers agreed on what that means.

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Adams & Reese Sued For Malpractice Over $411M Injury Loss

By Lynn LaRowe

A scaffolding company has hit Adams & Reese LLP with a legal malpractice suit in Texas state court that accuses the firm of botching its defense in a Louisiana workplace injury case, leading to a roughly $411 million jury verdict and ultimately forcing the business to settle the matter for millions.

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Polsinelli Sent Bogus Infringement Letters, Suits Say

By Elliot Weld

National law firm Polsinelli PC was accused of sending letters to two medical device companies with meritless claims of patent infringement, the companies claimed in a pair of malpractice suits.

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Roundup

Balancing The Scales: Juror Bias, First For Revenge Porn Law

By Orlando Lorenzo

The California Supreme Court tossed the conviction and death sentence in a double slaying over the trial court's failures to investigate claims of juror bias, and an Ohio man is believed to be the first person in the nation convicted under a federal law intended to battle revenge porn.

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Alaska-Hawaiian Merger Judge Mulls DQ Over O'Melveny Ties

By Craig Clough

The parties in a consumer lawsuit challenging Alaska Airlines' 2024 acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines have been notified that the federal judge recently assigned to the case intends to disqualify himself unless they sign a waiver over one of his retirement accounts being tied to O'Melveny & Myers LLP, which is representing Alaska Airlines.

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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 Aston Martin file an appeal in a row with Chinese carmaker Geely over its winged logo for London black cabs, Ineos sue Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team for a £180 million ($244 million) boat, White & Case face a claim from two energy storage companies, and a golf tour company bring a claim against Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund after the fund invested in its rival.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

New data found that some companies are being wary during the 2026 proxy season by negotiating deals behind closed doors rather than allowing shareholders to vote on issues. In the meantime, a report showed that the higher annual rate growth for outside counsel fees that began in 2022 has become the new normal. These are some of 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

Winston & Strawn LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a New York federal jury found that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary harmed competition in the live entertainment sector by willfully monopolizing ticketing services.

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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 2026 AI Survey

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Adams & Reese

Addleshaw Goddard

Advisors LLC

Aitken Aitken

Alioto Law Firm

Arnold & Itkin

Arnold & Porter

Berger Singerman

Berman Tabacco

Bird & Bird

Boies Schiller

Bronster Fujichaku

Brown & Weinraub

Brown Rudnick

Browne Jacobson LLP

Carpenter & Zuckerman

Clarke Willmott

Clayton Fruge

Cleary Gottlieb

Cooke Young

Cooley LLP

Cripps LLP

DLA Piper

Davis Wright Tremaine

Dechert LLP

Dentons

Edmonds Marshall McMahon

Egerton McAfee

Emery Celli

Enyo Law

Erickson Kramer

Fieldfisher

Gibson Dunn

Goodwin Procter

Greenberg Traurig

Gunster Yoakley

Hanson Bridgett

Haynes Boone

Hill Dickinson

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Hart

Honigman LLP

Irwin Mitchell

J A Kemp LLP

Jones Day

Jones Walker LLP

K&L Gates

Kennedys Law LLP

Keystone Law

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kobre & Kim

Latham & Watkins

Lewis Silkin

Macfarlanes LLP

McCarter & English

McGuireWoods

Morgan & Morgan PA

Morgan Lewis

Morrison & Foerster

Munger Tolles

Nelson Mullins

Norton Rose

Nussbaum Lowinger

O'Melveny & Myers

Osborne Clarke

Patterson Belknap

Paul Hastings

Paul Weiss

Phelps Dunbar

Pinsent Masons

Polsinelli PC

Porter Hedges

Potter Clarkson

Potts Law Firm

Quinn Emanuel

Reynolds Porter

Robins Kaplan

Seyfarth Shaw

Shakespeare Martineau

Sidley Austin

Simmons & Simmons

Simonsen Sussman

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Skadden Arps

Sonder & Clay

Spencer Fane

Starn O'Toole

Stearns Weaver

Sullivan & Cromwell

Teacher Stern

Venable LLP

White & Case

Williams & Connolly

Williams Mullen

WilmerHale

Winston & Strawn

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

A.P. Moller-Maersk

AT&T Inc.

Abbott Laboratories

Aegis Capital Corp.

Alaska Legal Services Corp.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Beverage Association

American Civil Liberties Union

American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts

American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont

American Federation of Teachers

American International Group Inc.

American Trucking Associations Inc.

Anthropic PBC

Ares Management Corp.

Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.

BNP Paribas SA

Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc.

Baltimore Washington Medical Center

Barclays PLC

Bayer AG

Binance Holdings Ltd.

CIM Group Inc.

CRA International Inc.

Cartesian Capital Group LLC

Chicago Bears

Coinbase Global Inc.

Concord

Consumer Attorneys of California

DP World Ltd.

Digital Evidence Group LLC

Douglas Emmett, Inc.

ESPN Inc.

Early Warning Services LLC

Eastdil Secured LLC

Eli Lilly & Co.

Equity Residential

Euronext Amsterdam NV

FTI Consulting Inc.

First Capital, Inc.

Fordham University

GTIS Partners LP

Genting New York

Gilbarco Inc.

Globalstar Inc.

Google LLC

Greater New York Hospital Association

Green Bay Packers Inc.

HSBC Holdings PLC

Hawaiian Holdings Inc.

Ineos Group Ltd.

Instagram Inc.

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.

International Business Machines Corp.

JDS Development Group

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Jack In The Box Inc.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group

LinkedIn Corp.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Major League Baseball Inc.

Mercedes-Benz USA LLC

Meta Platforms Inc.

Michigan State University

NBCUniversal Media LLC

NFL Enterprises LLC

National Basketball Association Inc.

National Healthcare Corp.

Netflix Inc.

New York Mets

New York University

Nexstar Media Group Inc.

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association Inc.

PGA TOUR Inc.

Phillips 66

Princeton University

Public Citizen Inc.

RELX PLC

RealPage Inc.

Rithm Capital Corp.

Ritz-Carlton Company LLC

Stanford University

Starbucks Corp.

TUI AG

Tegna Inc.

Tetra Tech Inc.

The City University of New York

The DIRECTV Group Inc.

The Sacramento Bee

The Walt Disney Co.

Uber Technologies Inc.

University of Maryland Medical System

V2X Inc.

Verizon Communications Inc.

Volvo Car Corp.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Wells Fargo & Co.

Worldline SA

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Attorney General's Office

California Department of Motor Vehicles

California Privacy Protection Agency

California Supreme Court

Colorado Attorney General's Office

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Companies House

Employee Benefits Security Administration

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

European Commission

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Federal Trade Commission

Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

Food and Drug Administration

Illinois Attorney General's Office

Indiana Attorney General's Office

Maryland Attorney General's Office

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Attorney General's Office

New York Attorney General's Office

New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government

New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct

New York Supreme Court, New York County

Ofgem

Secretary of State for Health and Others

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont

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

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

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

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of State

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

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

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO)

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Vermont

Wisconsin Attorney General's Office