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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Up Next At High Court: Voting Rights & Warrantless Entries

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Tuesday to hear oral arguments in four cases, including a dispute over the constitutionality of the last remaining provision of the Voting Right Act and whether federal prisoners seeking postconviction relief are subject to the same rules as state inmates.

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Atty's Due Process Claims Challenging Disbarments Trimmed

By Emily Sawicki

A former attorney has had most of a due process suit fighting his disbarment in Florida and reciprocal discipline in Massachusetts and New York thrown out, with a Manhattan federal judge finding that New York lacks personal jurisdiction over out-of-state disciplinary officials.

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CFTC Crypto Task Force Head Returns To Akin

By Aislinn Keely

The former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Digital Asset Task Force has left the agency to return to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as senior counsel in its white collar defense and government investigations practice.

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9th Circ. Flouting 'Imperial Judiciary' Warning, Judges Assert

By Jeff Overley

A large contingent of Ninth Circuit judges accused colleagues Friday of ignoring recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions limiting legal remedies in politically charged disputes, adding fresh fuel to a heated debate over the judiciary's handling of suits against the Trump administration.

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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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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen Paddington Bear's creators and Studio Canal sue the company behind Spitting Image, Blackpool Football Club's former owner Owen Oyston bring a fresh claim against the club, and Mishcon de Reya sue a Saudi investment group.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the full Ninth Circuit held that denials of California anti-SLAPP motions can no longer be appealed in the midst of litigation.

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NJ Senate President Calls For Monitor Of State AG Unit

By Madison Arnold

New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari on Friday called for the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the state's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, saying it has been troubled with failed prosecutions, botched investigations and misconduct.

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Ga. Judge Charged With DUI At Florida Strip Club

By Chart Riggall

The Georgia judge who heads up the state's council of superior court jurists was arrested for driving under the influence outside a Jacksonville, Florida, strip club this week after hitting another vehicle with his Mercedes, according to arrest records.

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Brief

Bill Would Let Judges, Prosecutors Carry Concealed Guns

By Courtney Bublé

Two Republicans have introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate that would allow current and retired federal judges and state, local and federal prosecutors to carry concealed firearms in response to increasing concerns about judicial security.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

It is of little solace to general counsel that most big law firms hiked their billing rates this year just slightly less than last year's increase. And it looks like Elon Musk is settling with the former chief legal officer and the general counsel of Twitter, along with two other executives, over their suit to obtain millions in promised severance pay. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Retribution, Intent Claims May Defuse Bombshell James Case

By Phillip Bantz

The Trump administration's indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James is tightly crafted and offers a straightforward presentation of the government's case, but experts say James appears to have a strong argument that she did not intend to break the law and is being unfairly targeted for what amounts to a minor offense.

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