Judge Slams DOJ's 'Indict First' Strategy In Comey Case

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors were given just over 24 hours to hand over all of the grand jury materials and anything seized under years-old warrants in the James Comey case when a Virginia federal judge said Wednesday that the government appeared to be pursuing an "indict first, investigate last" strategy.

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Energy Co. Execs Lied About Biz, Mont. Project, NJ AG Says

By Gina Kim

Two Breezy Point Energy executives duped investors into pouring more than $3 million into a renewable energy project in Montana that was never in development, while using the money to cut themselves big salaries, rent a mansion and lease luxury cars, New Jersey prosecutors announced Wednesday. 

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Convicted Man Seeks New Trial In $200M Smuggling Case

By Elliot Weld

A man who was convicted of assisting in a scheme to smuggle as much as $200 million worth of counterfeit luxury goods into the U.S. has asked a California federal judge for a new trial, challenging the government's evidence that he knew what he was doing was illegal.

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Hedge Fund Fired Whistleblower Compliance Chief, Suit Says

By Sarah Jarvis

The onetime U.S. compliance head of British hedge fund Capula Investment Management LLP has sued his former employer for allegedly retaliating against him after he blew the whistle internally on issues including the use of investor funds for expenses such as artwork and private jet travel.

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Crypto Thief Or 'Scapegoat'? Jury To Decide Ex-CFO's Fate

By Rachel Riley

Prosecutors urged a Washington federal jury Wednesday to convict a software startup's ex-executive for pumping $35 million from company coffers into his fledgling cryptocurrency project, while defense counsel accused the government of pursuing a baseless case because the company needed someone to "scapegoat" for an investment loss.

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Texas Voters Ban Bail For Some Accused Of Serious Felonies

By Brandon Lowrey

Texas voters have approved a constitutional amendment requiring judges to deny bail to defendants charged with certain violent crimes if they are shown to be a threat or flight risk during a pretrial hearing.

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NJ Panel Unsure Businessman's Threats Broke Law

By George Woolston

A New Jersey appellate panel on Wednesday appeared skeptical that the sprawling racketeering indictment against Garden State businessman George E. Norcross was improperly dismissed, asking the state in its bid to revive the case how the power broker's alleged threats outlined in its 111-page indictment were unlawful.

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Ex-Mashpee Tribal Leader Gets 3.5 Years For Casino Bribes

By Chris Villani

The former chair of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Wednesday was sentenced to a 42-month prison term for orchestrating a bribery scheme tied to the tribe's $1 billion casino project, as a Massachusetts federal judge chastised him for characterizing his yearslong conduct as "mistakes."

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3 More Chinese Scholars Accused Of Smuggling Roundworms

By Lauren Berg

Three Chinese research scholars working at a University of Michigan laboratory have been accused of conspiring with a student pursuing her doctoral degree in Wuhan, China, to smuggle roundworms into the U.S., the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

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Insurer Says Ad Firm Only Paid Part Of $2M Fraud Settlement

By Ganesh Setty

An auto insurer told an Ohio federal court that an advertising firm it had accused of engaging in a "brazen and sophisticated scheme" to defraud it of over $9.9 million has failed to abide by their $2 million settlement, saying it has only received partial payment.

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Amazon Sues Perplexity Over Shopper-Impersonating AI Tool

By Bonnie Eslinger

Global retailer Amazon.com slapped Perplexity AI with a federal lawsuit that claims the San Francisco startup's use of an AI-powered "personal assistant" Comet to make purchases on the Amazon platform goes against its terms of service and is creating a security risk.

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Atty Is Still Making Cyberstalking Posts, Feds Say

By Adrian Cruz

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday asked a Texas federal court to order an attorney who has been charged with cyberstalking detained until trial, saying she continues to make incriminating blog posts in violation of the terms of her pretrial release.

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Ex-Startup Exec Who Helped Defraud JPMorgan Gets 68 Mos.

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge hit an Israeli businessman with 68 months in prison Wednesday for joining with Frank founder Charlie Javice to trick JPMorgan into buying their failed financial aid startup for $175 million by using faked customer data.

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Ex-US Atty, AUSA Pair Joins Baker Donelson In Raleigh

By Christine DeRosa

A former U.S. attorney and a former assistant U.S. attorney have jumped from K&L Gates LLP to Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC in North Carolina.

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Lessons From 7th Circ. Decision Affirming $183M FCA Verdict

The Seventh Circuit's decision to uphold a $183 million False Claims Act award against Eli Lilly engages substantively with recurring materiality and scienter questions and provides insights into appellate review of complex trial court judgments, say Ellen London at London & Naor, Li Yu at Bernstein Litowitz and Kimberly Friday at Osborn Maledon.

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AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

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Mamdani Taps Ex-FTC Chief Lina Khan For NYC Transition

By Lauren Berg

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday named an all-woman transition team, including former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, who attracted the ire of tech giants and corporations by spearheading the Biden administration's aggressive antitrust enforcement.

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Fired E-Biz Execs Sue Jackson Walker Over Judge's Romance

By Adrian Cruz

A pair of former executives at e-commerce company Volusion LLC have hit Jackson Walker LLP with the latest in a series of suits accusing the firm of legal malpractice stemming from the undisclosed romance between a former partner and a Texas bankruptcy judge.

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Senate Confirms Jones Day Partner To 9th Circ. Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 52-45 on Wednesday to confirm Eric Tung, a partner at Jones Day, as a judge on the Ninth Circuit.

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Robbins Geller's 'Eye-Watering' $28M Fee Bid Cut To $10.4M

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has rejected a $28 million attorney fee request from Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd as part of a $150 million investor settlement with Zoom, calling it an "eye-watering figure," and saying the firm can collect about $10.4 million instead.

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Fed. Judiciary Tackles Design, Need For AI Evidence Rules

By Jack Karp

Federal judiciary members wrestled Wednesday with the appropriate parameters of a proposed rule that would govern machine-generated evidence, while questioning the need for another proposed rule dealing with so-called deepfake evidence.

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After Spending Blitz, Pa. Judicial Election Turnout Booms

By James Boyle

Months of focused campaigning and an unprecedented blitz of spending on television ads helped serve to double the number of Pennsylvania voters who turned out on Tuesday to cast ballots over whether to grant new 10-year terms to three Democratic members of the state's Supreme Court.

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Mass. Justices Consider Raises To Address Counsel Shortage

By Julie Manganis

Justices on Massachusetts' highest court grappled at a hearing Wednesday with its ability to address an ongoing shortage of attorneys willing to represent indigent defendants, after lawyers in two of the state's busiest counties stopped taking cases in May in protest over the low pay compared with other states.

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