Trials

  • April 17, 2024

    Compass Group Gets New Damages Trial In $8M Death Suit

    A California state appeals court has rejected cross-appeals from food service giant Compass Group USA Inc. and a mother suing it for negligence in a wrongful death suit that ended in an $8 million verdict, sending the case back for a new trial on damages.

  • April 17, 2024

    Bankman-Fried Appeal May Cite Unusual Preview Testimony

    Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal of his conviction and 25-year prison sentence may cite a "rather unprecedented" trial procedure in which the FTX founder gave provisional testimony before officially taking the witness stand last year, one of his attorneys said Wednesday.

  • April 17, 2024

    Ex-Pharma Exec's Contempt Plea Rejected By Judge

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday rejected a former pharmaceutical executive's agreement to plead guilty to contempt for using an alias to get around a consent judgment in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud case, saying both the former executive and the government knew he'd view the sentence as too low.

  • April 17, 2024

    'Fat Leonard' Prosecutors Say 5 More Plea Deals Tainted

    Federal prosecutors in San Diego have agreed to let several former U.S. Navy officers withdraw their felony pleas in the "Fat Leonard" bribery scandal, citing "serious" lapses that wiped out other convictions in the high-profile case.

  • April 17, 2024

    American Urges 1st Circ. To Reject 'Radical' JetBlue Ruling

    American Airlines has told the First Circuit that a judge's "radical vision of the antitrust laws" that blocked its Northeast Alliance joint venture with JetBlue shouldn't stand, arguing that federal enforcers are relying on misleading claims and outdated precedent to prop up the lower court's mistaken conclusion.

  • April 17, 2024

    Stormy Daniels Says Trump Flubbed Subpoena At Nightclub

    Stormy Daniels, the adult film star at the center of Donald Trump's hush money case, said the former president failed to properly serve her with a subpoena seeking evidence of alleged bias last month after the man dropped the papers at her feet outside a Brooklyn nightclub.

  • April 17, 2024

    Justices Rule Criminal Forfeiture Deadline Isn't Absolute

    The U.S. Supreme Court held Wednesday that courts can issue forfeiture orders at sentencing in criminal cases even if prosecutors fail to submit a draft request prior to the court-ordered date, ruling noncompliance with the rule doesn't strip judges of the authority to direct defendants to hand over ill-gotten gains.

  • April 17, 2024

    Menendez's Defense Could Target Wife, Court Records Show

    U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, facing trial next month on bribery and corruption charges, may resort to blaming his wife for concealing that anything about the couple's dealings with three New Jersey businessmen could be illegal, newly unsealed court papers show.

  • April 16, 2024

    7th Circ. Finally Freezes Hytera's $1M-Per-Day Sanctions

    The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday halted the daily $1 million fine and sales ban ordered against Hytera Communications for participating in Chinese litigation against a district judge's orders, after previously refusing to save the company from its "self inflicted wounds."

  • April 16, 2024

    Nothing 'Sinister' About Attys, Broker's Tax Plan, NC Jury Told

    Two St. Louis attorneys and a North Carolina insurance agent on Tuesday tried to poke holes in an undercover IRS agent's investigation of what the government has characterized as a criminal tax avoidance scheme, which defense counsel sought to paint for the jury as a legal interpretation of federal tax law.

  • April 16, 2024

    Freight Co. Can't Escape $15M Verdict In Deckhand Death Suit

    A St. Louis-area mother whose son, a tugboat worker, fell overboard and died, presumably by drowning under a barge, will get to keep a $15 million jury award, a Missouri appeals court ruled Monday, rejecting the company's bid to lower the award to no more than $1.2 million.

  • April 16, 2024

    Trump, Insurer Defend $175M Bond In NY AG Case

    Donald Trump and the Delaware insurer that agreed to post the former president's $175 million bond in his civil business fraud case told a Manhattan judge that they have the money in cash, after New York Attorney General Letitia James questioned the sufficiency of the bond.

  • April 16, 2024

    US Tequila Startup Defeats Older Mexican Rival's TM Case

    A Texas federal judge has decided that the tequila marketplace is big enough for both a U.S. startup called "Casa Azul" and an older Mexican brand called "Clase Azul," whose lawyers unsuccessfully tried to persuade the judge of its fame by playing a music video by reggaeton rapper Ozuna. 

  • April 16, 2024

    Ex-NBA Guard Gets 18 Months In Healthcare Scheme

    A former Detroit Pistons point guard was sentenced to 18 months in prison Tuesday after being convicted of one of two counts over an alleged scheme to defraud the NBA's healthcare plan, with a Manhattan federal judge saying his proceeds were "not chump change" and faulting his behavior on pretrial release.

  • April 16, 2024

    Jackson, Barrett Seek Enron Law Compromise In Jan. 6 Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court grappled Tuesday with whether an obstruction of Congress statute enacted in the wake of an accounting scandal can be read broadly enough to prosecute alleged U.S. Capitol rioters.

  • April 16, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds $64M Award In Water Contamination Suit

    The Ninth Circuit upheld a $64 million award against a Parker Hannifin unit for cleanup costs tied to groundwater contamination in California's Santa Clarita Valley, and further held the district court erred in denying a finding of liability against the company.

  • April 16, 2024

    Ga. Sheriff's Abuse Conviction Should Stand, 11th Circ. Hints

    An Eleventh Circuit panel on Tuesday appeared wary of dismissing the criminal conviction of Victor Hill, a former Georgia sheriff who was convicted in 2022 of violating the civil rights of detainees by strapping them to a chair for hours at a time.

  • April 16, 2024

    AT&T Unit Urges Justices To Weigh In On FCC E-Rate Saga

    An AT&T subsidiary is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether reimbursement requests for the Federal Communications Commission's E-rate program for schools and libraries are "claims" under the False Claims Act, part of a whistleblower suit accusing the company of overcharging public schools and libraries.

  • April 16, 2024

    NJ Hospital GC Emails Doom $24M Verdict For Surgeons

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated a $24.3 million award to a group of neurosurgeons on their claim that a hospital didn't operate in good faith, finding the trial court's admission of emails from the hospital's general counsel and remarks made during closing arguments deprived the hospital of a fair trial.

  • April 16, 2024

    Meet The Atty For An Ex-Union Leader Facing His 3rd Trial

    The only thing standing between ex-Philly union leader John Dougherty and a third conviction is attorney Greg Pagano, and he feels confident going into the next trial that things will be different. 

  • April 16, 2024

    BigLaw Attys Among First 7 Jurors Picked In Trump's NY Trial

    Two BigLaw attorneys on Tuesday were among seven people sworn in as jurors in Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial, which could proceed to opening statements as soon as Monday.

  • April 16, 2024

    Focus On Prosecutor Will Set Ga. Trump Jury Questions Apart

    The jury questionnaire currently before hundreds of Manhattan residents in Donald Trump's first criminal trial will serve as a partial blueprint for his upcoming election interference case in Georgia, experts told Law360, with at least one significant difference: a sharp focus on the Fulton County case's high-profile, controversial prosecutor.

  • April 16, 2024

    Moving Co. Execs Found Guilty In $7.7M Payroll Tax Scheme

    The former president of a moving company and its head bookkeeper conspired to evade more than $7.7 million in federal payroll taxes, a New York federal jury has found.

  • April 16, 2024

    Ga. Shouldn't 'Go Back' On Absentee Voter Rules, Judge Told

    Back in court for its third election-related trial of 2024, the state of Georgia urged a federal judge Monday morning not to strike down increased regulations on the state's absentee ballot application process enacted as part of the state's controversial 2021 election law.

  • April 15, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy Exec Testifies To Handshake Deals, Backdating

    Autonomy's former U.S. head of sales testified for the prosecution Monday in the criminal fraud trial of founder Michael Lynch, saying he boosted sales figures via "quid pro quo" handshake deals with customers, created pretextual emails to cover his tracks and even backdated a deal to meet revenue targets.

Expert Analysis

  • To Hire And Keep Top Talent, Think Beyond Compensation

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    Firms seeking to appeal to sophisticated clients and top-level partners should promote mentorship, ensure that attorneys from diverse backgrounds feel valued, and clarify policies about at-home work, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.

  • Defense Practice Pointers In Venezuela Bribe Case Dismissal

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    A Texas federal court’s recent dismissal of charges in U.S. v. Murta — one of over two dozen prosecutions targeting bribes paid to a Venezuelan state-owned oil company — highlights the complicated issues presented by cross-border investigations, and provides lessons for defense counsel representing foreign clients in U.S. prosecutions, say attorneys at Steptoe & Johnson.

  • Perspectives

    More States Should Join Effort To Close Legal Services Gap

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    Colorado is the most recent state to allow other types of legal providers, not just attorneys, to offer specific services in certain circumstances — and more states should rethink the century-old assumptions that shape our current regulatory rules, say Natalie Anne Knowlton and Janet Drobinske at the University of Denver.

  • Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure

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    Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.

  • How Jurors' Great Resignation Views Affect Corp. Defendants

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    With recent surveys finding that many workers expect to leave their jobs in the next year, corporate defendants should consider measuring potential jurors’ attitudes about the "great resignation," which may reveal biases against large corporations and beliefs about personal responsibility, say Jorge Monroy and David Metz at IMS Consulting.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Designation Prosecutions Are Constitutionally Suspect

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    Criminal prosecutions based on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s sanctions-related listing decisions — made with nearly unfettered discretion through an opaque process — present several constitutional issues, so it is imperative that courts recognize additional rights of review, say Solomon Shinerock and Annika Conrad at Lewis Baach.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'

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    Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.

  • NJ Justices Clarify Bribery Law Scope, But Questions Remain

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    The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent State v. O'Donnell decision clarified that the state’s bribery law unambiguously applies to candidates for public office, but there are still unresolved questions about how the ruling may affect lobbyists, undeclared candidates and political speech, says Scott Coffina at Pietragallo Gordon.

  • 4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Opinion

    3 Ways Justices' Disclosure Defenses Miss The Ethical Point

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    The rule-bound interpretation of financial disclosures preferred by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — demonstrated in their respective statements defending their failure to disclose gifts from billionaires — show that they do not understand the ethical aspects of the public's concern, says Jim Moliterno at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

  • Reputation Management Lessons From Spacey Case

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    While a U.K. jury recently acquitted actor Kevin Spacey of sexual assault charges, his reputation has been harmed, illustrating the importance for lawyers to balance a client's right to privacy with media engagement throughout the criminal process, says Jessica Welch at Simkins.

  • Ohio Rulings Are Cautionary Tales For Attorneys In Crisis

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    Two recent decisions from Ohio state courts provide a sobering reminder that a counsel’s personal emergencies will not always suffice to alter court deadlines or excuse procedural missteps, and that prompt communication and documentation are crucial in the Buckeye State and beyond, says L. Bradfield Hughes at Porter Wright.

  • What Courts' Deference Preference Can Mean For Sentencing

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    The Fifth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Vargas decision deepens the split among federal appeals courts on the level of deference afforded to commentary in the U.S. sentencing guidelines — an issue that has major real-life ramifications for defendants, and is likely bound for the U.S. Supreme Court, say Jennifer Freel and Michael Murtha at Jackson Walker.

  • Trump's 'I Thought I Won' Jan. 6 Defense Is Unlikely To Prevail

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    Since being indicted for his alleged attempts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump’s legal team has argued that because he genuinely believed he won, his actions were not fraudulent — but this so-called mistake of fact defense will face a steep uphill battle for several key reasons, says Elizabeth Roper at Baker McKenzie.

  • Dupree Decision Blurs Lines Between Issues Of Law And Fact

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's May decision in Dupree v. Younger, certain types of disputes and nuances may arise for trial lawyers when separating issues of fact and law, and the complications are illustrated by examples from antitrust and intellectual property case law, say Francis Morrison and Jarod Taylor at Axinn.

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