'Miles Guo Stole My Money': NY Jury Hears Of Alleged Fraud

By Rachel Scharf

A former supporter of exiled Chinese billionaire Miles Guo testified in Manhattan federal court Tuesday that the purported billionaire conned her into investing more than $100,000 in the media company he founded alongside former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, describing Guo's interrelated business ventures as a "mafia."

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2nd Circ. Says ERISA Blocks Cigna Bill Backpedaling Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a podiatric medicine provider's suit alleging Cigna illegally backtracked on covering a patient's $200,000 bill, ruling that a lower court was right to find that federal benefits law blocks the healthcare provider's breach of contract claims.

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Insulin Pens Exposed Patients To Disease, Hospital Says

By Jonathan Capriel

A Connecticut-based hospital says medical device manufacturer Novo Nordisk should be on the hook for a $1 million settlement the hospital paid to end claims that patients were exposed to blood-borne infections because of the medical staff's use of Novo Nordisk's product.

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Zantac Suits Belong In Conn. State Court, Cancer Patients Say

By Aaron Keller

Lawsuits claiming Zantac and its generic equivalents caused cancer belong in Connecticut state court, two groups of Constitution State cancer patients and their estates say, arguing against several drugmakers' assertions that they can't be sued in the state on innovator and warning label liability claims.

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Conn. Judicial Marshal Charged With Workers' Comp Fraud

By Brian Steele

A judicial marshal for the Connecticut Judicial Branch has been arrested and charged with trying to steal $891.52 in workers' compensation benefits after he was injured while trying to restrain a prisoner, prosecutors said.

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2nd Circ. Backs TD Bank's Win Over Ex-Manager's Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Second Circuit refused Tuesday to revive a former TD Bank manager's suit claiming he was fired because he suffered from anxiety and had requested parental leave, finding he couldn't overcome the bank's explanation that he was let go because of forgery.

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'Ghost Gun' Makers Ask 2nd Circ. To Weigh In On NY AG Case

By Mike Curley

A group of companies being sued by the New York attorney general over their distribution of so-called ghost gun kits is asking the Second Circuit to weigh in on the case and decide whether the parts kits can be considered "firearms" and if they are entitled to immunity under federal firearms law.

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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

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What Junk Fee Law Means For Biz In California And Beyond

Come July 1, companies doing business in California must ensure that the price of any good or service as offered, displayed or advertised is inclusive of all mandatory fees and other charges in compliance with S.B. 478, which may have a far-reaching impact across the country due to wide applicability, say Alexandria Ruiz and Amy Lally at Sidley Austin.

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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

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Google Legal Dept. Goes From Crisis Mode To Long Term

By Bryan Koenig

As much of the major antitrust litigation against Google winds down, the company is shuffling around its in-house legal departments to add more people and settle from crisis mode into the more sustainable posture of a technology giant where lawsuits have likely become a permanent feature of its existence.

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After Judge Takes Trip To Israel, Attys Want Him Off Gaza Case

By Cara Bayles

Palestinian rights activists asked a Ninth Circuit judge to recuse himself from a case claiming that the Biden administration flouted international laws barring genocide by supporting Israel's military efforts in Gaza, noting that the judge recently took a trip to Israel sponsored by the World Jewish Congress.

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Rutgers Law Students Must Provide Comms In Bias Suit

By Madison Arnold

A pair of Rutgers Law School students must turn over recordings and messages in a Jewish classmate's lawsuit accusing the school of antisemitic bias for opening a disciplinary investigation against him after he spoke out against the same two students for allegedly spreading antisemitism, a New Jersey state judge has ruled.

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Federal Judges Facing Scrutiny For Clerk-Hiring Boycotts

By Jack Karp

The federal judiciary must take a look at its judges' hiring practices in the wake of some jurists' public refusal to hire students from certain law schools over on-campus political activity over the Israel-Hamas war, a nonprofit government watchdog said Wednesday.

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Interview

DLA Piper Atty, Ex-UK Official On Practicing Across The Pond

By Alison Knezevich

In returning to the United States after nearly two decades in London, former Serious Fraud Office official Judy Krieg says DLA Piper was the ideal place to serve clients and leverage the skills she has gained from working on both sides of the Atlantic.

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An Ex-BigLaw Atty Shot His Wife. Who Gets Her Settlement?

By Kelcey Caulder

The administrator of the estate of Diane McIver, who was fatally shot by her husband, former Fisher Phillips partner Claud "Tex" McIver, while driving through Atlanta in 2016, has asked a Georgia state court to decide who is entitled to settlement funds from a wrongful death case brought by the estate.

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Brown Rudnick Partner's 50% Fee Hike Nixed In Ch. 11 Case

By Hilary Russ

A Brown Rudnick LLP bankruptcy partner Wednesday had his 50% fee increase rejected by a Delaware judge, who took issue with the proposed hike to $1,500 an hour for representing the creditors' committee in Kidde-Fenwal Inc.'s Chapter 11 case.

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Ga. Trump Election Case On Hold For DA DQ Appeal

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday temporarily halted proceedings in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants while it reviews a trial judge's ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to continue prosecuting the case.

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Trump Gag Order Still Needed Through Sentencing, DA Says

By Elliot Weld

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office has asked a judge not to lift the gag order on Donald Trump before the convicted former president's sentencing next month, arguing in a letter released Wednesday that there is still a need to "protect the integrity" of the hush money case.

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Hunter Biden's Ex-Wife, Ex-Lover Testify About His Drug Use

By Leslie A. Pappas

Hunter Biden's trial on felony gun charges continued in Delaware federal court on Wednesday with testimony from his ex-wife, a former girlfriend and the salesman at the shop where he bought the Colt Cobra revolver on Oct. 12, 2018.

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Atty Carried Gun, Rope During Attempted Break-In, Police Say

By Lauren Berg

Police in Royal Oak, Michigan, said Tuesday they have arrested a Dearborn personal injury attorney after he allegedly tried to break into the home of a former co-worker while carrying a firearm, knife, handcuffs and other "concerning items."

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Lippes Mathias Merges With Syracuse Health, Business Firm

By Andrea Keckley

Buffalo, New York-based firm Lippes Mathias LLP said this week that it had created one of the state's largest healthcare attorney teams outside New York City in combining with Syracuse business and healthcare boutique CCBLaw, a move that will ultimately add 11 lawyers and eight nonlawyer professionals to its ranks.

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From Small Town To 11th Circ., Nominee Pledges 'Open Mind'

By Jake Maher

A nominee for an Eleventh Circuit seat on Wednesday discussed his small-town upbringing, award-winning career as a prosecutor and the "obligation" he feels to be a role model for others considering a career in the law, saying he would approach cases with an "open mind" if confirmed to the federal appeals court.

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NY Gov. Denies Cop-Shoving Judge New Term

By Frank G. Runyeon

A Buffalo judge censured for brawling with neighbors, shoving a police officer and bragging about his ties to power was denied a second term by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who took the unusual step of rejecting the judge's request for reappointment.

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AAA Says Fee Critique 'Flawed' For Missed Eclipse Day Depo

By Lynn LaRowe

An attorney sanctioned for missing a deposition in Florida while he was in Arkansas viewing April's solar eclipse used "guesswork" in a response asking a federal judge in the Sunshine State to whittle a request for $7,800 in fees down to just over $1,200, according to a reply filed this week by AAA in a lawsuit by a former employee.

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Ex-Sacks Weston Atty Blames 'Toxic' Firm For His Theft

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Philadelphia attorney convicted of defrauding his former law firm told a state ethics panel Wednesday that he was remorseful for his deeds, but he noted he was driven to his crime by being owed money by his firm for too long.

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PwC Asks Calif. Justices To Revive $2.5M Sanction Against LA

By Gina Kim

PwC urged the California Supreme Court on Wednesday to revive a $2.5 million sanction against the city of Los Angeles for yearslong discovery misconduct in an underlying utility billing dispute, arguing the trial court's inherent authority to pose such penalties isn't limited to nonmonetary sanctions.

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