White Collar

THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2024

LAW360 400

The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

By Sam Bell and Pamela Wilkinson

The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.

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Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

By Emma Cueto

The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

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TOP NEWS

Trump Rests In NY Hush Money Trial, Declining To Testify

By Frank Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

Donald Trump rested his defense Tuesday in the Manhattan district attorney's criminal hush money case, closing out the testimony and setting the stage for deliberations next week after the former president opted not to take the witness stand.

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Coverage Recap: Day 16 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Stewart Bishop

Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from Tuesday, day 16 of the trial.

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DOJ, VW Ask 9th Circ. To Void Jones Day Docs Release Order

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Department of Justice and Volkswagen have told the Ninth Circuit that forcing them to release confidential Volkswagen documents that were part of a Jones Day investigation into the automaker's 2015 emissions-cheating scandal would have far-reaching, chilling implications for federal criminal prosecutions.

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More Classified Docs Were Found After Mar-A-Lago Raid

By Carolina Bolado

Additional classified documents were found at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, including in Trump's bedroom, after the FBI's August 2022 search of the Florida property, according to a filing unsealed Tuesday in the criminal case accusing him of mishandling classified documents.

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Feds Can't Show Autonomy Jury Report Showing Audit Issues

By Bonnie Eslinger

The California federal judge overseeing a criminal trial over claims Autonomy's former CEO conned HP into buying the U.K. company for $11.7 billion denied prosecutors' bid Tuesday to show jurors a British accounting watchdog's findings that Deloitte failed to catch misleading information in Autonomy's books.

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TotalEnergies Hit With Climate Criminal Complaint In France

By Madeline Lyskawa

Three environmental groups, alongside eight victims of climate change, filed a criminal complaint on Tuesday in Paris against French petroleum company TotalEnergies' board of directors and main shareholders for their alleged contribution to climate change and its impact on humans and the environment.

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COMPLIANCE

22 States Tell 11th Circ. Corp. Transparency Act Goes Too Far

By Sanjay Talwani

The federal Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutionally displaces state authority and its enforcement would economically harm states and their residents, attorneys general from 22 states told the Eleventh Circuit, urging it to uphold a ruling that struck down the law.

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SECURITIES

SEC Slams Ripple's Bid To 'Hide' Financial Info From Public

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is protesting Ripple Labs' bid to conceal certain financial information from the public as it fights the agency's attempt to impose a $2 billion penalty for unregistered cryptocurrency sales, arguing that the company's call for transparency in the case should extend to itself.

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EMPLOYMENT

Fla. Scientist Fights Contempt Ruling In Data Theft Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida Everglades scientist urged a state appeals court Tuesday to reverse a contempt ruling against him over violating an injunction to preserve computer data from his prior job, saying that the order was ambiguous and that the lower court wrongly appointed opposing counsel to prosecute the violation.

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ASSET FORFEITURE

PetroSaudi Says $380M Award Feud Close To Resolution

By Caroline Simson

A PetroSaudi unit and the Biden administration are nearing a settlement to resolve a bitter dispute over the proceeds of a nearly $380 million arbitral award allegedly tied to embezzled 1Malaysia Development Berhad funds, which the government has been looking to seize for years, the parties said Monday.

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Ex-AUSA Blames Inexperience For Outcome Forfeiture Error

By Lauraann Wood

Former prosecutors who pursued the $1 billion fraud trial against Outcome Health executives said Tuesday they never suspected their asset restraint efforts were an overreach, noting they lacked the expertise to notice potential mistakes themselves.

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LEGAL ETHICS

Disbarred Atty Gets 9 Years For $1.4M COVID Relief Fraud

By Ryan Harroff

A New York federal judge sentenced former attorney Douglas Arntsen to nine years in prison Tuesday for running a $1.4 million COVID-19 relief scheme, stating that the disbarred lawyer "has not gotten the message" that he should not steal from people despite his prior conviction for grand larceny.

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Conn. Atty Denies Involvement In $1.4M Transfer Scam

By Brian Steele

Connecticut attorney Carole W. Briggs has issued a sweeping, albeit untimely, denial of the allegations in a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey real estate developer in Connecticut federal court that accused her of playing a role in a business email compromise scam that stole $1.4 million.

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CONTRACTS

Texas Court Questions Luxottica On 'Playing Favorites' In Sale

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court on Tuesday asked whether an eyewear conglomerate was "playing favorites by not disclosing" alleged fraud by its franchisees in a sale of two stores to other franchisees, questioning Luxottica's assertion it had to keep its hands off the transaction.

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COMPETITION

Tuna Buyers Seeking $1B In July Price-Fixing Trial

By Nadia Dreid

Tuna buyers who are taking StarKist, its parent company and a private investment firm that put money into Bumble Bee Foods to trial on allegations of conspiring to hike the price of the tinned fish will be asking for over $1 billion in damages once all is said and done.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

5 Lessons From Ex-Vitol Trader's FCPA Conviction

The recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering conviction of former Vitol oil trader Javier Aguilar in a New York federal court provides defense takeaways on issues ranging from the definition of “domestic concern” to jury instruction strategy, says attorney Andrew Feldman.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Law360 Names Attys Who Moved Up The Firm Ranks In Q1

A promotion to partner or election to practice group chair means a slew of new responsibilities and also lots of well-deserved recognition. Law360 reveals the list of attorneys whose commitment to legal excellence earned them highly coveted spots in the law firm leadership ranks. Find out if your old legal friends — or rivals — moved up in the fourth quarter of last year.

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200th Lifetime Judge Confirmed Under Biden

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted 66-28 on Wednesday to confirm U.S. Magistrate Judge Angela M. Martinez as U.S. district judge in the District of Arizona, marking the 200th lifetime federal judicial confirmation under President Joe Biden.

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NY Judicial Nominee Defends Record Amid GOP Criticism

By Courtney Bublé

A judicial nominee for a New York federal court stood by her ruling allowing an inmate convicted of sex offenses to transfer from a male to female prison, amid concerns from Republicans that led to some dramatics Wednesday in a congressional hearing room.

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'Appeal To Heaven' Flag Flew At Alito's Vacation Home: Report

By Hailey Konnath

Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday called for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to immediately recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and face censure after The New York Times reported that flags tied to Donald Trump supporters had flown outside two homes owned by the justice in 2021 and again last year.

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Analysis

Justices' CFPB Alliance May Save SEC Courts, Not Chevron

By Katie Buehler

A four-justice concurrence to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's unique funding scheme last week carries implications for other cases pending before the court that challenge the so-called administrative state, or the permanent cadre of regulatory agencies and career government enforcers who hold sway over vast swaths of American economic life.

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DA Willis, Trump Judge, And Justice All Roll To Victory In Ga.

By Chart Riggall

The judge and district attorney at the center of former President Donald Trump's Georgia prosecution easily fended off their electoral challengers Tuesday night, while an abortion-rights candidate for the Peach State's highest court fell well short of the mark.

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Feature

Spencer Fane Lures In Big-Name 'Misfits' For Patent Group

By Dani Kass

Spencer Fane LLP has spent the past two years building up what it hopes to be a top-tier intellectual property group, pulling together a "band of misfits" from firms like Fish & Richardson PC and McKool Smith, according to the group's co-leader.

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NY Federal Reserve Associate GC Rejoins Covington

By Jack Rodgers

A former Covington & Burling LLP associate who left the firm 13 years ago to join the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has returned to work as of counsel, the firm announced Tuesday.

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Texas Attys Get Green Light To Charge Subscription Fees

By Lynn LaRowe

An opinion recently issued by the Professional Ethics Committee of the State Bar of Texas gives Lone Star State lawyers the go-ahead to offer subscription-based legal services so long as the arrangement doesn't result in the charging of an "unconscionable fee."

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Feds To Extend Plea Offer To Oath Keepers Atty In Jan. 6 Case

By Ali Sullivan

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that they plan to extend a plea offer to an attorney for the far-right Oath Keepers group charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, but the specifics of the offer could depend on the U.S. Supreme Court's stance on a federal statute often used to prosecute alleged Capitol rioters.

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NC County Sued Over 'Faithful Slaves' Courthouse Monument

By Adrian Cruz

A group of residents of North Carolina's Tyrrell County has sued the county's board of commissioners in North Carolina federal court over an allegedly racist monument outside a courthouse that commemorates "faithful slaves" deemed loyal to the Confederacy during the American Civil War.