Commentary

Daily Dicta: Egg on Their Faces: Plaintiffs Giants Come up Empty in $3B Antitrust Trial

Jenna Greene | June 18, 2018

Ten co-defendants settled for a combined $150 million, but the trio of egg producers left standing were willing to risk everything by going to trial. Their gamble paid off.

News

Labaton Sucharow Wants State Street Judge Recused After He Hinted at 'Public Corruption'

Amanda Bronstad | June 15, 2018

Labaton Sucharow has moved for a federal judge reviewing its billing records to recuse himself from a securities class action settlement, citing a “serious conflict” raised by statements from the judge, which the firm said implied that the New York law firm was engaged in public corruption.

News

Inmate Who Won Lawsuit Against Guard Loses Bid to Collect in Eleventh Circuit

Katheryn Tucker | June 15, 2018

Judges Gerald Tjoflat, William Pryor and R. Lanier Anderson denied David Cassady’s motion for garnishment against state corrections officer Steven Hall in a per curiam opinion Friday.

News

Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes Indicted in Alleged Wire Fraud Scheme

Ross Todd | June 15, 2018

The indictment alleges a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors, doctors and patients.

Profile

From New York Socialite to Public Defender: Akerman's Whitney Untiedt Talks Career Change

Lidia Dinkova | June 15, 2018

Untiedt left a New York lifestyle many dream of to pursue personal and career fulfillment by working as a public defender and pro bono coordinator.

Citibank Agrees to Pay $100M to Settle AGs' Suit Over Alleged Interest-Rate Manipulation

Dan M. Clark| June 15, 2018

An investigation by Underwood and 41 other state attorneys general led to the allegation Citibank misled other financial institutions about their status with an internationally used interest rate called LIBOR.

News

Mueller's Team, in Court, Defends Case Against Russian Company

C. Ryan Barber | June 15, 2018

The government's defense of the charges came at a hearing as the sides quarrel about the scope of discovery and the extent to which lawyers for a charged Russian entity must restrict access to information they learn from the special counsel's office.

Profile

Litigator of the Week: An Antitrust Win for the History Books

Jenna Greene | June 15, 2018

Daniel Petrocelli is not an antitrust expert—but the O’Melveny & Myers partner didn’t need to be in order to win the biggest merger challenge in decades.

News

On Remand From High Court, Waffle House 'Sextortion' Suit Back in Court of Appeals

Greg Land | June 14, 2018

After a jury acquitted the former housekeeper and her lawyers of criminal charges related to secretly video recording former Waffle House CEO Joe Rogers Jr. engaged in a sex act, the Georgia Supreme Court sent the related civil appeals back to the Court of Appeals for reconsideration.

News

Antitrust Vet Richard Parker Leaves O'Melveny for Gibson Dunn

Ryan Lovelace | June 14, 2018

The move comes days after the antitrust group at O'Melveny scored a mammoth M&A win for AT&T.

News

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Insurers' Claims for Millions in ACA Payments

Kristen Rasmussen | June 14, 2018

In an opinion likely to have far-reaching implications for similar pending litigation, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday ruled that the federal government does not owe Moda Health Plan Inc. nor Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Co. about $200 million and about $76 million, respectively, under the ACA risk corridors program.

Commentary

Daily Dicta: As Loretta Lynch Braces for DOJ IG Report, Eric Holder’s Prospects Soar

Jenna Greene | June 14, 2018

When Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz releases his report today on how the feds handled the Clinton email investigation, many expect former Attorney General Loretta Lynch will not fare well. Her predecessor Eric Holder, on the other hand, is flying high.

Trump Charitable Foundation Was Illegally Used to Support Campaign, Underwood Alleges in Suit

Dan M. Clark| June 14, 2018

The lawsuit alleges the foundation was illegally used to support Trump’s 2016 bid for president, pay off the president’s legal obligations, promote Trump brands and purchase personal items.

News

NY Court of Appeals Denies Trump Stay in Defamation Suit by Ex-'Apprentice' Contestant

Dan M. Clark| June 14, 2018

The decision is a setback for the president and his legal team, who have repeatedly denied claims that Trump sexually assaulted or harassed women prior to taking office.

News

PTAB Chief Accusing Former Employer Medtronic of Sexual Orientation, Disability Bias

Scott Graham| June 13, 2018

Chief Judge David Ruschke alleges he was laid off from Medtronic's in-house department for pretextual reasons in 2015 in a lawsuit playing out in Oakland federal court.

News

State AGs Lose Ground in Emissions Cases Against Volkswagen

Amanda Bronstad | June 13, 2018

Volkswagen has scored a critical court victory in its battle against several state attorneys general who are still pursuing billions of dollars over its emissions scandal.

News

In Big Push DOJ Arrests 74 Cyber Scammers of Businesses and Law Firms

Sue Reisinger | June 13, 2018

One expert said such schemes are becoming “more brazen and targeted,” prompting GCs to increasingly seek help from investigators and consultants with cyber experience.

News

Fifth Circuit Invalidates Arbitration Agreement After Company Fails to Sign It

John Council | June 13, 2018

In a ruling that could have lawyers double-checking the signature blocks on all manner of arbitration clauses, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has invalidated an agreement because the employer failed to sign it.

News

State Appeals Court Reinstates Claims That Dentons Misappropriated Trust Funds

R. Robin McDonald | June 13, 2018

A three-judge panel of the Georgia Court of Appeals overturned a Fulton County trial judge's dismissal of a lawsuit against Dentons that claimed the firm unjustly enriched itself by accepting more than $1.3 million in legal fees from the trusts of Atlanta industrialist and philanthropist Walter Bunzl to defend the embattled trustee against a suit by Bunzl heirs.

News

Senate Committee Questions Judiciary's Anti-Harassment Efforts After Kozinski Scandal

Ross Todd | June 13, 2018

"The judicial branch has a problem," said Sen. Charles Grassley at the beginning of Wednesday's Senate judiciary hearing. "They have to deal with it or Congress will have to do it for the courts."

Commentary

Daily Dicta: For Kirkland Team, This Trial Totally Sucked (But Not in the Way You Think

Jenna Greene | June 13, 2018

Advertisements are fleeting. Do you really want to go to trial four years down the road over a misleading claim? If you’re vacuum cleaner maker Dyson Inc., the answer is yes.

Update

McDermott to Drop Michael Cohen as Client: Sources

Ryan Lovelace | Colby Hamilton | June 13, 2018

Cohen may soon be fighting multiple legal challenges without his high-powered lawyers from McDermott, Will & Emery at his side.

News

READ THE DECISION: Judge OKs AT&T-Time Warner's $85B Merger

Ellis Kim | June 12, 2018

Read U.S. District Judge Richard Leon's decision here.

News

Merrill Lynch to Pay $15.7 Million, Enhance Compliance After Misleading Customers

Sue Reisinger | June 12, 2018

Merrill Lynch will pay more than $15 million to settle charges that its employees misled customers into overpaying for residential mortgage-backed securities.

News

Lawyer's Conflict of Interest in Campus Sex Assault Case Leads to One-Year Suspension

P.J. D'Annunzio | June 12, 2018

In addition to the conflict-of-interest charges that contributed to his yearlong suspension, Raul Jauregui was charged with making misrepresentations to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, filing frivolous litigation and failing to comply with court orders.

Commentary

Daily Dicta: Wrongly Convicted of Murder, Six Defendants Win Fight for $28M Jury Award

Jenna Greene | June 12, 2018

More than 30 years ago, 68-year-old Helen Wilson was raped and murdered in the Nebraska town of Beatrice. On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit doled out a small measure of justice in a case where it’s been almost entirely lacking

News

Judge Forrest, Again, Orders Subpoena Compliance in Trump Fundraiser's Qatari Suit

Colby Hamilton | June 12, 2018

For the third time, U.S. District Judge Forrest ordered Joseph Allaham to produce discovery material subpoenaed as part of a California suit filed by a Trump fundraiser over an alleged discrediting scheme using stolen and leaked emails.

News

Gorsuch, Embracing Originalism, Mustered No Support in Solo Dissent

Marcia Coyle | June 12, 2018

"The contracts clause categorically prohibits states from passing 'any ... law impairing the obligation of contracts,'" Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a solo dissent in the case Sveen v. Melin. The framers, Gorsuch said, "were absolute. They took the view that treating existing contracts as 'inviolable' would benefit society by ensuring that all persons could count on the ability to enforce promises lawfully made to them."

News

South Florida Law Firm That Served Drinks to Alcoholic Employee Isn't Responsible for Her Death

Raychel Lean | June 12, 2018

Paralegal Susan M. Salerno was struck and killed by a train on her way home from work, where she'd been served alcohol.

News

King & Spalding Can’t Shake Ex-Associate’s Suit in ZTE Matter

Roy Strom | June 11, 2018

The firm may soon face a trial that could provide details on both the travails of the Big Law partnership track and an embarrassing episode that almost led to King & Spalding facing sanctions.

News

Mississippi Judge Calls Out Judiciary's 'Well Documented' Lack of Diversity

Ellis Kim | June 11, 2018

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves’ order said the federal judiciary’s failure to reflect the public it serves is well documented.

Commentary

Daily Dicta: You Guys Are Blowing It

Jenna Greene | June 11, 2018

In a new survey, more than 100 judges reported that they routinely find relevant case law that’s not cited in an attorney’s brief.

News

Baker & McKenzie Taps Williams & Connolly in 'Operation Carwash' Malpractice Suit

Dan Packel | June 11, 2018

The global firm and its Brazilian affiliate stand accused of putting a $3.18 billion settlement in jeopardy by adding a lawyer still employed as a federal prosecutor to a conglomerate's defense team.

News

How Voice Mail Helped Holland & Knight Attorneys Foil Alleged $14M 'Sweetheart' Scam

Samantha Joseph | June 11, 2018

A voice-mail message recorded after the callers thought they'd hung up.

News

Tesla Investor Suit Targets Musk's Pay Package Valued at $2.6 Billion

Tom McParland| June 11, 2018

A Tesla Inc. investor has sued over Elon Musk's $2.6 billion-valued pay package in the Delaware Court of Chancery, calling the stock option a "massive, unfair and unprecedented" gift that would make the car manufacturer's CEO one of the richest public-company executives in the world.

Unanimous US Supreme Court Bars 'Stacked' Class Actions

Marcia Coyle | June 11, 2018

“We hold that American Pipe does not permit a plaintiff who waits out the statute of limitations to piggyback on an earlier, timely filed class action,” Ginsburg wrote for the court Monday in "China Agritech v. Resh." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Washington Legal Foundation and others supported China Agritech in amicus briefs.

Two Surprise Supreme Court Orders Show Why Recusals Matter

Tony Mauro | June 11, 2018

Two U.S. Supreme Court orders on Monday—one involving Justice Anthony Kennedy and the other Chief Justice John Roberts Jr.—show why recusals matter.

News

Appeals Panel Eying $1B Hip Implant Verdict Appears Dubious About Jurisdictional Arguments

Amanda Bronstad | June 08, 2018

A federal panel reviewing a $1.04 billion hip implant verdict appeared skeptical about Johnson & Johnson’s arguments that a Dallas judge had…

Profile

Litigator of the Week: In FTC Data Security Fight, Saving the Best for Last

C. Ryan Barber | June 08, 2018

For Ropes & Gray partner Doug Meal, the challenge for his team was deciding where to stop as they built out their brief for LabMD before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

News

7th Circuit Strips Jones Day's $307K Legal-Fee Award in EEOC Case

Erin Mulvaney | June 08, 2018

"The EEOC’s theory was not that fruitless. Precedent may not have favored it, but the fee statute does not punish a civil rights litigant for pursuing a novel, even if ambitious, theory," Seventh Circuit Chief Justice Diane Wood wrote Friday. Jones Day's Eric Dreiband was chief counsel for CVS in the litigation.

News

Wood Directs Cohen, Trump to File Privilege Objections Publicly

Colby Hamilton | June 08, 2018

The order Friday was a victory for Manhattan prosecutors and media outlets that objected to the request from Trump's legal team to file their objections under seal and ex parte.

News

End of Line for Appeal of $225 Million Exxon Settlement

Michael Booth | June 08, 2018

In an order made public June 8 and dated a week earlier, the court denied a petition for certification from the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups seeking review of an Appellate Division ruling upholding the settlement.

News

Harriet Miers' Nonprofit Client Hit With Discovery Abuse Sanctions

Miriam Rozen | June 08, 2018

The Locke Lord partner and former U.S. Supreme Court nominee is caught up in a dispute involving a Christian charity based in Texas.

News

How R.J. Reynolds Got a Stay of Execution on a $37.5 Million Tobacco Verdict

Samantha Joseph | June 08, 2018

Jones Day attorneys in Atlanta and New York won a stay of execution for R.J. Reynolds.

News

It Was a Tough Week for Bank General Counsel Around the Globe

Sue Reisinger | June 08, 2018

Internationally, banks had a tough enforcement week--a timely reminder of the importance of a strong compliance focus in the financial services sector.

Meet the Justice Department Team That Won't Defend the Affordable Care Act

Mike Scarcella | Tony Mauro | June 08, 2018

Three career U.S. Justice Department lawyers withdrew their names on a brief the government filed in Texas abandoning the defense of the Affordable Care Act. So who are the DOJ lawyers pressing the government's claims? Meet the legal team.

News

Pulse Nightclub Shooting Survivors Sue Orlando, Its Police

Associated Press| June 08, 2018

More than 35 victims have signed on as plaintiffs, accusing the city and its officers of violating the constitutional rights of those who were injured and killed on June 12, 2016, when Omar Mateen opened fire at Pulse.

News

Federal Suit Challenges Policy Shift in Protections for Young Immigrants

Colby Hamilton | June 07, 2018

Advocates say U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services abandoned a decadelong policy that protected young adult immigrants.

Investors Sue Private Cryptocurrency Over $17M Initial Offering

Charles Toutant | June 07, 2018

Although the developers depicted the Latium initial coin offering as a sale of "utility-based tokens," it was subject to the Securities Act of 1933 because investors were promised that the tokens would be worth more than the price they paid, according to the suit.

News

Norton Rose Fulbright Rebuilds Cybersecurity Group With New Practice Leaders

Miriam Rozen| June 07, 2018

San Francisco-based partner Jeewon Serrato, most recently counsel and head of the global privacy and data management practice at Sherman & Sterling, is among the three lawyers brought on to bolster the practice.

Mick Mulvaney’s CFPB Drops Case Against Mortgage Lender PHH Corp.

C. Ryan Barber | June 07, 2018

The dismissal comes fives months after a Washington federal appeals court upheld the CFPB’s power structure as constitutional but tossed the penalty against New Jersey-based PHH, sending the case back to the bureau for further action.

News

DOJ Civil Chief, 3 Former SCOTUS Clerks Among Latest Trump Court Picks

Ellis Kim | June 07, 2018

The president's 15th round of judicial nominations also included a slate of Big Law lawyers.

News

Law Librarians Accuse Lexis of Anti-Competitive Bundling

Dan Packel | June 07, 2018

Since last summer, the company has allegedly been forcing Am Law 200 clients and others to subscribe to Lexis Advance to access its other products.

Commentary

Daily Dicta: Why a $1.3B Payout Is a Good Deal for SocGen

Jenna Greene | June 07, 2018

The deal took some highly skilled maneuvering by the bank’s lawyers from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Debevoise & Plimpton and Mayer Brown.

News

2nd Circuit Sets Bar for Vacating Awards Over Arbitrators' 'Evident Partiality'

Colby Hamilton | June 07, 2018

A party-appointed arbitrator's failure to disclose connections on its face isn't enough to disqualify an award, the panel found.

News

Lawyers in Stormy Daniels Case Battle Over Attorney-Client Privilege

Ryan Lovelace | June 07, 2018

A former lawyer for the porn actress, Keith Davidson, claims Michael Avenatti "can't use attorney-client privilege as a sword and shield.” Avenatti says it's Davidson who doesn't understand the law.

Analysis

Court-Watchers See High Hurdles for Weinstein Defense Team, Including Potential New Accusers

Andrew Denney | June 06, 2018

Among the questions that have arisen for observers as pretrial litigation gets underway is whether the prosecution will move to present testimony on uncharged, prior bad acts from women who say they have been sexually assaulted by Weinstein other than the two alleged victims in the case.

News

Defense Lawyer Switches Sides and Wins $20M for Tractor Driver

Katheryn Tucker | June 06, 2018

“It’s easy to do legal work for people you believe in,” Earl McCall said. “Whether you’re on the defense side or the plaintiff’s side, it just adds a little extra joy for me if you believe in the people you are representing.”

Live Coverage

J&J 'Rigged Tests' on Whether Baby Powder Was Laced With Asbestos, Lanier Tells Jury

Amanda Bronstad | June 06, 2018

Johnson & Johnson “rigged the tests” to avoid conceding that its baby powder contained asbestos, causing 22 women to get ovarian cancer, plaintiffs lawyer Mark Lanier told a St. Louis jury in opening statements on Wednesday in the most high-volume talcum powder trial to date.

News

Cisco Urges Federal Circuit to Double Down on 'Oracle v. Google'

Scott Graham | June 06, 2018

During Wednesday's appellate showdown with rival Arista Networks, the networking giant repeatedly invoked the court's controversial copyrightability case.

Commentary

Daily Dicta: Dream of Leaving Big Law to Launch a Litigation Boutique? These Two Lawyers Made it Work

Jenna Greene | June 06, 2018

“Lawyers are risk-averse by nature, but I knew if I didn’t give this a try, I’d regret it for the rest of my life,” said Randolph Gaw, whose litigation boutique Gaw Poe celebrated its fourth birthday with a pair of wins.

11th Circuit Erases FTC Ruling That Ordered ‘Sweeping’ Data Security Program

C. Ryan Barber | June 06, 2018

"The cease and desist order contains no prohibitions. It does not instruct LabMD to stop committing a specific act or practice. Rather, it commands LabMD to overhaul and replace its data-security program to meet an indeterminable standard of reasonableness. This command is unenforceable,” the appeals court said.

News

ACLU Sues Over Plan for Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

The Associated Press| June 06, 2018

Civil rights lawyers sued the U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday to try to stop plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

News

Velcro Fights Trademark Misuse With Second Music Video, Starring 'In-House Lawyers'

Caroline Spiezio | June 06, 2018

Velcro and its legal department strike back at trolls, haters and trademark infringers in a sequel to their September 2017 music video.

News

Voters Remove Santa Clara Judge Aaron Persky From Bench, First in 80 Years

Cheryl Miller | June 06, 2018

The election results close the book on a divisive campaign that raised difficult questions about how the judicial system handles violence against women, how the public views judicial decision-making and independence and how judges under political fire should respond.

News

Sixth Circuit Rejects Challenge to 'In God We Trust' Motto on Currency

Michael Booth | June 05, 2018

"[T]he inscription of the motto on currency would place sufficiently substantial pressure on plaintiffs to violate their alleged religious beliefs only if using payment methods other than cash is more than a mere inconvenience," Judge Jane Stranch said.

News

In Big Branson Win, Court Upholds $10.9M Verdict Against Choctaw Nation

Miriam Rozen | June 05, 2018

A Texas appellate court has upheld an award stemming from the 2013 crash of a casino-bound bus that left two dead.

News

Miami Surges as International Arbitration Hub, but NYC Undaunted

Dan Packel | June 05, 2018

The efforts of local boosters—and a concerted focus on Latin America—helped propel Miami to second place in a recent study of cities for arbitrating international disputes involving the Americas.

News

DOJ Appeals Decision to Curb Blocking by Trump Twitter Account to Second Circuit

Colby Hamilton | June 05, 2018

The move Monday comes as the Twitter users at the heart of the suit say they've been unblocked from the president's account, according to the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

Commentary

Daily Dicta: A ‘Cocky’ Fight Over a Romance Novel

Jenna Greene | June 05, 2018

“Authors should be able to express themselves in their choice of titles. A single word commonly used in book titles cannot be ‘owned’ by one author. "

News

Uber's Lawyers Hail Supreme Court's Ruling Against Worker Class Actions

Erin Mulvaney | June 05, 2018

“Epic Systems ends any possible argument that the arbitration agreements should not be enforced,” Gibson Dunn's Theodore Boutrous tells the Ninth Circuit.

Filing Fanatics

Cities, Immigration Law Scholars Come to Philly's Aid in Sanctuary City Fight

Max Mitchell | June 05, 2018

New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and about 20 other municipalities from across the country have Philadelphia's back as it continues to fight with the…

News

Federal Circuit Skeptical of Tribal Immunity as Shield Against IPR

Scott Graham | June 05, 2018

Two judges hinted strongly that Allergan's bid to "rent" the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe's sovereign immunity will fail.

News

Fish & Richardson Hire Highlights the Fast Moves of an IP Litigator

Miriam Rozen | June 04, 2018

Esha Bandyopadhyay has joined Fish & Richardson in Silicon Valley, only nine months after she made another high-profile lateral move, one that caused conflicts for the patent litigator.

News

Gender Bias Lawsuit Against Steptoe Dropped in Wake of SCOTUS Decision on Employee Arbitration

Amanda Bronstad | June 04, 2018

An ex-associate who accused Steptoe & Johnson of inequitable pay based on gender has dropped her case in light of last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding arbitration agreements that bar class actions over employment matters.

News

Jury Hits Royal Caribbean Cruises With $20.3M Verdict for Ex-Officer's Hand Injury

Tom McParland | June 04, 2018

A Florida jury has awarded $20.3 million to a former employee of Royal Caribbean Cruises, whose hand was crushed while coming to the aid of a fellow…

News

In Antitrust Case, Lawyers and Judge Try to Figure Out the Value of Eggs

P.J. D'Annunzio | June 04, 2018

U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania wrote that before a jury could be presented with evidence regarding the value of eggs, the court had to go through the academic exercise of defining "value."

Where the Justices Found Middle Ground in Gay Wedding Cake Case

Marcia Coyle | June 04, 2018

Justices Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer joined Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority ruling. Kagan opened her concurring opinion by quoting Kennedy: "It is a general rule that [religious and philosophical] objections do not allow business owners and other actors in the economy and in society to deny protected persons equal access to goods and services under a neutral and generally applicable public accommodations law."

Commentary

Daily Dicta: Is This Suit Merely Stupid—or a Secret Conspiracy to Discredit the Plaintiffs Bar?

Jenna Greene | June 04, 2018

Some would-be class actions are so ridiculous that all you can do is shake your head and think “Wow, the lawyer who filed that passed the bar?” But what if there's actually something more nefarious afoot?

News

Atlanta Law Firm Loses Seven-Year Fee Fight at US Supreme Court

R. Robin McDonald | June 04, 2018

Lamar, Archer & Cofrin was pursuing more than $104,000 in legal fees a former client had discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

News

Société Générale Agrees to $860M Penalty in FCPA, LIBOR Cases

Colby Hamilton | June 04, 2018

The deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice represents the first coordinated resolution with French authorities in a foreign bribery case, according to officials.

News

Trump Tweet Revives Old Question: Can the President Pardon Himself?

Ellis Kim | June 04, 2018

President Donald Trump tweeted Monday that legal scholars are on his side. Here's a review of the mixed opinions on this idea.

Skadden's Pat Fitzgerald Takes on UNC Defense in Admissions Suit

Mike Scarcella | June 04, 2018

Fitzgerald formally joins the court case as Skadden partner Michael Scudder, who had been leading the firm's representation of UNC, leaves for a federal appeals post.

News

Trial Linking Talc to 22 Ovarian Cancer Cases Set to Open in Mo.

Amanda Bronstad | June 04, 2018

Claims of 22 women are set to be tested in the case, the first scheduled to go to trial since the Supreme Court’s 2017 decision in "Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court of California," which made it harder for nonresident litigants to pursue claims in multiplaintiff lawsuits.

News

EEOC Sues Walmart for Alleged Discrimination Against Two Deaf Employees

Erin Mulvaney | June 01, 2018

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, accused Walmart management of failing to provide accommodations for two workers who are deaf.

News

Life After Trump: John Dowd, Ty Cobb Dish on Emmet Flood

Ellis Kim | June 01, 2018

Dowd defended new White House attorney Emmet Flood’s decision to appear at two congressional oversight briefings last week with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

News

Court Acts to Freeze Assets of Chesley, Ex-'Master' of Mass Torts

Amanda Bronstad | June 01, 2018

An appeals court has upheld an injunction freezing the assets of Stanley Chesley—once known as the "master of disaster" for his work in mass tort litigation—after concluding that the disbarred Cincinnati plaintiffs attorney is likely to continue what it called a “high-stakes shell game.”

News

Former Bingham Partner Sues Cotchett Firm and Ex-Partner Claiming They Botched Multimillion-Dollar Compensation Case

Ross Todd | June 01, 2018

Former Bingham partner Michael DiSanto claims that Cotchett and former partner Philip Gregory mishandled an arbitration where he was seeking millions of dollars in unpaid guaranteed compensation from the firm. He lost counterclaims forcing him to hand over stock units from his prior employer to Bingham.

News

How Weinstein's Lawyers Could Face Scrutiny in Sexual Assault Trial

Christine Simmons | June 01, 2018

In media reports, David Boies and other attorneys have been portrayed among Harvey Weinstein's alleged "enablers." What are jurors likely to hear about the lawyers' actions?

News

Novel Securities Case Against Theranos Stumbles Over 'Reliance' Issues

Ben Hancock | June 01, 2018

Whether indirect investors in Theranos actually saw and relied on its PR messaging is an individualized inquiry, the judge ruled.

Profile

Litigators of the Week:  Just Call Them the Jenner Wildcats

Greg Land| June 01, 2018

Faced with hundreds of millions of dollar in potential damages, Northwestern University tapped Jenner & Block's Craig Martin and Amanda Amert to smack down a putative class action challenging the substance and management of its retirement plans.

News

Q&A: Lieff Cabraser's Kelly Dermody on Gender-Pay Cases, Arbitration & More

Erin Mulvaney | June 01, 2018

"Going forward, I think there will be renewed efforts to create pay transparency laws, including requiring employers to publish pay ranges and midpoints so workers have an idea of where their own pay falls," Kelly Dermody says in a wide-ranging Q&A.

News

Trump Denies 'Inciting' This Kentucky Rally. An Appeals Court Will Hear His Case

Tony Mauro | May 31, 2018

Jones Day's Michael Carvin, representing Donald Trump, will argue next week in the Sixth Circuit. Central to the case is the landmark 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brandenburg v. Ohio, which established that the First Amendment protects speech advocating of the use of force, except when it is aimed at “inciting or producing imminent lawless action.”

Analysis

In New Theranos Book, Boies Schiller Doesn’t Come Off So Great

Ben Hancock | May 31, 2018

Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou's account of corporate fraud at Theranos depicts Boies Schiller Flexner as using hardball tactics to keep the truth from coming out. David Boies says it's an overdramatization.

News

Before #MeToo, This Litigator Waged a War Against Sexual Harassment

Miriam Rozen | May 31, 2018

More than two decades after Linda Friedman began taking on an indecent culture in the brokerage industry, her battles persist in rooting out #MeToo-related allegations in a growing number of business sectors, including Big Law.

Commentary

Daily Dicta: Mayer Brown Wins Battle Over 'Humane' Label

Jenna Greene | May 31, 2018

A would-be class action against poultry giant Foster Farms and the American Humane Association questions what it means to raise an animal “humanely” for slaughter.

News

Trump Lawyers at Jones Day Resist Discovery Demand in DNC Hack Suit

C. Ryan Barber | May 31, 2018

“Discovery also threatens to prejudice individuals who have been or will be indicted, by potentially requiring them to sit for civil depositions despite their privilege against self-incrimination,” Jones Day partner Michael Carvin said in a new filing in Washington's federal trial court.

News

Goldman VP Charged in Alleged Insider Trading Scheme

Colby Hamilton | May 31, 2018

Federal authorities say Steve Jung used his access to an overseas friend's account to place trades based on nonpublic information gathered as a vice president with the global investment bank.

News

New Petition at SCOTUS Confronts Scope of LGBT Workplace Protections

Erin Mulvaney | May 31, 2018

The high court petition said the Second Circuit's decision—which aligned with a Seventh Circuit ruling last year—departed from more than 50 years of precedent to conclude that sexual orientation is a subset of “sex” discrimination protected under Title VII. The Second Circuit case pitted Trump's U.S. Justice Department against the EEOC, which argued for greater LGBT workplace protections.

Commentary

What Clients Really Want From Outside Counsel

Lean Adviser Legal| May 31, 2018

It doesn't take a magic formula or a lengthy pitch to impress clients, just master these five fundamentals.