A former general counsel and corporate secretary who once worked for suburban New York and Connecticut banks pled guilty on Friday to two counts connected to a nearly 10-year embezzlement scheme that topped $7.4 million before Webster Bank, based in Stamford, terminated his employment in February 2023, federal prosecutors said.
Law360
Connecticut
MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2024 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Former Connecticut Bank GC Admits Embezzling $7.4M

By Aaron Keller

A former general counsel and corporate secretary who once worked for suburban New York and Connecticut banks pled guilty on Friday to two counts connected to a nearly 10-year embezzlement scheme that topped $7.4 million before Webster Bank, based in Stamford, terminated his employment in February 2023, federal prosecutors said.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC Sues Silver Point Over Atty's Receipt Of Nonpublic Info

By Craig Clough

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued investment adviser firm Silver Point Capital LP in Connecticut federal court on Friday, alleging that it failed to establish policies to safeguard material nonpublic information, particularly from a now-deceased former BigLaw attorney.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. Labs Appeal $7.3M Conn. Jury Verdict Favoring Cigna

By Carolina Bolado

Three Florida substance abuse testing laboratories filed notice Thursday promising to appeal a $7.3 million loss to Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. over billings for recurring tests on drug treatment patients the insurer said were not medically necessary.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Suits Over Fatal Connecticut Cessna Crash Shrink

By Brian Steele

The plaintiffs in several related lawsuits arising from a Cessna private plane crash in Connecticut that killed four people and injured others on the ground have dropped claims against a slew of defendants, leaving only the aircraft's manufacturer to face the pending litigation, court records show.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LITIGATION

Argentina Asks Justices To Review Bondholders' $310M Win

By Lauren Berg

Argentina wants the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split over what law applies when determining whether a country's assets are shielded from creditors under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, saying its reversionary interests worth $310 million in collateral backing recently matured 1990s Brady bonds are immune.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

A Look Back At 2024's Major Securities Litigation Moments

By Katryna Perera

The private securities litigation bar experienced a busy 2024, with meaningful and significant rulings in almost all of the nation's leading courts, and corporations, investors, government agencies and executives fighting over pay packages, disclosures, class certifications and mergers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DEALS

Roundup

Real Estate Recap: Stats, Multifamily Tech, Pot Shop Pickle

By Real Estate Authority Staff

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including big picture stats for commercial real estate in 2024, how one proptech company is leveraging resident data for multifamily profitability, and a conversation with a BigLaw leader about navigating New York's pot shop crackdown.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LEGAL INDUSTRY

MoFo, Irell Latest Firms To Unveil Competitive Bonuses

By Aebra Coe & Hailey Konnath

Morrison Foerster LLP and litigation boutique Irell & Manella LLP have joined a chorus of firms announcing associate bonuses that meet or exceed the BigLaw standard for associate bonuses this year, with MoFo offering up to $218,200 and Irell handing its lawyers as much as $175,000.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Approach The Bench: What Judges Had To Say This Year

By Cara Bayles

Jurists weighed the benefits of partisan elections, praised innovations in telehearings and worried about the future of the profession in nearly a dozen interviews with Law360 this year.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Gunster $8.5M Data Breach Deal Needs More Info, Judge Says

By Matt Perez

A Florida federal judge this week denied preliminary approval of an $8.5 million settlement in a data breach class action against Gunster and demanded more information on payouts, the plaintiffs' standing in the case and a historical breakdown of settlement rates.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Bar's Diversity Plan Isn't Biased, Panel Says

By Tracey Read

A New Jersey state appeals court reversed and remanded on Friday a lower court's ruling that found the state bar association's diversity practices to be an unlawful, discriminatory quota system.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

How Lawyers May Sue The Trump Administration … Again

By Cara Bayles

During the last Trump administration, BigLaw firms challenged White House policies, focusing on immigration, environmental regulations and healthcare. This time around, attorneys could rely on old tools, and some new tactics, to stall the executive branch.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Biden Exceeds Trump's Record On Judges By One

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Friday the last two judicial nominations from President Joe Biden, making his total of lifetime judicial appointments 235, just one over President Donald Trump's 234.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

High Court Bar's Future: Williams & Connolly's Sarah Harris

By Katie Buehler

Sarah M. Harris of Williams & Connolly LLP never planned on being a U.S. Supreme Court advocate, or even an appellate one. She stumbled upon that career path after realizing her initial goal of becoming a national security or government lawyer wasn't the right fit.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Legislators Key To Court Fee Relief, Chief Justices Say

By Cara Salvatore

Two state high court chief justices and a top judicial administrator have told the National Center for State Courts that while they've been able to make significant progress in abolishing unfair court fines and fees, lawmakers have been vital in enacting these changes.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

No, Microsoft Isn't Driving DOJ's Google Antitrust Suit: Judge

By Bryan Koenig

A D.C. federal judge pushed back Friday on Google's efforts to paint Microsoft as the true plaintiff in the Justice Department's search monopolization lawsuit, casting doubt during a hearing that Google should get even more information about Microsoft's relationship with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feature

Litigator On The Roof: The Acting, Singing Mass. Solicitor

By Chris Villani

The top appellate lawyer in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General will be ringing in the new year by performing a comical cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, the latest show in a lengthy side career in music.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Another Texas Judge Exits X's Advertising Boycott Suit

By Lauren Berg

The second Texas judge to oversee litigation filed by Elon Musk's X Corp. accusing the World Federation of Advertisers and others of conspiring to withhold advertising revenue from the company has recused himself from the case.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Hagens Berman Settles Suit Over Effexor Deal Atty Fees

By Bryan Koenig

A pharmaceutical reseller's in-house counsel and founder moved Friday to drop a Mississippi federal court breach of contract suit accusing Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP of stiffing him on his share of a $13 million attorney fees award from an antitrust class settlement, citing a resolution to the dispute.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Girardi's Mental Health To Be Evaluated At NC Federal Prison

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge said Friday she will order Tom Girardi to receive a psychiatric evaluation at a North Carolina federal correctional facility after she recently delayed his wire fraud sentencing to determine if he should be committed to a medical facility instead of prison due to his dementia diagnosis.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Q&A

A Judge Reflects: West Wing Call, 'Alford Plea?' Early Exit

By Hayley Fowler

When Chief Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III of the North Carolina Business Court hangs up his robes for the last time on Dec. 31, he'll leave behind a white-hot docket of high-profile cases and a profusion of opinions that helped mold the court into a tribunal fit to rival Delaware's Court of Chancery.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Andrea Keckley

This week's Legal Lions leader comes from the public sector, as federal prosecutors secured a $650 million settlement from McKinsey & Co. to resolve a lawsuit over the consulting giant's role in Purdue Pharma's promotion of OxyContin.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen the University of Southampton sue a drone-maker over the rights to an uncrewed aircraft patent, Importers Service Corp. and its subsidiary ISC Europe take action against a former director who allegedly owes the company over £1.1 million ($1.4 million), and DAC Beachcroft face a fraud claim by a "prolific litigant." 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Promo that reads Law360 Pulse Global Leaders Promo that reads Associate Salary and Bonus Tracker with a photo of hundred-dollar bills above

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Addleshaw Goddard

Ahmad Zavitsanos

Akerman LLP

Alston & Bird

American Center for Law & Justice Inc.

Andrews & Springer

Armstrong Teasdale

Arnold & Porter

BBB Attorneys

Barrett Law Group

Blacks Solicitors

Bradley Arant

Brito PLLC

Buchanan Ingersoll

CMS Cameron McKenna

Cantey Hanger

Charles Russell Speechlys

Choate Hall

Cleary Gottlieb

Conrad & Scherer

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

Cravath Swaine

DAC Beachcroft

Davis Wright Tremaine

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dechert LLP

Dhillon Law Group

Domnick Cunningham

Fenchurch Law

Fieldfisher

Fisher & Phillips

Forsters LLP

Fox Rothschild

Fried Frank

Friedman Oster

Gatehouse Chambers

Gibbons PC

Gibson Dunn

Girardi & Keese

Glancy Prongay

Glenn Agre

Goodwin Procter

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

Goulston & Storrs

Gowling WLG

Gunster Yoakley

Gupta Wessler

Hadsell Stormer

Hagens Berman

Halunen Law

Haynes & Boone

Hill Ward Henderson

Hogan Lovells

Holman Fenwick

Holwell Shuster

Hueston Hennigan

Hugh James

Hunton Andrews

Irell & Manella

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Kaufman Dolowich

Keker Van Nest & Peters

Kirkland & Ellis

Kreindler & Kreindler

Kutak Rock

Labaton Keller

Latham & Watkins

Law Office of Rajeh A. Saadeh

Loretta A. Preska

Martin Pringle

Mayer Brown

Milbank LLP

Morgan & Morgan

Morgan Lewis

Morrison Foerster

Nabarro LLP

Nair & Levin

Norton Rose

O'Melveny & Myers

Orrick Herrington

Patterson Belknap

Paul Weiss

Paynter Law Firm

Perkins Coie

Podhurst Orseck

Quarles & Brady

Quinn Emanuel

Raines Feldman

Reynolds Porter

Robbins Geller

Robinson & Cole

Robinson Bradshaw

Ropes & Gray

Ross Aronstam

Roythornes Solicitors

Sanford Heisler

Sidley Austin

Skadden Arps

Spector Constant & Williams

Sullivan & Cromwell

TLT LLP

Trenk Isabel

Troutman Pepper

Trowers & Hamlins

Vartabedian Hester

Vinson & Elkins

Wachtell Lipton

Ward Hadaway

Weber & Carrier

White & Case

Wiggin & Dana

Wiley Rein

Wilkinson Stekloff

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Wilson Elser

Wilson Sonsini

Winston & Strawn

Yankwitt LLP

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Civil Liberties Union

American Constitution Society

American International Group Inc.

Apple Inc.

Atlantic Coast Conference

BNP Paribas SA

Beazley PLC

Boy Scouts of America

British American Tobacco PLC

CVS Health Corp.

Cincinnati Financial Corp.

CrossCountry Mortgage Inc.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Duke Energy Corp.

Essity AB

Evercore Inc.

Eversource Energy

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Federalist Society

Foxconn

GP Global

Google LLC

Gulf Petrochem FZC

Hudson Valley Holding Corp.

Inovalon Holdings Inc.

JOANN Inc.

Judicial Watch Inc.

Lambda Legal Defense & Educational Fund

Macquarie Group Ltd.

Macquarie Infrastructure Corp.

Mars Inc.

Match.com Inc.

McKinsey & Co. Inc.

Meadow

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Mozilla Corp.

NVIDIA Corp.

Natixis SA

New Jersey State Bar Association

New York University

Nordic Capital Ltd.

Our Children's Trust

Pfizer Inc.

Princeton University

Prospect Medical Holdings Inc.

Purdue Pharma LP

QuikTrip Corp.

ROC Nation LLC

RealPage Inc.

Reynolds American Inc.

Rocket Cos.

Saint-Gobain SA

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Silver Point Capital LP

Sotheby's

Spotify Technology SA

Starr International Co. Inc.

Sterling National Bank

Tesla Inc.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Textron Inc.

The Cigna Group

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The New York Times Co.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC

The Walt Disney Co.

TikTok Inc.

TransUnion LLC

Trumpf Inc.

Twitter Inc.

Ulta Beauty Inc.

Unilever PLC

United Steelworkers

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Valero Energy Corp.

Walmart Inc.

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

Webster Financial Corp.

Wells Fargo & Co.

Western Environmental Law Center

World Economic Forum

Yellow Corp.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arkansas Teacher Retirement System

California Supreme Court

Central Intelligence Agency

Colorado Supreme Court

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Companies House

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Delaware Court of Chancery

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Federal Reserve System

Georgia Court of Appeals

Internal Revenue Service

Ohio Supreme Court

Texas Supreme Court

The Crown Prosecution Service

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

US Office of Management and Budget