Judge Opens Path For Ex-Yale Student's Asylum Bid

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge has illuminated a potential path for an expelled Yale student to send his sex assault accuser's name to immigration officials, suggesting that submitting a state trial transcript would "not seem to run afoul" of a magistrate judge's ban on otherwise naming the woman.

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

Conn. Trial Firm's Dissolution Is In Disarray, CEO Tells Judge

By Aaron Keller

The windup of Connecticut Trial Firm LLC is "in complete controversy" and must be submitted to arbitration, CEO Ryan McKeen has told a state Superior Court judge, saying his onetime 50-50 partner, Ryan Garza, committed "self-dealing, waste and abuse" to benefit his new firm, Claggett Sykes & Garza LLC.

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

Trump Wants 'Immediate Dismissal' Of NY Hush Money Case

By Frank G. Runyeon

President-elect Donald Trump's legal team told the New York judge who presided over his hush money trial that his conviction should be thrown out due to his "overwhelming victory" at the polls, according to a filing released Wednesday.

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

Conn. Regulator Slashes $35M From Utility Revenue Plans

By Ryan Harroff

The Connecticut utilities regulator has rejected bids by two Avangrid Inc. units seeking a ratepayer-funded boost of $63 million, instead slashing their bottom lines by a collective $35 million in a move that was praised by the Constitution State's top enforcer. 

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

Feds Want 1 Year In Prison For Accountant Who Hid $1.4M

By Anna Scott Farrell

An accountant who hid $1.4 million from the IRS should be sentenced to at least a year in prison despite his stated mental health issues, the government told a Connecticut federal court, saying he seemed driven at least partly by greed and thought he wouldn't get caught.

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

Yacht Owner Seeks Trial In Highway Damage Case

By George Woolston

Yacht owner Max Zach Corp. urged a Connecticut federal court to reject bids from a North Carolina boat repair shop and a trucking company to toss its suit seeking damages after a New Jersey highway crash destroyed its $750,000 vessel, arguing a jury must sort out fact questions about the ultimate value of its modified boat and other questions about storage costs.

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

2nd Circ. Doubts Error In Tenant Screener's FHA Suit Win

By Brian Steele

A Second Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday that a Connecticut federal judge used the wrong analysis to find that a tenant screener's criminal history reporting practices do not violate the Fair Housing Act, grilling counsel for the federal government about the lower court's process.

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

BigLaw Begins Matching Milbank On Associate Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

Following the news Tuesday that Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP will pay associates year-end and special bonuses in line with those handed out by Milbank LLP this year, the firms' peers have begun to respond, with swift matches Wednesday by Paul Hastings LLP and McDermott Will & Emery LLP.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Settles With Atty Who Reported Judge's Sexual Misconduct

By Lauren Berg

A former Alaska federal prosecutor who made allegations of sexual misconduct against then-U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred has reached an undisclosed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice resolving claims she suffered retaliation for speaking up, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Foley Shouldn't Face Data Breach Claims, Calif. Panel Says

By Dorothy Atkins

A California appellate panel affirmed the dismissal of Accellion Inc.'s cross-complaint against law firm Foley & Lardner LLP in an insurance company's lawsuit claiming the software-maker should be held liable for a $1 million ransomware attack that targeted the law firm, finding that Accellion's cross-claims are untimely.

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

Weil Litigation Leaders Jump To Paul Weiss In NY

By Tracey Read

The co-chair of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's global litigation department and the co-head of Weil's patent litigation practice will soon be joining Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York, the latter firm announced Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Akerman Opens In Charlotte With 2 Moore & Van Allen Hires

By Xiumei Dong

Akerman LLP announced Wednesday the firm opened its second North Carolina office in Charlotte and brought on two new partners from Moore & Van Allen PLLC, including the former head of its renewable energy project finance team and a tax law expert.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Touts Reforms In Handling Workplace Complaints

By Ryan Boysen

The federal judiciary is successfully reforming the controversial process that aims to protect its 30,000 employees from sexual harassment in the workplace, according to a new internal report released Wednesday, even as lawmakers have called for scrapping that process altogether and replacing it with a new one.

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

Musk, Ramaswamy Say High Court Rulings OK Federal Cuts

By Lauren Berg

Billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Donald Trump's picks to lead a newly created "Department of Government Efficiency," on Wednesday said two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings will give them the authority to cut off power to regulatory agencies and conduct massive federal layoffs.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

House Dem Proposes Vote Forcing Release Of Gaetz Report

By Hailey Konnath

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten on Wednesday introduced a resolution that would require the House of Representatives to vote on whether the House Ethics Committee must release its report on the allegations against former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a proposal unveiled the same day the ethics committee failed to reach a consensus.

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

Fed. Judges Still Seek New Bench Seats Amid Dems' Loss

By Courtney Bublé

The Federal Judges Association is urging the House to pass the bipartisan bill that would expand the federal courts in order to meet rising caseloads, even as the Biden administration appears to be cooling on the idea it once supported.

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

Calif. Judicial Nominee Asked About Race, Parenting Writings

By Courtney Bublé

A California judicial nominee's previous writing about the murder of George Floyd in 2020, which sparked a national reckoning on race, was the subject of debate during a Senate nomination hearing on Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Washington State, DC District Court Picks Secure Seats

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate on Wednesday voted 50-48 to confirm Washington Court of Appeals Judge Rebecca L. Pennell to the Eastern District of Washington and 50-49 to confirm Amir Ali, former president and executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center and co-director of the Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic at Harvard Law School, to the District of Columbia.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Girardi Pushes For New Trial Over Competency Claims

By Cara Salvatore

Counsel for Tom Girardi told a federal judge the disbarred attorney is plainly mentally incompetent and deserves a new trial over charges he defrauded clients of $15 million worth of settlement money.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »