Analysis

Biden's Pardon Is Another Blow To Special Counsel Probes

By Phillip Bantz

President Joe Biden's pardon of his son over the weekend marks the latest example of a special counsel investigation fizzling and raises doubts over the future use of such probes, which can drag on for years and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

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Analysis

SEC Crypto Cases To Face Review Under Trump

By Aislinn Keely

President-elect Donald Trump's promises of a friendlier approach to the digital asset industry means a review is coming for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's controversial crypto suits, but experts agreed that this doesn't mean enforcement actions in the space will grind to a halt.

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Girardi Won't Get New Fraud Trial Despite Memory Claims

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge on Monday denied Tom Girardi's bid for a new trial after a jury found he misappropriated $15 million worth of client settlement funds, standing by a prior assessment that the disbarred attorney was "exaggerating" symptoms of mild cognitive impairment.

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Government Mole Faces Tough Cross From Madigan's Atty

By Celeste Bott

An attorney for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan got his chance Monday to question the ex-Chicago alderman who recorded his client while cooperating with the government, pushing him to admit that Madigan never explicitly conditioned his support on legal business for his law firm or told the alderman to vote against developers who didn't hire him for tax work.

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Ex-BigLaw Atty Who Killed Wife Faces Depo Over Settlement

By Jack Karp

Former Fisher Phillips partner Claud "Tex" McIver, who is serving a prison sentence for killing his wife, is set to be deposed as soon as Tuesday as part of the legal battle in Georgia state court over who is entitled to the settlement of the wrongful death suit brought by his wife's estate.

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DEA Asserts Its Role As Proponent Of Pot Rescheduling Plan

By Sam Reisman

The Drug Enforcement Administration on Monday affirmed it was acting as the proponent of a proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, and the administrative law judge said supporters of rescheduling would not get an opportunity to cross-examine DEA witnesses.

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Top Promoter Of $58M IcomTech Crypto Ponzi Gets 10 Years

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge hit a Florida cryptocurrency salesman on Monday with a 10-year prison sentence for his role in promoting the $58 million IcomTech Ponzi scheme, saying he victimized others in a "get rich quick" scam and may do so again.

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Miss America CEO Files $500M Suit Alleging Bankruptcy Fraud

By Carolina Bolado

The producer of the Miss America pageant and its related entities have filed a $500 million racketeering suit in Florida accusing developer Glenn Straub of fraudulently pushing the organization into bankruptcy in an effort to take over its assets.

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Ex-Palo Alto Engineer Fights Fraud Conviction At 9th Circ.

By Dorothy Atkins

A former Palo Alto Networks engineer urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to overturn his securities fraud conviction and 18-month prison sentence, arguing that he didn't have a personal relationship with the tipper and so there isn't sufficient evidence to show he traded off of insider information.

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Funds Get $30M Payout From SEC's Fight With Fugitive Trader

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge has approved a receiver's plan to distribute $30 million to four Oak Management Corp. funds that were among the victims of a former in-house trader who spent a decade defrauding investors and misappropriating $67 million, court records show.

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Ga. DNA Testing Law Hinders Death Row Inmates, Suit Says

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia law governing DNA testing used in capital crime cases is unconstitutional because it allows courts to decide whether death row inmates are using bids to reopen evidence as a means to delay their execution, according to a federal lawsuit.

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Remediation Co. Says Anadarko Can't Support Coverage Bid

By Hope Patti

An environmental remediation company urged a Texas federal court to deny Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s bid for an early win in a dispute over coverage for a decade-old Louisiana kickback suit, saying the oil producer failed to show that it's entitled to a defense and indemnity.

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Attorney Disbarred In NJ For Stealing $170K From Father

By George Woolston

The New Jersey Supreme Court has disbarred a Pennsylvania attorney following her conviction in Pennsylvania for stealing nearly $170,000 from her father, according to a recently filed order.

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Brief

NY Doctor To Admit Role In Brain Scan Kickback Scheme

By Julie Manganis

A New York doctor has agreed to plead guilty to taking part in a kickback scheme that allegedly billed insurers approximately $1 million for unnecessary brain scans, Massachusetts federal prosecutors said Monday.

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Ex-Soccer Boss Fears He'll Die While Fighting Conviction

By Ryan Harroff

The ailing former president of the Brazilian soccer federation urged a New York federal judge to rule on his petition to have his FIFA bribery conviction overturned, telling the court Monday that he could die before a scheduled January hearing on the issue.

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Atty Seeks DEA Communications On Rescheduling

By Mike Curley

An attorney is suing the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking communications between the agency and anti-legalization activists as the agency holds a hearing on whether to reschedule the drug under the Controlled Substances Act.

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BIA Aims To Exclude Evidence In Assault Liability Case

By Crystal Owens

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is looking to throw out an array of evidence in a Montana federal court dispute over whether the agency is liable for a former officer's sexual assault of a Northern Cheyenne woman, arguing most of the information is based on hearsay, undisclosed opinion and privileged testimony.

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Navigating 4th Circ.'s Antitrust Burden In Hybrid Relationships

The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review the Fourth Circuit's Brewbaker decision, a holding that heightens the burden on antitrust prosecutors when the target companies have a hybrid horizontal-vertical relationship, but diverges from other circuits, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

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Bonus Spotlight

Mid-Law Firm Seward & Kissel Matching Milbank Bonus Scale

By Tracey Read

Seward & Kissel LLP, a Mid-Law firm with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., has joined the bonus bandwagon for associates by matching the year-end and special cash rewards set by Milbank LLP, according to media reports.

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The Top In-House Hires Of November

By Sue Reisinger

Legal department moves in the last month included high-profile announcements at CSX Corp., Cohen & Steers Inc. and Pershing Square Holdings Ltd., including two general counsel joining boards of directors. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house appointments from November.

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Jackson Walker 'Extinguished' Privilege Over Judge Romance

By Lynn LaRowe

An Oregon federal judge has said Holland & Knight LLP lawyers must turn over documents regarding their advice to Jackson Walker LLP on how to handle the "debacle" of a former firm partner's intimate relationship with a former bankruptcy judge, finding Jackson Walker has "utterly extinguished" any claim to attorney-client privilege.

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NC Judge Is 2nd To Reverse Senior Status Plans After Election

By Courtney Bublé

A second federal judge appointed by a Democratic president has reversed his decision to take senior status in the wake of former President Donald Trump's win in the 2024 presidential election.

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Senate Sends Calif. Judge To Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted 48-43 on Monday evening to confirm California Superior Court Judge Anne Hwang to a federal judgeship in the Central District of California.

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Hagens Berman Sued For Slice Of Atty Fee From Effexor Deal

By Rae Ann Varona

A pharmaceutical reseller's in-house counsel and founder lodged a breach of contract suit against Hagens Berman in Mississippi federal court, accusing the law firm of refusing to pay him his share of a $13 million attorney fees award stemming from an antitrust class settlement with Pfizer Inc. unit Wyeth.

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