A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday affirmed the criminal fraud convictions of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani along with their respective 11-year and nearly 13-year prison sentences, rejecting arguments that the lower court made multiple evidentiary errors that unfairly swayed jurors.
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Elizabeth Holmes Loses 9th Circ. Appeal Over Theranos Fraud

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday affirmed the criminal fraud convictions of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani along with their respective 11-year and nearly 13-year prison sentences, rejecting arguments that the lower court made multiple evidentiary errors that unfairly swayed jurors.

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'Varsity Blues' Suit Against USC An 'Uphill Battle,' Judge Says

By Rachel Scharf

A Los Angeles judge said Monday that while a private equity investor's fraud suit against USC over his prosecution in the "Varsity Blues" case will likely make it past the pleading stage, he will later face an "uphill battle" given how much time has passed since the high-profile college admissions scandal.

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Investors Don't Have 'Shred' Of Fraud Evidence, Exxon Says

By Elliot Weld

Exxon Mobil Corp. has told a Texas federal judge that an investor class doesn't have a "shred of evidence" that the company engaged in the stock inflation scheme the investors allege.

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DA Willis Says 'Makes No Sense' To DQ Her From Trump Case

By Emily Johnson

Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis is arguing to the Georgia Supreme Court that her disqualification from prosecuting the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others was unprecedented, asserting that her ousting over the appearance of impropriety creates a dangerous precedent.

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Justices Weigh Potentially Key Standing Issue In DNA Case

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday aggressively probed whether reinstating a district court ruling finding Texas' postconviction DNA testing procedures unconstitutional would give a man on death row legal standing to seek DNA evidence that could prove he is not eligible for the death penalty.

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Connecticut High Court Pick Wary Of Judicial Activism

By Brian Steele

The chief judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court drew bright lines between the judicial and legislative branches Monday as lawmakers considered his nomination to the state Supreme Court, telling the General Assembly's Joint Judiciary Committee that he has "never been elected to anything" and does not intend to make law from the bench.

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COMPLIANCE

Lobbyist Abramoff Testifies At Fraud Trial Against Crypto CEO

By Bonnie Eslinger

Disgraced Washington, D.C., power broker Jack Abramoff told jurors on Monday that he participated in a conspiracy with the founder of an "anti-money laundering" cryptocurrency company accused of bilking investors out of $5 million, testifying remotely due to a recent cancer diagnosis.

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SECURITIES

3rd Circ. Says $31M Order To Refill Class Funds Isn't Enough

By George Woolston

The Third Circuit on Monday vacated and sent back a district court's order for a New Jersey man convicted of stealing $40 million from settlements in stockholder class actions to pay $31 million in restitution, ruling the order didn't fully compensate each victim of the fraud.

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MONEY LAUNDERING

Crypto Exchange OKX To Pay $504M For Allowing Illicit Deeds

By Stewart Bishop

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX on Monday agreed to pay $504 million in a deal with New York federal prosecutors who said the company ran afoul of U.S. anti-money laundering rules and allowed its platform to be used for more than $5 billion worth of suspicious transactions.

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US Was Behind Privatbank Nationalization, Suit Alleges

By Caroline Simson

Two Miami-based associates of the former owners of Ukraine's largest bank have sued the U.S. State Department in Florida, saying officials are wrongly refusing to release records showing that the U.S. — not an alleged $5 billion money laundering scheme — was behind the bank's nationalization in late 2016.

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LEGAL ETHICS

Okla. Attorneys Say Tribes Can't Intervene In Jurisdiction Row

By Joyce Hanson

Two Oklahoma district attorneys are fighting bids by the Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw nations to intervene in the federal government's challenges to the DAs' attempts to prosecute tribal citizens for crimes committed in Indian Country, saying the tribes are adequately represented by the United States.

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Trump Media Co. Wants TRO Against Brazilian Justice

By Carolina Bolado

President Donald Trump's media company and online video sharing platform Rumble Inc. have asked a Florida federal court for a temporary restraining order blocking a Brazilian Supreme Federal Court justice's gag orders, arguing they illegally suppress political speech in the United States.

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TAX

Investor Settles In $2.1B Danish Tax Fraud Case

By Anna Scott Farrell

A U.S. investor who was among those accused by Denmark's tax agency of participating in a $2.1 billion tax fraud scheme related to fraudulently claiming refunds on tax withheld from stock dividends has reached a settlement, according to New York federal court documents filed Monday.

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COMPETITION

'Fraternal Duty' No Grounds For Conspiracy, 11th Circ. Told

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia man found guilty last year of participating in a bid-rigging and price-fixing scheme for tens of millions of dollars of ready-mix concrete contracts asked the Eleventh Circuit Friday to throw out his conviction, arguing federal prosecutors failed to prove a wide-ranging conspiracy that captured the coastal concrete market.

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PEOPLE

Caplin & Drysdale Hires High-Profile Gov't Investigations Atty

By Jack Rodgers

Caplin & Drysdale LLP has hired out of retirement the former U.S. Department of Justice counterintelligence chief who investigated Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server for classified information, Russian interference in the 2016 election and other high-profile investigations, the firm announced Wednesday.

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Cravath Swaine Adds Ex-DOJ Criminal Division Leader In NY

By Rose Krebs

Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP announced Monday that it has hired the former acting assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division to advise clients about civil and criminal matters.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Tools For Witness Control That Go Beyond Leading Questions

Though leading questions can be efficient and effective for constraining a witness’s testimony, this strategy isn’t appropriate for every trial and pretrial scenario, so techniques like headlining and looping can be deployed during direct examination, depositions and even witness interviews, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

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How Design Thinking Can Help Lawyers Find Purpose In Work

Lawyers everywhere are feeling overwhelmed amid mass government layoffs, increasing political instability and a justice system stretched to its limits — but a design-thinking framework can help attorneys navigate this uncertainty and find meaning in their work, say law professors at the University of Michigan.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Judge Who Ordered Pages Restored Put On Impeachment List

By Courtney Bublé

A Republican U.S. congressman announced Monday he has introduced articles of impeachment against a Washington, D.C., federal judge, following the judge's ruling ordering public health agencies temporarily to restore the web pages they took down in response to a Trump administration order to scrub pages of "gender ideology."

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Injury Attys Sanctioned Over AI-Hallucinated Case Citations

By Lauren Berg

A Wyoming federal judge overseeing a personal injury lawsuit against Walmart sanctioned the plaintiffs' attorneys from Morgan & Morgan PA and the Goody Law Group after they filed pretrial motions containing case law hallucinated by artificial intelligence, but acknowledged Monday their "remedial steps, transparency and apologetic sentiments."

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Texas Atty Dinged For AI-Generated Fake Citations In Briefs

By Emily Sawicki

A Texas lawyer could face a $15,000 personal sanction and other potential discipline for filing three separate briefs using generative artificial intelligence that included fake citations in an Indiana ERISA case, according to a report and recommendation by a federal judge in the Hoosier State.

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ABA Suspends Law School DEI Standards Until Summer

By Tracey Read

The American Bar Association has announced that it is holding off on enforcing its diversity and inclusion standards for law schools in light of recent executive orders by the new presidential administration.

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'It Was An Accident': Judge Denies Shooting Wife On Purpose

By Gina Kim

A California judge who shot his wife to death in their living room following an argument took the stand in his murder trial Monday, fighting hard to maintain his composure while explaining to jurors that his Glock discharged accidentally when he tried to set it down on the coffee table.

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Reed Smith Adds 16 Laterals To Launch Denver Office

By Aebra Coe

Reed Smith LLP is bringing on more than a dozen lateral attorney hires from Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, Foley Hoag LLP, Dentons, Akerman LLP, Greenberg Traurig LLP and Cooley LLP to launch its new Denver office, the firm announced Monday.

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Freshfields Launches In Boston, Led By Ex-Latham Partner

By Tracey Read

London-founded Freshfields LLP announced Monday that it has opened its fourth U.S. office in Boston, and that it has added a former Latham & Watkins LLP partner to lead the Beantown build-out.

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McDermott Expands To Nashville With 4 Hires From K&L Gates

By Xiumei Dong

McDermott Will & Emery LLP has opened a new office in Nashville, Tennessee, bringing on four healthcare-focused partners from K&L Gates LLP to lead the expansion, the firm announced Monday.

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Gunnercooke Opens In Chicago With Ex-FisherBroyles Team

By Matt Perez

U.K.-based law firm Gunnercooke LLP announced the launch of a Chicago office, marking the second state it has entered since launching in New York in 2022.

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Feature

'We Need Go No Further': 10 Notable Judge Bruce Selya Lines

By Chris Villani

Senior First Circuit Judge Bruce Selya, who died Saturday at age 90, will be remembered not only for the opinions he wrote but for the flowery language he used to write them. Here are 10 of the judge's notable "Selyanisms" from recent years.

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Moves To Change Del. Corporate Law Spark Pushback

By Jeff Montgomery

A public opposition campaign complete with website and street signs has surfaced to oppose corporation and bar-backed legislation that would overhaul Delaware stockholder litigation rights and fee awards, intensifying an already unprecedented political fight that broke out last year over corporate governance concessions.

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Brief

DC Circ. To Hear Judge Newman's Appeal In April

By Andrew Karpan

The D.C. Circuit has set a date in April to hear an appeal from Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, who is fighting her suspension from the bench for refusing to undergo medical tests.

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Lloyd's Says Cadwalader's Suit Claims Nonexistent Tort

By Ryan Harroff

A Lloyd's of London syndicate has urged a North Carolina judge to toss part of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP's coverage lawsuit stemming from a data breach, saying there's no tort remedy for the allegation that the insurer exposed the firm's confidential information in a court filing.

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Feds Fight Reinstatement Of Ousted Inspectors General

By Ali Sullivan

The Trump administration fired back at a lawsuit brought by eight inspectors general who were fired last month, telling a D.C. federal judge that federal law does not require the president to hold off on the terminations for 30 days after notifying Congress.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Akerman LLP

Baker McKenzie

Balon B. Bradley Law Firm

Boies Schiller

Brownstein Hyatt

Bryan Cave

Cadwalader Wickersham

Caplin & Drysdale

Cooley LLP

Corr Cronin

Cravath Swaine

Crowley Fleck

Cummings & Lockwood

DLA Piper

Day Pitney

Dechert LLP

Dentons

Diserio Martin

Faegre Drinker

FisherBroyles

Foley Hoag

Foran Glennon

Freedman Normand

Freeman Mathis

Freshfields

Goody Law Group

Greenberg Traurig

Haynes Boone

Hughes Hubbard

Hunton Andrews

K&L Gates

Katten Muchin

Kendall Brill & Kelly

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Law Office of John D. Cline

Lewis Brisbois

Manatt Phelps

Mattingly Burke

McCarter & English

McCoy Leavitt

McDermott Will & Emery

Moore Tax Law Group

Morgan & Morgan

Morgan Lewis

Nelson Mullins

O'Melveny & Myers

Orrick Herrington

Paul Weiss

Pullman & Comley

Reed Smith

Richards Layton

Robbins Geller

Robinson Bradshaw

Rouse & Copeland

Shipman & Goodwin

Skadden Arps

Sonosky Chambers

Thompson Coe

Vinson & Elkins

Wachtell Lipton

Weil Gotshal

Whitten Burrage

Wiggin & Dana

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

gunnercooke LLP

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Activision Blizzard Inc.

American Bar Association

American Medical Association Inc.

American Psychiatric Association

American Psychological Association

Cementos Argos SA

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc.

Delaware State Bar Association

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Fullbridge Inc.

Google LLC

Harvard University

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

Investments Ltd.

Jetson Electric Bikes LLC

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LinkedIn Corp.

Massachusetts General Hospital

Match Group LLC

Match.com Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Moelis & Co.

Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway Inc.

NBCUniversal Media LLC

National Institute for Trial Advocacy

New Civil Liberties Alliance

New York University

Northeastern University

RELX PLC

Tesla Inc.

Twitter Inc.

University of Southern California

Villanova University

Walmart Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Central Intelligence Agency

Chickasaw Nation

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Railroad Administration

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Food and Drug Administration

Georgia Court of Appeals

Georgia Supreme Court

National Labor Relations Board

New York Attorney General's Office

Texas Attorney General's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

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

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

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

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

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

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 Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Wyoming

United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma

United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia

United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana