Analysis

New Evidence, Old Politics To Collide In 2nd Menendez Trial

By Carla Baranauckas

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and the government will face off Monday for the second time before a jury tasked with weighing bribery charges, a courtroom showdown that promises higher stakes — think flashier evidence and a more dramatic defense — than the corruption case the New Jersey Democrat escaped seven years ago.

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Exxon Hit With $725M Verdict In Benzene Exposure Suit

By Matthew Santoni

A Philadelphia jury has awarded $725.5 million to a New York service station mechanic for his claims that Exxon Mobil Corp. failed to warn consumers about the health risks of benzene in its products, and that his exposure to the chemical was responsible for his leukemia diagnosis.

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DC Circ. Upholds Steve Bannon's Contempt Conviction

By Ali Sullivan

The D.C. Circuit on Friday upheld former Trump aide Steve Bannon's conviction for contempt of Congress, rejecting Bannon's argument that he did not "willfully" flout a subpoena from the Jan. 6 House select committee because his lawyer advised him not to respond to it.

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Atty Ready For Astroworld Wrongful Death Trial 'Tomorrow'

By Catherine Marfin

An attorney for the family of the youngest victim of the 2021 Astroworld tragedy said he's ready to try his case "tomorrow," a day after lawyers for the nine other victims' families confirmed that their wrongful death cases had settled.

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Cohen Urged To Stop Trashing Trump As Testimony Nears

By Rachel Scharf, Frank G. Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

The Manhattan judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial made clear Friday that he wants star witness Michael Cohen to stop talking publicly about the charges as the former president's erstwhile attorney prepares to take the stand as soon as Monday.

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The Week In Trump: All Eyes On NY As Other Cases Lag

By Phillip Bantz

Donald Trump's Manhattan hush money trial took center stage with dramatic testimony from adult film actress Stormy Daniels, while the former president's criminal cases in Georgia and Florida ran into delays that could last through Election Day.

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Coverage Recap: Day 11 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Stewart Bishop

Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from Friday, day 11 of the trial.

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Atty's Remarks On Race And Gender Sink $12M Texas Verdict

By Emily Johnson

The Supreme Court of Texas on Friday threw out a $12.45 million jury verdict awarded to a couple who were rear-ended on a highway, citing the plaintiffs' counsel's "inflammatory" and "unprovoked" accusation that the defendants wanted a lower award because one of the plaintiffs is a Black woman.

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'Iron Man 2' Actor Guilty Of Wire Fraud In COVID 'Cure' Scam

By Craig Clough

A bodybuilder and actor from "Iron Man 2" was found guilty Friday of 11 counts of wire fraud by a Los Angeles federal jury, after prosecutors argued he tried to scam investors in March 2020 by falsely claiming he'd found a cure for COVID-19 and that NBA legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson was a major investor.

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Densify, VMware Settle Patent Case After $85M Verdict

By Adam Lidgett

Densify and the Dell spinoff VMware notified a Delaware federal judge on Friday that they had decided to settle a suit after VMware last year was ordered to pay nearly $85 million for infringing patents over new ways of designing virtual environments.

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Jury Says Microsoft Owes $242M For Infringing IPA Patent

By Adam Lidgett

A Delaware federal jury on Friday found that Microsoft infringed a trio of claims in a patent initially issued to a company that developed Apple's Siri software, handing the patent owner $242 million.

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Wash. Judge Doubles Hospital System's Penalty In Wage Case

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state judge has ordered a healthcare system to pay nearly $230 million to 33,000 workers, doubling the damages a jury awarded to the employees in April based on the company's "willful" violations of wage law.  

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Feds Seek 20 Mos. For Ex-Baltimore State's Atty

By Elliot Weld

Prosecutors asked a Maryland federal court to sentence former state's attorney Marilyn Mosby to 20 months in prison after she was convicted of lying to obtain money from a retirement fund and conning a lender to obtain a vacation home, saying she "could not be trusted to tell the truth" despite her position of public trust.

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Epic Judge Raises Eyebrows About Apple's New 27% App Fee

By Bonnie Eslinger

The California federal judge overseeing Epic's antitrust case against Apple challenged the terms the tech giant is using to comply with her order to allow app developers to send users to outside payment platforms, saying Friday that Apple appears to be trying to maintain its past revenue with a new 27% fee.

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Insurers Don't Owe Chiquita Coverage In Terrorism Settlement

By Mike Curley

An Ohio state appeals court ruled Friday that Chiquita Brands International Inc. is not owed coverage by a group of insurers for a settlement with families of six Americans killed by a terrorist group Chiquita had paid for protection, saying any errors the trial court made were harmless because it came to the correct conclusion.

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No 'Piecemeal' Fees For Infant Data Win Amid 6th Circ. Appeal

By Carolyn Muyskens

A federal judge said Friday that he wouldn't award attorney fees to children who challenged Michigan's handling of blood samples collected in an infant health screening program until the state's Sixth Circuit appeal is resolved.

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Off The Bench

Off The Bench: Ohtani Translator's Plea, NBA Star Tops Agent

By David Steele

In this week's Off The Bench, Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter will plead guilty, an NBA star wins in his clash with the agent who sought to represent him, and a tennis player who was abused by her former coach is awarded $9 million.

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Ex-Pryor Cashman Securities Chair Joins Alston & Bird

By Adrian Cruz

Alston & Bird LLP announced Thursday that it hired an experienced trial attorney who previously chaired Pryor Cashman LLP's securities practice as a partner based in New York.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Cohen Says Trump Ordered Him To Bury News Of Affairs

By Frank Runyeon and Stewart Bishop

Donald Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen took the witness stand Monday in the ex-president's New York criminal case, testifying that his longtime "boss" directed him to make hush money payments to alleged paramours and knew the details of the deals.

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NJ Firm's Former Exec Says Home Purchase Not Tied To Theft

By Emily Sawicki

A previous McElroy Deutsch executive is fighting a claim on her house after her husband, another former firm leader, copped to stealing $1.5 million, arguing his theft began after January 2017 and therefore the firm could not show funds were used to purchase their New Jersey home in 2016.

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