Trials

  • May 28, 2024

    FTX Exec Who Acted As Bankman-Fried 'Tool' Gets 7½ Years

    A Manhattan federal judge hit cryptocurrency finance expert and former FTX executive Ryan Salame with a 7½-year sentence Tuesday for duping a bank to authorize $1.5 billion of illegal transfers and making fraudulent campaign contributions for the exchange's convicted founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.

  • May 24, 2024

    5 Themes That Could Determine Trump's NY Criminal Trial

    With closing arguments set for Tuesday morning in Donald Trump's New York hush money case and deliberations on the horizon, here's a look at the themes that have dominated the historic, monthlong trial so far.

  • May 24, 2024

    Samsung Beats Patent Suit Due To Misconduct By Ex-Attys

    A Texas federal judge has thrown out a patent suit against Samsung seeking more than $300 million, holding that former in-house Samsung patent attorneys stole the company's confidential documents and used them to aid the patent owner, in misconduct he called "repugnant to the rule of law."

  • May 24, 2024

    11th Circ. Lets Carnival Passenger Pursue Pain Damages

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday granted a Carnival Cruise passenger's bid for a new trial seeking damages stemming from her falling out of a wheelchair while disembarking a ship, agreeing that the movant's previous jury award for medical expenses is inadequate without a nominal award for pain and suffering.

  • May 24, 2024

    Carhartt Heiress Atty Can't Get Mistrial Over Own Witness

    A Michigan attorney can't get a mistrial in a criminal case accusing him of embezzling millions from his wealthy Carhartt heiress client after his own witness discussed the heiress' $37 million potential loss during cross-examination, with a state judge saying Friday he was mystified why the witness was even called but that the defense had insisted on it. 

  • May 24, 2024

    Bungie Cheat Code Sellers Hit With $63K Copyright Verdict

    A federal jury said Friday that people behind a video game cheat code owe Bungie about $63,000 for replicating a sci-fi shooter's code to make the cheat software and peddle it on the internet, capping off a nearly weeklong copyright trial in Seattle.

  • May 24, 2024

    Alec Baldwin Must Face 'Rust' Shooting Charges

    A New Mexico state judge on Friday denied Alec Baldwin's motion to dismiss his indictment on involuntary manslaughter charges in the fatal on-set shooting of a cinematographer during the filming of "Rust" in Santa Fe, rejecting the actor's claims of prosecutorial misconduct before the grand jury.

  • May 24, 2024

    Biden's Judicial Impact And What's Left On The Wish List

    President Joe Biden secured confirmation of his 200th federal judge Wednesday and has transformed the judiciary by picking more women and people of color than any other president. But the upcoming election season could derail his hopes of confirming many more judges.

  • May 24, 2024

    Instant Messages Sink Early Win Bid In BlueCross Vax Case

    A data scientist was denied her request for summary judgment Friday in her lawsuit alleging BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee wrongly fired her for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19 due to religious objections, after a relative's instant messages cast doubt on the sincerity of her beliefs.

  • May 24, 2024

    Exiled Chinese Businessman Is No $1B Fraudster, Jury Told

    Exiled Chinese businessman and purported billionaire Guo Wengui ran legitimate companies in support of a broad movement that opposed the Chinese Communist Party, his attorney told a Manhattan federal jury Friday, rather than what prosecutors say was a multifaceted $1 billion fraud.

  • May 24, 2024

    Weinstein Atty Trying To Chill Retrial Testimony, DA Says

    The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has argued that a lawyer for Harvey Weinstein violated ethics rules by publicly accusing one of the movie mogul's alleged rape victims of perjury in an "obvious" attempt to dissuade her from testifying again at an upcoming retrial.

  • May 24, 2024

    Foley & Lardner Given All-Clear To Exit SEC Suit

    A North Carolina federal judge permitted Foley & Lardner LLP on Friday to exit as counsel for a Malta-based registered investment adviser that is defending claims in a $75 million lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, despite the judge's previous concerns about the firm's withdrawal.

  • May 24, 2024

    Menendez, Kasowitz Firm Spar Over Subpoena To Cooperator

    Amid his bribery trial, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey is urging a Manhattan federal judge to order a government cooperator to turn over communications involving his current counsel at Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP and his former attorneys.

  • May 23, 2024

    Bungie Cheat Code Sellers Dinged At Trial For Deleting Docs

    A Seattle federal judge overseeing a trial of Bungie's copyright claims against a group of cheat code sellers instructed jurors Thursday that the defendants intentionally destroyed evidence by deleting records they had a duty to preserve once they were aware of the game studio's claims.

  • May 23, 2024

    Micron Owes $445M In Netlist Chip Patent Case, Jury Says

    Micron Technology Inc. willfully infringed a pair of Netlist computer memory patents, a Texas federal jury determined Thursday, saying the chipmaker owes $425 million in damages for one patent and $20 million for the other.

  • May 23, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy CEO Lynch Takes Stand In 'Surreal' Fraud Trial

    Autonomy founder Michael Lynch took the stand Thursday in a criminal trial in California federal court over claims he lied to HP about his software company's financial health before the tech giant paid $11.7 billion for it in 2011, saying the trial has been "surreal" and he didn't set out to defraud HP.

  • May 23, 2024

    Old Case Can't Nix $181M AT&T, Nokia Verdict, Fed. Circ. Told

    Finesse Wireless LLC pushed back at the Federal Circuit against AT&T and Nokia's appeal of a more than $181 million verdict in Texas federal court for infringing Finesse's patents on reducing radio frequency interference, saying the companies' reliance on a 140-year-old Supreme Court case was misplaced.

  • May 23, 2024

    Archegos Witness Admits Lying To Exec Charged In Collapse

    An Archegos manager who pled guilty to fraud and is cooperating with prosecutors conceded to a Manhattan federal jury Thursday that he fostered an effort to mock his former boss and hide information before the hedge fund's $36 billion collapse.

  • May 23, 2024

    Pipe Supplier Can't Nix $2.6M 'Take Home' Asbestos Verdict

    A California appeals panel won't upend a $2.6 million verdict against J-M Manufacturing Co. Inc. in a case alleging a man contracted mesothelioma because of his brother's work, rejecting the company's argument that the court should apply a duty standard for negligence claims to the man's strict liability claim.

  • May 23, 2024

    Trump Loses 2 NY Criminal Appeals As Trial Winds Down

    Former President Donald Trump on Thursday lost a pair of appellate challenges complaining that both the judge and jury in his ongoing New York criminal hush-money trial are biased, just a few days before closing statements in the historic case.

  • May 23, 2024

    Menendez Says Feds Can't Wield Texts About Egyptian Aid

    U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez told a federal court that the government can't support its corruption case with text messages involving military aid to Egypt and a local businessman accused of bribing the senator, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent excluding past legislative acts as admissible evidence.

  • May 23, 2024

    No Prison Time For Ex-State's Atty Mosby, Judge Rules

    Former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby avoided prison time on Thursday after she was convicted of lying to make early withdrawals from her city retirement account and on a mortgage application for a Florida vacation home.

  • May 23, 2024

    DC Judge Bars Giuliani From Defaming Ga. Poll Workers

    A D.C. federal judge has entered an injunction barring Rudy Giuliani from repeating lies that two Georgia poll workers meddled with the 2020 presidential election, resolving a second lawsuit the election workers launched after securing a $146 million judgment against the former New York City mayor.

  • May 23, 2024

    Coverage Suit Paused Until Resolution Of Gun Sales Dispute

    A California federal court paused Crum & Forster's suit against a police gun and fitness club and the city of Los Angeles over coverage for underlying actions brought by officers accusing the club of selling them stolen handguns, citing factual overlap between the actions.

  • May 23, 2024

    GSK, Boehringer Prevail In 1st Zantac Cancer Trial

    A Chicago jury found Thursday that Zantac heartburn medication and its generic counterparts sold by GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim are not responsible for an Illinois woman's colon cancer and her subsequent, debilitating symptoms, handing the drug companies a decisive victory in the first of hundreds of such cases to go to trial.

Expert Analysis

  • Unearthing The Lesser-Known 'Buried Facts' Doctrine

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    A New York federal judge’s recent suggestion that the “buried facts” doctrine may be applicable in the fraud trial of FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried should serve as a reminder to attorneys in all kinds of cases involving corporate disclosures that this lesser-known rule could torpedo their defense, say Corban Rhodes and Li Yu at DiCello Levitt.

  • Opinion

    Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform

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    The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Shows Need For Proffer Terms Negotiation

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    The Fifth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Shah decision, holding that a defendant breached his proffer agreement, illustrates why defense attorneys should insist on negotiating the terms of such agreements with prosecutors to protect their clients at trial, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • How And Why Your Firm Should Implement Fixed-Fee Billing

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    Amid rising burnout in the legal industry and client efforts to curtail spending, pivoting to a fixed-fee billing model may improve client-attorney relationships and offer lawyers financial, logistical and stress relief — while still maintaining profit margins, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Needs Defense Amid Political Threats

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    Amid recent and historic challenges to the judiciary from political forces, safeguarding judicial independence and maintaining the integrity of the legal system is increasingly urgent, says Robert Peck at the Center for Constitutional Litigation.

  • How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies

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    Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.

  • Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial

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    Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.

  • 2nd Circ. OT Ruling Guides On Pay For Off-The-Clock Work

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    While the Second Circuit’s recent holding in Perry v. City of New York reiterated that the Fair Labor Standards Act obligates employers to pay overtime for off-the-clock work, it recognized circumstances, such as an employee’s failure to report, that allow an employer to disclaim the knowledge element that triggers this obligation, say Robert Whitman and Kyle Winnick at Seyfarth.

  • How Zero-Point Offender Change Should Work Retroactively

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    After the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to make its new zero-point offender amendment retroactive, counsel should understand several key issues for further advocacy, including arguments for a time-served sentence, to prevent unwarranted sentencing disparities, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • How Zero-Point Offender Change Will Work Prospectively

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    The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s recent amendment, making defendants with zero criminal history points eligible for reduced sentences, is an important step toward decarceration, and counsel should understand how to effectively advocate for its application going forward, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times

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    As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Reminds Attys That CBP Can Search Devices

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    The Fifth Circuit’s recent Malik v. Department of Homeland Security decision adds to the chorus of federal courts holding that border agents don’t need a warrant to search travelers’ electronic devices, so attorneys should consider certain special precautions to secure privileged information when reentering the U.S., says Jennifer Freel at Jackson Walker.

  • The Likable Witness: 6 Personality Archetypes To Cultivate

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    During pretrial witness preparation sessions, a few key methods can help identify the likable personality type a witness intuitively expresses, which can then be amplified at trial to create an emotional connection with jurors, says Gillian Drake at On Trial Associates.

  • Avoiding The Ethical Pitfalls Of Crowdfunded Legal Fees

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    The crowdfunding of legal fees has become increasingly common, providing a new way for people to afford legal services, but attorneys who accept crowdsourced funds must remember several key ethical obligations to mitigate their risks, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • The Likable Witness: Key Traits And Psychological Concepts

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    Though witnesses must appear credible to juries, they should also be likable in order to make an emotional connection, and certain gestural, behavioral and psychological aspects of their testimony can be modified to improve their perceived likability, says Gillian Drake at On Trial Associates.

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