Afternoon Briefs: Deloitte unveils legal services unit; forensic botanist as crime solver
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Deloitte launches legal business services in US
Deloitte announced Monday it is launching its Legal Business Services unit in the United States to help corporate legal departments streamline and automate functions such as contract management. Bloomberg Law says the launch “represents perhaps the most direct effort yet by a Big Four member to compete with law firms and alternative legal service providers in the U.S.” (Bloomberg Law, LawSites, Deloitte press release)
Forensic botanist scrutinizes algae in kidnapping case
Police credit a forensic botanist with helping solve a case of kidnapping and attempted rape. Police in Orange County, Florida, allege Patrick Jamiz Howard dragged a woman to a retention pond and ordered her to perform a sex act. The woman was able to get away. The forensic botanist linked the kind of fresh-water algae in the pond to clothes worn by Howard and the woman. (The Orlando Sentinel, Orange County Sheriff’s office)
Hacker streams porn during Zoom court hearing
A hacker interrupted a Zoom court hearing in Tallahassee, Florida, on Friday by streaming pornography and playing rap music with sexual language. A judicial assistant stopped the hack by ending the Zoom meeting and starting a new one. During the hearing, Judge John Cooper denied a request for an injunction to block a face mask order in Leon County. (Law.com, Law360, tweet by @ArekSarkissian)
Another US attorney departs
Seth DuCharme is the new acting U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn after serving as principal associate deputy attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department. He replaces U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue, who is getting DuCharme’s job. Donoghue is the second U.S. attorney in New York to leave in the last three weeks. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman at first refused to leave when the Justice Department announced his departure on June 19. (Courthouse News Service, Politico, Law.com, Justice Department press release)
States sue over plans to revoke some foreign student visas
Several states have filed lawsuits seeking to block a Trump administration policy to revoke the visas of foreign students who are taking all their classes online. New York and California filed separate suits, while Massachusetts filed a third suit on behalf of 17 states and Washington D.C. (Press releases by attorneys general in California, New York and Massachusetts; the New York Times)
