Afternoon Briefs: Legal industry jobs jump again; Boies Schiller emails admissible at former CEO’s trial
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Legal industry gains 1,700 jobs in May
The legal services industry gained 1,700 jobs in May, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released Friday by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry had a total 1,138,500 jobs, which is 40,600 more jobs than in May 2020, a period when the industry lost jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The May gains follow a gain of 8,600 jobs in April, according to the revised numbers. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Boies Schiller emails admissible, judge rules
U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins of the Northern District of California has ruled that a series of emails between Boies Schiller Flexner lawyers and former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes can be used by prosecutors at her upcoming fraud trial. Cousins ruled that the documents weren’t privileged because the law firm was representing Holmes’ company and not her as an individual. The emails concern how Holmes worked with lawyer David Boies in an attempt to stop a Wall Street Journal exposé on Theranos. Holmes is accused of misleading investors by touting the company’s proprietary blood analyzer, even though it wasn’t consistently accurate or reliable. (Bloomberg Law, Law360)
Asparagus recipe turns up in legal database
Commercial lawyer Morgan Moller tweeted about his unusual find in the French language version of a Belgian law database called Moniteur Belge: a recipe for asparagus. “I’m fed up with people saying the Moniteur Belge is useless. You can find anything in there: laws, decrees, cooking recipes, you name it,” he tweeted. (CNN via Above the Law, the Brussels Times)
Military judge considers torture-derived evidence
Defense lawyers are asking the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review to reverse a military judge’s decision to consider information derived from torture by CIA interrogators. The judge, Col. Lanny J. Acosta Jr., said he would consider the evidence as he weighs a discovery dispute in the case against a Guantanamo detainee accused of orchestrating the bombing of the USS Cole. Defense lawyers for Abd Al-Rahim Hussein Al-Nashiri are seeking information on a drone attack that killed another suspected al-Qaida bomber. Prosecutors are invoking the torture evidence to block the inquiry. (The New York Times, the June 3 petition for review)
