Corporate Law

Lawyer must face ethics charge alleging he tried to hire Israeli hackers to access judge’s emails

A California bar court judge has rejected a lawyer’s bid to dismiss an ethics charge alleging that he plotted to hire Israeli hackers to hack in to the email and phone accounts of a judge and a lawyer.

Sep 19, 2024 11:52 AM CDT

With attorney fees, Gibson Dunn must pay over $725K to ex-partner who had earned $60M

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has agreed to pay a former partner more than $140,000 in attorney fees unless the amount is overturned in an appeal of his much higher arbitration award.

Sep 19, 2024 9:57 AM CDT

Did you read the small print? ‘Infinite’ arbitration clauses are on the rise

Companies tend to prefer arbitration over a jury trial for a number of reasons. In arbitration, there’s usually a quicker and quieter resolution, more confidentiality, no jury, limited appeal and discovery, and relaxed evidentiary rules.

Sep 6, 2024 11:46 AM CDT

Creative Legal Fundings company was ‘neither creative nor legal,’ SEC official alleges

A California woman who created a company ostensibly to loan money to personal-injury attorneys is accused of spending millions of dollars in investor funds to support her "lavish lifestyle."

Sep 5, 2024 9:08 AM CDT

Personal injury firm sues TD Bank after loss in fraud scheme

A personal injury law firm has filed a lawsuit blaming TD Bank for its loss of about $146,000 in a check fraud scam.

Aug 29, 2024 12:19 PM CDT

Prosecutors and public defenders strike for higher pay in this California county

Public defenders and prosecutors are among about 250 government attorneys who went on strike Monday in California’s Sacramento County following two years without a contract.

Aug 27, 2024 12:31 PM CDT

Ex-lawyer Tom Girardi’s former CFO had escape plan and lavish spending habits, ex-fiancee testifies

The former chief financial officer of the now-collapsed Girardi Keese law firm in Los Angeles asked his former fiancee to flee to the Bahamas with him in 2022, she testified Tuesday in the embezzlement trial of disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi.

Aug 21, 2024 11:09 AM CDT

Federal judge strikes down FTC rule banning noncompete agreements

A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on noncompete agreements, finding that the agency exceeded its authority with a rule that would have voided contracts that bar workers from moving to rival employers.

Aug 21, 2024 10:30 AM CDT

Ex-bankruptcy judge who tried to avoid deposition in romance case ordered to take ethics training

A former bankruptcy judge has been sanctioned for trying to avoid a deposition by submitting to an unauthorized off-the-record interview with the law firm that employed his romantic partner.

Aug 19, 2024 12:37 PM CDT

Lawyer who reported suspected wrongdoing can’t collect whistleblower award, DC Circuit says

An in-house lawyer who reported suspected wrongdoing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can’t recover a whistleblower award, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Aug 19, 2024 10:31 AM CDT

Google’s foes on both coasts consider what it takes to crack a monopolist

In the wake of last week’s landmark federal court decision that deemed Google an illegal monopoly, Google’s foes are stepping up efforts to craft a legal case for something unthinkable until recently: the internet giant’s breakup.

Aug 16, 2024 11:15 AM CDT

Disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi ‘didn’t seem all there’ in late 2020, ex-employee testifies in embezzlement trial

A public defender representing disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi in his embezzlement trial asked a former accounting employee Tuesday about a secret bank account being used by other lawyers at his now-closed law firm.

Aug 14, 2024 12:47 PM CDT

Convicted lawyer’s victimhood claim is ‘absolutely delusional,’ judge says at sentencing hearing

A Chicago lawyer sentenced to prison for bank embezzlement Tuesday interrupted the judge throughout the proceeding and claimed that the case against him “is an evil that’s going on here.”

Aug 14, 2024 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyer accused of misappropriating up to $282M allegedly handed firm control to disbarred attorney

Updated: A lawyer accused of misappropriating up to $282 million from as many as 60,000 debt-relief clients, either through intentional or “grossly negligent” conduct, had employed a disbarred lawyer alleged to be running the operation.

Aug 13, 2024 3:49 PM CDT

Google monopoly ruling shows 19th-century law can police Big Tech

A federal judge’s ruling that Google broke the law to maintain a monopoly in search has dealt a blow to one of Big Tech’s main arguments against regulation: that America’s antiquated antitrust laws aren’t flexible enough to address the fast-changing nature of tech innovation.

Aug 8, 2024 1:05 PM CDT