Good morning. Two former Trump-era U.S. Justice Department lawyers are cooperating in a Washington, D.C., bar ethics probe of Jeffrey Bossert Clark, the DOJ attorney who tried to help Donald Trump overturn his 2020 election loss. Plus, litigation funder Burford Capital swung to a loss last year amid COVID-19 case delays; the Biden White House has a new 9th Circuit vacancy; and the grim diagnosis, and brewing legal fight, that followed Richard Posner’s retirement from the 7th Circuit. Thanks for hanging out with us this Wednesday. Let’s jump in.
Our colleague Nimitt Dixit is co-writing The Daily Docket while Diana Novak Jones is on parental leave. Were you forwarded this email? Subscribe here.
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REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-Small |
An ethics investigation of former U.S. Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a Trump ally who tried to help overturn his 2020 election loss, has been given a boost by testimonies of the top two DOJ officials from the last days of Trump’s presidency, Sarah N. Lynch reports.
Jeffrey Rosen, who served as acting attorney general, and Richard Donoghue, his former acting deputy, each have given voluntary interviews to the District of Columbia Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which is investigating Clark for possible misconduct, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The office's investigation is primarily focused on Clark's efforts to pressure Donoghue and Rosen to send a letter to lawmakers in Georgia falsely claiming that the DOJ had "significant concerns" about the legitimacy of Biden's victory in the state.
The investigation could complicate Clark's efforts to revive his career as a corporate attorney as well as any possible return to government service. Clark and his attorney Harry MacDougald did not respond to questions sent by Reuters.
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Litigation funder Burford Capital said court delays and the slowdown of cases caused by the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a loss in 2021. Still, Burford said financing commitments had increased. (Reuters)
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The retirement of 9th Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas from active service will open up a new vacancy for President Joe Biden to fill on the nation's largest federal appeals court. Thomas was appointed to the San Francisco-based appeals court by former President Bill Clinton. Biden's four 9th Circuit nominees to date — Lucy Koh, Jennifer Sung, Gabriel Sanchez and Holly Thomas — have all won Senate confirmation. (Reuters)
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A judicial panel abandoned a proposal by the U.S. Justice Department to give federal officials more time to respond to lawsuits against them related to their duties, particularly when they rely on a "qualified immunity" defense often used to shield law enforcement accused of excessive force. (Reuters)
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John Baker, a retired Marine brigadier general, will succeed Anthony Martinez as the top federal public defender for the Western District of North Carolina after Martinez became a defendant in closely watched sexual discrimination lawsuit. The 4th Circuit did not reveal the reasons why Martinez elected not to seek another term as head of the office. A lawyer for Martinez did not respond to a request for comment. (Reuters)
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New York-based Nielsen Holdings tapped four law firms — Wachtell, Clifford Chance, DLA Piper and Baker McKenzie — to guide its $16 billion buyout by a private equity consortium led by Evergreen Coast Capital Corp and Brookfield Business Partners. Evergreen and the consortium were represented by Gibson Dunn and Herbert Smith. Brookfield was advised by Davis Polk. (Reuters)
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Applicants for a U.S. work permit and employment-related immigration benefits can pay up to $2,500 to speed up the process, according to a new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rule. Under the program, individuals seeking work permits can pay between $1,500 and $2,500 depending on their request to have their applications considered within 30 days. The Biden Administration said the rule addresses a backlog, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, that grew to 9.5 million cases last month. How much does the USCIS, primarily funded through applicant fees, stand to gain?
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>> After Posner retired from 7th Circuit, a grim diagnosis and a brewing battle. When Judge Richard Posner, who remains the most-cited legal scholar on record, abruptly retired from the 7th Circuit in Chicago in September 2017, the legal world was stunned. What no one knew — or didn’t publicly say — was that several months later, the legendary jurist, who was 78 at the time, received a “confirmed diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease,” according to a Feb. 28, 2022, letter from his attorney, Fischel Kahn partner Robert Kaufman, to Brian Vukadinovich. Jenna Greene writes that Vukadinovich, co-executive director of the short-lived Posner Center of Justice for Pro Se, claims the judge owes him $170,000 in unpaid wages and now has taken steps to sue.
>> Delaware defers (for now) to N.Y. in lurid white-collar fee dispute. Alison Frankel reports on a wild fee advancement fight between Cognizant Technology Solutions and its onetime GC Steven Schwartz, who is facing civil and criminal FCPA charges. Cognizant has sued one of Schwartz’s law firms for fraud, but that’s not all. Also in the mix are an anonymous whistleblower, a lead investigator who switched sides and assertions of constitutional rights violations. And that’s just in the jurisdictional phase of the case!
Check out other recent pieces from all our columnists: Alison Frankel, Jenna Greene and Hassan Kanu.
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Video: Will Russia seize intellectual property as payback for sanctions? |
Joshua Graubart of Romano Law, Prof. Justin Hughes of Loyola Law School and Josh Gerben of Gerben Law Firm speak with Reuters video journalist Tom Rowe about potential scenarios involving protections for patents and trademarks. Watch the video.
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"The (SEC) won't let me be or let me be me so let me see; They tried to shut me down."
—Elon Musk in a filing in Manhattan federal court quoted Eminem’s 2002 song “Without Me” in seeking to throw out his 2018 agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requiring the Tesla founder to obtain pre-approval for his tweets. The SEC said Musk should not be excused from the 2018 agreement because he found compliance "less convenient than he had hoped.” Musk used the lyric, which attacks the Federal Communications Commission, to argue that the pre-vetting requirement on his tweets was an unconstitutional prior restraint of his free speech. Read how Elon Musk is cleanin’ out his closet
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U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan in New Jersey, overseeing the bankruptcy of Johnson & Johnson subsidiary LTL Management, which holds J&J's talc liabilities, will consider at a hearing whether talc plaintiffs should be represented by a single committee or by separate committees for ovarian cancer claimants and mesothelioma claimants. He will also consider talc plaintiffs' efforts to appeal his decision to keep the case in bankruptcy court and prevent them from suing J&J while LTL's bankruptcy proceeds. J&J maintains its talc products are safe.
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A pretrial conference is scheduled before Boston U.S. District Judge George O'Toole in the prosecution of a former Harvard fencing coach and the chief executive of a telecommunications company who were charged in a bribery scheme aimed at securing the admission of the businessman’s two sons to the Ivy League school. Federal prosecutors said Jie “Jack” Zhao paid more than $1.5 million in bribes so that former coach Peter Brand would help his sons get into Harvard by recruiting them to the men’s fencing team. Brand is represented by Douglas Brooks of Libby Hoopes Brooks, and Zhao’s defender is William Weinreb of Quinn Emanuel. Brand and Zhao have pleaded not guilty.
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Former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio will appear for arraignment in Washington, D.C., federal court on charges stemming from the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly is presiding in the case.
Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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A D.C. Circuit panel unanimously rejected Russian aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska’s bid contesting 2018 sanctions the U.S. imposed on him and other influential Russians. Deripaska’s lawyer Erich Ferrari argued the U.S. sanctions exceeded regulatory authority and were arbitrary. (Reuters)
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Activision Blizzard’s $18 million settlement of an EEOC lawsuit alleging widespread sex discrimination was approved by U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles. Fischer also rejected a request to intervene by California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which said the settlement could derail its own anti-bias case against the video game maker. (Reuters).
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U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco said a lawsuit accusing Meta’s Facebook of deceiving advertisers about its "potential reach" tool can proceed as a class action. Donato appointed plaintiffs' firm Cohen Milstein and the Law Offices of Charles Reichmann as class counsel. (Reuters)
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A critic of a multimillion-dollar antitrust settlement was denied a $100,000 payment for questioning legal costs in the case. Plaintiffs' firm Hagens Berman said a "math error" had not cost class members any funds. U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg said in his ruling that the objector "did not cause any increase in the net settlement funds available for distribution." (Reuters)
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A group of 21 states led by Florida asked a Florida federal judge to block a federal COVID-19 mandate requiring masks on airplanes and other forms of transportation. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of recent legal challenges to President Biden’s mask mandates that have been in place since February 2021 covering airports, trains, buses, ride-share vehicles and transit hubs. While the aviation industry has urged Washington to end the requirement, the Biden administration has said it would extend the rule through at least April 18 and is reviewing if it should be extended again. (Reuters)
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Cooley added Jonas Koponen as an antitrust partner based in the firm’s Brussels office. He arrives from Linklaters, where he was global head of the antitrust and foreign investment group. (Reuters)
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Allen & Overy hired David Herlihy as a partner in its London-based international arbitration group. Herlihy comes from Skadden Arps. (Reuters)
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Morrison & Foerster hired Seth Kleinman as a business restructuring and insolvency partner in New York and Chicago. Kleinman previously was a partner at Arnold & Porter. (Morrison & Foerster)
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Schulte Roth brought on Lowenstein Sandler partners Peter Greene, Ben Kozinn and Eileen Overbaugh to the firm’s investment management and M&A practice groups in New York. Greene will co-head the practice. (Schulte Roth)
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Fashion industry attorney Danielle Garno has joined Holland & Knight as a partner in Miami. Garno was previously a partner at Reed Smith. (Holland & Knight)
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Melanie Jacobs was named the new dean of Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. She will leave her post as a law professor at Michigan State University College of Law. (Louisville)
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Seyfarth added New York-based partners Jacob Cherry to its immigration team from Ogletree Deakins and Seth Liebenstein to the firm's real estate practice from Blank Rome. Christy Kiely joins Seyfarth’s labor and employment group as a partner in Washington, D.C., from Hunton Andrews. (Seyfarth)
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If lawyers who are also parents have learned anything during the pandemic, it’s how to multitask while working remotely, write Katherine Helm of Dechert and Joseph Gribbin of Armstrong Teasdale. Some pointers from the authors: Advise your kids as you do your clients, and separate parenting time and lawyering time. What’s the real trick to lawyer/parenting?
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