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Good morning. More than 900 suits over contaminated water at Camp Lejeune have inundated one U.S. court, putting pressure on judges there and inflaming frustrations over inaction. Plus, Apple wants plaintiffs’ lawyers at Susman Godfrey sanctioned over trial conduct; Jeffrey Epstein accusers want JPMorgan’s law firm disqualified; and there’s a new push to end the “blue slip” U.S. court nominee tradition. Breaking: It’s Friday.
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REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/Photo Illustration
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The Eastern District of North Carolina and its four active judges are strategizing how to handle a deluge of lawsuits filed against the government over water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, with more being filed nearly every day, reports Diana Novak Jones.
More than 900 lawsuits over the water, which was contaminated with dangerous chemicals from 1953 to 1987, have already been filed. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates up to a million people could have been impacted.
The August passage of the PACT Act opened the doors to claims for compensation from the government over the water, claims that were previously barred by courts. The law created an administrative claims process that veterans and their family members have to use first – and 45,000 claims have been filed so far, according to the Navy.
But none of those claims has been resolved yet, the Navy said. The PACT Act does not set a deadline for the resolution of claims, but it allows for victims and families to sue in North Carolina federal court if the administrative claim is not resolved after six months.
Read more about what the court is doing to handle the onslaught.
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- Robert Lewis, founding partner of U.S. law firm Lewis Brisbois, has stepped down from his role as chairman amid the departure of at least 110 lawyers to a new firm. Lewis helped start the Los Angeles-founded firm, which has grown to about 1,700 lawyers, in 1979. (Reuters)
- A coalition of progressive groups called on Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin to end the “blue slip” tradition that allows senators to block judicial nominees for district courts in their states. The 33 groups want the custom to be changed to let the home state senators’ stance be considered, but to not let them block nominees as long as they were consulted by the White House on the nomination. (Reuters)
- Norfolk Southern’s lawyers at Troutman Pepper and Skadden said the freight rail carrier is entitled to at least $11 million in legal fees as a defendant that prevailed against rival CSX in its antitrust lawsuit in Virginia federal court. CSX, represented by McGuireWoods, alleged it had suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in damages over access to a key marine terminal. It also said it will appeal the dismissal of its case. (Reuters)
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REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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That’s how much bankrupt crypto exchange FTX says it will seek to recoup from Genesis Global Capital, the bankrupt lending arm of crypto firm Genesis as it tries to repay an estimated $11 billion to customers through a combination of asset sales and clawback actions. FTX said in a court filing that Genesis, a primary “feeder fund” for FTX-affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research, owes it that money as a result of transactions that took place shortly before FTX’s bankruptcy filing.
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A big law associate with a huge following on TikTok is offered cash to do a social media post endorsing a brand name product. Will her prestigious, century-old law firm allow the side gig? It may sound like a one-off situation, but Jenna Greene in her latest column reports that associates at Simpson Thacher; Cravath and Morrison & Foerster have wrangled with their firms over this question — with three different outcomes. While saying “no” might be the easiest answer for the firms, Greene writes that it might also be shortsighted.
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“And Plaintiff did just that.“
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—Apple’s lawyers at DLA Piper, who said counsel for the company attended patent owner Arendi S.A.R.L.’s infringement trial against Google out of fear Arendi would disclose secret information about its settlement agreement with Apple from a separate case. Those fears were founded, Apple said in a lawsuit seeking monetary sanctions against Arendi and its law firm Susman Godfrey, filed one day after Google defeated its $45.5 million lawsuit.
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What to catch up on this weekend
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- In D.C. federal court, the DOJ will urge U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to sentence welder Peter Schwartz to more than 24 years in prison for assaulting police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump. Prosecutors said Schwartz came to D.C. “intent on violence,” and allege that he threw a chair that created a break in a line of officers enabling hundreds of rioters to break through to the Capitol. Schwartz was convicted at a jury trial in December. If imposed, the sentence would be the longest for anyone convicted following the riots. Schwartz’s lawyers asked Mehta to impose a sentence of about four years in prison.
- Lawyers for biotechnology company Illumina will file their opening brief in the 5th Circuit to challenge an FTC order requiring the divestiture of cancer diagnostic test maker Grail. San Diego-based Illumina, represented by Cravath, is appealing an April 3 FTC order that said the company’s $7.1 billion acquisition of Grail will curb competition in the cancer-testing market. Illumina has denied the allegations. The appeals court agreed to expedite its consideration of the case over the objection of the FTC. The agency said Illumina had not shown why the appeals court needed to speed up its consideration of the antitrust dispute.
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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- British pop superstar Ed Sheeran’s 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud” did not unlawfully copy from Marvin Gaye’s classic 1973 song “Let’s Get It On,” a jury in Manhattan federal court decided in a closely watched copyright lawsuit. But two similar lawsuits are pending against Sheeran in Manhattan, brought by David Pullman’s Structured Asset Sales LLC, which also owns copyright interests in the Gaye song. (Reuters)
- Three environmental groups filed a petition asking a state court in San Francisco to review and set aside California Public Utilities Commission policy changes that reduce the money credited to rooftop solar panel owners for sending excess power they generate into the grid. The groups said the changes will “devastate solar adoption rates” in violation of a 2013 state law requiring the commission to encourage the growth of rooftop solar in the state. (Reuters)
- Lawyers for former President Donald Trump asked a Manhattan federal judge to take over a criminal case filed against him in New York state, arguing that the indictment had to do with conduct while he was serving as president. The prosecution of Trump now is before Justice Juan Merchan, who in a new order said Trump will not be able to publicly discuss certain evidence in the criminal case against him over a hush money payment to a porn star. (Reuters)
- A federal jury in Washington, D.C., convicted four members of the far-right Proud Boys militia group including its former leader Enrique Tarrio of seditious conspiracy, finding they plotted to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The trial had lasted almost four months. (Reuters)
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- Jenner & Block added Joanna Wright as a New York-based litigation partner from Boies Schiller. (Reuters)
- McGuireWoods brought on corporate finance partner Jeff Goldfarb in New York from Willkie, where he was vice-chair of the finance group. (McGuireWoods)
- Barnes & Thornburg added Jacqueline Connor as a partner in its private client services group in New York. She was previously at White & Case. (Barnes)
- Dykema added David Killoran as a Los Angeles-based products liability defense partner. He was previously at Squire Patton Boggs. (Dykema)
- Troutman Pepper added Matthew Orso in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a white-collar and investigations partner. He was previously co-leader of the bank defense and counseling group at McGuireWoods. (Troutman Pepper)
- Blank Rome brought on Los Angeles-based corporate litigation partner Germain Labat. He was previously at Greenspoon Marder. (Blank Rome)
- Haynes and Boone added Houston-based labor and employment partner Michael Lombardino. He was previously at Reed Smith. (Haynes and Boone)
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