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Good morning. A U.S. judiciary panel is stopping, for now, any further discussion about a nationwide rule to end midnight deadlines for court filings. Plus, Davis Polk rescinded three job offers over students’ comments about the conflict between Hamas and Israel; a scientist pushes back against J&J’s defamation claims; and a U.S. courts policy body will examine “judge shopping” reforms. Happy Wednesday, and thanks for choosing our venue.
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A U.S. appeals court judge who has long advocated for earlier deadlines for electronically filed court briefs and other documents hasn’t yet won over his colleagues in the judiciary. A policymaking body is abandoning a proposal that nationwide would bar midnight deadlines, Nate Raymond reports.
Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Michael Chagares of the 3rd Circuit first pitched early deadlines in 2019. His court adopted a 5 p.m. deadline in May over widespread opposition from lawyers. The move was designed to improve work-life balance among attorneys. But critics of the proposal said it would sow confusion among attorneys from other parts of the country.
After years of consideration, federal judicial rulemakers have begun walking away from Chagares’ idea. “I think it’s fine to let things work out in the 3rd Circuit and not embark upon any further examination of the national rule at this time,” U.S. District Judge John Bates, chair of U.S. Judicial Conference’s Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, said at a hearing on Tuesday. Chagares did not respond to a request for comment.
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- Wachtell won an early round against Elon Musk in his lawsuit over tens of millions of dollars in legal fees, as a San Francisco judge said an arbitrator must first consider the claims. Musk is suing Wachtell to recover most of a $90 million fee it collected from then-Twitter after forcing the billionaire to follow through on his buyout of the social media platform. (Reuters)
- New York University School of Law is investigating whether a former Student Bar Association president who blamed Israel for the Hamas attacks in an online newsletter violated the school’s policies against discrimination and harassment. The law school’s inquiry into the statement by Ryna Workman on Oct. 9 is meant to “better understand the circumstances and its impact on our community,” NYU Law Dean Troy McKenzie said in an email that Workman posted. (Reuters)
- Personal injury firm Morris Bart lost its lawsuit to bar an embattled rival firm from collecting fees in hundreds of Louisiana hurricane property damage cases Morris Bart took over after MMA’s attorneys were suspended in the state. U.S. District Judge Lance Africk in New Orleans dismissed the lawsuit after finding Morris Bart did not have standing to pursue its claims. (Reuters)
- The South Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that Alex Murdaugh, a lawyer found guilty of murdering his wife and son, can ask a lower court judge to toss out his conviction due to allegations of jury tampering. Lawyers for Murdaugh, who has maintained his innocence, said they would seek “a full blown evidentiary hearing” in a lower court on their allegations that the Colleton County Clerk of Court improperly communicated with jurors as they weighed Murdaugh’s case. (Reuters)
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That’s the amount of damages home sellers in Missouri and parts of Kansas and Illinois are seeking in a class action against the National Association of Realtors and several real estate companies. U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough in Kansas City is overseeing an antitrust trial that kicked off this week. The plaintiffs contend the real estate association and defendants including HomeServices and Keller Williams conspired to artificially fix the commission that sellers pay to buyers’ agents. The real estate association and co-defendants have denied the claims. Two real estate giants settled in the lead-up to trial.
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“It is unfortunate that a terrible tragedy has been turned into this misguided prosecution.“
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—Quinn Emanuel’s Luke Nikas, an attorney for Alec Baldwin, remarking on New Mexico prosecutors who said they intended to recharge the “30 Rock” actor with involuntary manslaughter for the fatal shooting of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. Baldwin’s case will be brought before a grand jury, special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said. Prosecutors dismissed previous charges against Baldwin after evidence emerged that the gun he used may have been modified, allowing it to fire without the trigger being pulled. Prosecutors said they based their new move on additional facts that have emerged.
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- Former Obama-era U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will appear before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel. The hearing takes place as the world responds to the attack on Israel by Hamas militants, and Israel’s retaliation for the attack. Biden nominated Lew for the position in September. The position has been vacant since July, when Tom Nides left the post. Watch the hearing.
- Three former civil rights lawyers confirmed under President Joe Biden’s tenure to the federal bench will speak at a virtual event hosted by the progressive American Constitution Society aimed at training public interest lawyers for roles in the judiciary. The judges are 11th Circuit Judge Nancy Abudu, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California and U.S. District Judge Nina Morrison of the Eastern District of New York. Former White House Counsel Dana Remus, who helped steer Biden’s judicial nominations, also is set to speak.
- Donald Trump faces a deadline to file a brief asking the 2nd Circuit in Manhattan to throw out or reduce damages in a $5 million verdict that former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll won against him for sexual assault and defamation. The verdict arose from Trump’s denial of Carroll’s claim that he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump was absent throughout the trial. Trump in a social media post called the verdict a “disgrace.”
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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- Donald Trump’s lawyers will ask the D.C. Circuit to weigh a partial gag order imposed on him in the case accusing the former U.S. president of illegally attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in D.C. barred Trump from making public statements that “target” U.S. prosecutors, court staff and potential witnesses involved in the case. (Reuters)
- FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange’s investments were not “reckless and frivolous,” pushing back against testimony by a former executive who called its spending on marketing and celebrity endorsements excessive. Nishad Singh, FTX’s former engineering chief, testified at Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial that the company’s venture investments and $1.1 billion in planned marketing deals “reeked of excess and flashiness.” (Reuters)
- Bankrupt pharmacy chain Rite Aid settled a critical dispute with drug supplier McKesson to ensure that customers’ prescriptions will continue to be filled during Rite Aid’s bankruptcy. Rite Aid, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, sued McKesson the following morning, seeking to stop it from terminating a drug supply agreement that accounts for 98% of Rite Aid’s prescription drug sales. Rite Aid lawyer Joshua Sussberg of Kirkland announced the settlement at a court hearing before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan. (Reuters)
- Google is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit that claims its scraping of data to train generative AI systems violates millions of people’s privacy and property rights, arguing the use of public data is necessary to train systems like its chatbot Bard. The company, represented by Wilson Sonsini, said the lawsuit would “take a sledgehammer not just to Google’s services but to the very idea of generative AI.” (Reuters)
- Lawyers for Meta and the U.S. government tangled in D.C. federal court over the FTC’s plan to toughen a 2019 privacy order, in the agency’s case accusing Meta of misleading parents about protections for children. James Rouhandeh of Davis Polk, representing Meta, argued U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly had jurisdiction to take the case and should scrap the FTC’s proposal because Meta had not agreed to it. The DOJ’s Zachary Cowan said it was the agency’s decision on whether its settlements should be changed and that the district court had no jurisdiction. (Reuters)
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- Kirkland added debt finance partners Ian Barratt and Sinead O’Shea in the firm’s London office. They were previously at Simpson Thacher. (Kirkland)
- Cozen O’Connor added insurance coverage litigation partners Julie Van Wert, David Berke and Jerome Doctors, alongside counsel Rangi Perera, in Los Angeles from London Fischer. The firm also hired partner Christopher Tramonte in Houston from his own firm. (Cozen O’Connor)
- Carlton Fields hired intellectual property partner Jayashree Mitra in New York from Fox Rothschild. (Carlton Fields)
- Dentons added partner Matthew Gruenberg to its venture technology and emerging growth companies practice in New York. He arrives from Goodwin. (Dentons)
- Paul Weiss hired London-based debt finance partner Stefan Arnold-Soulby from Kirkland. (Paul Weiss)
- Morrison Foerster brought on Stephen DeCosse as a corporate partner in Tokyo. He most recently practiced at Jones Day. (Morrison Foerster)
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A recent New York federal district court decision highlights an ongoing issue regarding the privileges and discoverability of documents exchanged between an insurance company and its coverage counsel. Michael Zigelman, Eric Stern and Kathleen Mullins of Kaufman Dolowich write that it is important that an insurer and its coverage counsel be aware of the potential for discovery of correspondence. Here are their takeaways.
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