 //sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591700&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=35045927&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591701&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=35045927&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591702&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=35045927&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591703&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=35045927&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591704&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=35045927&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
|
|
|
| //sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=874768&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=35045927&stpe=static” border=”0″ style=”max-height:12px;” /> |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over whether a man involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack can be charged with obstructing an official proceeding, a case with potential implications for the prosecution of Donald Trump, our colleagues John Kruzel and Andrew Chung report. Trump faces the same charge in a criminal case brought against him last year by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
The case involves defendant Joseph Fischer, who was indicted following the riot at the Capitol by a throng of Trump supporters. The charges against Fischer include one count under a provision of federal law for anyone who “corruptly … obstructs, influences and impedes any official proceeding.” But District Judge Carl Nichols in D.C. ruled the statute applied only in cases in which a defendant had taken “some action with respect to a document, record or other object.”
Fischer’s lawyers have argued for a narrow application of the obstruction charge. Jeffrey Green, co-director of Northwestern Law School’s Supreme Court clinic, will argue today for Fischer and face off against U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar. The case at the high court has attracted many friend-of-the-court briefs from lawmakers and others weighing in for one side or the other. A group of former government officials, including former Trump lawyer Ty Cobb, filed a brief backing prosecutors.
|
|
|
|
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was not on the bench on Monday as the other eight justices heard arguments, with no reason given for his absence. Chief Justice John Roberts noted the absence of Thomas at the beginning of the arguments and said he would “participate fully” in the cases by using the written legal briefs and the transcripts of the arguments. Thomas, 75, is the oldest and longest-serving member of the court.
- Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said that the city had engaged DiCello Levitt and Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky Trial Lawyers to work with the Baltimore Law Department on litigation against Grace Ocean Pte Ltd, the registered owner of the ship that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the ship’s manager Synergy Marine Group, its charterer Maersk and its manufacturer.
- Hermes hired three veteran antitrust lawyers from Latham — Christopher Yates, Belinda Lee and Ashley Bauer — to defend against claims that the French luxury house’s sales policy for its famed Birkin handbags violates U.S. antitrust law. Two California residents contend Hermes unlawfully is forcing consumers to buy thousands of dollars of ancillary goods to even have an opportunity to purchase one of the handmade bags.
- The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from a Baltimore criminal defense attorney who was convicted on a money laundering charge in 2021. Kenneth Ravenell had argued that his conviction should have been overturned because federal prosecutors did not prove that the money-laundering conspiracy he allegedly took part in occurred within a five-year statute of limitations.
|
That’s how many consumers sought to arbitrate claims against French skincare company L’Occitane, accused of violating privacy rights of visitors to the company’s website. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson rejected a motion by law firm Zimmerman Reed to compel L’Occitane to arbitrate with thousands of individual consumers. Meanwhile, L’Occitane’s fraud lawsuit against the plaintiffs’ law firm for allegedly “manufacturing” the claims appeared poised to fizzle. Zimmerman Reed has denied any wrongdoing.
|
A fee fight is afoot between defamation specialty firm Clare Locke and four partners who split off last year to launch their own shop — and took a key client with them. The client, which invented a device to make the notoriously finicky ice cream machines at McDonald’s more reliable, is close to settling its commercial defamation case against the fast-food giant. What’s unresolved: $7 million or more in unpaid legal bills. Jenna Greene in her latest column digs into the contingency fee fight.
|
“You alone are the judges of the facts.”
|
— Justice Juan Merchan, who spoke to prospective jurors on the first day of jury selection in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial, the first criminal trial against a former president. Choosing a jury from a pool of people from heavily Democratic Manhattan could take several days, to be followed by opening statements and testimony from a parade of potentially riveting witnesses, including Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, and adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump has pleaded not guilty and called the prosecution politically motivated. Follow Reuters’ live blog for daily coverage of the trial.
|
|
|
|
- U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland will testify before a U.S. House appropriations panel, where he is expected to ask for more financial resources for the DOJ. Lawmakers could ask Garland about a range of other topics at his appearance, which you can watch here.
- A former DraftKings executive is expected to testify as a judge hears evidence in a lawsuit by his former employer accusing him of misappropriating trade secrets after he joined sports betting rival Fanatics days before the Super Bowl. DraftKings wants U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick to block Michael Hermalyn’s employment at Fanatics. Kobick previously issued a temporary restraining order but declined then to bar Hermalyn from working at Fanatics.
|
Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
|
- MGM Resorts sued the FTC in D.C. federal court to block an investigation into the impact on data security of the hack that hobbled the casino operator last year. The lawsuit from DLA Piper said the agency was acting outside of its power in a demand for information from the casino.
- Homebuilder Pulte filed an objection to $208 million in real-estate commission antitrust settlements with Re/Max, Keller Williams and Anywhere, saying the deals might not pass muster. An attorney for home-seller plaintiffs said they were confident a Missouri federal judge will approve the deals, which were filed in litigation accusing major residential brokerages of artificially inflating real estate commissions.
- A settlement between Eli Lilly and purchasers of its insulin drugs that would have capped prices and provided $13.5 million to resolve claims that the company inflated the drugs’ cost has fallen apart. Steve Berman, one of the plaintiffs lawyers, said in an email that the decision to drop the deal came after U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti refused to certify a class in the litigation.
- A Catholic diocese in Long Island, New York, has asked a judge to end its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after failing to get support from about 530 sex abuse survivors on a proposed $200 million settlement of their claims against the diocese. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre, which serves about 1.2 million Catholics in Nassau and Suffolk counties, said that its bankruptcy had “run its course” after abuse survivors “overwhelmingly” voted against the diocese’s offer.
- VF Corp’s boot maker Timberland cannot receive a federal trademark covering specific aspects of its famous boot design, the 4th Circuit said. The court upheld the USPTO’s decision that features of the boots including its sole color, eyelets and stitching were not distinctive enough to identify the boots as Timberland products.
|
|
|
|
