The FTX fallout, a new litigation funding firm, Susman Godfrey tops larger firms' bonuses and the first Black woman judge on the 5th Circuit
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A Bahamian judge denied FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried bail on Tuesday, hours after U.S. prosecutors accused the 30-year-old of misappropriating billions of dollars and violating campaign laws. Bankman-Fried also faces charges by the SEC and the CFTC.
Legal experts say Bankman-Fried’s failure to secure release on bail increases the likelihood that he will consent to extradition to the United States to face fraud charges.
Meanwhile, John Ray, who was named CEO of FTX after Bankman-Fried stepped down and the company filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, told the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee that poor management practices and inexperienced leaders led to the crypto exchange’s implosion.
Stay tuned today as lawyers for FTX square off in court to fight a demand for internal records from an insolvent affiliate based in the Bahamas as the two wrestle over scraps of the once high-flying business.
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A new litigation finance firm, Lex Ferenda Litigation Funding LLC , launched this week in New York. It will mainly make single-case investments between $1 million and $10 million in commercial areas including antitrust, insolvency, fraudulent transfer and breach of contract.
The firm will be led by co-founders Michael German , who previously worked at former litigation funder Vannin Capital, and Chris Baildon , whose background is in investment banking and finance. German will serve as chief investment officer and Baildon will be chief operating officer.
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Litigation finance firms typically invest in a case or portfolio of cases in exchange for a cut of any financial recoveries. The practice has, for years, faced criticism from organizations including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. There were 47 active litigation funders in the U.S. market with a combined $12.4 billion in assets under management in 2021, according to a report released earlier this year by litigation finance advisory firm Westfleet Advisors.
U.S. litigation firm Susman Godfrey LLP said that it will be doling out year-end associate bonuses between $85,000 and $160,000, down from last year when the firm’s most junior associates were paid a median bonus of $105,000 and its most senior associates received a median bonus of $215,000. The 160-attorney litigation-only firm still offered higher payouts than many of its large law firm competitors.
贝克?麦坚时 kicked off the law firm bonus season in November when it said associates would receive between $20,000 and $115,000, based on seniority. Other large U.S. law firms have largely matched that scale in the weeks since.
The U.S. Senate confirmed the first Black female judge to ever serve on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, giving Democratic President Joe Biden his first appointee to a conservative-leaning court that has often stymied his policies.
The Senate voted 65-31 to elevate U.S. Magistrate Judge Dana Douglas of Louisiana to the New Orleans-based court, where she would become the fourth active Democratic appointee on a court dominated by the 12 judges nominated by Republican presidents.
Biden has won the appointment of a record 11 Black women federal appellate judges, including when the Senate endorsed Delaware Supreme Court Justice Tamika Montgomery-Reeves' nomination to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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