Law deans oppose online law school proposal, judge who criticized Trump faces complaint, lawyer sues recruiter for 'blackballing' her, and more ??
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?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal stories:
?? Law deans oppose proposal to accredit online law schools
Deans from 26 law schools have asked the American Bar Association to pull back on a proposal to extend its seal of approval to fully online law schools, saying more employment and bar pass data for graduates of online and hybrid programs is needed before making the change.
In a public comment on the proposal, deans including those from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law; the University of Houston Law Center; and Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law wrote that the arm of the ABA that oversees law schools hasn’t made clear why it should modify its longstanding policy of accrediting only law schools with a brick-and-mortar location.
The ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar in November began the process of modifying its accreditation standards to allow for fully online law schools, with proponents saying that change would expand access to a law degree and reduce the cost of becoming a lawyer.
?? Trump ally files complaint about judge who criticized Trump attacks on judiciary
A conservative ally of Donald Trump filed a complaint on April 2 against a U.S. federal judge who in a rare television interview criticized the former president's verbal attacks on the New York judge overseeing Trump's upcoming criminal trial.
Mike Davis, founder of conservative legal advocacy group the Article III Project, said he feared that U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton's criticism of Trump on CNN last week could taint the jury pools for the Republican presidential candidate's four criminal cases in New York, Washington, D.C., Florida and Georgia.
Walton, a senior federal judge based in Washington, D.C. appointed by Republican former president George W. Bush, in a March 28 CNN interview called Trump's comments about New York Justice Juan Merchan "disconcerting."
He said it was "particularly problematic" that Trump had targeted Merchan's daughter, and said he is concerned about the increased number of threats that judges have faced in recent years.
?? Sam Bankman-Fried prosecutor says coder's cooperation sped up case
U.S. prosecutors were able to charge FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried shortly after the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse in part because they secured the cooperation of its chief software engineer, one of the prosecutors said.
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Speaking five days after Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thane Rehn said former FTX Chief Technology Officer Gary Wang's assistance was key to helping investigators understand how Bankman-Fried stole $8 billion in customer funds.
"Without that, would we have found it? Probably," Rehn said at a discussion hosted by law firm Wilson Sonsini. "But it would have taken a software expert weeks or even months."
Rehn's comments highlighted the importance of the government's three main cooperating witnesses - Wang, former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison, the former chief executive of Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research hedge fund. Each pleaded guilty to fraud and testified against their former boss at his month-long trial.
In his testimony , Wang said Bankman-Fried asked him to change FTX software code to let Alameda withdraw unlimited funds from the exchange.
Jurors in Manhattan found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty last November on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, in what prosecutors termed one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.
Bankman-Fried is expected to appeal his conviction, after testifying that he made mistakes in managing risk but never intended to steal funds. He had been arrested in December 2022, just one month after FTX's collapse and bankruptcy.
?? Recruiter Major, Lindsey & Africa sued by lawyer claiming she was 'blackballed'
A Black lawyer has sued Major, Lindsey & Africa, alleging that the legal recruiting firm is "blackballing" her after she sued her former law firm, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders , for racial discrimination earlier this year.
In a 22-page lawsuit, Gita Sankano alleged that prominent leaders at MLA warned her not to sue Troutman Pepper, and that a day after she did so, MLA informed her that a position she was seeking at a different firm was no longer available.
The firm also allegedly told Sankano it would no longer represent her in finding a new job. The lawsuit cites an internal email sent by MLA managing director Andy Ufberg the day after Sankano sued Troutman Pepper, identifying Sankano as his candidate but that "we won't work with her now."
Sankano said she was fired from Troutman Pepper in November in retaliation for filing an internal discrimination complaint against a partner who demeaned and demoralized her. She said this was part of a pattern of alleged mistreatment since her 2019 hiring.
?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File, and have a great week!
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