Michael Cohen testifies against Trump at hush money trial, Oklahoma attorney general fires legal team over anti-ESG law, and more ??
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?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal news:
?? Trump's fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen testifies at hush money trial
Donald Trump's estranged former lawyer Michael Cohen began testifying on Monday at the Republican presidential candidate's criminal trial, where he described his role as Trump's long-time fixer and was expected to tell jurors that he helped Trump illegally hide a hush money payment to a porn star.
Once one of Trump's most loyal lieutenants, Cohen is the prosecution's star witness as the trial enters its fifth week in New York state criminal court in Manhattan.
He started his testimony by explaining that he went to law school at his grandmother's urging, even though he "really didn't want to be a lawyer."
In 2007, he left his job at a law firm to join Trump's New York-based family real estate company. Trump offered him a job, Cohen said, after Cohen presented Trump with a $100,000 bill for work his firm had done for one of Trump's companies.
"I was honored. I was taken by surprise, and I agreed," Cohen said, adding that Trump never paid the bill.
Cohen said it was fair to describe his role as a fixer for Trump, testifying that he took care of "whatever he wanted." Rather than work as a traditional corporate lawyer, Cohen reported directly to Trump and was never part of the Trump Organization's general counsel's office.
For nearly a decade, Cohen, 57, worked as an executive and lawyer for Trump's company and once said he would take a bullet for Trump, a Republican former president trying to take back the White House from Democratic President Joe Biden in this year's Nov. 5 U.S. election.
?? Oklahoma attorney general fires legal team after judge blocks anti-ESG law
Oklahoma's attorney general said he is firing the outside legal team hired to defend a state law prohibiting state pension systems from contracting with companies that limit investment in the oil and gas industry, days after a judge temporarily blocked the statute's enforcement.
Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond in a statement on May 9 said he was firing counsel at the Plaxico Law Firm, which he said was handpicked by state Treasurer Todd Russ to defend the law. Drummond said he would also remove Russ from any decision-making authority over the legal defense going forward.
The decision came after a state judge on May 7 issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of the law in oil-rich Oklahoma. The judge found that a retired state employee who is challenging the measure was likely to succeed in his lawsuit alleging the law violates the state constitution and is too vaguely written.
"Because of this failure, the law is now on hold and at risk of being struck down entirely. Oklahomans deserve better."
Russ, a fellow Republican, said in a statement he had initially asked Drummond to defend the law in court, only to have those requests rejected, and that he did not believe his decision-making authority could legally be removed.
Oklahoma's 2022 law is among dozens of Republican-sponsored ESG bills across the country aimed at protecting fossil fuel companies from climate-driven constraints adopted by some Wall Street firms.
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?? Texas law firm to pay $12.5 mln over ex-client's alleged fraud
Dallas-founded law firm Locke Lord is set to pay $12.5 million to settle claims that it allowed one of its former energy industry clients to engage in a $122 million Ponzi scheme.
U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 10 signed off, on the settlement agreement between the firm and a court-appointed receiver for Heartland Group Ventures, an oil and gas company that was accused of fraud, by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2021.
The SEC alleged that Heartland and its affiliates took $122 million from 700 US investors, purportedly for oil and gas projects, but used much of the funds to pay off other investors and for other purposes.
Heartland and other defendants in the case have agreed to preliminary injunctions sought by the SEC. Four Heartland principals named in the SEC's complaint settled with the agency in 2022.
Locke Lord denied all allegations of wrongdoing as part of the settlement, and it disagreed with the SEC that the activities of Heartland and its affiliates "met the definition of the Ponzi scheme."
?? US judge halts rule capping credit card late fees at $8
A federal judge in Texas on May 10 halted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rule capping credit card late fees at $8, a victory for business and banking groups challenging part of the Biden administration's crackdown on "junk fees."
US District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth issued a preliminary injunction, preventing the rule from taking effect next week. The injunction was sought by groups including the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Bankers Association.
Pittman, appointed by Republican then-President Donald Trump, cited a 2022 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found the CFPB's funding structure unconstitutional.
"Consequently, any regulations promulgated under that regime are likely unconstitutional as well," Pittman wrote. "Thus, Plaintiffs establish a likelihood of success on the merits."
The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing the 2022 ruling, and during oral arguments in October appeared wary of upholding it. Pittman remains bound by the ruling because his court is in the 5th Circuit's jurisdiction.
The rule has the backing of President Joe Biden, a Democrat. White House spokesperson Jeremy Edwards in a statement called the ruling disappointing, saying the CFPB's rule is "a critical measure to save American families billions in junk fees."
?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File, and have a great day!
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