Order to name Covington clients opens new path for SEC, judge won't accept Hunter Biden's plea deal, Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions are curbed ??
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U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling that law firm Covington & Burling must identify clients caught up in a cyberattack on the firm gives federal agencies a path to scrutinize companies by obtaining information from their law firms, attorneys said.
Mehta's holding that the SEC’s subpoena did not cross legal or constitutional lines opens a new avenue of investigation for the SEC at a time when law firms are increasingly victimized by cyberattacks.
“This has always been a possibility, but the SEC has not used it,” said Bethany Kristovich, a partner at Munger Tolles & Olson who has represented law firms.
But lawyers watching the case also said the ruling placed curbs on the SEC’s authority that allayed some of law firms’ biggest concerns. Read more about the ruling.
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U.S. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden's proposed deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to tax charges and avoid a gun charge hit a snag when the judge in the case said she needed more time to review their agreement.
The stunning turnabout came after what was expected to be a routine plea hearing turned into a three-hour affair featuring hushed negotiations between lawyers and pointed questions from U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika.
Noreika asked Hunter Biden's lawyers and prosecutors to brief her on why she should accept the plea deal.
"I cannot accept the plea agreement today," Noreika said, adding that she did not want to "rubber stamp" a plea deal.
At the heart of the case is Hunter Biden’s alleged failure to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018 despite owing more than $100,000.
Hunter Biden's lawyers and prosecutors disagreed in court over whether the deal they had reached would have prevented the younger Biden from being charged with any other crimes, with defense lawyer Chris Clark at one point saying the deal was "null and void." Find out more.
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U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan tightened Sam Bankman-Fried's bail conditions by restricting his ability to communicate publicly, and said he will consider jailing him before the trial over the collapse of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
Prosecutors asked Kaplan to detain Bankman-Fried now, saying he had "crossed a line" by sharing his former romantic partner Caroline Ellison's personal writings with a reporter, in what they said amounted to a second instance of witness tampering.
Kaplan imposed a "gag order" previously requested by prosecutors for the 31-year-old Bankman-Fried, and gave both sides until Aug. 3 to explain their views on whether jail is necessary for the former billionaire.
Mark Cohen, a lawyer for Bankman-Fried, said his client was trying merely to protect his reputation by communicating with journalists, and that it "really would be almost impossible" to prepare for the Oct. 2 trial if Bankman-Fried were jailed.
U.S. law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP said it has hired a large group of lawyers from Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, which has seen a string of exits this year as it pursues a potential merger.
Steptoe said it hired 35 people from New York-founded Stroock, including 27 lawyers and eight business professionals.
The team joining Steptoe includes partner Julia Strickland, who was managing partner of Stroock's Los Angeles office and head of the firm's national financial services litigation, regulation, and enforcement group.
Another exiting lawyer, Michele Jacobson in New York, was chair of Stroock's general litigation practice. She was also co-chair of its insurance and reinsurance group alongside Robert Lewin, who is joining Stroock as senior counsel.
The departures from Stroock come the same month that the firm and Nixon Peabody said they?called off?negotiations toward a proposed merger. Learn more.
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