Partners exit plaintiffs’ firm to launch own firm, Musk seeks sanctions against Dogecoin lawyer, and ex-3rd Circuit judge joins Arnold & Porter ??
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Two partners have left the cryptocurrency-focused plaintiffs' law firm previously known as Roche Freedman to start their own law firm, Dynamis, they said on Monday.
Eric Rosen and Constantine Economides were partners at Freedman Normand Friedland, which changed its name in October from Roche Freedman after co-founder Kyle Roche?left following allegations?that he misused investor lawsuits to aid a client. Roche?has claimed?he was the victim of an elaborate setup.
"You have to strike while the iron is hot," Rosen said. "We feel the iron is hot for us."
Rosen and Economides are the sole partners of Dynamis, which launched with offices in Boston, Miami, and New York. The firm also employs two paralegals and an associate from Freedman Normand, Brianna Pierce.
Economides said they chose a trade name for their law firm rather than some combination of his and Rosen's last names because "we view the firm as something greater than just the two of us."
A New York plaintiffs lawyer who leveled?splashy insider trading accusations?against Elon Musk and Tesla knew that the premise of his case was false before he lodged his claims, according to a new?sanctions motion?by Tesla and its CEO.
Musk and the company are seeking Rule 11 sanctions against Evan Spencer of Evan Spencer Law, who represents a prospective class of Dogecoin investors suing Musk and Tesla for allegedly duping them into buying the coins.
In June, Spencer filed an?amended complaint?alleging that Musk and Tesla reaped billions of dollars by selling off Dogecoin from eight crypto wallets after Musk drove up prices by hyping the coins in Twitter posts.
But according to the new motion, neither Musk nor Tesla owned the wallets cited in the amended complaint – and Spencer had reason to doubt that they did even before he filed the amended complaint accusing the defendants of insider trading.
Rhetoric aside, Musk and Tesla offer a persuasive argument that ownership of the disputed crypto wallets is the key to Spencer’s insider trading allegations, which are the most serious and attention-grabbing claims in the latest version of the class action, writes columnist Alison Frankel. The defendants have now offered sworn declarations that they didn’t own the wallets.
At the very least, those declarations cast doubt on Spencer’s latest complaint. If he’s got evidence to contradict the declarations, now is the time to make it public.
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Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer said Tuesday that Joseph Greenaway, Jr., who?retired?from his lifetime appointment as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June, will join the law firm in September.
Greenaway, who was elevated to the 3rd Circuit bench by then-President Barack Obama in 2010 after serving on the federal bench in New Jersey since 1996, joins the Washington, D.C.-founded law firm as a partner in Newark and New York.
Greenaway said he was drawn to Arnold & Porter due to its involvement with landmark cases, such as the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright, which confirmed the constitutional right to counsel in criminal cases.
He said he anticipates focusing on appeals in private practice, as well as other matters including patent cases and domestic and international arbitration.
Greenaway's retirement created the fourth vacancy on the 3rd Circuit for President Joe Biden, who has won Senate?confirmation?for three nominees to the Philadelphia-based appeals court. Biden has not named a nominee to fill Greenaway's seat.
Salesforce?appointed Wachtell, Lipton's Sabastian Niles as its chief legal officer on Monday, months after the leading activist lawyer helped defend the business software provider against several hedge funds that had called for changes at the company.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is a major law firm sought out by corporate America to handle merger deals as well as activist investment firms' push for changes.
Niles spent nearly 17 years at the law firm, where he began his career as a summer associate after earning his law degree from Harvard, rising to become a partner.
Niles was part of the team at Wachtell when it advised Salesforce after Starboard Value, ValueAct, and Elliott Investment Management pressured it for making key changes earlier this year.
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