SBF to be sentenced today, judge ruled ex-Trump lawyer Eastman should be disbarred, lateral hiring at law firms drops, and more ??
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?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal stories:
?? Sam Bankman-Fried apologizes to FTX ex-colleagues at sentencing hearing
Sam Bankman-Fried apologized to his former colleagues at the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded at his sentencing hearing today, as the former billionaire wunderkind braces for the prospect of decades behind bars.
A jury found Bankman-Fried, 32, guilty on Nov. 2 on seven fraud and conspiracy counts stemming from FTX's November 2022 collapse. Prosecutors have called it one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.
Bankman-Fried told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who will determine his sentence later in the hearing in Manhattan federal court,
"They put a lot of themselves into it, and I threw that all away. It haunts me everyday."
The hearing marks the final step in Bankman-Fried's downfall from an ultra-wealthy cryptocurrency entrepreneur and major political donor to the biggest trophy to date in a crackdown by U.S. authorities on malfeasance in digital asset markets.
In a potentially ominous sign for Bankman-Fried, Kaplan found that the defendant lied on the witness stand at his trial last year when he said he did not know that his hedge fund had spent FTX customer deposits
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?? Ex-Trump lawyer Eastman should be disbarred, California judge rules
A California state judge on March 27 said attorney John Eastman should be stripped of his law license for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election on behalf of Donald Trump.
Eastman, a former personal lawyer to Trump who is now his co-defendant in the Georgia criminal case over efforts to sway the election, was accused of violating California attorney ethics rules against misleading courts and making false public statements.
In her 128-page ruling, Judge Yvette Roland of California's State Bar Court wrote:
"Eastman’s actions were carried out with deceit or dishonesty."
She held that his plan to derail Democrat Joe Biden's election victory "was unlawful and lacked any factual or legal support."
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?? Lateral hiring at law firms hits lowest level since 2010, NALP report finds
Lateral hiring by law firms fell 35% in 2023, marking the second straight year that firms brought on fewer associates and partners from competitors, according to a National Association for Law Placement report.
Law firm offices hired a median of four lateral attorneys per office in 2023, down from six in both 2022 and 2021, NALP found. The average number of lawyer laterals was 9.3 — a 42% decline from 15.9 in 2022.
Both the median and average number of laterals for 2023 were the lowest since 2010, when the Great Recession significantly curtailed hiring, NALP said.
Last year’s hiring declines came after an unusually robust 2021 when the number of attorneys hired jumped nearly 111% and a war for talent drove up associate salaries. That hiring growth has not been sustainable in subsequent years, said NALP executive director Nikia Gray.
?? Disney, Florida settle bitter legal feud over Disney World district
Walt Disney and appointees of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis reached a settlement on March 27 to end a high-profile lawsuit in state court over control of the special district that includes the Walt Disney World theme parks.
Disney also agreed to defer briefings in a federal lawsuit it filed against DeSantis while the parties try to reach a consensus on a new development agreement for Walt Disney World, among other matters.
DeSantis and Disney, one of Florida's biggest employers, have been embroiled in a dispute since 2022, when former Disney CEO Bob Chapek criticized a state legislative effort to limit classroom discussion of sexuality and gender issues for younger students. Critics described it as the "Don't Say Gay" law.
A Florida board appointed by DeSantis to oversee development around Disney's theme parks sued the company to void "backroom deals" favorable to the entertainment conglomerate.
The clash was a centerpiece of DeSantis' speeches last year as he sought the Republican nomination for U.S. president and bashed the company as "woke Disney."
?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File, and have a great day!
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Chief Analyst at RiskHedge │ Rational optimist
11 个月The good thing about the FTX collapse and the ensuing crypto winter was that it chased probably 99% of the bad guys away. Painful as it was in terms of prices, it was exactly what the industry needed. The tide went out and exposed naked frauds so the rest of us can get on building and investing.