SEC wants Musk to testify in Twitter probe, My Pillow CEO's lawyers quit, marijuana users challenge gun ban and Robins Kaplan sanctioned ?
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?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here are today's top legal stories:
?? SEC tries to force Musk to testify in Twitter takeover probe
Elon Musk is being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which is trying to compel him to testify as part of a probe into his?$44 billion takeover?of social media giant Twitter, a Thursday court filing showed.
The investigation, which escalates a long-running feud between the SEC and Musk, concerns whether Musk broke federal securities laws in 2022 when he bought stock in Twitter, which?Musk renamed X, as well as statements and SEC filings he made in relation to the deal.
The SEC in May 2022, said it was?looking into Musk's disclosure of his stake in Twitter, questioning whether he filed the appropriate paperwork.
The SEC in Thursday's filing, said it subpoenaed Musk in May 2023, requiring him to provide testimony at the SEC’s San Francisco office, and that Musk had agreed to appear on Sept. 15. But then two days beforehand, Musk raised "several spurious objections" and told the SEC he would not appear, the regulator said.
"The SEC has already taken Mr. Musk's testimony multiple times in this misguided investigation – enough is enough," said a statement from Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk.
??Lawyers for Trump ally Lindell seek to quit election defamation cases
Lawyers at Parker Daniels Kibort and Lewin & Lewin, who are representing?My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell in defamation lawsuits brought by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic USA, sought permission on Thursday to quit alleging he owes the attorneys "millions of dollars" in unpaid legal fees.
Lindell, a prominent supporter of Republican former president and current GOP candidate Donald Trump,?is fighting claims?that he spread false conspiracy theories that Dominion and Smartmatic voting machines were used to rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden.
Lindell has not made any payments on his legal bills since July, his lawyers?told?federal judges in Minnesota and Washington, D.C., overseeing the defamation cases.
Forcing the firm to continue representing Lindell without payment "could threaten the very existence of the firm," Parker Daniels Kibort co-founder Andrew Parker said in a court filing. Parker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lindell said on Thursday that he is "out of money” and that he is unable to borrow money. He said he is looking for new counsel.
"We’ll find someone, that’s the way it is," Lindell said.
?? Medical marijuana users challenge federal gun ban at US appeals court
The 11th Circuit on Thursday appeared divided over whether medical marijuana users can be barred from owning guns, in a case challenging the same federal law prohibiting users of unlawful drugs from owning guns at issue in Hunter Biden's criminal case.
A group of Florida residents who use medical marijuana urged a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit at oral arguments to find that the federal ban was unconstitutional as applied to them.
William Hall, the plaintiffs' lawyer, citing last year's landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision expanding gun rights, said the law violated his clients' right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment.
?? Hey lawyers! Don’t make the mistake that just cost Robins Kaplan and its client $156K
If you suddenly found yourself with access to all of your opponent’s internal corporate files via a?Dropbox?link that turned up in discovery produced by a third party, would you look at the files??Robins Kaplan?did – and now it’s on the wrong side of a sanctions decision by a New York state court judge.?
?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File, and have a great weekend!
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