Trump cannot delay enforcement of E. Jean Carroll verdict, Senate confirms FTC nominees, JD-Next teams with Themis Bar review and more ??
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?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal stories:
?? Trump cannot delay enforcement of $83.3 million verdict in E. Jean Carroll case
A federal judge on March 7 denied Donald Trump's request to delay enforcement of the writer E. Jean Carroll's $83.3 million verdict in her recent defamation case.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan adds to pressure on the former U.S. president to line up an acceptable bond by Monday so he can appeal.
In the Jan. 26 verdict, jurors agreed with Carroll, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, that Trump had defamed her in June 2019 by denying he had raped her in the mid-1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.
Kaplan made the verdict official on Feb. 8, and gave Trump 30 days to post a bond or cash during his appeal, which is expected to challenge the jury's finding of liability and the amount of damages.
Trump had sought to delay enforcement of the verdict until Kaplan ruled on his motions to throw it out, which he filed on March 5.
?? US Senate confirms Republican nominees to FTC
The U.S. Senate late on March 7 confirmed by voice vote two nominees to fill Republican slots at the Federal Trade Commission.
President Joe Biden in July nominated Virginia Solicitor General Andrew Ferguson and Utah Solicitor General Melissa Holyoak to the five-member FTC.
The two Republicans will not change the balance of power at the FTC, which enforces antitrust law and rules against deceptive advertising, and currently has a Democratic chair, Lina Khan, and two Democratic commissioners.
Under the Biden administration the FTC has taken a tougher stand against mergers it finds may lead to higher prices for consumers or stunt innovation.
Last month, the FTC sued to block supermarket chain Kroger's $24.6 billion deal to buy smaller rival Albertsons, saying it would boost grocery prices for millions of Americans.
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?? LSAT alternative JD-Next teams up with Themis Bar Review as part of Aspen deal
The test prep company that owns Themis Bar Review has acquired legal textbook and study aid firm Aspen Publishing, which operates the new alternative law school admissions program JD-Next.
Themis parent company UWorld said on March 6 that it will diversify its stable of law school-related products with the acquisition of Aspen Publishing, which in September obtained a five-year license to run JD-Next. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
About 50 of the 197 U.S. law schools accredited by the American Bar Association now use JD-Next among the standardized tests for admitting new students.
JD-Next, an eight-week series of online legal courses that culminates in an exam, was developed by the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law with the goal of gauging applicants’ law school readiness without relying on standardized tests that produce racial score disparities
?? DLA Piper wins sanctions in $180 mln malpractice fight
DLA Piper has persuaded a U.S. judge to levy sanctions against a shareholder of one of the firm's former clients that brought a failed $180 million malpractice lawsuit against the law firm.
U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan on March 6 upheld a magistrate judge's July recommendation that China AI Capital Limited and its counsel be sanctioned for the lawsuit against DLA Piper, which stemmed from the law firm's work for the Chinese software company Link Motion.
China AI and its counsel at Felicello Law will have to pay the "reasonable costs and attorney fees" DLA Piper incurred in this lawsuit, Marrero ruled.
For months, DLA Piper has fought allegations that it failed to defend Link Motion from a 2018 lawsuit brought by shareholder Wayne Baliga that forced the company into receivership. DLA Piper withdrew as Link Motion's counsel in the shareholder case four months after it was filed.
?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File, and have a great day!
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