Trump hush money trial to define NY prosecutor Bragg's legacy, Golden Gate law needs a receiver to save it, DLA Piper and ex-lawyer clash, and more ??

?? Trump hush money trial to define New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg's legacy

Alvin Bragg says he decided to become a lawyer after guns were pulled on him six times while growing up in New York - three of those times by police.

A quarter-century after graduating from Harvard Law School, the Manhattan district attorney's legacy is set to be defined by the looming verdict in one of the most consequential cases in American history: the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump over hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Since Bragg unveiled the first of four indictments against Trump last year, he has been a frequent target of Trump's vitriolic social media posts.

A gag order imposed by Justice Juan Merchan to restrict Trump's public statements about jurors, witnesses and individual prosecutors does not apply to Bragg, an elected official.

Bragg, who took office in January 2022, has said falsification-of-business records cases are the "bread and butter" of his office's white-collar work.

"This is the business capital of the world," Bragg told reporters after the indictment was unsealed on April 4, 2023. "The basis for business integrity and a well-functioning business marketplace is true and accurate recordkeeping."

Bragg has occasionally attended the trial, sitting in the courtroom audience in a spot reserved for his office's staff.

The former president stands accused of covering up a reimbursement to former lawyer Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 election for her silence about a sexual liaison she says she had with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

Read more about this newsmaker.

?? Golden Gate law school needs a receiver to save it, say students and alumni

Beleaguered Golden Gate University School of Law could be saved under the control of a court-appointed receiver, a group of students and alumni argue in a new court filing, challenging the school’s planned closure.

The law school’s alumni association and four current students on May 20 asked a San Francisco judge not to throw out their lawsuit against Golden Gate University, noting that Western State College of Law was poised to shut down in 2019 until a receiver secured a sale that saved the Southern California school.

A similar effort could prevent Golden Gate University from closing down its 123-year-old juris doctor program, the plaintiffs said in their opposition to the university’s bid to end their suit. An initial hearing on the case is scheduled for June 3.

Golden Gate officials announced in late November that the university will discontinue its JD program this summer in response to financial shortfalls resulting from enrollment declines, a sluggish employment market and low bar exam pass rates.

The plaintiffs in February sued, the university and its president David Fike for breach of contract and other claims. Fike was later removed as a defendant. Their suit alleges students were kept in the dark about the law school’s bleak finances and that administrators haven’t provided adequate transfer options for students left in the lurch.

The university in late April asked the court to end the case, arguing that the alumni association lacks standing to sue and that the complaint fails to specify any contract the university supposedly breached, among other deficiencies.

Read more on the attempts of a group of students and alumni efforts to save Golden Gate University School of Law.

?? Law firm DLA Piper, ex-lawyer clash over past pregnancy bias complaints

Facing claims that it fired one of its U.S. lawyers for seeking maternity leave, global law firm DLA Piper is fighting to conceal details of past pregnancy discrimination complaints that it says must remain confidential.

Plaintiff Anisha Mehta and her lawyers at Wigdor on May 21 rejected an offer, by the firm that it provide affidavits describing the earlier claims instead of producing the full records, accusing DLA Piper of "hiding behind" evidentiary rules that it said do not apply.

Mehta sued the law firm last June in Manhattan federal court, alleging she was fired from her position as a senior associate when she was six months pregnant, less than a week after she asked for leave.

DLA Piper has denied the allegations saying Mehta was "unable to perform at the level expected of a seventh-year associate."

A U.S. magistrate judge this month ordered DLA Piper to turn over records relating to two other lawyers who also complained about alleged pregnancy discrimination at the firm since 2016. The firm countered in a May 20 letter that the "confidential settlement demands" were made by lawyers who had already been fired and are irrelevant to the case.

Read more.

?? Column: US appeals court punts on liability shield for Apple, Google, Meta in casino app cases

In the 18 months since the 9th Circuit agreed to hear an interlocutory appeal on whether Apple, Google and Meta are immune from claims that they promoted illegal gambling by processing payments for online casinos, the tech giants and the consumers suing them have spared no effort, plying the appeals court with briefs, responding to friend-of-the-court filings from nine tech and civil rights groups and presenting an hour of oral arguments to a panel of 9th Circuit judges last month.

Never mind all that: On May 22, writes Columnist Alison Frankel, the 9th Circuit tossed both the tech companies’ appeal and a cross appeal by plaintiffs, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.

Frankel explains why – and contemplates how the long appellate detour might impact both sides.

?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File, and have a great day!

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