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WASHINGTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors say an Israeli private investigator used hackers to steal emails from climate activists who were campaigning against American energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N). Prosecutors stopped short of stating a connection between the Israeli private eye – former policeman Aviram Azari – and Exxon, and the memo did not identify any of his clients. Victims say that leaves a key question unanswered. Exxon pushed back, filing lawsuits that cited press articles, which suggested the activists were using underhanded tactics. “Azari facilitated the hacking scheme by directing groups of hackers, including a particular group of individuals based in India, to target specific victims,’” prosecutors wrote.

Persons: Damian Williams, parry, Prosecutors, Aviram Azari, Kert Davies, Paul Weiss, Bradley Campbell, Williams, Azari, Barry, “ Azari, ’, Raphael Satter, Christopher Bing, Leslie Adler, Richard Chang Organizations: U.S, Exxon Mobil Corp, Southern, of, Exxon, Climate Integrity, Natural Resources, Conservation Law Foundation, Exxon Mobil, Reuters, Thomson Locations: of New York, New York, Massachusetts, India, United States

Kevin Hodges, a partner at law firm Williams & Connolly, was the first member of Amazon's defense team identified in a court document in the case. Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky, a 24-year veteran of the company's legal department, can turn to a stable of top outside law firms that already represent it. Thomas Barnett, co-chair of the firm’s antitrust practice and a former senior Justice Department official, was involved in the effort. A Covington spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether the firm is defending Amazon in the FTC antitrust case. Amazon has also turned to U.S. law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to navigate government scrutiny.

Persons: Jim Vondruska, Kevin Hodges, Williams, Connolly, Hodges, John Schmidtlein, David Zapolsky, Lina Khan, Thomas Barnett, Covington, Paul, Weiss, Garrison, Paul Weiss, Andrew Goudsward, Mike Scarcella, David Bario, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Amazon Logistics, REUTERS, U.S . Federal Trade, Amazon.com, Amazon, Williams, U.S . Justice, Microsoft, BP, Big Tech, Alphabet's, Google, FTC, Burling, Department, D.C, Covington, Thomson Locations: Chicago . Illinois, U.S, WASHINGTON, Washington, Mexico, Covington, Rifkind, Wharton

Yelp (YELP.N) and News/Media Alliance, which are not defendants in the litigation but are targets of Google's subpoenas, argue that law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison should be disqualified. A spokesperson for Paul Weiss said the "firm's representation of Google is appropriate in all respects." Yelp said it hired Paul Weiss in 2016 for counsel on antitrust issues. The Justice Department's antitrust head, Jonathan Kanter, was on the Paul Weiss team representing Yelp. New York-based Paul Weiss, which has about 1,000 lawyers globally, is also representing Amazon.com in various antitrust lawsuits.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Paul, Weiss, Garrison, Leonie Brinkema, Paul Weiss, Yelp, Jonathan Kanter, Charles Molster III, Brandon Kressin, Brinkema, Kanter, Mike Scarcella, Leigh Jones, Rami Ayyub Organizations: Google, Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Media Alliance, Yelp, U.S, Google LLC, Eastern, of, Thomson Locations: Porte, Paris, France, U.S, Rifkind, Wharton, New York, States, of Virginia

☆ Goodyear Tire to expand board in settlement with Elliott
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The firm urged the company to refresh the board, sell its stores and conduct an operational review. On Tuesday, Goodyear said it would establish a strategic and operational review committee. Elliott, which has a history of taking board seats at companies including Twitter and eBay, had previously criticized the tyre-manufacturer for mismanagement and lagging behind its rivals, Michelin and Bridgestone. "We have been encouraged by Goodyear's openness to taking actions necessary to realize its full potential," Elliott executives said in a statement on Tuesday. Evercore, Lazard and Goldman Sachs are financial advisers to Goodyear, while Paul Weiss the legal counsel.

Persons: Goodyear, Richard Kramer, Elliott, Lazard, Goldman Sachs, Paul Weiss, Nathan Gomes, Sriraj Organizations: Goodyear Tire &, Elliott Investment Management, Twitter, eBay, Michelin, Bridgestone, Evercore, Goodyear, Thomson Locations: Tyre, Akron , Ohio, Bengaluru

☆ Everyone is getting paid these days — except investment bankers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It's been a tough go for investment bankers recently. As if all that wasn't bad enough for bankers, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that even lawyers are now making more money than them. It turns out the culprit, as is often the case on Wall Street, is inflation. It's getting really tough these days to make the case for getting into investment banking. That begs the question: Why bother getting into investment banking at all?

Persons: Dan DeFrancesco, we've, Klaus Vedfelt, It's, —, Robert Kindler's, Morgan Stanley, Paul Weiss —, hasn't, Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman, Paul Dano, Steve Cohen, Alexandra, Emily Oster, David Solomon, Goldman Sachs, Solomon, Jeffrey Cane, Nathan Rennolds Organizations: GameStop, Street Journal, Sony, Bloomberg, Harvard, JPMorgan, Economist Intelligence, LinkedIn Locations: Republic, Semafor, New York, London

☆ Investment banking has gotten so bad even the lawyers are making more money these days
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Partners at big law firms now average upward of $3 million a year in compensation, reports The Wall Street Journal. As if all that wasn't bad enough for bankers, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that even lawyers are now making more money than them! It turns out the culprit, as is often the case on Wall Street, is inflation. Most large law firms increase their rates by about 4% annually, according to the WSJ. It's getting really tough these days to make the case for getting into investment banking.

Persons: It's, —, Robert Kindler's, Morgan Stanley, Paul Weiss —, hasn't Organizations: Wall Street, Wall, Morning, Street Journal

According to court filings, Caspersen in 2015 closed a major deal to recapitalize a private equity fund and then embezzeled an $8.1 million fee the fund had paid to PJT. To recoup the money owed to PJT, Caspersen defrauded Moore, which supports environmental nonprofits, into investing $25 million in the deal even though it had already been completed. The foundation sued PJT the following year, claiming the bank had been negligent in failing to more closely supervise Caspersen after he delayed in remitting the $8.1 million fee to the bank. Caspersen's fraud should have been foreseeable in light of the missing $8.1 million fee "and Caspersen’s purportedly sloppy attempt to cover up his embezzlement," Cannataro wrote. The case is The Moore Charitable Foundation v PJT Partners Inc, New York Court of Appeals, No.

Persons: Andrew Caspersen, Anthony Cannataro, Moore, Caspersen, PJT, Cannataro, Madeline Singas, Singas, Michael Garcia, Stephen Shackelford, Susman Godfrey, Aidan Synnott, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton, Garrison Read Organizations: Bank, NY, The New, Appeals, PJT Partners, Moore Charitable, Park Hill Group, Caspersen, New, Thomson Locations: The New York, PJT, Caspersen, New York

☆ Top Morgan Stanley M&A Banker to Join Law Firm Paul Weiss
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Cara Lombardo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-morgan-stanley-m-a-banker-to-join-law-firm-paul-weiss-bab8b8c2

Persons: Dow Jones, stanley, weiss, bab8b8c2 Organizations: paul

☆ Meet the Morgan Stanley rainmaker tapped to chair the M&A division of law firm Paul Weiss as fears of investor activism grow
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Kaja Whitehouse | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Morgan Stanley rainmaker Robert Kindler is leaving the investment bank for law firm Paul Weiss. Kindler, global chair of mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley, has been named global chair of M&A at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. "Paul, Weiss has the premier franchise for M&A and activism defense and I am excited to become a part of it." Last year, Paul Weiss represented the board of McDonald's in its proxy fight with activist investor Carl Icahn. In 2000, he joined JPMorgan, where he was named global head of M&A before joining Morgan Stanley in 2006.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Robert Kindler, Paul Weiss, Weiss, Garrison, Kindler, Paul, Carl Icahn, Leon Black's, Jeffrey Epstein, Goldman Sachs, John Waldron, Waldron, Scott Barshay, Brad Karp, Moore, Morgan, Eaton Vance, James Gorman Organizations: Morning, Paul, Apollo, NFL, Barshay, JPMorgan, Time Warner, Labor Locations: Rifkind, Wharton, Cravath, ETrade, Kindler

☆ Exxon settles Indonesia torture case that led to SEC official’s ouster
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Reuters —Exxon Mobil on Monday settled a long-running human rights lawsuit with villagers who claimed soldiers Exxon hired to guard a natural gas facility in Indonesia committed murder and torture. The two sides said in a Washington, DC federal court filing that they had resolved the 2001 case. Agnieszka Fryszman, a lawyer for the Indonesian villagers at law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, said the terms are confidential. The lawsuit also sought to hold Exxon accountable for alleged atrocities committed by the soldiers. Oh, who did not return to the law firm after her SEC resignation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison partner is well-known for representing blue chip clients like Amazon in cases with millions or even billions of dollars on the line. "Widely considered one of the most preeminent litigators of his generation," is how his Paul Weiss bio puts it. Average profits per partner at Paul Weiss last year were $5.73 million, according to The American Lawyer. The case made national headlines, and the ex-judge, Roy Pearson Jr, was subsequently sanctioned by the D.C. Court of Appeals. In a statement filed with the court, Isaacson and McCrocklin's lawyer said the two sides' positions "are both extremely well-known to each other and seemingly very entrenched."

Organizations: & & '

☆ Rise in Canadian shareholder activism faces test next month with new rules in place
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Maiya Keidan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The country has lagged the rising trend of activism seen globally, but that could be about to change, lawyers say. Some 53 Canadian companies faced activism campaigns in 2022, a 17.8% rise over the previous year, compared with a 10.6% rise in the U.S to 511, showed data from Insightia, a Diligent brand. Previously, shareholders could only vote 'for' a candidate or 'withhold' their vote, meaning a majority was not legally a necessity. While not enshrined in law, majority voting was often adopted by companies in their policy, prior to the change. And oil and mining companies could continue to be the sector that faces activism, say market participants.

Google said the new DOJ case, filed jointly with eight states last month, which also alleges advertising-related abuses, overlaps with multidistrict litigation in New York that formed in 2021. Google has disputed the claims in the new lawsuit, saying it "duplicates an unfounded" one that Texas filed and now is part of the New York litigation. "They just want DOJ versus Google, nobody else," Vladeck said. Fox also said there is a new federal law that gives state plaintiffs their preference for venue in antitrust litigation. The case is In re Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1:21-md-03010-PKC.

☆ Inside the lives of some of the most powerful people on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

We're highlighting profiles we've done of some of the most powerful people on Wall Street. They are, as you will see, largely white males — a telling reminder of who still wields the power throughout most of Wall Street. Gregg Lemkau was considered a future CEO candidate at Goldman Sachs before he shocked Wall Street by leaving for Michael Dell's investment firm in 2020. Soft-spoken types can sometimes get bulldozed on Wall Street, where so-called alphas often reign supreme. Inside his strategy for turning Goldman into the Amazon of Wall Street.

This is why we have seen less activity," said Dirk Albersmeier, co-head of global M&A at JPMorgan. In the fourth quarter, there has been a 56% contraction in global M&A to $641.2 billion, partly caused by a 66% drop in private equity activity. Top rainmakers expect a pickup in cross-border M&A activity. Going forward, private equity funds are expected to kickstart the recovery as they seek assets at a discount. We were probably more optimistic a year ago," said David DeNunzio, global head of M&A at Wells Fargo.

☆ U.S. Justice Department reportedly split over charging Binance as crypto world falters
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

Justice Department regulations say that money laundering charges against a financial institution must be approved by the MLARS chief. Binance's defense attorneys at U.S. law firm Gibson Dunn have held meetings in recent months with Justice Department officials, the four people said. Faced with the Justice Department investigation, Binance hired an external lawyer from U.S. law firm Paul Weiss, Roberto Gonzalez, who was previously Treasury's deputy general counsel. The Justice Department appointed Eun Young Choi, previously Monaco's senior counsel, as NCET's first director. MLARS has a reputation in the Justice Department for moving slowly in reaching prosecution decisions, people familiar with its activities said.

Justice Department regulations say that money laundering charges against a financial institution must be approved by the MLARS chief. Binance's defense attorneys at U.S. law firm Gibson Dunn have held meetings in recent months with Justice Department officials, the four people said. Faced with the Justice Department investigation, Binance hired an external lawyer from U.S. law firm Paul Weiss, Roberto Gonzalez, who was previously Treasury's deputy general counsel. MLARS has a reputation in the Justice Department for moving slowly in reaching prosecution decisions, people familiar with its activities said. Day met with Justice officials in Washington in recent months, three of the people said.

☆ SBF won’t shut up, and it’s driving lawyers mad
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

SBF has repeatedly admitted that he “f—ked up.” He has apologized on Twitter and in a letter to staff. “What SBF is doing is a form of litigation suicide,” Howard Fischer, a former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer tells me. SBF resigned as CEO when his crypto exchange, FTX, declared bankruptcy on November 11. Ray sought to make clear that SBF does not speak for FTX or its affiliates. (And no, I don’t mean extra sick days — I mean any sick days, which workers currently have to take unpaid).

☆ The future of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried is now in the hands of these 3 lawyers who have worked for Enron, Michael Milken, and Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A senior Paul Weiss lawyer has been hired to defend FTX founder and ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. FTX said on Twitter that a sprawling group of companies founded by Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware. The new CEO of FTX is John J. Ray III, a lawyer-turned-executive with a colorful past leading troubled companies, most notably Enron. The firm Paul Weiss and its lawyer Martin Flumenbaum, who represented the junk-bonds king Michael Milken, are representing Bankman-Fried personally. John J. Ray IIIRay joined FTX as CEO just in time to sign its bankruptcy filing.

☆ Media mogul Byron Allen is suing McDonald's for $10 billion, claiming it overlooks Black-owned media for its advertising
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

McDonald's faces a lawsuit from Byron Allen over its advertising spend with Black-owned media. He can try to prove in court that McDonald's violated civil rights laws, court documents show. The media mogul said: "The economic exclusion must stop immediately." The media mogul accuses McDonald's of relegating his TV networks to an "African-American tier" that has a smaller budget. Allen's legal counsel, David Schecter and Skip Miller, said: "As alleged in our complaint, McDonald's has engaged in pernicious racial discrimination in violation of federal and state law.

NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Two prosecutors who had been leading the Manhattan district attorney's criminal probe into former U.S. President Donald Trump and his business practices have resigned, the district attorney's office said on Wednesday. Neither the Trump Organization nor its lawyer Alan Futerfas immediately responded to requests for comment. The criminal probe resulted last July in tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. A new grand jury was convened in September to examine how the Trump Organization valued its assets. Pomerantz, a former federal prosecutor, had been on leave from the law firm Paul Weiss while working on the Trump probe.

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