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☆ How the overturned Harvey Weinstein conviction could echo in Donald Trump’s hush money trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Gloria Pazmino | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Some legal observers believe the Weinstein decision could prove relevant as the hush money trial against former President Donald Trump unfolds in Manhattan. Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial and making day-by-day decisions about what evidence is allowed in court, is bound to the same guidelines as the Weinstein trial judge. Stephen Gillers, professor of law at New York University, said the Weinstein ruling will certainly be important to Merchan. Judge Madeline Singas dissented from the Weinstein appeals court ruling, saying the information was needed for the jury to consider. Gillers said the Weinstein decision is not just weighing on the judge’s mind.

Persons: Harvey Weinstein’s, Weinstein, ”, “ Sandoval ”, Donald Trump, Judge Juan Merchan, Sandoval, Douglas Wigdor, “, Trump, Stormy Daniels, It’s, Karen McDougal, Trump’s, McDougal, Daniels, Ronan Farrow, Harvey Weinstein, Merchan, Stephen Gillers, ” Gillers, Deborah Tuerkheimer, Madeline Singas, ” Singas, ‘ Sandoval ’, Weinstein judge’s Sandoval, Augustin Sandoval, Jean Carroll, Tuerkheimer, Merchan’s, he’s, ” Tuerkheimer, Arthur Aidala, Aidala, ” Aidala, “ Harvey, Gillers, –, won’t Organizations: CNN, New, Trump, Molineux, New York University, Northwestern University, ” Prosecutors, Weinstein Locations: New York, Manhattan, Weinstein’s

☆ Fani Willis takes the stand hellbent on setting the record straight — but legal experts are split on whether her testimony did more harm than good
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Citing a filing from Wade's divorce proceedings, attorneys for the defendants alleged that Wade and Willis had an improper relationship. A witness for the defense attorneys alleged Thursday that Willis and Wade's relationship began in 2019. Nathan Wade, the Georgia prosecutor who admitted to a relationship with his colleague, Fulton County DA Fani Willis, in court. Fulton County DA Fani Willis testifies at a hearing Feb. 15 in Atlanta on her relationship with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade. Most experts were skeptical that the evidence presented Thursday would lead to Willis or Wade being dismissed from the case.

Persons: —, Fani Willis, Nathan Wade, Donald Trump, Scott McAfee, Willis, Wade, pugnacious, Mike Roman, Trump, Stephen Gillers, McCaffee, I've, It's, Gillers, Norman Eisen, Trump's, DA Willis, Eisen, Sarah Krissoff, Krissoff, Mark Bederow, wasn't, Bederow, Neama, Cash, Rahmani, Pool Willis, I'm Organizations: Service, Business, Trump, Fulton, New York University, YouTube, Willis Locations: ATLANTA , Georgia, Fulton County, Georgia, Atlanta, New York, Manhattan, California

☆ In any other case, Trump lawyer Alina Habba's antics would be grounds for malpractice, ethics lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewDonald Trump's lawyer made headlines last week after she violated basic courtroom rules and proper legal procedure in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. Alina Habba's behavior would have opened her up to potential malpractice liability in any other case, said one ethics lawyer. But Trump is unlikely to sue Habba for malpractice, he said. "Trump wants a lawyer who will fight in the court of public opinion as much as the courtroom," Neama Rahmani, the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Business Insider. "There aren't a lot of good trial lawyers who want to jump on that grenade."

Persons: —, Donald Trump's, Jean Carroll, Lewis Kaplan, Habba, dinging, Alina Habba's, Trump, Stephen Gillers, Gillers, wouldn't, they'll, Kris Franklin, Mary, Carroll, Rahmani, didn't Organizations: Service, Business, NYU School of Law, West, Trial, New York Law School, New, The New York Times, Habba Locations: New York

☆ DA Fani Willis defends prosecutor she hired for Trump's Georgia election case amid allegations of an 'improper' relationship
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Lloyd Lee | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Fulton County DA Fani Willis was accused of having an "improper" relationship with a prosecutor. Willis appointed the prosecutor, Nathan Wade, to oversee the RICO case against Trump. The motion seeks to dismiss the indictment and disqualify Willis and Wade and their offices from further prosecuting the case. Willis said she hired three special prosecutors for the election case: a white man, a white woman, and a Black man. If Willis financially benefited from her relationship with Wade, that may be an ethics violation," he said.

Persons: Fani Willis, Willis, Nathan Wade, —, Sunday, Donald Trump, Martin Luther King Jr, Ashleigh Merchant, Michael Roman, Merchant, Wade, Fulton, Scott McAfee, Steve Sadow, King, she's, I'm, Pete Skandalakis, McAfee, Stephen Gillers, Trump Organizations: Fulton, Trump, Service, Big Bethel AME Church, White, New York Univerity Law School, Atlanta Locations: Fulton County, Georgia, Big Bethel, Atlanta, New York

☆ Bonds vs. Bond Funds: How Higher Rates Are Changing the Calculation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The new era of higher interest rates has reignited a long-smoldering Wall Street debate: Is it better for ordinary investors to buy individual bonds outright? Or shares of bond mutual funds? During the yearslong period of near-zero interest rates, the answer seemed simple: Funds had low fees and were easy to buy and sell, and share values rose alongside bond prices. If any one bond defaulted, losses were minimal.

☆ Investors Like New York Subways. San Francisco’s BART? Not So Much.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones, bart

[1/2] U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas poses during a group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., October 7, 2022. Durbin said the "undisclosed, forgiven" loan demonstrates the need for a binding code of conduct for the court. The documents showed that Welters forgave the loan in 2008, according to the findings. The Senate Judiciary Committee in July approved a Democratic-backed bill that would mandate a binding ethics code for the justices. Thomas and Welters did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Evelyn Hockstein, Thomas, Anthony Welters, Dick Durbin, Durbin, Welters, Ron Wyden, Elliot Berke, Berke, Harlan Crow, Steven Lubet, Lubet, Stephen Gillers, Andrew Chung, John Kruzel, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, REUTERS, Rights, Welters, Democratic, hobnobbing, Senate, New York Times, Texas, Crow, Northwestern University, New York University, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, New York, Washington

☆ Muni Funds That Use Borrowed Money Take a Big Hit
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones

Another source identified Trump Organization employee Yuscil Taveras as the unnamed computer specialist whose fees prosecutors said were paid by Trump's political group. Trump's legal spokesperson Alina Habba, who is also general counsel at Save America, did not respond to detailed questions on the payments. In July, after Save America reported its legal expenses to the Federal Election Commission, Cheung said Save America was helping people who had worked for Trump avoid "financial ruin." Asked how legal spending would affect his campaign, Trump told a SiriusXM podcast earlier this month: "Fortunately, I have a lot more money." Save America and the Trump campaign have not responded to requests for comment on the legal fee estimates.

Persons: Donald Trump, Scott Morgan, Donald Trump's, Brand Woodward, Greenberg Traurig, Trump, Jason Osborne, Trump's, Osborne, Stanley Woodward, Jason Miller, Margo Martin, Dan Scavino, Matt Calamari Jr, Yuscil Taveras, Miller, Martin, Calamari Jr, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira, Michael Roman, Boris Epshteyn, Taylor Budowich, William Russell, Kash Patel, Brian Jack, Roman, Dhillon, Epshteyn, Jack, Patel, De Oliveira, Russell, Alina Habba, Steven Cheung, Cheung, Stephen Gillers, Jason Lange, Andrew Goudsward, Nathan Layne, Sarah N, Lynch, Karen Freifeld, Ted Hesson, Scott Malone, Deepa Babington Organizations: U.S, Republican, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Trump, Save, Federal, Commission, Make, Inc, MAGA Inc, Republican Party, America, Save America, Trump Organization, Scavino, New York University, Thomson Locations: Dubuque , Iowa, U.S, Save America, America's, Georgia, Budowich

☆ Why Wisconsin’s Pension Chief Earns Eight Times the Governor’s Salary
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones

☆ How Did Things Go So Wrong at This Arizona Park Built With Muni Bonds?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Heather Gillers | Photographs Caitlin O Hara For The Wall Street Journal | ) 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/finance/investing/how-did-things-go-so-wrong-at-this-arizona-park-built-with-muni-bonds-a30a54f0

Persons: Dow Jones Locations: arizona

☆ Some Hospitals That Spent Big on Nurses During Pandemic Are Now Short on Cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Heather Gillers | Melanie Evans | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones

☆ Wall Street Sours on America’s Downtowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Persons: Dow Jones

The complaint was sent to the US judges' Committee on Financial Disclosure. For now, questions about Thomas's previously undisclosed financial dealings with Harlan Crow, a billionaire Texas real-estate developer, will fall to an obscure committee of sixteen federal judges — the Committee on Financial Disclosure. Koszczuk said the same letterhead was routinely sent to any member of the public who asked for a judge's financial disclosure report. When Ranjan wrote his article, a review of a Thomas biography, the controversies surrounding Thomas had nothing to do with his financial disclosures. Judges' financial disclosures are only updated annually, and until recently, it wasn't easy to get ahold of them.

☆ Pension Funds Consider Unloading Stocks, Adding Credit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System is moving to lower risk without bringing down returns. Photo: Max Whittaker for The Wall Street JournalSome of the nation’s largest pension funds are looking at pulling back on stocks and adding private credit, while grappling with the possibility of a prolonged economic slowdown. Board members of the $307 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System voted Thursday to reduce the fund’s stockholdings to 38% from 42%, a shift staff and consultants said would lower the fund’s risk level without bringing down returns. The public pension fund, the nation’s second-largest, is closely watched by other retirement managers.

☆ Tightening Supreme Court Ethics Rules Faces Steep Hurdles
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The drumbeat of revelations that Justice Clarence Thomas did not disclose lavish gifts and significant financial arrangements with a billionaire Republican donor has put a spotlight on the fact that the Supreme Court has the weakest ethics rules in the federal government. But it is far less clear that anything can be done about it. Justice Thomas’s behavior has underscored that financial disclosure rules for justices are porous and that the court has no binding code of ethical conduct like the one that governs lower-court judges. The court has shown no interest in adopting one, and proposals in Congress to force one upon it face steep political and constitutional hurdles. “It’s a mess,” said Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics professor at New York University.

☆ Clarence Thomas didn't recuse himself from a 2004 appeal tied to Harlan Crow's family business, per Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Lauren Steussy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Clarence Thomas previously said his friend Harlan Crow had no business before the court. But a case involving Trammell Crow Residential made its way to the Supreme Court in 2005, per Bloomberg. Harlan Crow was CEO of Crow Holdings from 1988 to 2017, and remains chair of its board, per Bloomberg and The Real Deal. "At the time of this case, Trammell Crow Residential operated completely independently of Crow Holdings with a separate management team and its own independent operations," the statement to Bloomberg said. Neither Harlan Crow nor Crow Holdings had knowledge of or involvement in this case, and a search of Crow Holding's legal records reveals no involvement in this case.

☆ Muni Junk Bond King John Miller to Retire
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Rising Rates Take Some Shine Off Private Markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After years of shifting money into private market investments, public pension and investment funds are taking a fresh look at publicly traded debt, thanks to the highest yields in more than a decade. “Bonds are back,” said California State Teachers’ Retirement System investment chief Christopher Ailman . He predicted that public pension funds will shift an additional 2% to 5% of assets into publicly traded debt, reversing a multidecade trend of shrinking fixed-income portfolios.

☆ Joe Tacopina risks being disqualified as Trump's defense lawyer because Stormy Daniels considered hiring him 5 years ago, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Depending on what Daniels told Tacopina, he could be disqualified in the case, experts say. Tacopina didn't end up taking on Daniels as a client. And the communications from Daniels didn't create a conflict of representation, according to Tacopina. Even if Tacopina didn't take on Daniels as a client, lawyers still have obligations to prospective clients, legal experts say. That appears to be the position of Daniels' attorney.

☆ Stormy Daniels looked into hiring a lawyer currently representing Trump in hush money case. The Manhattan DA now has their communications.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A lawyer for Stormy Daniels said he gave the Manhattan DA communications between her and Trump's attorney. The communications reportedly include information about Daniels' then situation, which Brewster said contains confidential information she disclosed to Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina. When a paralegal in his office brought it up with him, he declined to take the case, he told Insider. Tacopina told Insider that the communication from Daniels didn't rise to a level that would raise a conflict. He told CNN that he handed over the communications between Daniels and Tacopina following what he said were contradicting comments from the Trump lawyer about his firm's emails with Daniels.

☆ Some Public Pension Funds Are Pulling Back on Private Equity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Some U.S. public pension and investment funds are pulling back on private equity after a decade of state and local retirement systems aggressively pursuing the expensive, risky and hard-to-trade asset class. Maryland’s $65 billion retirement system is investing less new money in private equity. At Alaska’s $77 billion state fund, the investment chief wants to cancel a planned ramp-up. And the $615 million pension fund of Mendocino County, Calif., last month opted against introducing private equity to its investment mix.

☆ U.S. Stocks Gain; First Republic Keeps Falling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Caitlin Ostroff | Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.S. stocks climbed Monday on hopes for stability in the banking sector after regulators engineered a deal for Swiss banking giant UBS to take over rival Credit Suisse . The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 382.60 points, or 1.2%, to 32244.58, its largest one-day percentage gain since Jan. 6. The S&P 500 rose 34.93 points, or 0.9%, to 3951.57. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite climbed 45.02 points, or 0.4%, to 11675.54. The indexes declined Friday.

☆ New Threat to Town, School District Budgets: Rising Rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rising interest rates are squeezing cash-strapped towns and school systems that use short-term borrowing to keep cash flowing while they wait for property tax dollars to come in. A-rated cities and school districts are paying 3.16% for a one-year loan issued March 3, compared with 0.21% at the beginning of 2022, according to data from Refinitiv MMD. In places where local budgets are already burdened by inflation, rising borrowing costs add to the pressure to raise taxes or cut services.

☆ Rising Rates Squeeze Small Town Borrowers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Heather Gillers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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