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WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal court in Cincinnati sentenced a Chinese national to 20 years in prison on Wednesday after he was convicted last year of plotting to steal trade secrets from several U.S. aviation and aerospace companies, the Justice Department said. Xu Yanjun, the first Chinese spy extradited to the United States for trial, was convicted in Nov. 2021 by a federal jury on counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and trade secret theft. Xu, 42, accused of being a career intelligence officer for China's Ministry of State Security, was detained in Belgium in 2018 after a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. officials say the Chinese government poses the biggest long-term threat to U.S. economic and national security, and is carrying out unprecedented efforts to steal critical technology from U.S. businesses and researchers. FBI Director Christopher Wray has said his agency opens a new counterintelligence case related to China about twice a day.

SummarySummary CompaniesCompanies Related documents The moves could prompt other law schools to follow suitU.S. News' law school rankings loom large in the legal industry(Reuters) - Yale Law School and Harvard Law School both said Wednesday they will no longer participate in U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of law schools, marking the biggest shakeup to the closely watched list in years. 1 spot every year since U.S. News began ranking law schools in 1990, was first to announce the decision. U.S. News’ law school rankings loom large in the legal industry, which highly values prestige. Yale and Harvard will not disappear from the law school rankings, however. (NOTE: This story has been update to include Harvard Law School's decision to not participate in the U.S. News rankings.)

In the United States and some other countries, 'Black Friday' is a bargain shopping day that marks the start of the holiday shopping season. The government contends the Oath Keepers plotted to use force to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's election victory, with defendants Meggs, Watkins and Harrelson entering the building clad in tactical gear. Prosecutors also allege the Oath Keepers staged a "quick reaction force" in a nearby Virginia hotel, a plan which entailed stockpiling firearms that could be ferried across the river into the capital if needed. Then this week, defendant Thomas Caldwell, the only other defendant in this case apart from Rhodes who did not physically enter the building, also testified in his own defense. Caldwell later broke down crying as he recalled his wife's reaction on the day the FBI searched his home.

Nov 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crypto investors sued FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and several celebrities who promoted his exchange including comedian Larry David, alleging they engaged in deceptive practices to sell FTX yield-bearing digital currency accounts. The proposed class action filed late Tuesday night in Miami alleges that FTX yield-bearing accounts were unregistered securities that were unlawfully sold in the U.S. When the crypto exchange faltered on liquidity concerns, U.S. investors sustained $11 billion in damages, the lawsuit alleges. Representatives for Bankman-Fried, Brady, Osaka and the Golden State Warriors did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. FTX filed for bankruptcy and is facing scrutiny from U.S. authorities amid reports that $10 billion in customer assets were shifted from FTX to Bankman-Fried's trading company Alameda Research.

He is now on trial in Los Angeles Superior Court and had been facing 11 charges of rape and sexual assault. Werksman also asked Siebel Newsom to explain "dozens" of emails she sent to Weinstein in the years following her encounter. In one of the emails, Siebel Newsom thanked Weinstein for inviting her and her husband to a pre-Oscars party. Siebel Newsom responded that she was afraid of Weinstein and felt a need to be nice to him. He was extradited from New York to a Los Angeles prison in July 2021.

Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta sued Musk and the board in 2018 and hopes to prove that Musk used his dominance over the electric vehicle maker's board to dictate terms of the package, which did not require him to work at Tesla full-time. In one clip, Musk dismissed the idea that the board should have discussed requiring that he spend more time with Tesla. He apologized from the stand to a British diver who he called "pedo guy" in a tweet and who sued Musk for defamation. The disputed Tesla package allows Musk to buy 1% of Tesla's stock at a deep discount each time escalating performance and financial targets are met. The Musk case survived a motion to dismiss because it was determined he might be considered a controlling shareholder, which means stricter rules apply.

Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, spoke about the savings during testimony as the prosecution's star witness. Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August to avoiding taxes on $1.76 million in income and helping engineer tax fraud. He said if the Trump Organization gave him a raise to cover those expenses, it would have cost the company twice as much to account for his resulting taxes. They have also sought to blame Mazars, which for many years prepared Trump Organization tax returns. The trial's first witness, Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, testified that he did not know whether executives' rent payments were taxable income.

Cohen, now a vocal Trump critic, said the real estate company stopped paying his bills after he began cooperating with several investigations. In a 5-0 decision, the Appellate Division in Manhattan said a trial judge erred in dismissing Cohen's lawsuit. The court said it was unclear whether Cohen's legal fees mounted because he had been a Trump Organization employee, which would entitle him to reimbursement. The fees kept growing, and the Trump Organization has paid some of them, court papers show. Michael Cohen and Justice Cohen are not related.

DePape pleaded not guilty on Nov. 2 to state charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, elder abuse, false imprisonment and threatening a public official. He is accused of gaining entry to the home of Paul and Nancy Pelosi on Oct. 28 and striking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, leaving him hospitalized with a skull fracture and injuries to his hand and arm. Paul Pelosi has since been released from a San Francisco area hospital. DePape faces a maximum sentence of up to 50 years in prison if found guilty of the federal charges, although sentencing guidelines typically call for less time behind bars. The state charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 13 years to life.

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled that a COVID-19-era order used to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants to Mexico was unlawful, a ruling that could have major implications for U.S. border management. In a 49-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge Emmit Sullivan said the policy was "arbitrary and capricious" and violated federal regulatory law. The order, known as Title 42, was put in place under then-President Donald Trump's administration in March 2020 early in the COVID pandemic. However, a Louisiana-based federal judge ruled in May that the Biden administration could not end it. Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Trump Organization Inc FollowNEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Allen Weisselberg, a longtime senior executive at former U.S. President Donald Trump's family business, took the stand on Tuesday as the prosecution's star witness at the Trump Organization's tax fraud trial in New York state court. Weisselberg, 75, pleaded guilty in August to avoiding taxes on $1.76 million in personal income and helping Trump's real estate company engineer the tax fraud scheme. During questioning by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger on Tuesday, Weisselberg said he began working as an accountant for Trump's father, the real estate developer Fred Trump, in 1973. Weisselberg said the Trump Organization's business portfolio grew more diversified since he began working there, branching out into hotels, golf courses and commercial properties. Weisselberg is the third witness to take the stand in the trial, which began with jury selection on Oct. 24.

[1/2] Darrell Brooks, charged with killing five people and injuring nearly 50 after plowing through a Christmas parade with his sport utility vehicle on November 21, appears in Waukesha County Court in Waukesha, Wisconsin, U.S. November 23, 2021. Mark Hoffman/Pool via REUTERS/File PhotoNov 15 (Reuters) - Grieving relatives of those injured and killed when a man drove through a Christmas parade near Milwaukee last year will have a chance to confront the driver during a two-day sentencing hearing beginning on Tuesday. The driver, Darrell Brooks, 40, faces life in prison after a circuit court jury in Waukesha, Wisconsin, found him guilty on Oct. 26 of 76 criminal charges, including six counts of intentional homicide. On numerous occasions during the proceedings, Dorow admonished Brooks for failing to follow court rules and arguing with her. She removed Brooks from the courtroom several times, sending him to another room where he watched the proceedings.

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Donald Trump defeated his niece Mary Trump in a lawsuit where she accused the former U.S. president and two of his siblings of defrauding her out of a multimillion-dollar inheritance. Mary Trump's case had its roots in the 1981 death of her father Fred Trump Jr., Donald Trump's older brother, who left Mary, then 16, a profitable real estate portfolio. Now a 57-year-old psychologist, Mary Trump claimed that her uncles Donald and Robert Trump and aunt Maryanne Trump Barry were supposed to protect her interests but instead "squeezed" her out of tens of millions of dollars. The cases are Mary L. Trump v Donald J. Trump et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 654698/2020, and Donald J. Trump v Mary L. Trump et al in the same court, No.

SummarySummary CompaniesCompanies Law firms Frost Brown Todd and AlvaradoSmith to merge effective Jan. 1Combined firm will have more than 575 lawyers in 17 offices(Reuters) - Frost Brown Todd is set to combine with California law firm AlvaradoSmith as the Cincinnati-founded firm continues to branch out to new regions. The combination will give Frost Brown Todd 23 additional attorneys and three California offices in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco. Frost Brown Todd, founded in 1919 as Frost & Jacobs before merging in 2000 with Louisville-founded Brown, Todd and Heyburn in 2000, has roots in the middle of America, with offices in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and other states. The AlvaradoSmith attorneys are joining the larger firm under the name Frost Brown Todd AlvaradoSmith in California through 2023, before reverting to the Frost Brown Todd name the next year. Law firm mergers dropped as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020, and activity stayed at lower levels throughout 2021.

When she arrived, Weinstein had no interest in discussing her projects, Siebel Newsom said. Siebel Newsom said Weinstein got her onto a bed, though she cannot recall if he carried or dragged her there. Siebel Newsom's attorney confirmed in October that Siebel Newsom would testify in the case. At the time of the meeting with Siebel Newsom, she had not met her future husband, current California Gov. In cross-examination, Weinstein attorney Mark Werksman questioned Siebel Newsom about why her husband had accepted campaign donations from the producer.

[1/3] Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks outside a polling station during midterm election in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. November 8, 2022. REUTERS/Ricardo ArduengoNEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen accusing Trump, former Attorney General William Barr and others of abruptly returning him to prison in retaliation for writing a tell-all memoir. Authorities returned Cohen to prison amid a dispute over whether he could speak with the media about his forthcoming book while under home confinement. His book "Disloyal: A Memoir" topped the New York Times' hardcover nonfiction bestseller list in September 2020. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

They argued the pay package did what it aimed to do -- ensure the entrepreneur successfully guided Tesla through a critical period which helped drive the stock 10-fold higher. The Tesla shareholder lawsuit argues that the pay package should have required Musk to work full time at Tesla. In all, 19 witnesses are scheduled, including directors and executives from 2018, compensation experts and advisors who helped craft the pay package. Tesla has hit 11 of the 12 targets as its value ballooned briefly to more than $1 trillion from $50 billion, according to court papers. A decision will likely take around three months after the trial and could be appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court.

☆ Former top lawyer for Slack, Groupon joins Sullivan & Cromwell
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Chinekwu Osakwe | Thomson Reuters | Chinekwu Osakwe Covers Legal Industry News With A Focus On Midsize Law Firms. Reach Her At Chinekwu.Osakwe Thomsonreuters.Com. | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Law firms Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Follow(Reuters) - Sullivan & Cromwell has hired a former general counsel for Slack Technologies LLC, Groupon Inc and Salesforce.com Inc to join its Palo Alto office, the law firm said Monday. David Schellhase, who left his position at Slack in Aug. 2021 after almost five years, will be part of the firm's general practice group as of counsel. Before his time at Slack, Schellhase spent over a year as chief operating officer for software company Honest Work Corp. Schellhase said in a statement that he is eager to join the New York-founded law firm as the maturing technology industry seeks out legal expertise. Read More:Sullivan & Cromwell leads first-half M&A in slower 2022 for firm dealmakersSullivan & Cromwell antitrust co-head Holley departs for hedge fundOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ex-special master in Giuliani case named watchdog of Trump Organization
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

New York state Attorney General Letitia James on Nov. 3 won a court order to appoint an independent monitor for the Trump Organization as part of her $250 million civil fraud lawsuit accusing Trump and the Trump Organization of overvaluing assets and Trump's net worth. Arthur Engoron, the Manhattan-based New York state supreme court judge overseeing the case, wrote in a court filing on Monday that Jones had confirmed in a telephone call that she will accept the appointment. In June 2021, Jones was selected as a court-appointed "special master" to review evidence seized from Giuliani as part of a probe into his business dealings in Ukraine. Trump and the Trump Organization had also recommended Kelly Donovan, a managing director at accounting firm KPMG and former lawyer with the New York state attorney general's office, as a possible candidate. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing that the ban from Twitter marked "overtly partisan censorship" and was "contrary to First Amendment principles deeply rooted in American history and law." His lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and a court order requiring Twitter to "immediately reinstate" his account that was permanently suspended on Jan. 8, 2021. A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, and a Twitter spokesperson did not immediately reply. A lawyer for Trump, John Coale in Washington, told Reuters on Monday, "We want him to have the right to get back on" to Twitter. Donato also denied Trump's claim that Twitter was serving as a "state actor" when it banned his account.

Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday. Punchbowl Inc sued Punchbowl News' parent company, AJ Press LLC, for trademark infringement last year in Los Angeles federal court. The appeals court also agreed with the lower court that AJ Press' name was not misleading. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. For Punchbowl Inc: Peter Willsey of Brown RudnickFor Punchbowl News: Ian Ballon of Greenberg TraurigOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Tesla Inc FollowSAN FRANCISCO, Nov 14 (Reuters) - California prosecutors have asked a court to delay a trial for a Tesla (TSLA.O) Model S driver who faces manslaughter charges over a 2019 crash that left two people dead, according to court documents. Prosecutors want to push back the trial to late February or later, saying two police officers assigned to the case would be on medical leave and vacation. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said the two sides will set a new date for the trial on Tuesday. In October, prosecutors charged Tesla driver Kevin George Aziz Riad of "vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence." Tesla was not charged in the case, but the company's claims about its partially automated driving systems are expected to be in focus.

REUTERS/Maria Alejandra CardonaNEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - No charges will be brought in a criminal investigation into business dealings in Ukraine by Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, the top U.S. prosecutor in Manhattan said in a court filing on Monday. In a sign that the investigation was winding down, FBI agents returned the seized electronic devices to Giuliani, his lawyer said in August. Giuliani, 78, also faces a state-level criminal investigation in Georgia over efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden. Giuliani in 2020 urged the state's lawmakers not to certify Biden's victory in Georgia. In August, Giuliani testified before a Fulton County grand jury after a judge ordered him to comply with a subpoena.

AbbVie and lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit claims the settlements were so-called "pay for delay" deals that violated competition laws in 30 states and resulted in higher prices. The generic companies previously settled with the health plans for a combined $2 million. Allergan previously reached a $750 million settlement of antitrust allegations brought by direct purchasers of Namenda, such as drug distributors. The case is In re Namenda Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ Quinn Emanuel adds longtime SEC enforcement official in D.C., California
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Chinekwu Osakwe | Thomson Reuters | Chinekwu Osakwe Covers Legal Industry News With A Focus On Midsize Law Firms. Reach Her At Chinekwu.Osakwe Thomsonreuters.Com. | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CompaniesCompanies Law firms Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP Follow(Reuters) - Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan said Monday that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official C. Dabney O'Riordan has joined the firm's SEC enforcement practice as a partner in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.O'Riordan was the longest serving head of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement’s Asset Management Unit before leaving the agency in September, according to the 900-attorney firm. At Quinn Emanuel, she will represent asset managers that handle private funds including private equity managers, hedge fund managers, mutual fund advisors and ETF advisors, she said. “There’s a lot of rulemaking going on in the asset management space,” said O'Riordan, who joined the SEC in 2005. She also knew some of her new colleagues before joining, including co-chairs of the firm’s SEC enforcement defense practice, Michael Liftik and Sarah Heaton Concannon, O'Riordan said. Read more:Litigation giant Quinn Emanuel beefs up leadership, elevating DC, NY partnersOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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