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More than four years of family conflict over the estate of Aretha Franklin ended Tuesday when a Michigan jury decided what her family could not — which of two hand-scrawled wills represented the famed singer’s true wishes for how to divide her estate. The verdict resolved more than four years of uncertainty that caused a rift in Franklin’s family, and it sets in motion a plan for how income and assets from her estate should be divided. After the singer died, at age 76, her family believed she had no will. Under Michigan law, her assets would have been divided equally among her four sons: Kecalf, Edward and Clarence Franklin, and Ted White Jr. The sons unanimously selected a cousin as the estate’s personal representative, a position similar to that of an executor.

Persons: Aretha Franklin, Franklin, Kecalf, Edward, Clarence Franklin, Ted White Jr Organizations: Michigan Locations: Michigan, Pontiac, Mich

☆ FTC would face tough appeal of Microsoft-Activision order -experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

She gave the FTC until Friday to seek an order in the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. The FTC had no immediate comment on whether it would appeal and what arguments it might make before a three-judge panel. "The FTC may have difficulty on appeal establishing that fact - without which the case as they framed it goes away," Crane said. In her 53-page order, Corley said it was not enough for the FTC to argue that "a merger might lessen competition - the FTC must show the merger will probably substantially lessen competition." A trial before an administrative law judge at the FTC begins on Aug. 2.

Persons: Jacqueline Scott Corley, Corley, Daniel Crane, Crane, Luke Hasskamp, Robert Lande, Joseph Alioto, Alioto, Mike Scarcella, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Microsoft, Activision, Circuit, Appeals, FTC, University of Michigan Law School, University of Baltimore, Thomson Locations: U.S, San Francisco, Washington

☆ Is Aretha Franklin’s True Will the One Found in the Couch or a Cabinet?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Julia Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At issue in the trial is which document best reflects Franklin’s wishes before she died, at age 76, of pancreatic cancer. Two of her sons, Edward and Kecalf Franklin, assert that the document found in a spiral notebook under the couch cushions, which is dated March 2014 and substantially favors Kecalf, should be considered primary. Another son, Ted White Jr., contends that the papers found in the cabinet, dated June 2010, should take precedence. As a result, they will not be taking a side in the trial, said Joseph Buttiglieri, a lawyer for Clarence Franklin’s guardian. The total estate was estimated at about $18 million after she died, Mr. Smith said, though another appraisal suggested the figure might be lower.

Persons: Edward, Kecalf Franklin, Ted White Jr, Clarence Franklin, Joseph Buttiglieri, Clarence Franklin’s, Franklin, Smith Locations: Michigan

Those figures are now 20% at Berkeley Law and 15% at Michigan Law. The Association of American Law Schools on July 10 is convening a virtual conference focused on admissions in a post-affirmative action landscape, chaired by Berkeley Law dean Erwin Chemerinsky. Alongside strategies to recruit and admit diverse students, Zearfoss said the changing demographics of the law school applicant pool have helped Michigan Law bolster student diversity—good news for law schools now facing an affirmative action ban. The law school also prioritizes recruiting at events geared toward minority applicants and at college and universities with significant minority enrollment, Zearfoss added. Michigan Law and Berkeley Law both voluntarily withhold information about each applicant's race to ensure they comply with their state laws, admissions officials said.

Persons: Sarah Zearfoss, Erwin Chemerinsky, Edward Blum, ”, Michigan’s Zearfoss, Zearfoss, Chemerinsky, “, ” Chemerinsky, Karen Sloan, Leigh Jones Organizations: U.S, Supreme, University of Michigan Law School, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Berkeley Law, American Bar Association, Michigan Law's, ABA, Michigan Law, Association of American Law Schools, Berkeley, Fair Admissions, Harvard University, University of North, Asian, Fair, Association of American Medical Colleges, American Dental Association, Law, Thomson Locations: Michigan, California, American, Sarah Zearfoss , Michigan, University of North Carolina, U.S

☆ Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson criticize each other in unusually sharp language
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Washington CNN —The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling Thursday on affirmative action pitted its two Black justices against each other, with the ideologically opposed jurists employing unusually sharp language attacking each other by name. Justice Clarence Thomas and the court’s other four conservatives joined Roberts’ opinion. Thomas has previously acknowledged that he made it to Yale Law School because of affirmative action, but he has long criticized such policies. (While Jackson recused herself from the Harvard case, she did hear the UNC case, and her dissent was focused on the latter.) In his memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son,” Thomas says he felt “tricked” by paternalistic Whites at Yale who recruited Black students.

Persons: John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Roberts, Thomas, Ketanji Brown Jackson, ”, ” Thomas, “, Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, Thomas ’, “ ‘, ” “, ” Jackson, Black, he’d Organizations: Washington CNN, Harvard, University of North, Yale Law School, UNC, CNN, Whites, Yale, “, University of Michigan Law School, White, Bollinger Locations: University of North Carolina, Independence, United States, Yale

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File PhotoWILMINGTON, Delaware, June 29 (Reuters) - A prominent U.S. lawsuit to ban the abortion pill mifepristone has focused on the drug's safety and approval process. Skop and 10 other doctors submitted their testimony when the case began in November. She said she was harmed by the FDA expanding access to the pill because she has treated dozens of women at her hospital's emergency room with mifepristone complications. Erin Hawley, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom legal organization representing the plaintiffs, said abortion sets the case apart. In the abortion pill case, the two initial court rulings found harm to Skop and other doctors was "impending" because the mifepristone label says the treatment may be unsuccessful in up 7% of women.

Persons: Evelyn Hockstein, mifepristone, Ingrid Skop, Roe, Wade, Skop, doesn’t, Leah Litman, Erin Hawley, Hawley, Matthew Kacsmaryk, Samuel Alito's, Danco, Tom Hals, Amy Stevens, Deepa Babington Organizations: Alamo Women's, REUTERS, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Supreme, FDA, University of Michigan Law School, Alliance Defending, Alliance for Hippocratic, District, Appeals, U.S, Fifth, Amnesty International, Danco Laboratories, Thomson Locations: Carbondale , Illinois, U.S, WILMINGTON , Delaware, Texas, America, Amarillo , Texas, Amarillo, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, Wilmington , Delaware

☆ Aileen Cannon: Trump-appointed judge returns to spotlight in his federal criminal case
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Federal judge Aileen Cannon entered the public spotlight last summer when she oversaw court proceedings related to the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Now, the Trump-appointed federal judge has been initially assigned to oversee the former president’s new federal criminal case in Miami, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. If she remains on the case, Cannon would have wide latitude to control timing and evidence in the case and be able to vet the Justice Department’s legal theory. Trump is expected to appear in Miami federal court Tuesday to be read the charges against him. “We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant.

Persons: Aileen Cannon, Donald Trump’s Mar, Cannon, Trump, Jack Smith’s, Bruce Reinhart, ”, “ Organizations: CNN, Trump, Mar, ABC News, Senate, Appeals, Major, University of Michigan Law School Locations: Lago, Florida, Miami, Washington , DC

June 9 (Reuters) - Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge initially assigned to oversee Donald Trump's classified documents case, made headlines last year when she decided in favor of the former U.S. president at a pivotal stage of the case and was later reversed on appeal. A member of the conservative Federalist Society, Cannon had relatively little experience as a lawyer when nominated by Trump and confirmed in November 2020 to the federal bench by the U.S. Senate then led by Trump's Republican Party. An indictment was unsealed on Friday charging Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024, with illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing justice. The ruling was criticized by many legal observers, including William Barr, who served as attorney general under Trump. Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024, was indicted on Thursday for illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing justice.

Persons: Aileen Cannon, Donald Trump's, Cannon, Trump's, William Barr, Gibson Dunn, Rami Ayyub, Sarah N, Lynch, Luc Cohen, Jacquelyn Thomsen, Doina Chiacu, Howard Goller Organizations: Federalist Society, Trump, U.S, Senate, Trump's Republican Party, Republican, FBI, U.S . Department of Justice, University of Michigan Law School, American Bar Association, Thomson Locations: Florida, Palm Beach , Florida, Cali , Colombia, Iowa, Washington ,, Fort Pierce , Florida

☆ Luck of the draw: Trump's judge will likely be his appointee Aileen Cannon, who has already handed him victories that had legal experts scratching their heads
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Insider Staff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Judge Aileen Cannon is likely to preside over the first-ever federal trial of a former president. Cannon, 42, has been assigned to oversee Trump's trial, according to a summons cited by numerous news outlets. At that time, a magistrate judge on duty — and not Cannon — is expected to oversee the proceedings. The judge will likely decide whether to set bail, and read the charges against Trump before he enters a plea. "Judge Cannon is a great judge who I am very proud to have enthusiastically supported," Rubio told Insider through his office when asked about the connection.

Persons: Aileen Cannon, Trump, —, Aileen Cannon —, Donald Trump —, Cannon, Jon Sale, Sale, Cannon recuses, It's, Cannon's, Nelson Mullins Riley, Fort, Paul G, Donald Trump, ANDY BUCHANAN, Mercedes Cubas, Federalist Society —, Steven Colloton, Gibson, Dunn, Crutcher, Josh Lorence, Lorence, Bobby Flay, Ron DeSantis, Republican Sen, Marco Rubio, Rubio, Rick Scott of, " Rubio, Democratic Sen, Dianne Feinstein, they'd, Nancy Pelosi, Cortez, Paul Hoeffer, Hoeffer Organizations: Service, Department of, Trump, Southern District of, Appeals, Scarborough LLP, Miami Herald, Rogers, Getty, Committee, Duke University, El, El Nuevo Herald, University of Michigan Law School, Federalist Society, Crutcher LLP, Southern, Republican, Senate, Democratic Locations: Department of Justice's, Miami, Mar, Palm Beach , Florida, Southern District, Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach County, Fort Pierce , Florida, West Palm Beach, AFP, Cali , Colombia, Miami , Florida, Cuba, Spain, El Nuevo, Iowa, Washington ,, Florida, Athens, Greece, Vero Beach , Florida, DeSantis, Marco Rubio of Florida, Rick Scott of Florida, Cortez of New York

A member of the conservative Federalist Society, Cannon had relatively little experience as a lawyer when nominated by Trump and confirmed in November 2020 to the federal bench by the U.S. Senate then led by Trump's Republican Party. The ruling was criticized by many legal observers, including William Barr, who served as attorney general under Trump. Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024, was indicted on Thursday for illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing justice. Cannon, born in 1981 in Cali, Colombia, appears set to oversee at least the initial stages of one of the most consequential legal cases in U.S. history. Reporting by Rami Ayyub, Sarah N. Lynch, Luc Cohen and Jacquelyn Thomsen; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Howard GollerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Aileen Cannon, Donald Trump's, Cannon, Trump's, William Barr, Gibson Dunn, Rami Ayyub, Sarah N, Lynch, Luc Cohen, Jacquelyn Thomsen, Doina Chiacu, Howard Goller Organizations: Federalist Society, Trump, U.S, Senate, Trump's Republican Party, White, FBI, U.S . Department of Justice, Republican, University of Michigan Law School, American Bar Association, Thomson Locations: Florida, Palm Beach , Florida, Cali , Colombia, Iowa, Washington ,, Fort Pierce , Florida

☆ GM to invest more than $500 mln in Texas plant for future SUVs
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies General Motors Co FollowJune 8 (Reuters) - General Motors (GM.N) said Thursday it will invest more than $500 million in its Arlington, Texas assembly plant to prepare it for production of next-generation internal combustion engine full-size SUVs. Efforts to retool existing North American auto plants and introduce more efficient next-generation internal combustion models are also being planned, sources told Reuters. GM faces increasingly stringent emissions requirements from California and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On Tuesday, GM said it would invest C$280 million ($210 million) in its Canadian Oshawa Assembly to produce the next-generation internal combustion engine full-size trucks. GM faces pressure from the United Auto Workers union, which will enter contract talks with the Detroit Three automakers this summer.

Persons: Mary Barra, Gerald Johnson, David Shepardson, Shivansh, Shilpi Majumdar, Diane Craft Organizations: General Motors, Detroit, Reuters, GM, Environmental Protection Agency, Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, Canadian Oshawa Assembly, EPA, Michigan, Capitol, United Auto Workers union, Detroit Three, UAW, Thomson Locations: Arlington , Texas, California, Flint , Michigan, Texas, Washington, Bengaluru

☆ Windfall tax seizure case in Michigan deepens appellate split on class standing issue
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Alison Frankel | Thomson Reuters | Alison Frankel Has Covered High-Stakes Commercial Litigation As A Columnist For Reuters Since A Dartmouth College Graduate | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The county auctioned Fox's property for about $25,000 — and kept the $22,000 difference between the sale price and Fox's tax obligation. But Fox’s class action did not name only Gratiot County as a defendant. Circuit Court disagreed. The 6th Circuit in the Fox case agreed with the 2nd Circuit's holding that trial courts must consider constitutional standing issues ahead of class certification. The Michigan counties that challenged class certification were represented at the 6th Circuit by Douglas Curlew of Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho.

☆ Michigan passes 3 gun safety laws, and lawmakers say they're not done yet: 'We don't have to live like this'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Michigan governor has signed multiple gun safety laws this month, including more background checks. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to also sign a "red flag" law, allowing judges to confiscate guns from people they deem dangerous. Lawmakers say they hope to target gun manufacturers and domestic abusers next, per Bridge Michigan. The new background check law requires checks for all firearms purchased in Michigan and strengthens penalties for illegal sales. Next on their gun safety agenda, Michigan state Democratic lawmakers say they hope to keep domestic abusers from getting their hands on firearms, ban the sale of large-capacity magazines, and force gun manufacturers to be liable for gun deaths, the Bridge Michigan reported.

[1/2] U.S. President Donald Trump rape accuser E. Jean Carroll arrives for her hearing at federal court during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., October 21, 2020. There, he called Carroll's rape claim a "Hoax and a lie" for promoting her memoir, and maintained that she was "not my type!" Carroll first sued Trump for defamation in November 2019, five months after he first denied her rape claim. She has long accused Trump of stalling, and U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan has rejected multiple efforts by Trump to delay Carroll's case. Last year, Trump refused to let his Trump Organization concede wrongdoing in a New York criminal tax fraud case, which ended in a conviction that is being appealed.

☆ Trump's lawyers keep getting in trouble with judges. Here are the 17 sanctioned so far.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Lawyers representing Trump keep getting sanctioned by courts. Many of Trump's lawyers, even if they are not sanctioned, end up needing lawyers of their own to ward off the worst consequences. Insider identified 17 lawyers who have been personally sanctioned because of their work for Trump. The least successful, however, was a sprawling lawsuit Trump filed against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, and several other figures linked to Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. He was part of Trump's "Elite Strike Force" of lawyers trying to convince judges to cancel votes and have Trump declared the victor.

In a letter addressed to Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, the group of Democratic lawmakers, led by Michigan Congressman Dan Kildee, pressed the department "to take immediate action to rid Hyundai's supply chain of child labor." The news agency reported that state and federal authorities were investigating as many as ten suppliers for potential child labor violations there. In their letter to Walsh, the lawmakers commended the Labor Department for its enforcement actions in the matter so far. After Reuters' first story about child labor at SMART last July, the department and Alabama state authorities launched a probe into the supplier. The lawmakers said they want the Labor Department to take further action because "additional automotive parts suppliers for Hyundai, mainly in Alabama, are also suspected of child labor violations."

Musk is likely to "double down" on his communication tactics after the verdict, said Minor Myers, a professor of corporate law at the University of Connecticut. Musk ultimately abandoned his effort to take Tesla private, but told jurors early in the three-week trial that he had believed what he wrote in tweets. "I expect Elon is going to write anything he wants,"Musk himself thanked the jury on Twitter -- which he bought in October for $44 billion. The tweets led to Musk and Tesla paying $40 million to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges under a consent agreement that Musk has fought unsuccessfully to lift. Still, many analysts said Musk, who has tweeted more than 22,000 times and has about 128 million Twitter followers, has no reason to slow down now.

☆ Trump's lawyers keep getting slammed for filing conspiratorial lawsuits. Here are the 16 sanctioned so far.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Lawyers representing Trump keep getting sanctioned by courts. Sixteen different lawyers have been sanctioned over failed lawsuits brought on the former president's behalf. Many of Trump's lawyers, even if they are not sanctioned, end up needing lawyers of their own to ward off the worst consequences. Still, as many 16 lawyers have been personally sanctioned because of their work for Trump, and Insider has compiled a list. The least successful, however, was a sprawling lawsuit Trump filed against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, and several other figures linked to Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

☆ The Michigan lawyer pushing Trump’s voter-fraud fictions in U.S. court
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

Lambert started in her home state of Michigan, joining four lawsuits on behalf of Trump supporters. As Trump zeroed in on vote-rigging allegations in Michigan, Lambert emailed the White House, according to her July 2021 video interview with two right-wing websites. Cotton and Penrose also were involved in examining breached voting machines in Michigan for DePerno and Lambert, according to the Michigan attorney general investigation. In the process, the commissioners were accused of flouting a court order by allowing a forensics company to inspect county voting equipment. In August 2021, a federal judge reprimanded Lambert, Powell and seven other lawyers who joined the failed lawsuit seeking to overturn Michigan’s vote after Trump’s 2020 defeat.

☆ Meet 41-year old Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-nominated Floridian who will pick the special master to weed through the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Judge Aileen Cannon recently reversed a big win that she had handed Trump's defense team. Judge Aileen Cannon gave her confirmation testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee over Zoom on July 29, 2020. There, she prosecuted cases involving narcotics, fraud, firearms, and immigration cases, according to her Senate confirmation document. Cannon during her confirmation hearing thanked Rubio as well as fellow Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida for their "continued support." "Judge Cannon is a great judge who I am very proud to have enthusiastically supported," Rubio told Insider through his office when asked about the connection.

☆ Layoffs Create Pitfalls for Finance Executives Looking to Cut Costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

They are increasingly looking to layoffs as a way to preserve capital, alongside other measures, such as hiring freezes. Finance chiefs play a key role in this by determining which costs to cut and setting companies’ financial targets, said advisers who work with companies during staffing cuts. Tech business HP Inc., ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. and tool-and-appliance maker Stanley Black & Decker Inc. have announced layoffs in recent months. Finance chiefs are increasingly part of the initial discussions about whether job cuts are needed, said Hardik Sheth, a partner at Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm. Some employees at Twitter, which recently cut roughly half of its workforce, are now pushing back against the dismissals.

☆ A Michigan judge tried to block an abortion rights measure. His ex-wife says he helped her get an abortion in college.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Jonathan-Allen-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Jonathan Allen | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

On May 18 that year, Jones said, Zahra drove her to the clinic and paid for her abortion. Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra. Michigan CourtsAside from Zahra, Jones said she did not immediately tell anyone that she was pregnant in May 1983. The abortion-rights coalition sued to place it on the ballot, and the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the coalition — ordering state officials to put the proposed amendment to voters on Nov. 8. She calculated her menstrual cycle and told Zahra she thought she might be pregnant.

The court confronts this divisive issue four months after its major rulings curtailing abortion rights and widening gun rights. The court's 6-3 conservative majority is expected to be sympathetic toward the challenges to Harvard and UNC. The cases give the court an opportunity to overturn its prior rulings allowing race-conscious admissions policies. Blum's group said UNC discriminates against white and Asian American applicants and Harvard discriminates against Asian American applicants. UNC said there is a difference between a racist policy like segregation that separates people based on race and race-conscious policies that bring students together.

☆ A top national security prosecutor has joined the team investigating Trump's Mar-a-Lago documents, indicating the probe is heating up, WaPo reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

David Raskin joined the team investigating Trump's Mar-a-Lago documents, The Washington Post reported. The prosecutor recently oversaw a case of an FBI analyst who pleaded guilty to keeping classified materials at home. Raskin is regarded as one of the US's most successful terrorism prosecutors, WaPo reported. More recently, Raskin served as a prosecutor in Missouri, where he investigated the case of FBI analyst Kendra Kingsbury, who on October 13 pleaded guilty to keeping national defense documents in her home. National security law experts told the Post that prosecutors appear to have gathered enough evidence to meet at least some of the criteria for bringing charges against Trump.

☆ Biden compares Republican economic plans to Britain's Truss
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday compared Republican plans on taxes and spending if they take control of Congress in November to the economic plan rolled out by Britain's former Prime Minister Liz Truss, warning of similar results. "You read about what happened in England recently, and the last Prime Minister, she wanted to cut taxes for the super wealthy," Biden said during a fundraising call for Michigan lawmaker Cynthia Axne. And they want to make that tax cut permanent — that $2 trillion," Biden said. Truss introduced a tax cut on Britain's richest that sparked turmoil in the financial markets and rebellion in her party, and was forced to resign after 44 days. Reporting by Eric Beech, Writing by Heather Timmons; Editing by Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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