DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - A former associate of Rudy Giuliani is suing him for sexual assault and other wrongdoing, accusing Donald Trump's former personal lawyer of hiring her to fulfill his desire for a sexual relationship. Through this case, Ms. Dunphy seeks a measure of justice from a man who thought his power and connections rendered him untouchable." The lawsuit seeks at least $10 million in damages from Giuliani and three of his namesake companies. Dunphy had filed a related "summons with notice" against Giuliani in January, seeking $3.1 million. The case is Dunphy v Giuliani et al, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No.

Critics have said such awards encourage frivolous lawsuits and excessive fees going to class action attorneys who may seek to benefit their own interests instead. The Supreme Court in 2019 sidestepped resolving a challenge to cy pres awards in a case involving Google. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, dissenting in that case, called cy pres settlements "unfair and unreasonable." Monsanto has called the group, which advocates against what it considers abusive class action procedures, a "serial objector to class-action settlements." The group said in court papers that further steps could have taken to distribute the settlement award to class members.

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - Google, a unit of Alphabet (GOOGL.O), has agreed to pay $8 million to settle claims it used deceptive advertisements to promote the Pixel 4 smartphone, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Friday. In this instance, Paxton's office alleged that Google hired radio announcers to give testimonials about the Pixel 4 even though the company had refused to allow them to use one of the phones. "If Google is going to advertise in Texas, their statements better be true," Paxton said in a statement. "In this case, the company made statements that were blatantly false, and our settlement holds Google accountable for lying to Texans for financial gain." Google said in a statement that it takes compliance with advertising laws seriously.

May 10 (Reuters) - Altria Group Inc (MO.N) said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement on the terms to resolve at least 6,000 Juul-related state and federal cases for $235 million. Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

May 10 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve its dispute with law firm Covington & Burling over the agency's demand for the names of 300 clients affected by a cyberattack on the firm. The SEC sued Covington in January to force the prominent Washington-based firm to identify public company clients whose information was accessed or stolen in the breach. Mehta told an SEC lawyer that the subpoena puts Covington in the “very awkward position” of having to identify its clients to an enforcement agency without evidence of wrongdoing. “We’re not targeting any particular party,” SEC lawyer Eugene Hansen responded. A lawyer for Covington, Theodore Boutrous, said the SEC has made Covington a “test case” for new authority to scrutinize public companies through demands on their law firms following a hack.

Poulos, Dominion’s co-founder and chief executive, spoke about his experience settling the historic lawsuit during an interview at the Sir Harry Evans Global Summit in Investigative Journalism in London. Dominion sued Fox News and parent company Fox Corp (FOXA.O) in 2021 over the network’s coverage of false vote-rigging claims about the voting technology firm. The settlement, which legal experts said was the largest struck by a U.S. media company, was announced by the two sides and the judge in the case at the 11th hour. Dominion’s settlement with Fox is part of a broader legal campaign by the company to seek accountability from companies and individuals whom it claims have spread falsehoods about its technology. The company is also suing former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, conservative media networks One America News Network and Newsmax Media, and others.

Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of private equity executive John Wilson and former casino executive Gamal Aziz, the first two people to face trial of the dozens charged in the sprawling "Operation Varsity Blues" probe. All of Aziz's convictions were set aside, and all but one of Wilson's convictions were aside. Wilson and Aziz were the first to go to trial in 2021. A former University of Southern California water polo coach convicted in the second trial later won a new trial, and another parent was acquitted in the third trial. Aziz and Wilson were sentenced in February 2022 to 12 months and 15 months in prison, respectively.

NEW YORK, May 9 (Reuters) - Donald Trump must pay $5 million in damages for sexually abusing magazine writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and then defaming her by branding her a liar, a jury decided on Tuesday. Its six men and three women awarded Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, but Trump will not have to pay so long as the case is on appeal. Trump has cited the Carroll trial in campaign fundraising emails as evidence of what he portrays as a Democratic plot. TRUMP MISTAKES CARROLL FOR EX-WIFECarroll testified that she bumped into Trump at Bergdorf's and agreed to help him pick out a gift for another woman. Jurors were tasked with deciding whether Trump raped, sexually abused or forcibly touched Carroll, and were separately asked if Trump defamed Carroll.

The jury deliberated for just under three hours before rejecting Trump's denial that he assaulted Carroll. Trump has cited the Carroll trial in campaign fundraising emails as evidence of what he portrays as a Democratic plot to damage him politically. Jurors were tasked with deciding whether Trump raped, sexually abused or forcibly touched Carroll, any one of which would satisfy her claim of battery. Kaplan, Carroll's lawyer, told jurors during closing arguments on Monday that the 2005 video was proof that Trump had assaulted Carroll and other women. Previously Trump had said he could not have raped Carroll because she was "not my type."

Jurors were tasked with deciding whether Trump raped, sexually abused or forcibly touched Carroll, any one of which would satisfy her claim of battery. The trial featured testimony from two women who said Trump sexually assaulted them decades ago. Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, told jurors during closing arguments on Monday that the 2005 video was proof that Trump had assaulted Carroll and other women. Carroll testified that she bumped into Trump at Bergdorf's while he was shopping for a gift for another woman. Trump has cited the Carroll trial in campaign fundraising emails as evidence of what he portrays as a Democratic plot to damage him politically.

Once known as Square, Block agreed in March 2021 to pay $306 million for an 87.5% stake in Tidal. The pension fund also said Dorsey, a co-founder of Block and Twitter, was Block's only top executive who supported the purchase, and bought Tidal because he and Jay-Z were friends. But in concluding that Block directors did not breach their fiduciary duties, McCormick said she could not "presume bad faith based on the merits of the deal alone." Jay-Z, the rapper and music mogul whose real name is Shawn Carter, joined San Francisco-based Block's board after the Tidal purchase and remains a director. The Delaware case was a derivative lawsuit that sought to have Block's directors or their insurers pay damages to the company for shareholders' benefit.

May 9 (Reuters) - Indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has renewed his attacks on the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange’s law firm as he mounts his defense against a raft of fraud, money laundering and campaign finance charges. Bankman-Fried late Monday asked a judge to designate FTX’s current leadership and the exchange’s attorneys at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell as part of the “prosecution team” in the criminal case against him. FTX and Sullivan & Cromwell provided such extensive cooperation to the government that prosecutors had “effectively deputized the company to aid the prosecution,” Bankman-Fried argued. Sullivan & Cromwell, a prominent Wall Street law firm with about 900 lawyers, represented FTX on transactions and regulatory matters before its collapse last year. In Monday’s filing, Bankman-Fried’s defense team said Ray and FTX’s bankruptcy lawyers have acted as “public mouthpieces” for the prosecution and have turned over “cherry-picked” information incriminating Bankman-Fried.

Prosecutors have until May 29 to respond to Bankman-Fried's dismissal request, and Kaplan will hear arguments on June 15. EXTRADITIONBankman-Fried has acknowledged that FTX had inadequate risk management but denies stealing funds, and has sought to distance himself from FTX's day-to-day operations. In pleading guilty, Singh admitted to making political donations in his own name that were funded in part by transfers from Alameda. "The campaign finance allegations reveal, yet again, the consequences of the Government's rush to indict Mr. Bankman-Fried," his lawyers wrote. Bankman-Fried has largely been confined to his parents' home since his December arrest in the Bahamas, where he had lived and where FTX was based.

FTX imploded after a flurry of customer withdrawals in the wake of reports it had commingled assets with Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried's crypto-focused hedge fund. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of fraud and conspiracy. He has acknowledged that FTX had inadequate risk management but denies stealing funds, and has sought to distance himself from FTX's day-to-day operations. Three onetime close associates - former Alameda co-chief executive Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Gary Wang, and former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh - have all pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Bankman-Fried has limited access to technology, after prosecutors warned he might tamper with witnesses.

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - The Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Texas billionaire Harlan Crow to detail gifts he or his companies have made to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the panel said on Tuesday. "Many of these gifts, transactions, and items of value had not been previously disclosed by Justice Thomas," it said. Similar letters, dated Monday, were sent to the holding companies that own Crow's private jet and private yacht. The letter said Crow has acknowledged items of value given to Thomas and his family in public statements. It asked him to provide the information to the committee by May 22 as the panel works to craft legislation strengthening ethics rules and standards for Supreme Court justices.

Lawyers for Carroll and the former U.S. president delivered closing arguments on Monday in Manhattan federal court after seven days of a civil trial. Carroll, 79, claims Trump, 76, raped her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996, and then defamed her by denying it happened. Trump opted not to present a defense at trial, gambling that jurors will find Carroll failed to make a persuasive case. Jurors heard from two other women who said Trump sexually assaulted them in separate incidents decades ago. Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told jurors during closing arguments that the haziness of Carroll’s account made it impossible for Trump to defend himself.

The Biden Administration’s signature drug pricing reform, part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), aims to save $25 billion through price negotiations by 2031 for Americans who pay more for medicines than any other country. The first ever Medicare drug price reduction process begins in September, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services(CMS) identifies its 10 most costly drugs. Reuters has seen responses to CMS from five of the world's top drugmakers raising legal concerns with the law and the agency's proposed roadmap. Former CMS head Andy Slavitt, who now works at a venture capital company focused on healthcare, said the Medicare agency would have consulted lawyers. One said the Medicare roadmap, which did not go through a formal process with proposed and final rules, could be challenged in court for being unlawful as well.

O'Connor pleaded guilty to charges including conspiring to commit computer intrusions, to commit wire fraud and to commit money laundering. O'Connor, who was extradited to the U.S. on April 26, will also forfeit more than $794,000 and pay restitution to victims, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said the schemes included gaining unauthorized access to social media accounts on Twitter in July 2020 as well as a TikTok account in August 2020. The July 2020 Twitter attack hijacked a variety of verified accounts, including those of then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk, who now owns Twitter. The alleged hacker used the accounts to solicit digital currency, prompting Twitter to prevent some verified accounts from publishing messages for several hours until security could be restored.

Companies Coinbase Global Inc FollowNEW YORK, May 9 (Reuters) - Ishan Wahi, a former Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O) product manager, was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison in what U.S. prosecutors have called the first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska sentenced Ishan Wahi, 32, in Manhattan federal court after the defendant pleaded guilty in February to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Nikhil Wahi pleaded guilty in September to a wire fraud conspiracy charge, and in January was sentenced to 10 months in prison. At Tuesday's hearing, Ishan Wahi expressed remorse for his actions and their effect on his friends and family, several of whom were in court. Prosecutors had called for Ishan Wahi to spend more than three years in prison to deter other cryptocurrency insiders from misusing corporate information.

WilmerHale said in Monday's filing that it did not represent Wild and that its work with ECPAT was limited to filing the Supreme Court brief on a legal issue unrelated to the JPMorgan case. The firm argued that EPCAT as an outside organization was not directly involved in Wild’s case. WilmerHale attorneys accused the plaintiff of “gamesmanship” in attempting to disqualify JPMorgan’s preferred law firm. A lawyer for the plaintiff, Bradley Edwards, who previously also represented Wild, said in a court filing that WilmerHale lawyers had communicated with Wild’s attorneys about legal strategy. Wild is not a party in the New York case, but Edwards said that as a victim of Epstein, she is a potential member of the plaintiff class.

May 8 (Reuters) - A group of abortion providers on Monday filed a lawsuit aiming to preserve access to the abortion pill mifepristone as anti-abortion opponents aim to ban it in a separate case. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Charlottesville, Virginia, is similar to one filed in Spokane, Washington by the Democratic attorneys general of 17 states and the District of Columbia in February. GenBioPro Inc, which sells a generic version of mifepristone, is also suing to block the FDA from restricting the drug. All three lawsuits come in response to a lawsuit last year by anti-abortion groups in Amarillo, Texas federal court challenging the FDA's approval of the drug in 2000. They said the dueling district court orders had created "day-to-day, week-to-week uncertainty" about using the drug.

The decision to dismiss the lawsuit does not mean she has settled the case, her lawyer, Tanvir Rahman, said Monday. Prior to that, she was a producer for Fox host Maria Bartiromo's Sunday morning show. Grossberg also said Fox intimidated her and fraudulently induced her to make false statements in her September 2022 deposition in the Dominion lawsuit. On April 18 Fox agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million to settle the voting-technology company's defamation lawsuit in Delaware. Grossberg could have been a key witness had the Dominion case gone to trial.

REUTERS/Thomas White/IllustrationMay 8 (Reuters) - The California woman suing Subway for claiming its tuna products contain ingredients other than tuna wants to end her lawsuit because she is pregnant, prompting Subway to demand her lawyers be sanctioned for bringing a frivolous case. Amin's lawyers did not immediately respond on Monday to requests for comment. The plaintiff claimed to have ordered Subway tuna products more than 100 times before suing in January 2021. She accused Subway of using other fish species, chicken, pork and cattle in its tuna products, or no tuna at all. The case is Amin v Subway Restaurants Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

May 5 (Reuters) - Fox News on Friday asked lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems to investigate whether they leaked controversial internal messages from ousted Fox host Tucker Carlson that were provided in evidence for their recent defamation lawsuit. The requests, which were made in letters released by Fox, came after multiple news outlets published racist and sexist remarks by Carlson contained in leaked internal messages and recordings. Fox News and its parent company Fox Corp (FOXA.O) said those were given to Dominion as part of the lawsuit, which claimed Fox defamed Dominion by airing false election-rigging claims. Dominion denied the materials came from the company or any of its lawyers. Media outlets including the New York Times reported that the decision came after Fox's board saw Carlson's internal messages.

[1/2] The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, U.S., April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File PhotoLaw Firms Reed Smith LLP FollowWASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday halted the scheduled execution of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip, whose cause drew support from the state's Republican attorney general after an investigation shed new light on evidence relating to the 1997 murder Glossip was convicted of commissioning. "We are very grateful to the U.S. Supreme Court for doing the right thing in stopping Richard Glossip's unlawful execution," Knight said. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on April 20 upheld Glossip's murder conviction, rebuffing Drummond's request. Glossip has pending petitions for appeal before the Supreme Court challenging his conviction on grounds including that prosecutors failed to hand over evidence about Sneed to Glossip's defense counsel.

Search resuls for: "Street Research"

25 mentions found