Good morning. The country and Minneapolis are now anxiously awaiting a potential verdict in Derek Chauvin's trial, U.S. Supreme Court justices in different cases signaled they'll likely deliver a win to Alaska Native corporations and a loss to migrants admitted to the country with temporary protected status, one of the largest Zoom trials of the pandemic has gotten under way in California with a $50 billion opioid lawsuit, and the 2nd Circuit is preparing to hear a closely-watched case concerning police "stop and frisk" practices. Let's see what today brings!
Our guest contributor today is Chinekwu Osakwe. Were you forwarded this email? Subscribe here.
Jurors weighing Chauvin's guilt face 'through the roof' stress as deliberations begin
What is it like to be one of the 12 Minneapolis jurors now weighing whether to find Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd?
Jurors often feel anxiety and guilt and suffer headaches, changes in appetite and loss of sleep. The widely televised Chauvin trial will only compound the stress, where a verdict is likely to have a lasting impact on U.S. race relations and policing, Tom Hals reports. On the third day of trial, one juror told Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill that she was struggling with stress and a lack of sleep.
"Any high-profile case with a lot of media attention is going to be a little more stressful," said Roy Futterman, a trial consultant with the firm DOAR. "This one is through the roof."
The jurors are being sequestered in a hotel during their deliberations, which began following closing arguments. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher urged jurors to "believe your eyes" as he replayed video of Floyd's death last May beneath Chauvin's knee. Defense attorney Eric Nelson countered that his client behaved as any "reasonable police officer" would, Jonathan Allen reports.
Chauvin's lawyer had requested a mistrial, arguing that Democratic U.S. Representative Maxine Waters of California tainted the proceedings by tell protesters it would be unacceptable for Chauvin to be acquitted. Cahill denied the request but said Waters may have handed Chauvin an appellate issue and blasted her for her "abhorrent" failure to respect the judicial branch. Learn more.
Industry buzz
- A survey by the legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa of about 240 law students who belong to Generation Z found that a bigger portion was looking at careers outside of Big Law than those surveyed in early 2020. Nearly half of those questioned in the more recent pandemic-era survey said they'd take a pay cut for geographic flexibility. (Reuters)
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett has a book deal with Penguin Random House's conservative imprint Sentinel. Politico, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that she received a $2 million advance to write a book "about how judges are not supposed to bring their personal feelings into how they rule." (Politico, AP)
- Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal, whose law department has been on a hiring spree, said his team will stay busy after its landmark market debut this week, as regulators keep a close eye on the cryptocurrency space amid growing investor interest. Plus, a look at how Fenwick & West won work on Coinbase's direct listing and how the firm got paid. (Reuters)
- Kirkland & Ellis is opening its third Texas office in Austin, citing a thriving dealmaking practice. Four Kirkland partners with dealmaking experience, Marc Browning, Stephen Butler, Kim Hicks and Doug Tedeschi, will be relocating to the Austin office along with 20 other attorneys. (Reuters)
- It's not the only firm opening a new office this week. Former Burns & Levinson partners John Serio, Richard Emmons and Christopher Cowles have joined Withers to launch its new Boston office. The group of partners will work on the firm’s new life science and venture capital-focused team. (The American Lawyer)
- SDNY won't be getting a televised trial any time soon. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan said no to Steven Donziger’s request for TV networks to be able to broadcast his criminal contempt trial. His charges stem from a multibillion-dollar judgment against Chevron that a federal judge ruled was fraudulently obtained in an Ecuadorian court. (Reuters)
- Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, which has recently been pursuing a hybrid legal and consulting model, is bringing on Rustin Brown from Kirkland & Ellis and Thomas Michael from Dentons to bolster its venture capital and emerging companies work. Donna Wilson, the firm's CEO and managing partner, said the hires will expand its hybrid model and become "not your grandfather's law firm." (Reuters)
- A former New York City police officer and disbarred attorney, Gustavo Vila, was sentenced to more than four years in prison by U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti in White Plains, New York, after admitting that he kept most of a million-dollar payout meant for a 9/11 first responder. (Reuters)
Number of the day:
$533 million
U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared to lean toward allowing Alaska Native corporations to receive a cut of $8 billion in federal COVID-19 relief even though they are not officially recognized as tribal governments. The justices signaled they would reverse a D.C. Circuit ruling in favor of the Navajo Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in their challenge to Alaska Native corporations receiving $533 million of that aid. "Why are you treating Alaska Natives as kind of second class?" Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked the tribes' lawyer, Patterson Earnhart Real Bird & Wilson's Jeffrey Rasmussen. The corporations' lawyer, Kirkland & Ellis' Paul Clement, said "they have long been recognized as eligible for special federal Indian benefits.” (Reuters)
Coming up today
- The full 2nd Circuit will hear arguments in a case concerning when a pat-down frisk by a police officer can legally be considered to have begun in a stop-and-frisk case. The case involves Calvin Weaver, who argues that police in Syracuse, New York, lacked a reasonable suspicion to conduct a pat-down frisk of him during the traffic stop that resulted in the discovery of a firearm that prosecutors say he shouldn’t have possessed as a convicted felon. A divided three-judge panel had found that the search began when the officer ordered him out of a car and to "assume the position," rather than when he physically placed his hand on him, and violated his rights. Civil rights groups including the New York Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP are backing Weaver's appeal, arguing that such stop-and-frisk incidents disproportionately target people of color. Check out Hassan Kanu's latest column, which dives into the case.
- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases that relate to its 2019 decision in Rehaif v. United States, which held that prosecutors must prove that people charged with having a gun while prohibited from doing so knew they were not allowed to have a weapon. In Greer v. United States, the justices will consider whether a federal appeals court in applying plain-error review based on the 2019 decision can look at matters outside the trial record to determine whether an error affected Gregory Greer's rights and merits overturning his conviction. In United States v. Gary, which involves a South Carolina man named Michael Andrew Gary who pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon, the justices will consider whether he is automatically entitled to relief if a trial judge did not inform him that prosecutors had to prove knowledge of his offense.
- Equifax and plaintiffs' attorneys behind a $380.5 million class action settlement resolving claims stemming from its massive data breach in 2017 will urge the 11th Circuit in Miami to uphold a judge's decision to grant approval to the accord and a $77.5 million fee award. The settlement is being challenged by objectors, including those repped by the prominent class action watchdog Ted Frank of the Center for Class Action Fairness at the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, who say the settlement should not have been approved because it fails to account for the difference between class members from different states. David Balser of King & Spalding and Kenneth Canfield of Doffermyre Shields Canfield & Knowles are defending the accord for Equifax and the class counsel, respectively.
- The 11th Circuit will also consider whether to revive a lawsuit by Belcher Pharmaceuticals accusing a Pfizer unit of falsely advertising that its epinephrine products used to treat allergies were FDA approved when they were not. Belcher had also sued Pfizer's Hospira for infringing a patent that covers its Abboject epinephrine injectable, but a federal judge in Delaware last year invalidated the patent. Scott Smith of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and Katherine Moran Meeks of Williams & Connolly will argue the appeal for Belcher and Hospira, respectively.
- Lawyers for Google led by Whitty Somvichian of Cooley will ask U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia DeMarchi in San Jose to dismiss a proposed class action that accuses the Alphabet Inc unit of misappropriating Android users' cellular data allowances to passively transmit information to and from the company when users aren't using the devices or Google apps. Korein Tillery’s Michael Klenov is among those representing the consumers.
- In one of the first jury trials in Boston's federal court since the COVID-19 pandemic began, jury selection is slated to begin in the case of Jasiel Correia, a former mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts, charged with defrauding investors in a smartphone app he developed, extorting marijuana businesses seeking to operate in his city and demanding his chief of staff given him half her salary. The case against Correia, represented by Kevin Reddington, was featured in a documentary series executive produced by Mark Wahlberg called "Run This City" on the now-defunct streaming site Quibi.
Video: High court justices show wariness on 'green cards' for protected migrants
U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday expressed reluctance to allow people admitted into the country under a humanitarian exception known as temporary protected status to become permanent residents, if they arrived in the country illegally. They did so during arguments in an appeal by a married couple from El Salvador represented by Williams & Connolly's Amy Saharia of a 3rd Circuit ruling holding that the conference of temporary protected status does not constitute an "admission" into the United States that would make them eligible for lawful permanent residency. Some justices appeared to agree. "They clearly were not admitted at the borders, so is that a fiction, is it metaphysical, what is it? I don't know," conservative Justice Clarence Thomas asked. Read more, and check out our video recap of the arguments.
Selendy & Gay looks to post-pandemic litigation future
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Philippe Selendy Selendy & Gay
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Launching a new law firm and growing it is never easy, even without the COVID-19 pandemic. For New York-based Selendy & Gay, which spun out of Quinn Emanuel in 2018, the pandemic meant weathering the transition to remote work while adjusting to litigating cases by Zoom as jury trials were nixed nationwide. Co-founder Philippe Selendy told The Daily Docket that the 54-lawyer firm did well managing through the crisis and sees an "exceptionally busy year" ahead.
On running a litigation boutique amid pandemic-prompted court restrictions: "A great deal has happened over Zoom, and I think it's been reasonably effective. On the other hand, we had more time to do some very deep investigations into new cases, and to launch multiple additional matters and build out the platform."
On its fee and funding mix: "About 70% of our caseload is hourly based, and we will do up to 30% that is pro bono, contingent or some variation on that. We are currently considering making use of litigation finance, and that's because our partnership is relatively small and our aspirations are pretty high. We would like to bring more cases against entire industries, or that require multi-year, very significant investments."
On its hiring plans: "We are in a growth mode. We have our largest summer class ever with 17 summer associates. It's a sign of our confidence in the future. Our great hope is to try and get them in, if possible during the summer, so that we can meet in person."
On whether to continue remote work post-pandemic: "We absolutely want to get back to being in person together. I find that being present together tends to spark more creative ideas and more involvement. If it’s a Zoom call, almost inevitably it is somewhat formal or hierarchical. Each person speaks, waits, the next person speaks. And if you're all present around the table, you can shoot ideas back and forth and interrupt each other."
Source: Orange County Superior Court, California
"This will be an adventure, your honor, I'm sure, and we're getting a good taste of it right off the bat."
Collie James, a lawyer for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd at Morgan Lewis, after he briefly disappeared in the middle of his own opening statement during a trial being held entirely by Zoom in a lawsuit by several California counties accusing the company and three other drugmakers of fueling the opioid epidemic. The case before Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson is one of the biggest to be tried virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the counties seeking to force the drugmakers to pay $50 billion to cover the costs of abating the public nuisance the plaintiffs say they created, plus penalties. (Reuters)
In the courts
- The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether criminal defendants can waive their right to confront witnesses when they "opened the door" at trial to certain evidence that would normally be barred. The case concerns Darrell Hemphill, who is challenging his conviction over the shooting death of a child in New York. Jeffrey Fisher, a professor at Stanford Law School and special counsel at O'Melveny & Myers, represents Hemphill. (SCOTUS Blog)
- The Supreme Court also sent two cases brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act against nightclub La Boom Disco and student loan servicer Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency back to lower courts for reconsideration following the high court's recent decision tossing a similar case involving Facebook. (Reuters)
- Private prison operator CoreCivic has reached an agreement in principle to pay $56 million to settle a 2016 lawsuit where shareholders accused the company of inflating stock prices. CoreCivic’s stock initially fell when the DOJ said it would no longer work with private prison operators. A team at Latham & Watkins had been defending the company in the case, which Robbins Geller is pursuing. (AP)
- New York’s chief judge, Janet DiFiore, announced that all judges in the state and court staff must return to working in person from their assigned courthouses by May 24. The announcement comes the same day President Joe Biden announced that COVID-19 vaccines would now be available to all Americans. (Reuters)
- The DOJ's bankruptcy watchdog is opposing a request from certain National Rifle Association members for the appointment of an official committee to represent their interests in the gun rights organization's Chapter 11 case in Dallas, saying they do not have the same status as equity holders under bankruptcy law. (Reuters)
- AstraZeneca filed a lawsuit in federal court in Delaware seeking to block India-based generic drugmaker Zydus Cadila from moving forward with a proposed generic version of its blockbuster Tagrisso lung cancer drug, which it says infringes one of its patents. Jessamyn Berniker of Williams & Connolly is repping AstraZeneca. (Reuters)
- In the latest fallout from the investigations into the opioid maker Insys Therapeutics, federal prosecutors have charged an Ohio doctor with writing medically unnecessary opioid prescriptions while accepting kickbacks from the now-bankrupt company. Gregory Gerber was indicted in federal court in Toledo, Ohio for illegal distribution of a controlled substance and health care fraud, nearly three years after the DOJ brought a related lawsuit against him. (Reuters)
Industry moves
- Brian Morrissey, a former principal deputy general counsel at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has rejoined Sidley Austin in D.C. Morrissey will be a partner in the firm's white collar government litigation and investigations practice. (Reuters)
- Aric Wu, a securities litigation attorney, has joined Cooley after 22 years at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and will be based in the firm’s New York office. (Reuters)
- Richard Zuckerman, who most recently served as the head of the DOJ's Tax Division, has rejoined Honigman's white collar defense and investigations practice group as a partner in Detroit. (Honigman)
- Lawrence Waks, a media and entertainment lawyer, has joined Reed Smith as a partner in the firm’s Dallas and Austin offices. Waks joins the firm from Foley & Lardner. (Reed Smith, Law.com)
- Celeste Brecht, former partner and co-chair of Venable’s West Coast litigation group, has joined Jones Day's business and tort litigation practice in Los Angeles. (Jones Day)
- Ben Peltier has joined Lathrop GPM as a counsel in the firm’s Minneapolis office. Peltier was formerly vice president and general counsel for the Minnesota Hospital Association and will work in Lathrop's health law practice group. (Lathrop)
- Peter Rooney, a former Morrison & Foerster partner has joined Stroock's New York office. The veteran M&A and private equity lawyer will join the firm's corporate group. (Stroock)
- Arturo Ross has joined Fox Rothschild's labor and employment practice in Miami from Akerman, where he was a partner. He also worked as a trial attorney with the National Labor Relations Board from 1994 to 2001. (Fox Rothschild)
- Michelle Lara, a former Cooley partner with experience working with companies on compensation and benefits, has joined DLA Piper's employment practice in San Diego. (DLA Piper)
Columnist spotlight: Walmart gets hit with discovery sanctions in opioid multidistrict litigation
The special master overseeing discovery in the nationwide multidistrict litigation over the opioid epidemic ordered new depositions of Walmart witnesses as a sanction for the retail giant's defiance of an order requiring defendants to produce documents from other opioid cases outside of the consolidated federal proceedings. David Cohen, the special master, called it "vexatious" for Walmart to reach and pretend to see exceptions to that order where none exist. Alison Frankel in her latest column dives into the dispute and asks why Walmart and its lawyers at Jones Day decided that the potential benefit of withholding the documents was worth the risk of sanctions. See what Walmart's justifications were and why Cohen rejected them.
Check out other recent pieces from all our columnists: Alison Frankel, Jenna Greene and Hassan Kanu.
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