Good morning. As college football gets underway, so too will the first university admissions scandal trial in Massachusetts federal court. Prosecutors said it’ll be a “game-time” decision whether they call their star witness. Opening statements are expected today in the fraud prosecution of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, and check out the already filed court action challenging new restrictions on voting in Texas. Let’s dive in!
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First college admissions scandal trial set to kick off
Jury selection is set to begin today in Massachusetts federal court in the first trial in the U.S. college admissions scandal that swept up dozens of executives, Hollywood stars and a Big Law partner.
Two parents, former Wynn Resorts executive Gamal Aziz and private equity firm founder John Wilson, are set to stand trial on charges of agreeing to pay up to hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure spots for their children at top schools, including the University of Southern California.
One key face could be absent at trial: the mastermind of the scheme who helped prosecutors build their case, Nate Raymond reports
Prosecutors said in a recent filing they had not decided whether to call William “Rick” Singer as a witness. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Frank later said it would be a "game-time decision.”
Defense lawyers are complaining. "They've had two and a half years to decide whether to call this guy," Nixon Peabody’s Brian Kelly, a lawyer for Aziz, said in court. "He's their key guy. We should know."
Aziz and Wilson deny wrongdoing. Opening statements are scheduled for Monday at the trial, which is expected to last up to four weeks.
Read more about the government's star witness, and what defense lawyers are saying.
- Wilson Sonsini technology subsidiary SixFifty is expanding its automated privacy compliance product offerings with a new tool to help companies address a data privacy law in China that is set to take effect Nov. 1. (Reuters)
- Jones Day has lost a bid in California federal court seeking to compel Orrick to comply with arbitration subpoenas in a dispute over an ex-partner who joined Orrick. A merits hearing for the underlying arbitration remains scheduled in Washington, D.C.
- DLA Piper has created a new executive-level ESG leadership role to spearhead ESG efforts across its international offices. (Reuters)
- Non-profit AccessLex Institute, focused on law school access and affordability, next month will launch its Helix Bar Review program. (Reuters)
- Plaintiffs’ firm Kreindler & Kreindler is pushing back against claims the firm has failed to compensate Manatt partner Jack Quinn, a former Bill Clinton White House counsel, for his contract work advocating for Sept. 11 victims. (Reuters)
- Law firms and other companies could face questions over whether “natural immunity” to COVID-19 should count as an exception to any vaccination requirement. (The American Lawyer)
That’s the height, in feet, of the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, that will be removed today. Virginia’s highest court ruled last week the state could remove the statue, which sits on a 40-foot pedestal and was the centerpiece of protests demanding racial justice last year. “Today it is clear, the largest Confederate monument in the South is coming down,” Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, said. The Virginia state lawyer who defended the removal in court, Toby Heytens, is awaiting a confirmation vote in the U.S. Senate for a seat on the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Opening statements are scheduled in Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' criminal fraud trial before U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California. Holmes, 37, has pleaded not guilty to defrauding Theranos investors and patients by falsely claiming that the now-defunct blood testing company had developed technology to run a wide range of tests on a single drop of blood. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Schenk is representing the government, and Kevin Downey of Williams & Connolly is on the team defending Holmes. (Learn more about the case in our trial preview coverage.)
- Opening statements are scheduled to be presented to Judge Rex Burlison in the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court in St. Louis at trial on claims from three Missouri women who allege Johnson & Johnson talc-based hygiene products caused ovarian cancer. Burlison previously presided over a trial that ended in a $4.7 billion verdict against J&J, later reduced to $2 billion.
- U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., will oversee a hearing where defense lawyers for alleged members of the right-wing conspiracy group Oath Keepers will argue for the dismissal of charges arising from the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol. Mehta has directed defense counsel on the various motions to appear in person unless they’ve asked the court to appear remotely.
"I haven't heard of the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) being allowed into the state prison to audit someone or take custody of them when they're going to be released. California can say no. Courts have held that California has no obligation to assist ICE with these transfers."
Civil rights attorney Angela Chan of Asian Americans Advancing Justice–Asian Law Caucus, speaking in defense of a California state bill that would bar California prison authorities from handing over certain inmates
who have served their time.
- The father of Britney Spears asked a Los Angeles court to end the pop singer's 13-year conservatorship. In a court filing, Jamie Spears said he believed the judge should "now seriously consider whether this conservatorship is no longer required." (Reuters)
- Civil rights groups are challenging a new Texas state law’s voting restrictions in three separate lawsuits filed on Tuesday in federal and state court in Texas. Lawyers from Weil Gotshal and Fried Frank teamed up with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Brennan Center for Justice and others on a complaint filed in San Antonio federal court for civil rights and faith-based groups. (Reuters)
- A Texas federal judge has kept alive claims against PNC Bank that its mobile banking technology infringes military-focused financial services group United Services Automobile Association's patents. (Reuters)
- Three former NFL players including former running back Clinton Portis have pleaded guilty for their roles in a scheme to defraud a healthcare program for retired pro football players. Stoll Keenon Ogden member Adam Reeves advised Portis on his plea agreement. (Reuters)
- Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System faces a lawsuit in Michigan federal court alleging its COVID-19 vaccine requirement is unlawful. (Reuters)
- The D.C. Circuit has turned down a petition from U.S. natural gas company Spire Inc to reconsider a June ruling requiring the company to shut down its already operating STL natural gas pipeline in Missouri. (Reuters)
- Advocacy groups are increasingly suing food and beverage companies over alleged deceptive labeling. A Perkins Coie report said the 220 lawsuits filed last year set a new record. (NYT)
- Ropes & Gray has hired dealmaker Kate Withers as a global private equity partner in New York. Withers arrives from Latham & Watkins. (Reuters)
- Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has brought on Veronica Relea, a Latin America deals and financial specialist and 17-year veteran of Latham & Watkins. Relea is joining Pillsbury's New York office as a partner in its global finance practice. (Reuters)
- Armstrong Teasdale said former judge Joseph Goff Jr has joined the firm as a partner in St. Louis. Goff resigned this year from his post as Missouri associate circuit judge, Division III, for the 24th Judicial Circuit. He was appointed in 2015 and elected in 2018 to a four-year term. (Armstrong Teasdale)
- Covington & Burling has hired Nicholas Xenakis, former Senate Judiciary Committee general counsel and chief counsel to Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. Xenakis will be a special counsel on the firm’s public policy team. (Reuters)
- McGuireWoods said Sabrina Conyers has joined as a corporate tax partner in the Charlotte, North Carolina office. Conyers, a member of the tax and employee benefits group, arrives from Nelson Mullins. (McGuireWoods)
- BakerHostetler has added international arbitration counsel Carlos Ramos-Mrosovsky in New York. Ramos-Mrosovsky, a BakerHostetler associate from 2007 to 2012, arrives from Alston & Bird. (BakerHostetler)
Lawyer speak: The pandemic offered an opportunity for law firms to evolve and improve
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