Good morning. A Manhattan federal jury is taking on the question of whether NFTs can infringe trademarks, in a lawsuit brought by Hermès over its Birkin bags. Plus, the ABA is putting pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt some ethics rules, and Tom Girardi pleads not guilty. It’s Tuesday – here we go! Were you forwarded this email? Subscribe here. |
A jury in federal court in Manhattan will be the first to weigh in on how trademark protections apply in the world of NFTs, reports Luc Cohen. The jury is deliberating in a lawsuit brought by French fashion house Hermès against the creator of MetaBirkins NFTs, Mason Rothschild. Hermès said the NFTs violated its trademark on its famous Birkin bags.
Oren Warshavsky of BakerHostetler, a lawyer for Hermès, told jurors in closing arguments that Rothschild “wanted to cash in on the Birkin name," while Rothschild’s attorney Rhett Millsaps of Lex Lumina countered that they were art protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. In rejecting both sides’ motions for summary judgment earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff left the question for the jury of whether the MetaBirkins NFTs infringe or dilute Hermes’ trademarks. |
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For the second time in six years, a bid to end the American Bar Association's requirement that law schools use the LSAT or other standardized test in admissions has failed. The ABA's policy making body rejected a proposed change to its accreditation standards that would allow law schools to go "test optional" in 2025. (Reuters)
- Disbarred plaintiffs’ attorney Tom Girardi entered a plea of not guilty to charges he embezzled $15 million from his law firm's clients over a nine-year period, and his bail was set at $250,000. (Reuters)
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Courts should allow two attorneys to argue for each client in order to give junior lawyers more experience, according to a new resolution by the ABA’s policy making body. The non-binding resolution by the ABA’s Young Lawyers Division said the change would give newer lawyers more court time and bolster diversity, since women and minorities are disproportionately junior in the profession. (Reuters)
Dechert asked U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to throw out a former Wall Street Journal reporter's lawsuit accusing the firm of working with mercenary hackers to leak private emails and get him fired from his job. Dechert argued in D.C. federal court that Jay Solomon’s lawsuit is untimely because it relates to events that occurred more than five years ago and also that the complaint does not show that Dechert was responsible for the harm he faced. (Reuters)
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Fox Rothschild said Todd Rodriguez, leader of the firm's healthcare group, will succeed Mark Morris as firmwide managing partner in April. Morris, a real estate lawyer who has served as the Philadelphia-founded firm's managing partner since 2017, will become its chair. (Reuters)
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That’s how much the CEO of Prism Science, a health information database company, says Seyfarth Shaw owes him — at least — after he accused the firm of botching the sale of his other companies to a private equity firm. In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, Mahesh Naithani claimed the companies were initially valued at $100 million by their buyer, Inflexion Private Equity Partners, before Seyfarth's faulty advice led to their sale for less than half that amount. A Seyfarth spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
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Alex Murdaugh murder trial is grist for online gawkers
Allowing television cameras in court, the argument goes, is a way to educate members of the public on how our justice system works. The reality is often less high-minded. In her latest column, Jenna Greene looks at the ongoing trial of disbarred South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who is accused of murdering his wife and son. Legions of viewers are watching online — and sharing their (often snarky) takes in real-time comments. To Greene, it’s the latest example of a longstanding tension between trials as civic education and lurid entertainment.
Madison Square Garden sues to block liquor board’s access to CEO's testimony in lawyer ban flap
Madison Square Garden does not want New York’s liquor licensing agency to see sworn testimony from chairman and CEO James Dolan as regulators probe MSG’s policy of banning plaintiffs lawyers who are suing the company from attending events at MSG venues. Alison Frankel, who broke the news of MSG’s now-infamous policy, has the details on the latest controversy, in which MSG has sued to quash a subpoena that the New York State Liquor Authority issued to one of the plaintiffs firms suing MSG in Delaware over its 2021 restructuring. MSG says information from the Delaware case is irrelevant to the liquor board’s probe. Plaintiffs lawyers retorted that MSG lawyer Randy Mastro is engaged in hardball tactics that befit this client all too well.
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"Although Hagens Berman and Quinn Emanuel have worked well together in other cases, this case has proven to be the exception to the rule." |
The U.S. Senate is expected to take a step to advance the nomination of DeAndrea Benjamin for the 4th Circuit to a full vote later in the week. In December, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-9 to advance the nomination of Benjamin, a state court judge in South Carolina who would become the second woman of color to serve on the Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court. Benjamin, who is Black, currently serves in Columbia, South Carolina, on the state Fifth Judicial Circuit, a trial court. Her nomination garnered rare support from her state's two Republican senators, Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott.
The 5th Circuit will consider whether to revive a challenge by Turtle Island Foods, the maker of Tofurky meat substitute products, to a Louisiana law banning food producers from marketing plant-based products with words traditionally associated with meat, like “burger” or “sausage.” Turtle Island, represented by Scott Sternberg of Sternberg, Naccari & White, says under the law it could be penalized up to $500 a day for each product it sells in Louisiana with the words on the packaging.
Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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The FTC will not appeal its loss in California federal court in its fight to stop Meta Platforms from buying VR content maker Within Unlimited, but the agency could still pursue the case with an internal administrative law judge. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila last week declined to stop Meta from acquiring Within, rejecting the regulator's concerns the deal would reduce competition in a new market. (Reuters)
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Nearly 60 lawsuits claiming hair relaxer products sold by L'Oreal USA and other companies cause cancer and other health problems will be consolidated in an MDL before U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland in Chicago federal court, the multidistrict panel said in an order. The lawsuits allege the companies knew their products contained dangerous chemicals but marketed and sold them anyway, claims L’Oreal has denied. (Reuters)
Photo provider Getty Images sued artificial intelligence company Stability AI, accusing it in a lawsuit in Delaware federal court of misusing more than 12 million Getty photos to train its Stable Diffusion AI image-generation system. Getty is suing Stability in the United Kingdom, and artists are pursuing a class-action in California against Stability and other companies. Stability did not respond to a request for comment. (Reuters)
The 3rd Circuit let North Carolina health and environmental groups join a fight between the Biden administration and Chemours, which sued the EPA last year after it issued warnings indicating some toxic chemicals known as PFAS pose health risks in drinking water even at levels so low they are not detectable. Chemours claims the government overstepped its authority, while the groups say they see the advisories as powerful tools to push for stricter water standards at the state and local level. (Reuters)
After U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan temporarily barred Sam Bankman-Fried from contacting employees of FTX or Alameda Research, prosecutors agreed to exempt some people from the no-contact order, without specifying names. In a letter to the judge overseeing Bankman-Fried's criminal fraud case, defense lawyer Mark Cohen said the resolution would more clearly define how Bankman-Fried can communicate with others as he prepares for his scheduled October trial. (Reuters)
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Wilson Sonsini hired partner Sebastian Alsheimer in New York to co-lead the firm’s shareholder activism practice. He previously was at law firm Olshan and has worked for activists including Elliott Management and Starboard Value. (Reuters)
Dechert brought on a trio of antitrust partners from Orrick: John Jurata Jr in D.C.; Russell Cohen in San Francisco; and Douglas Lahnborg in London. Jurata previously led Orrick’s antitrust practice. (Reuters)
Kramer Levin hired Scott Welkis in New York as a banking and finance partner and to lead the firm’s special situations practice. Welkis joins the firm from Akin Gump. (Reuters)
Sidley hired London-based partner Phil Cheveley, who previously was Shearman & Sterling’s M&A practice leader for the European, African and Asian markets. (Reuters)
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Cadwalader hired litigation partners Martin Weinstein and Jeffrey Clark in the firm’s D.C. office from Willkie Farr. Weinstein will lead Cadwalader’s compliance, investigations and enforcement practice. (Reuters)
Gibson Dunn added David Woodcock in Dallas as co-chair of the firm’s securities enforcement practice. He was previously assistant general counsel for corporate at ExxonMobil. (Gibson Dunn)
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Pryor Cashman added media and entertainment partners Briana Hill in Los Angeles and Simon Pulman and Amy Stein Simonds in New York. Hill and Pulman will co-head the group. The three attorneys were previously at Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard. (Pryor Cashman)
- Dentons brought on Melissa Gomez Nelson as a commercial litigation partner in D.C. She joins the firm from Booz Allen. (Dentons)
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King & Spalding added Russell Gaudreau and Jessica Gold as New York-based trial and global disputes partners. They join the firm from Greenberg Traurig. (King & Spalding)
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