“DOJ Pulls Back from Choosing NY Law Firm for Binance Oversight, Citing FTX Connections” — “The Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly reconsidering selecting a prominent New York law firm to handle a critical assignment related to Binance, due to the firm’s prior work for rival exchange FTX.” “Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm managing FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings, was initially designated as Binance’s independent monitor. This appointment was a stipulation under the $4.3b agreement where Binance acknowledged culpability for infringing upon US money-laundering regulations and trade s ..read more

“Law firm Kirkland conflicted in Invitae bankruptcy, DOJ watchdog says” — “The U.S. Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog said on Monday that genetic test maker Invitae Corp should not be allowed to hire Kirkland & Ellis as bankruptcy counsel because of the law firm’s work for one of Invitae’s lenders.” “The Office of the U.S. Trustee, a part of the DOJ that oversees the administration of bankruptcies, said in a court filing, opens new tab that Kirkland has a conflict of interest because one of its current clients is private equity firm Deerfield Partners, which is Invitae’s top le ..read more

New York state’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics: “Judicial Ethics Opinion 23-96” — “Digest: A judge must insulate their law clerk from all matters in which the law clerk had any personal involvement as an attorney, but need not disqualify, provided the judge believes the judge can be fair and impartial.” “Both sides have asked the judge to recuse on the basis of an alleged conflict of interest or appearance of impropriety arising from the judge’s recent hiring of a former assistant district attorney as a law clerk.” “During their former employment with the DA’s office, the law clerk c ..read more

“Spousal Interest Disqualification” — “Judge is disqualified from serving on county election canvassing board for the specific race involving the elected county official by whom the judge’s spouse is employed as general counsel where the spouse’s continued employment in that position likely depends on the outcome of the upcoming contested election. Judge is not disqualified from serving on the canvassing board for other races during that election cycle.” “The judge’s duties as a member of the canvassing board include many tasks that would not be perceived as affecting the outcome of any cont ..read more

“Judge’s Potential Recusal Over Citi Stock Divides CFPB, Industry” — “Parties in a lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s credit card late fee rule are divided on whether a federal appeals judge hearing the case might stand to financially benefit from the court fight.” “Attorneys with the CFPB on Thursday told the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that the outcome of the litigation ‘could substantially affect’ stock owned in any of the large card issuers affected by the case. Groups challenging the rule, led by the US Chamber of Commerce, downplayed the impact ..read more

“Russian Use of Litigation Finance Needs Scrutiny, Treasury Says” — “The Treasury Department needs to look into the use of the litigation finance in the US by foreign actors, Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.” “His comments came after Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) asked whether he believed the lack of transparency in the litigation finance industry could create a gap in sanctions enforcement. Menendez referenced a Bloomberg Law investigation that found a firm established by Russian billionaires tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed lawsuits in New York and London both before an ..read more

“No We Didn’t Agree To Handle That Claim” — “One area that can lead to claims against lawyers occurs when the lawyer accepts one part of a representation but declines to represent the client in another matter. Any declination should be communicated clearly to the client and confirmed in writing. If you don’t do that, the client may later bring a malpractice claim against you.” “In Boukari v. Schwartzberg, LLC, 2024 NY Slip Op 01247 (March 7, 2024), the plaintiff hired the defendant firm to complete a Workers’ Compensation matter. The lawyers declined to represent the plaintiff in any persona ..read more

I’m always delighted to see repeat participants on the jobs board. This week, I’m pleased to highlight a new open role at Quarles: “Conflicts Analyst” — We are seeking a Conflicts Analyst to support our Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Naples, Tucson, Madison, Minneapolis, Phoenix, St. Louis, Tampa, or Washington D.C. office. This position is also open to remote or hybrid schedules. Responsibilities: Perform corporate research to identify corporate affiliates, principals and nature of business in order to search and identify ethical and business issues in the firm’s conflicts database. Cr ..read more

“JetBlue Winds Down Relationship With New CEO’s Former Law Firm” — “The longstanding association between Holland & Knight and JetBlue Airways Corp. is tapering down as Joanna Geraghty, who is married to the law firm’s current head of litigation, takes over as the airline’s new chief executive officer.” “JetBlue, which recently paid a $69 million termination fee to Spirit Airlines Inc. after a federal judge scuttled its $3.8 billion bid for the budget carrier, remains a client of Holland & Knight, but the latter is getting closer to being left at the gate.” “A source at Holland & ..read more

“Supreme Court to Review Standard for Showing ‘Evident Partiality’ by Arbitrators” — “Conflicts of interest are of great interest to law firms, prosecutors and arbitrators. In two major international arbitrations, parties are seeking review by the U.S. Supreme Court of the standard that courts should apply when considering whether to vacate an arbitration award based on an alleged conflict of interest. The cases are important not only because of the large size of the awards at issue, but also because arbitration is the preferred method by which the world’s commercial disputes are being resol ..read more