Rick Gates

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.07.18

* Update from the Paul Manafort trial: Rick Gates admitted... everything in testimony yesterday. He admitted he helped Manafort under-report income, create fake loans, and hide foreign accounts. Oh, and he says he did it all "at the direction of Mr Manafort." [CNN] * HSBC to pay $765 million to end the Department of Justice's investigation into its mortgage securities business that was initiated after the financial collapse.[Law360] * In a bid to combat its financial woes, the ABA is decreasing the cost of membership. They hope this will encourage more attorneys to become members. The organization has seen a 4 percent drop in membership in 2018 from 2017. [Law.com] * Jeff Sessions has committed the DOJ to fighting U.S. District Court Judge John Bates's order that the government reinstate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. [Slate] * New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood is going after the Department of Labor for not responding to her FOIA requests. [New York Law Journal] * The campaign of Georgia Democratic congressional candidate Steven Foster has hit a bit of a snag -- the former emergency room doctor has been convicted of driving under the influence. [Law and Crime]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.23.18

* According to White House counsel Don McGahn in comments made at CPAC, President Trump has picked judicial nominees "he can relate to." Hmm, so maybe that's why he chose people like leading legal luminaries Brett Talley, Jeff Mateer, and Judge John Bush. [National Law Journal] * Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his onetime aide, Rick Gates, face tax and bank fraud charges in a new 32-count indictment in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russian election interference investigation. Do ya feel like taking a plea and cooperating now? [Bloomberg] * Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens was indicted by a grand jury on a Class D felony charge of invasion of privacy after allegedly tying up a woman he had an affair with, taking a nude picture of her, and threatening to release it. He doesn't intend to resign and called the Circuit Attorney on the case a "reckless liberal prosecutor." [USA Today] * Look out, Biglaw, because the Big Four are coming for you. Accounting firm PwC, which already has more than 1,000 legal contractors, is planning to expand its Flexible Legal Resources offering into global markets. [American Lawyer] * A Reed Smith partner's widow has asked the Seventh Circuit to uphold a $3 million jury verdict against GlaxoSmithKline for its failure to warn about an alleged risk of suicidal behavior on Paxil's labeling. Her late husband took his own life days after starting a generic version of the antidepressant drug. [Big Law Business]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.02.18

* In case you missed it, Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times has noticed a trend when it comes to Chief Justice Roberts and who he's been aligning himself with at the Supreme Court. He may not yet be a moderate, but he seems to be shying away from "the reliably right-wing triumvirate" of Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. [New York Times] * “The document speaks for itself.” All three of former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates’s lawyers are withdrawing as counsel, and will only explain why in documents filed under seal. Only his Biglaw attorney who is known for his plea deals remains. Gates is under indictment in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. [POLITICO] * According to the latest year-end report from the Wells Fargo Private Bank’s Legal Specialty Group, law firm revenue and profits were up in 2017, and demand had increased for legal services. As usual, the most profitable firms at the top of the market outperformed their smaller counterparts. [American Lawyer] * Trump administration policies having to do with immigration, specifically the H-1B visa program for foreign workers, may force many Biglaw firms to move to their practices to the cloud sooner than they would have liked. In times of "political uncertainty" like these, Biglaw can't rely on "offshore labor arbitrage" for IT outsourcing. [TechTarget] * The GC of the American Red Cross has resigned following the publication of a report that he praised a former colleague who was the subject of an internal investigation and pushed out of the organization for alleged instances sexual misconduct. [Corporate Counsel] * Disgusting: A Georgia lawyer who asked a witness to recant an eyewitness account of her son's molestation has politely gave up his license to practice law after pleading guilty to felony witness tampering and attempting to suborn perjury. [Big Law Business]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 11.21.17

* Pro: The DOJ is finally taking the sort of antitrust action they should've been pursuing for decades in blocking the AT&T/Time Warner merger. Con: They're only doing it because Trump hates CNN. [BBC] * State Department officials formally accuse the Secretary of State of violating U.S. law. Things seem to be running smoothly over there. [CNBC] * Husch Blackwell sheds 40 lawyers... zero associates. [Law.com] * Bob Mueller's team seems to be gearing up to get Rick Gates's counsel disqualified. [National Law Journal] * Inside the world of a Biglaw GC. [Corporate Counsel] * We all were wondering what would happen to the FCPA under an administration that publicly claims businesses need to be able to bribe local officials. The answer? It now only applies to the Chinese and Africans. That makes sense. [Law360] * Former Biglaw partner dies in around-the-world yacht race. [American Lawyer]

By Joe Patrice