Wake Up Call: Judge Threatens to Jail Giuliani in Divorce Case

In today’s column, the European Commission is barring staff attorneys from taking leaves of absence to advise companies, especially in competition cases; a law school survey found a majority of Americans favor expanding the US Supreme Court; and in-house lawyers say they’re getting ghosted by legal recruiters.

• Leading off, a Manhattan judge on Friday declared former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to be in contempt of court and gave the former New York mayor until Oct. 7 to pay $235,442 to his ex-wife or he’ll put him behind bars. Giuliani told the New York Post he never got a notice of the court date he missed. (New York Post)
• The European Union’s executive arm is prohibiting staff from taking long unpaid leaves of absence to represent private companies in a move to tackle risks of conflicts of interest. The policy applies to the Commission’s more than 32,000 staff, but there has been particular concern about moves of staff from its competition, finance, and legal divisions to law firms, a report says. (Financial Times)
• A Marquette University Law School survey found a majority of Americans favor expanding the US Supreme Court. (Above The Law)

Lawyers, Law Firms

• In-house lawyers say they’ve been getting “ghosted” by legal recruiters who had “dragged” them through long recruiting processes. (Corporate Counsel)
• Harvard told a federal judge that its insurance company, Zurich American Insurance Company, should have to cover its legal fees in a lawsuit challenging its race-conscious admissions policy. The school said Zurich knew about the high-profile lawsuit for which it is appealing the verdict to the US Supreme Court. (The Harvard Crimson)
• Talcum powder litigation has proved to be a jackpot for tort lawyers. (WSJ)
• Lowenstein Sandler posted FAQs, developed by its pro bono lawyers, explaining legal rights and risks for patients seeking lawful reproductive health care in New Jersey, as well as for individuals who assist such patients and employers in New Jersey. (Lowenstein)

Laterals, Moves, In-house

• Baker McKenzie elected two new members to its global executive committee; Lathrop GPM said it moved its Denver office earlier in September to new premises adopting a hybrid design with a mix of open seating and private, assigned workspaces; Intellectual property firm Finnegan appointed Reston, Virginia-based litigator Scott Burwell as the firm’s partner-in-charge of diversity, equity, and inclusion; big Canadian firm Fasken appointed Toronto-based M&A, corporate governance and corporate finance partner Gordon Raman to lead the steering committee for its environmental, social and governance team.
• Freeborn & Peters hired litigator Alexander Pabon in Chicago. He’s a former judicial law clerk for US District Judge Robert E. Wier in Lexington; Kentucky; entertainment firm Yorn Levine hired Sabrina Padwa, the former senior vice president of Disney-owned ABC Family’s Business Affairs, as a partner. Yorn Levine also picked up in-house lawyers from Netflix and Paramount. (Deadline)
• The Walt Disney Company posted a new job opening for an “experienced corporate attorney” to work on “emerging technologies” such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and the Metaverse. (CoinTelegraph)

Legal Education

• The former dean of Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Joan R.M. Bullock filed a federal lawsuit challenging her firing and seeking full reinstatement as a tenured professor. (Texas Lawyer)