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Infowars lawyer, manager barred from bankruptcy case over conflicts

Alex Jones attempts to answer questions about his emails asked by Mark Bankston, lawyer for Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, during trial at the Travis County Courthouse, Austin, Texas, U.S., August 3, 2022. Briana Sanchez/Pool via REUTERS

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(Reuters) – A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Tuesday blocked a restructuring executive and an attorney from working for Infowars’ bankrupt parent company over a conflict of interest, potentially throwing the bankruptcy case and the company’s daily operations into disarray.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston found that Marc Schwartz, chief restructuring officer of Infowars parent Free Speech Systems LLC, and attorney Kyung Lee failed to disclose that they sought work from Free Speech Systems before the conclusion of earlier Infowars bankruptcies.

The judge raised the conflicts issue because he presided over the earlier Infowars bankruptcies and was concerned about the apparent overlap of work. The judge said the two men showed a “lack of candor” regarding the overlap and other matters. The judge also said the problem was compounded by Schwartz’s tendency to defer to Alex Jones and his other companies instead of advocating on behalf of FSS alone.

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September 26, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Brown Rudnick EU bankruptcy leader jumps to Squire in five-lawyer London move

Signage is seen outside of the law firm Squire Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

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(Reuters) – Squire Patton Boggs said Tuesday that it has hired a five-member bankruptcy team from Brown Rudnick in London that includes the firm’s European restructuring practice leader, Charlotte Møller.

The hires come as Squire Patton Boggs anticipates an increase in restructuring work amid “higher levels of stress across many industries,” its global restructuring and insolvency practice chair Stephen Lerner said in a statement.

This is at least the third group hire this year for Squire Patton Boggs in Europe, including the additions of a four-attorney white collar team and a six-member data privacy team.

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Møller advises on domestic and cross-border restructurings primarily in the shipping, airline, energy and natural resources industries, according to an archived Brown Rudnick bio.

She also represents clients on the enforcement of security over UK assets, particularly in the sale and purchase of non-performing loan portfolios, Squire Patton Boggs said.

Møller is joined in London by partner Monika Lorenzo-Perez, director Helena Clarke and senior associates Rebecca Terrace

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September 21, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Judge reports threats, harassment over J&J talc bankruptcy

A bottle of Johnson and Johnson Baby Powder. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Illustration

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  • Judge revealed the harassment at a hearing on a J&J subsidiary’s effort to block two states’ consumer protection lawsuits

(Reuters) – A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Wednesday said he has received threats related to the bankruptcy of a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary he is overseeing, with some messages suggesting that the case is an effort to “cover up” harms allegedly caused by J&J’s talc products.

Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan in Trenton, New Jersey said at a hearing that he and his staff have been getting angry and menacing messages through phone calls, voicemails, emails and social media posts since his February decision not to dismiss the bankruptcy case of LTL Management LLC.

J&J created the subsidiary in October, assigned its talc liabilities to it and put it in bankruptcy a few days later, in an attempt to resolve approximately 38,000 lawsuits alleging that its Baby Powder and other talc products caused mesothelioma and ovarian cancer.

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J&J, which has denied the allegations and said that its products

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September 15, 2022 by ATTORNEY

3M earplug bankruptcy creates “corrosive” tension with other courts, attorney says

The 3M logo is seen at its global headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota. REUTERS/Nicholas Pfosi

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(Reuters) – A 3M Co subsidiary on Wednesday criticized the way federal courts have handled 290,000 consolidated lawsuits over allegedly defective earplugs it made for the U.S. military, saying that the “broken” legal system allowed claims to balloon and threatened the company’s ability to settle them.

3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies LLC pressed for, but did not get, a court order that would protect its parent company from the lawsuits at its first hearing in U.S. bankruptcy court in Indianapolis. Instead, it reached a more limited agreement with plaintiffs to pause work for three weeks, interrupting witness depositions and expert reports scheduled in the lawsuits, which have been consolidated in the largest-ever multidistrict litigation (MDL) in U.S. court.

Plaintiffs sued Aearo and 3M over the company’s Combat Arms Earplugs version 2 (CAEv2), claiming they are defective and damaged their hearing. The cases ballooned to a peak of more than 290,000 last year and now account for nearly one-third of all cases pending in all federal courts, according to a court filing.

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August 12, 2022 by ATTORNEY

J.Crew recruits new top lawyer from rival American Eagle Outfitters

A J.Crew store logo is pictured on a building along the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach, Florida March 17, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

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  • Stacy Siegal has joined J.Crew as chief legal officer
  • Clothing retailer emerged from bankruptcy in September 2020

(Reuters) – J.Crew Group Inc has hired longtime retail company attorney Stacy Siegal away from American Eagle Outfitters Inc to be its new top lawyer, according to a Monday statement.

J.Crew said Siegal will be chief legal officer and corporate secretary of the New York-based company, reporting to CEO Libby Wadle.

Siegal said she is replacing J.Crew’s interim general counsel, Peter Damiano, who will remain at the company.

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A J.Crew spokesperson declined to comment beyond the statement. An American Eagle spokesperson didn’t immediately comment on Siegal’s departure on Monday.

J.Crew filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic triggered temporary store closures of its nearly 500 J.Crew, J.Crew Factory outlet and Madewell stores. A bankruptcy judge approved the clothing company’s reorganization plan in August 2020.

Siegal joined American Eagle Outfitters as general counsel in 2016, according to her LinkedIn

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July 30, 2022 by ATTORNEY
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