Nike will receive significantly less pay for helping the U.S. prosecute attorney Michael Avenatti for extortion than requested, in part because its outside counsel, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, used “block billing,” a federal court said Monday.  Read More|Documents Attached

Freddie Mac announced Monday that Heidi Mason, a longtime former in-house lawyer at Wells Fargo & Co., will become its new general counsel starting March 7.  Read More

Boies Schiller Flexner, following the departure of several lawyers, said Monday it hired Kenya Davis, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, as a partner in the global investigations white collar group.  Read More

Kelly Gibson, who has held both national and regional leadership roles with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, joined Morgan Lewis as a partner and co-leader of the firm’s securities enforcement practice in New York and Philadelphia, according to a firm statement Monday.  Read More

Scott Pinarchick has joined Ropes & Gray in Boston as a partner in the firm’s tax practice, the firm announced Monday.  Read More

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is advising private equity firm Motive Partners on its participation in a $1.4 billion investment, with the Canadian Pension Fund Investment Board, into digital wealth platform FNZ.  Read More

General Electric Co. said Monday that Frank Jimenez will become general counsel for its health care business Feb. 21, succeeding its recently departed legal chief.  Read More

A judge is set to decide whether a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard Inc. over alleged sexual harassment and discrimination can include temporary workers who were not hired directly by the game maker, a ruling that will determine the scope of the suit and the potential financial fallout for the company.  Read More|Documents Attached

The top judge for Delaware’s Chancery Court is calling for a greater focus on the scope of board documents that shareholder plaintiffs can seek in pursuing fiduciary duty breach suits.  Read More

A Texas lawyer who works for public entities at a private firm will create conflicts of interest for other attorneys if he moves to another firm that is routinely in opposition to those public entities, the State Bar of Texas said.  Read More|Document Attached

A Texas police captain’s right to be free from firing at the behest of a new state judge, a local sheriff, and a local district attorney who allegedly believed an affidavit he provided in a criminal case disparaged them was clearly established, a divided Fifth Circuit ruled.  Read More|Documents Attached

An attorney in West Virginia will be suspended for six months after he failed to file timely post-conviction motions in a criminal case, the state Supreme Court of Appeals ruled.  Read More|Document Attached

A federal judge said he would throw out a defamation suit filed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin against the New York Times -- even as jurors continue to deliberate it.  Read More

Law schools must do more to encourage, mentor, and engage first-generation law students to not only improve graduation rates, but also to improve law firm diversity, say William & Mary Law School Dean A. Benjamin Spencer and second-year law student Charleigh Kondas. They explain the work of the school’s First Generation Student Alliance, created as a place where students can freely discuss any struggles and questions.  Read More

Morgan Lewis banking and financial industry attorneys Eamonn Moran and Robin Nunn look at the regulatory spotlight on point-of-sale buy now, pay later financing. Among items to watch, they say, are how and whether the CFPB decides to address BNPL consumer disclosure and dispute, data privacy, and fee accumulation issues.  Read More