Judge Gardephe

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Last week, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred 25 actions pending in three districts to Judge Gardephe as part of a MDL concerning Treasury securities.  According to the Order, the actions all allege that “over 20 defendant banks conspired to manipulate Treasury securities auctions overseen by Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as well…

In an opinion dated Friday but released this morning, Judge Gardephe largely upheld subpoenas to a congressional committee and a staffer concerning allegedly unlawful stock trading under the STOCK Act, which essentially extended insider trading laws to Congress.  (See our previous coverage of the case here.)

Judge Gardephe found that the subpoenas were not…

In a complaint filed yesterday, the owners of Grand Central terminal accuse New York City of changing the zoning rules to effectively give away their’ “air rights” and other “transferrable development rights” (TDRs), so that a private developer, SL Green, could build a new office tower.  The plaintiffs claim that this was a classic “taking” under the Constitution, requiring that they be compensated by over $1 billion:
Continue Reading Grand Central Owners Sue City for Allegedly Giving Away Their Air Rights to Private Developer

In a 90-page opinion today, Judge Gardephe largely denied Novartis’ motion to dismiss a government suit alleging that it paid doctors kickbacks by hosting sham speaker events that allegedly “served as little more than upscale social outings designed to induce doctors to write prescriptions for Novartis drugs.”  He rejected Novartis’ argument that the complaint lacked sufficient detail under Rule 9(b):
Continue Reading Judge Gardephe Allows DOJ to Proceed With Suit Accusing Novartis of Using “Sham” Speaker Events to Pay Doctors Kickbacks

In an opinion today, Judge Gardephe dismissed a securities class action accusing Avon of defrauding its investors about its compliance with the FCPA.  Avon’s management received a whistleblower letter about bribes to Chinese officials, and Judge Gardephe found that it was not fraudulent for Avon to investigate the allegations before disclosing them:
Continue Reading Judge Gardephe Dismisses Class Action Accusing Avon of Hiding FCPA Exposure

In a brief filed Friday, a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and a staffer, Brian Sutter, argued why they need not comply with an SEC subpoena relating to an investigation under the STOCK Act, which essentially extends the insider trading laws to Congress (see our prior post on the case here). Among other arguments, the committee and Mr. Sutter invoked sovereign immunity:
Continue Reading Congressional Committee Claims Sovereign Immunity From SEC Subpoena

In an opinion today, Judge Gardephe rejected Gibson Dunn’s attempt, in a civil defamation suit, to prevent disclosure of interview notes from witnesses whose statements were shared with the SEC. Judge Gardephe had earlier ruled that any privilege was waived, but Gibson Dunn argued that, apart from any waiver, the firm had its own internal interest in protecting the notes:
Continue Reading Judge Gardephe Orders Gibson Dunn to Produce Notes of Interviews of Witnesses Whose Statements It Revealed to SEC