Free Republic

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Avenatti, the brash California lawyer who publicly sparred with then-President Donald Trump before criminal fraud charges on two coasts disrupted his rapid ascent to fame, faces sentencing in one of those cases Thursday. Over a year after a jury concluded Avenatti tried to extort millions of dollars from Nike by threatening the company with bad publicity, U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe will sentence him in Manhattan. Avenatti was convicted on charges that he tried to extort up to $25 million from the Beaverton, Oregon-based sportswear giant as he represented a Los Angeles youth basketball...

Manhattan District Judge William H. Pauley III died on July 5, 2021, at the age of 68. William H. Pauley’s cause of death was announced after his passing. American senior judge Pauley died Tuesday morning, according to a court official. He had been previously diagnosed with cancer. May he rest in peace. William H. Pauley III was born on August 14, 1952, in Glen Cove, New York. In 1974, he received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Duke University. Pauley served as a law clerk for the Office of the Nassau County Attorney in NY from 1977 to 1978. He also...