A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Sara Merken

What's going on today?

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Files

A U.S. judge found there is evidence of misconduct in how a federal prosecutor closely aligned with President Trump secured criminal charges against James Comey, and ordered that grand jury materials be turned over to the former FBI chief's defense lawyers.

Alexandria, Virginia-based U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzgerald found that Lindsey Halligan, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney leading the case, may have made significant legal errors in presenting evidence and instructing grand jurors who were weighing whether to charge Comey – mistakes that could have tainted the case.

"The record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding," Fitzgerald wrote in his ruling. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on the decision.

Comey is one of three prominent critics of the president to have been hit with criminal charges by Trump's DOJ in recent months. Trump critics have described the charges as a part of a campaign by the president to chill opposition. Comey pleaded not guilty after being charged in September with making false statements and obstructing a congressional investigation. Read more from Andrew Goudsward.

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

London-headquartered law firm Ashurst and U.S.-based Perkins Coie agreed to a merger that would create a combined firm of 3,000 lawyers with $2.7 billion in revenue, putting it in the top 20 worldwide.

The announcement marks the latest major transatlantic merger of law firms in recent years, part of a move toward consolidation as firms seek scale to compete across major markets and practice areas. It follows similar agreements between British and U.S. firms, including a deal between Herbert Smith Freehills and Kramer Levin and another between Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling.

Ashurst global CEO Paul Jenkins and Perkins Coie managing partner Bill Malley will be global co-CEOs of the new firm, which will be called Ashurst Perkins Coie. The firms said the proposed merger is subject to approval by a vote of partners at each firm and, if approved, is expected to be completed in late 2026. Read more about the deal.

New research crunching more than seven years of data from class actions has an unexpected takeaway: People are willing to serve as the public face of a lawsuit on behalf of others, even if they don’t get paid anything extra. The findings by Vanderbilt Law School professor Brian Fitzpatrick fly in the face of long held assumptions that payments are necessary to incentivize people to be class representatives. Jenna Greene has more in On the Case.

Bangladesh's ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, was sentenced to death in her absence at the end of a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year … U.S. colleges saw a 17% drop in newly enrolled international students this fall, according to a new report … Federal agents arrested at least 81 people in Charlotte, North Carolina this past weekend … Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney faces a crucial test when Parliament votes on his first budget. Plus, a Reuters exclusive: Boaz Weinstein's Saba Capital Management has sold credit derivatives in recent months to lenders seeking protection on big tech names like Oracle and Microsoft due to concerns over a debt-financed AI investment frenzy, a source said.