“Rachel Leviss’ Lawyer Doesn’t See Brother Representing Tom Sandoval as ‘A Conflict of Interest’” —

• “Rachel Leviss’ lawsuit against Tom Sandoval gets more and more complicated by the day. For those who missed the last major update, Tom hired someone very close to Rachel’s lawyer to represent him. Yes, the lawyers each representing the individual Vanderpump Rules stars are brothers. Literal familial brothers.”
• “So, will that affect the case in any way? Will that change anything? Apparently not. Kind of odd how the U.S. legal system just allows this sort of thing to happen. But hear it from Rachel’s attorney, Mark Geragos.”
  On the September 10 episode of Rachel’s podcast, her attorney joined her to clear the air. ‘We … had a situation when Mr. Sandoval hired my brother,’ Geragos said. At Rachel’s request, he explained, ‘Matt is my little brother and Sandoval hired him. I can’t blame him because Matt is a hell of a lawyer.'”
• “As far as why Tom hired Matt, Mark had his suspicions. ‘I think he thought Matt was going to whisper in my ear at Thanksgiving or something. Who knows what he thought?’ Even if Tom hired Matt without any knowledge of the familial relationship, surely, that would be a conflict of interest, no? Well, Mark didn’t seem to think so.”
• “Geragos assured listeners that he couldn’t say with certainty why Tom hired Matt. ‘I have no inside information as to what transpired or how that transpired. I will tell you that for [the people asking] if that is a conflict of interest, if Matt worked with me then yes. It would be a conflict of interest.’ He added, ‘If we were partners in a law firm, it would be a conflict of interest.'”
• “Mark then explained, ‘It’s not like we’re at Christmas dinner saying, ‘Okay, I’ll do this on Rachel’s end, and you do this on Tom’s end.’ It’s not a conflict of interest. It’s an interesting choice.’ An interesting choice indeed.”
• “Vanderpump Rules is streaming on Peacock.”

“Mich. Atty Says Brother’s Email Hack Harming Clients, Firm” —

• “A Michigan attorney has accused his brother of improperly accessing his law firm’s email accounts and confidential discussions with clients, forcing the attorney to step down as name partner of his firm, allegedly after the brothers’ joint cannabis venture failed. “
• “Business law attorney Gregory M. Yatooma said in a Friday motion for a preliminary injunction that his firm, Fleming Yatooma & Borowicz PLC, was forced to remove his name from the firm because his brother, Chris Yatooma, had used confidential legal emails in the brothers’ litigation over the payout of a major judgment and refused to restore Greg’s access to his email, putting confidential client information in jeopardy.”
• “The firm now operates as Fleming & Borowicz PLC, and Greg Yatooma isn’t listed as a partner. The State Bar of Michigan’s website does not list the firm on Greg Yatooma’s page in its lawyer search database.”
• “The illegal access to his email account is harmful to attorney-client relationships and puts in jeopardy the privilege clients expect with their attorneys, Greg Yatooma said. His filing also claims violations of federal and state computer privacy laws, such as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and common law invasion of privacy.”
• “‘Greg was forced to cease operating as FYB, and Greg and his partners determined that given Chris’ actions, it would be best to remove the name ‘Yatooma’ … from the firm, so Chris could no longer claim ‘ownership’ of FYB,’ Greg Yatooma said. “
• “Greg Yatooma asked the court to bar his brother and alleged conspirators from using or accessing his law firm email and to order the defendants to return his confidential information and emails. He also asked the court to order the defendants to destroy any copies of emails they have and restore access to his law firm email.”
• “Greg Yatooma and his brother used to operate ‘many businesses’ in Michigan’s legalized cannabis industry, according to Friday’s motion. Greg operated his law firm out of the same office building as the brothers’ joint ventures.”
• “The brothers’ relationship soured in 2022, and Chris Yatooma bought Greg out of their joint businesses, the motion said.”
• “Stopczy, the former IT director of Greg Yatooma’s law firm as well as for the brothers’ joint entities, told Greg he would have ‘exclusive access and control’ over his emails after Greg ended his business relationship with his brother, Greg Yatooma alleged in his Friday motion.”
• “‘That was a lie,’ Greg Yatooma said.”
• “Under Chris Yatooma’s direction, Stopczy instead downloaded 160,000 of Greg’s law firm emails for Chris to use in the brothers’ other litigation, Greg Yatooma alleged. Stopczy also lied about later telling Greg he would delete emails from Chris Yatooma’s server, Greg Yatooma said. Chris Yatooma and his assistant still have access to and read Greg Yatooma’s emails, Greg Yatooma said.”
• “‘This litigation has revealed that defendants are actively reviewing Greg’s FYB email and using the contents thereof to litigate this case and related cases,’ Greg Yatooma said.”

“SEC Expands Insider Trading Case Over Covington Stolen Data” —

• “The SEC is going after another individual over an alleged insider trading scheme related to information stolen from a Covington & Burling attorney’s computer.”
• “The agency on Tuesday said Philip Markin bought Pandion Therapeutics Inc. stock before the biotechnology company was acquired by Merck & Co. in a $1.85 billion deal. Markin allegedly traded on information he received from his cousin, Seth Markin, whose romantic partner was working on the transaction as an associate at Covington.”
• “Philip Markin knew or was reckless in not knowing that the information was material and nonpublic, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a complaint filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.”
• “The unnamed associate was part of a Covington team that represented Merck in the Pandion deal, which was announced in February 2021. She was working from home during the pandemic and Seth Markin often stayed for multiple days at the attorney’s apartment, according to the complaint.”
• “Seth Markin, a former FBI trainee, misappropriated material nonpublic information about Merck’s planned tender offer for Pandion, the SEC said. He also tipped Philip Markin and several other individuals to the deal, the complaint says.”
• “Covington has not been accused of wrongdoing in the alleged scheme. The firm did not respond to a comment request.”
  “Prosecutors alleged that Seth Markin, in February of 2021, secretly looked through his girlfriend’s confidential work documents and learned that Merck had plans to buy Pandion for approximately three times the value of its share price. He and friend Brandon Wong together allegedly made more than $1.4 million in illegal profits with the stolen information.”
• “Seth Markin’s lawyers argued that he learned of the Merck deal after the associate requested he help her organize materials related to her work at the firm.”
• “Philip Markin has ‘reached a civil settlement with the SEC, and the DOJ has declined to pursue criminal charges,’ his lawyer, Todd Spodek, said via email.”