“You wanna hear the biggest lie people here are going to tell you?” a top criminal defence lawyer asks at a party filled with people who represent alleged fraudsters for a living. “It’s that they’re busy.” White collar defence lawyers have far less work to do under Trump as.ft.com/r/e575dd97-f...

As Trump pressures the Department of Justice to target his opponents, my colleagues @chriscook.news, Paul Caruana Galizia and I dug deep into a DoJ unit - the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York - which had been known for its independence. Full story: on.ft.com/42VG5IK

New @financialtimes.com story: Lawyers for Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron hired investigators to research the US podcaster Candace Owens as they prepared to sue her, over her podcast in which she says Brigitte was born male on.ft.com/4mb8Hp9

“President Macron has not participated in, nor is he the product of, any government mind control programmes." Here's a story about a fascinating lawsuit the French president and first lady have filed against influencer Candace Owens on.ft.com/3TQ9krI on @financialtimes.com

Hong Kong is back, I kept being told when I moved to the city two and a half years ago. Back to what? Here’s my last dispatch from a place I’m so glad to have lived in: on.ft.com/4nxXfVC

When Freshfields decided to publicly stand up for a law firm Trump was targeting, it knew most of its peers wouldn't do the same. So, why do it? This is the story of a near 300-year-old British firm whose push into America is causing major changes both financially and culturally on.ft.com/4kqcr4S

Former UK prime minister and foreign secretary David Cameron is in talks about another new gig, as a consultant to the law firm and lobbyist DLA Piper @financialtimes.com scoop, with @pickardje.bsky.social on.ft.com/4k9Cz4l

There are growing signs of a backlash against the law firms that struck deals with Donald Trump - and a judge has just permanently blocked one of his attempts to target law firms Story with @sindap.bsky.social on.ft.com/4k1Lnsf

Here's a tale that raises a big question: Can any lawyer represent Donald Trump's adversaries without themselves becoming a target? on.ft.com/44HLaGl

Some news: I've moved from Hong Kong to New York, and today is my first day as US Legal Correspondent in the FT's NY office. Going to be a busy and fascinating beat...

“Our client vehemently denies using the word ‘c*nt’ in front of his colleagues’ children at work,” Sadler’s lawyers said. In the event children were ever present, they added, he denied “having knowingly used profanities.”

This is a story about the rise and fall of a man from a working-class town. It’s about power in a grey area of global finance. It’s about football, swearing, a Blackpool bar called Shenanigans and a tangerine-coloured private boat. Enjoy. w/ @bondhack.ft.com @ortenca.bsky.social on.ft.com/3DTv1m6

New: British hedge fund founder Simon Sadler is looking to sell Blackpool FC, as he fights a criminal insider dealing charge in Hong Kong where he has pleaded not guilty on.ft.com/3BK5hb7

Jefferies prided itself on standing by Adani when the company and its founder were accused of fraud by short seller Hindenburg Research. www.ft.com/content/795d...

Worth noting that the lead author of this very good article has just joined Bluesky: @ortenca.bsky.social

A closer look at the hedge funds who quietly reap the benefits when activist short sellers allege malfeasance on.ft.com/40K6gSF

Interesting move here by Jane Street, the New York trading powerhouse. It quietly bankrolled a Hong Kong start-up that has turned the revenues of China's noodle shops and karaoke bars into tradable financial securities on.ft.com/48QSKhU