Avenatti Loses 'Meritless' 2nd Circ. Appeal Of Nike Conviction
The Second Circuit on Wednesday declined to overturn Michael Avenatti's conviction for trying to extort more than $20 million from Nike Inc., ruling that the disbarred lawyer's appeal was "meritless."
A three-judge panel said a Manhattan federal jury had sufficient evidence to convict Avenatti, who is serving prison time for convictions in the Nike matter and two other cases alleging he stole from clients, including porn star Stormy Daniels, whom he represented in a defamation suit against former President Donald Trump.
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Marc Scholl of Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC, who was not involved in the case, told Law360 that because the "evidence could be viewed to show that Avenatti threatened to ruin Nike's reputation for personal gain, the extortion counts were necessarily affirmed."