White Collar

  • January 09, 2025

    Supreme Court Declines To Halt Trump's NY Sentencing

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday denied Donald Trump's request to halt New York criminal proceedings in his hush money case, clearing the way for a state judge to sentence the president-elect on Friday, days before he takes the oath of office.

  • January 09, 2025

    Asphalt Exec Latest To Plead Guilty In Bid-Rigging Scheme

    A metro Detroit asphalt executive pled guilty Wednesday for his role in a conspiracy to rig bids for paving jobs in Michigan, the latest plea in the government's sprawling investigation into multiple companies and their leaders for a scheme that resulted in millions of dollars' worth of rigged contracts.

  • January 09, 2025

    Menendez Sentencing Won't Taint Wife's Trial, Gov't Says

    New York federal prosecutors are urging a Manhattan federal judge to reject Nadine Menendez's request for a three-month delay in her trial on bribery charges, saying that the sentencing of her husband, former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, on similar charges will not taint the jury pool for her trial.

  • January 09, 2025

    Trump's Attorney General Pick To Face Senators Next Week

    President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, former attorney general of Florida, will sit for two days of confirmation hearings next week.

  • January 09, 2025

    Trump's Return Brings 'Deeper Anxiety' To DOJ Fraud Attys

    White collar practitioners say they've heard from U.S. Department of Justice attorneys who are anxiously bracing for the possibility of working with fewer resources while confined to narrower enforcement priorities after Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office.

  • January 09, 2025

    George Santos' Sentencing Delayed For Podcast Earnings

    A Brooklyn federal judge granted former U.S. Rep. George Santos' request to delay his sentencing in order to earn money through his weekly gossip podcast "Pants On Fire" that can go toward paying the roughly $580,000 he owes in restitution and forfeiture.

  • January 08, 2025

    2nd Circ. Weighs FIFA Verdicts In Light Of High Court Rulings

    Brooklyn federal prosecutors on Wednesday urged the Second Circuit to reverse a lower court's controversial decision to overturn the bribery convictions of a former 21st Century Fox television executive and an Argentine marketing company, disputing that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent corruption rulings impact the massive FIFA corruption ordeal.

  • January 08, 2025

    Ex-FBI Informant Who Smeared Bidens Gets 6 Years

    A former FBI informant who falsely told agents that a Ukrainian energy company had paid off President Joe Biden and his son Hunter was sentenced Wednesday in California federal court to six years in prison.

  • January 08, 2025

    Canadian Man Gets 40 Months For Russian Export Conspiracy

    A Canadian national was sentenced to 40 months in prison Wednesday in New York federal court for his involvement in a scheme to smuggle dual-use electronics components from U.S. manufacturers to sanctioned entities in Russia, some of which were later found in seized Russian weapons in Ukraine.

  • January 08, 2025

    Convicted Ex-Nomura Trader To Settle SEC's RMBS Action

    Ex-Nomura Securities International Inc. trader Michael Gramins, who was convicted in 2017 of scheming to trick mortgage bond buyers, has reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle follow-on civil claims, according to an agency filing on Wednesday.

  • January 08, 2025

    Quantitative Trader Accused Of Stealing Firm's Source Code

    New York federal prosecutors have accused a quantitative trader of stealing the secrets of a billion-dollar company's source code from his former employer to use at his own trading firm, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday in New York federal court.

  • January 08, 2025

    NY Fed Beats Puerto Rico Bank's Suit Over Master Account

    A New York federal judge on Wednesday tossed without prejudice a Puerto Rico bank's suit that sought to block the closure of its Federal Reserve master account, finding the New York Fed's interpretation of the Federal Reserve Act was correct and that the bank does not have a statutory right to a master account.

  • January 08, 2025

    Oppenheimer Fights Claims Over Ex-Worker's Ponzi Scheme

    Financial services giant Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. is seeking to avoid an arbitration fight brought by three North Carolina residents over a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by a former Oppenheimer employee, arguing in a new suit the individuals have never been customers of Oppenheimer and, therefore, have no standing to bring claims or arbitrate.

  • January 08, 2025

    Shkreli Wants Wu-Tang To Weigh In On Crypto Album Fight

    Martin Shkreli told a Brooklyn federal judge that the writer and producer of the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album should weigh in on their rights to the work as the crypto project that purchased the album presses ahead with a suit accusing the pharma bro of keeping copies of the album after he was ordered to give them up.

  • January 08, 2025

    Pension Plan Official's Estate Excused From Danish Tax Suit

    A New York federal court approved Wednesday an agreement for Denmark's tax authority to settle its claims against the estate of a pension plan official whose plan allegedly defrauded the agency out of $9 million.

  • January 08, 2025

    Madigan Denies Extorting Developers For Law Firm Business

    Ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan testified Wednesday that he never wanted a Chicago alderman to leverage his chairmanship of a powerful city council committee to steer business to Madigan's law firm, saying he merely asked for introductions to developers and felt "surprise and concern" when the alderman referenced a quid pro quo deal.

  • January 08, 2025

    Ky. Lawmaker Files Pot Legalization, Decriminalization Bills

    A Democratic Kentucky lawmaker this week filed a bill to decriminalize possession of marijuana and allow expungements of cannabis convictions as well as another bill that would allow voters to decide whether to legalize marijuana for adult use.

  • January 08, 2025

    Feds Ask To Release Report On Trump's DC Case, But Not Fla.

    Special counsel Jack Smith asked the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to deny Donald Trump's request to block the publication of a report on the now-abandoned federal election-meddling case against the president-elect in D.C. federal court, but said the Justice Department will hold off on releasing a report regarding the classified-documents case in Florida, where two co-defendants remain under indictment.

  • January 08, 2025

    Jay-Z Wants Sanctions Against Buzbee In Diddy Rape Suit

    Rapper Jay-Z asked Wednesday that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee be sanctioned for filing a lawsuit accusing him and embattled rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs of raping a 13-year-old girl, claiming inconsistencies in the girl's story show Buzbee "knowingly filed a false complaint."

  • January 08, 2025

    Departing Mass. US Atty Predicts Similar Goals For Successor

    As he prepares to leave his ninth-floor office at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse on Boston's waterfront for the final time next Friday, U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy told reporters he expects his successor will continue to pursue the types of nonpartisan cases nearly everyone would agree are important.

  • January 08, 2025

    Trump Electors May Have To Face Civil Suit, Mich. Panel Hints

    A Michigan state appeals court seemed hesitant Wednesday to extend a freeze in a civil lawsuit against Republican electors criminally accused of participating in then-President Donald Trump's alleged efforts to change the outcome of the 2020 election, citing deference to the trial judge's decision to press on.

  • January 08, 2025

    US Atty In Texas' Southern District To Step Down

    The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas announced Wednesday that he is leaving his post this month, the latest in a wave of resignations ahead of a second Trump administration.

  • January 08, 2025

    Exiting CFTC Chair Warns Crypto Without Rules 'Ends Badly'

    The outgoing chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Rostin Behnam used his final speech on Wednesday to urge lawmakers and regulators to address the "gap" in oversight of cryptocurrency markets.

  • January 08, 2025

    Cops' Suit Over Firing For Pot Use Sent To NJ State Court

    A New Jersey federal judge has kicked back to state court a suit against Jersey City by two police officers who say they were wrongly fired for off-duty cannabis use, finding that the suit does not implicate federal law that would give the federal courts jurisdiction.

  • January 08, 2025

    Criminal Case Against Terraform Founder Said To Exceed SEC's

    The $40 billion criminal case against Terraform founder Do Kwon contains evidence such as recordings and seized mobile phones that exceed what securities regulators presented when they prevailed against him at a civil fraud trial, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Rulings On Sentencing Guidelines After Loper Bright

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo raised questions as to when and whether courts should defer to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines' commentary in disputes over the guidelines' meaning — but some recent appellate court rulings provide insights for defense counsel in this area, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Data Privacy Landscape After Mass. Justices' Wiretap Ruling

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    In Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital, Massachusetts’ highest court recently ruled that the state’s wiretap law doesn’t prohibit all tracking of website user activity, but major financial and reputational risks remain for businesses that aren't transparent about customer’s web data, says Seth Berman at Nutter.

  • Compliance Lessons From Raytheon's FCPA Settlement

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    A recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act action involving aerospace and defense company Raytheon underscores the importance of risk management related to retaining and overseeing third parties — especially in higher-risk jurisdictions — and the promotion of a companywide culture of compliance, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Opinion

    1 Year After Rule 702 Changes, Courts Have Made Progress

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    In the year since amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence went into effect, many federal judges have applied the new expert witness standard correctly, excluding unreliable testimony from their courts — but now state courts need to update their own rules accordingly, says Lee Mickus at Evans Fears.

  • Gov't Scrutiny Of Workplace Chat Apps Set To Keep Growing

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    The incoming Trump administration and Republican majorities in Congress are poised to open numerous investigations that include increasing demands for entities to produce communications from workplace chat apps, so companies must evaluate their usage and retention policies, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • Using Contracts As Evidence Of Trade Secret Protection

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    Recent federal and U.S. International Trade Commission decisions demonstrate an interesting trend of judges recognizing that contracts and confidentiality provisions can serve as important evidence of the reasonable secrecy measures companies must take to prove the existence of protected trade secrets, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • An Underutilized Tool To Dismiss Meritless Claims In Texas

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    In Texas, special appearances provide a useful but often overlooked tool for out-of-state defendants to escape meritless claims early in litigation, thus limiting discovery and creating a pathway for immediate appellate review, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Top 10 Whistleblowing And Retaliation Events Of 2024

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    From a Florida federal court’s ruling that the False Claims Act’s qui tam provision is unconstitutional to a record-breaking number of whistleblower tips filed with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, employers saw significant developments in the federal and state whistleblower landscapes this year, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

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    As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Changes To Expect From SEC Under Trump Nominee

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    President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Paul Atkins for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair will likely lead to significant shifts in the Division of Enforcement's priorities, likely focused on protecting retail investors and the stability of the capital markets, say attorneys at Morrison Foerster.

  • Executive Orders That Could Affect Financial Services In 2025

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    The incoming Trump administration is likely to quickly revive or update a number of prior executive orders, and possibly issue new ones, that could affect financial services by emphasizing market discipline rather than regulatory initiatives to drive change in the industry, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • What To Know About FinCEN's Deepfake Warning

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    A recent alert from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network warns about the increased use of deepfake media to target financial institutions and their customers, showing that what seems like futuristic technology is a current threat that requires diligent controls and awareness of red flags, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • 'Minimal Participant' Bar Is Tough To Clear For Whistleblowers

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    Under the U.S. Department of Justice’s corporate whistleblower pilot program, would-be whistleblowers will find it tough to show that they only minimally participated in criminal misconduct while still providing material information, but sentencing precedent shows how they might prove their eligibility for an award, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Impact Of Corporate Transparency Act Ambiguity On Banks

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    Even though banks generally needn't file beneficial ownership information reports, financial institutions must continue to monitor the status of the Corporate Transparency Act and understand its requirements in case the nationwide injunction that was issued against the CTA earlier this month is overturned, say attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • A Look At SEC, CFTC's Record Year For Whistleblower Awards

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    Another banner year shows that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission have developed the gold standard for whistleblower award programs, but a CFTC funding crisis threatens to derail that program's success, say Andrew Feller and Geoff Schweller at Kohn Kohn.

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