Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
White Collar
-
August 09, 2024
Ripple Claims Victory In SEC Suit But Paid A Price
Ripple Labs Inc. celebrated the end of its legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a "clear victory" that cut through the regulator's bid for $2 billion over the exchange's unregistered institutional sales of its XRP token, but experts told Law360 the $125 million fine and injunction Ripple faces is much more than a speeding ticket to end a costly four-year battle.
-
August 09, 2024
Feds Say Smartmatic Execs Bribed Philippine Elections Head
Federal prosecutors have accused three Smartmatic executives — including the voting-machine company's co-founder and president — of bribing a Philippines elections official to secure contracts for the country's 2016 elections, according to an indictment filed Friday in Florida federal court.
-
August 09, 2024
SEC Settles With EV Fleet Co., 3 Execs For More Than $5M
Electric vehicle company Ideanomics and its former CEO Bruno Wu, a wealthy Chinese entrepreneur, have agreed along with other executives to pay a combined roughly $5.1 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims of accounting and disclosure fraud, the agency said Friday.
-
August 09, 2024
Top 4 Gov't Contracting Policies Of 2024: Midyear Report
Federal agencies have made several prominent policy moves affecting contractors this year, headlined by programs incentivizing whistleblowers to come forward with information about contracting fraud, tweaks to a wide-ranging cybersecurity standard, and guidance for how agencies should purchase generative tools. Here, Law360 examines four significant policy changes from the first half of 2024 that will affect government contractors.
-
August 09, 2024
Trump Again Appeals Merchan's Gag Order To NY High Court
Former President Donald Trump is again seeking dismissal of a gag order in his criminal hush money case barring him from threatening court and district attorney staff, telling New York's highest court on Thursday that he disagreed with "each and every part" of a recent intermediate appellate court ruling that found threats remained imminent.
-
August 09, 2024
Bond Denied For Ex-Ecuador Official Convicted In Bribery Plot
A Florida federal judge denied bond to Ecuador's ex-comptroller Friday after a jury convicted him earlier this year of laundering more than $12 million in bribes received in a construction scandal, saying the record would not support releasing him from custody before he is sentenced.
-
August 09, 2024
Ex-Mozambique Finance Minister Convicted For $2B Scheme
Mozambique's former finance minister was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges in connection with his role in the $2 billion "tuna bonds" scandal, prosecutors announced.
-
August 09, 2024
Dem Lawmakers Ask OpenAI To Disclose Safety Processes
Two members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation are calling on OpenAI to provide information about its safety processes and how it handles whistleblowers and conflicts of interest, in a letter to the company.
-
August 09, 2024
Wood's Ex-Partner Says Social Posts Threatened His Family
One of three attorneys accusing their former law partner, controversial ex-attorney L. Lin Wood, of defamation took the stand Friday, telling a Georgia federal jury that a payment demand they sent Wood after his firm's dissolution wasn't extortion but was instead an attempt to protect themselves and their families.
-
August 09, 2024
Virtu Financial Can't Cut Down SEC's Information Security Suit
A Manhattan federal judge declined Friday to trim a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit over Virtu Financial Inc.'s protection of customer investment data, saying discovery is needed to determine whether the platform designed reasonable safeguards to wall this information off from its own in-house traders.
-
August 09, 2024
Energy Transfer Investors Get Partial Win In $3B Pipelines Suit
A Pennsylvania federal judge granted a class of investors a partial win in a class action claiming that Energy Transfer misled them about its $3 billion Mariner East 2 and Revolution pipeline projects, ruling that the investors have raised genuine issues of material fact with at least one of their claims.
-
August 09, 2024
NYC Prisons Face Contempt Bid Over Missed Medical Service
Inmates of the New York City prison system have rekindled a class action against the city's Department of Correction with a contempt motion claiming the department has failed to follow a court order to provide prisoners with better access to healthcare services.
-
August 09, 2024
Former Syrian Prison Chief Accused Of US Immigration Fraud
Federal grand jurors in California have charged a former Syrian official with covering up his time running a Syrian prison where political dissidents were physically abused on U.S. immigration applications.
-
August 09, 2024
Frat House Ponzi Schemer Must Pay $65K In SEC Suit
A University of Georgia graduate who ran a Ponzi scheme from his fraternity house and defrauded classmates must pay an additional $65,000 in judgment interest after already having paid more than $509,000 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision.
-
August 09, 2024
Highway Contractor, Exec Charged With $100M Price-Fixing
Federal prosecutors announced the indictment of an Oklahoma highway runoff contracting business and two of its employees for their involvement in a price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation conspiracy that impacted over $100 million in publicly funded construction contracts in the state.
-
August 09, 2024
NY Counties Say Cayuga Nation's 911 Suit Not An Emergency
Two New York counties have urged a federal district court to toss the Cayuga Nation's lawsuit accusing the counties of refusing to forward the reservation's 911 calls to the tribe's police department unless it pays, arguing the tribe's civil rights protection claims are not enforceable.
-
August 09, 2024
Fla. Forex Trader Gets 24 Years For $57M Ponzi Scheme
A purported foreign exchange trader has been hit with a 24-year prison sentence and a $57 million forfeiture order after pleading guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges in connection with a Ponzi scheme that took in over 1,100 would-be investors.
-
August 09, 2024
Eckert Seamans Sued Over New Jersey Condo Development
Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC simultaneously represented a real estate development company and two of its former managers, and also improperly took compensation for its work before company debts were satisfied, according to a legal malpractice lawsuit filed this week in New Jersey state court.
-
August 09, 2024
Cars' 'Unique Place' In Mich. Justifies Tough Laws, Panel Says
A Michigan Court of Appeals panel said Thursday that cars "occupy a unique place in the lives of Michigan citizens," which supports the constitutionality of the state punishing carjacking more harshly than other robberies.
-
August 09, 2024
Rising Star: Paul Hastings' Nicole Lueddeke
Nicole Lueddeke of Paul Hastings LLP represented a multibillion-dollar Japanese medical device company in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation involving alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations in one of the firm's largest white collar defense cases, earning her a spot among the white collar law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
-
August 08, 2024
Feds Say Tenn. Man Helped North Korea Via IT Worker Ploy
Federal prosecutors say a Tennessee man schemed to get North Koreans hired for remote information technology positions at American and British companies, part of an effort to help generate revenue for North Korea's weapons program, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
-
August 08, 2024
Investors, Banks Pitch Next Steps In Saved Bond-Rigging Suit
Investors accusing major banks of conspiring to rig corporate bonds have told a New York federal court they want to file a new complaint after the Second Circuit revived the suit last month over a potential conflict with the previous judge, while the defendants say this would take the case "back to square one."
-
August 08, 2024
Poll Workers, Giuliani Want $148M Judgment Appeal Expedited
Rudy Giuliani and two Georgia election workers who secured a $148 million defamation judgment against him have asked the D.C. Circuit to fast-track the former mayor's appeal of the judgment.
-
August 08, 2024
Ex-Girardi Keese Atty Tearfully Recalls Withheld Client Funds
A former Girardi Keese attorney shed tears Thursday as she testified in Tom Girardi's California federal criminal trial, recalling that she became increasingly confused over several months about why he did not issue a settlement check to her client, saying his excuses for withholding the money made no sense.
-
August 08, 2024
Wash. Firm, Atty Say Rehashed $20M Con Claims Can't Stick
A Washington attorney and her former law firm have urged a Washington judge to toss a lawsuit alleging they were part of a scheme to con an asset management company out of $20 million, arguing that they were following instructions as escrow agents making sure funds were disbursed.
Expert Analysis
-
Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
-
Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination
The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
-
Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
-
Wiretap Use In Cartel Probes Likely To Remain An Exception
Although the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has recently signaled interest in wiretaps, the use of this technology to capture evidence of antitrust conspiracies and pursue monopolization as a criminal matter has been rare historically, and is likely to remain so, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at DLA Piper.
-
The OIG Report: DOD Review May Cause Contractor Dilemmas
Given a recent Office of Inspector General report finding that the U.S. Department of Defense awarded billions of dollars in contracts without performing the requisite financial responsibility reviews, contractors should prepare for a lengthier, more burdensome process and the possibility of re-review, says Diana Shaw at Wiley.
-
Playing The Odds: Criminal Charges Related To Sports Betting
In light of recent sports betting scandals involving MLB player Shohei Ohtani and NBA player Jontay Porter, institutions and individuals involved in athletics should be aware of and prepared to address the legal issues, including potential criminal charges, that sports gambling may bring to their door, say attorneys at Steptoe.
-
Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
-
Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
-
Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
-
9th Circ. Ruling Shows Lies Must Go To Nature Of Bargain
The Ninth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Milheiser decision, vacating six mail fraud convictions, clarifies that the key question in federal fraud cases is not whether lies were told, but what they were told about — thus requiring defense counsel to rethink their strategies, say Charles Kreindler and Krista Landis at Sheppard Mullin.
-
How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports
The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.
-
Opinion
New Guidance On Guilty Plea Withdrawals Is Long Past Due
In light of the Sentencing Reform Act's 40th anniversary, adding a new section to the accompanying guidelines on the withdrawal of guilty pleas could remedy the lack of direction in this area and improve the regulation's effectiveness in promoting sentencing uniformity, say Mark H. Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Alan Ellis at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.
-
Boeing Saga Underscores Need For Ethical Corporate Culture
In the wake of recent allegations about Boeing’s safety culture, and amid the U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower incentives, business leaders should reinvigorate their emphasis on compliance by making clear that long-term profitability requires ethical business practices, says Maxwell Carr-Howard at Dentons.
-
Key Takeaways From 2024 Accountants' Liability Conference
At the recent annual Accountants' Liability Conference, regulators provided important commentary on new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board rulemaking and standard-setting initiatives, and emphasized regulatory priorities ranging from the tone at the top to alternative practice structures, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
-
Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond
Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.