White Collar

  • February 12, 2025

    Crypto CEO Made $425K Disappear, Investor Tearfully Testifies

    A former business partner of a Texas man accused of running a $5 million fraud centered on a new "anti-money laundering" cryptocurrency testified tearfully before a California federal jury on Wednesday that her family invested about $425,000 in the defendant's previous cryptocurrency venture and lost every penny.

  • February 12, 2025

    NBC Faces $100M Suit Over 'Salacious' Diddy Documentary

    NBCUniversal Media, its streaming service Peacock TV and production company Ample Entertainment put profits over journalistic standards when they raced to broadcast "the most salacious Diddy exposé" containing "fresh lies and conspiracy theories," the embattled music mogul alleges in a $100 million defamation lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York state court.

  • February 12, 2025

    Crypto Operator Seeks No Prison Time For $1M Fraud Plea

    The founder of a cryptocurrency project who copped to wire fraud after gambling with over $1 million from investors wants to avoid a custodial sentence, though prosecutors have asked to see him serve just over two years.

  • February 12, 2025

    Estate Of Wife Killed By Ex-BigLaw Atty Opposes Consolidation

    The administrator of the estate of the wife of former BigLaw attorney Claud "Tex" McIver has called on a state court to not consolidate an action regarding the proceeds of a wrongful death settlement and a separate probate case involving her will.

  • February 12, 2025

    Judge Jackson Bars White House's Special Counsel Switch

    A D.C. district judge late Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump Administration from replacing the head of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel until the court rules on request for a preliminary injunction blocking the move.

  • February 12, 2025

    2nd Circ. Upholds R. Kelly's Sex Abuse Conviction

    The Second Circuit upheld R&B singer R. Kelly's convictions for racketeering and sex trafficking Wednesday, citing the strength of the evidence and rejecting his claims that four jurors were biased against him.

  • February 12, 2025

    PE Exec Says USC Can't Escape $75M 'Varsity Blues' Suit

    A private equity executive roped into the "Varsity Blues" college admissions case for his six-figure donation to the University of Southern California is asking a Los Angeles court to green-light his $75 million lawsuit alleging the school lied when it deemed his largesse improper.

  • February 12, 2025

    House GOP Eyes Medicaid Cuts, Work Requirements

    House Republicans set their sights on potential cuts and changes to Medicaid on Wednesday, arguing Congress and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency should target improper payments, institute work requirements and repeal a Biden-era rule that made enrolling in the federal healthcare program easier. 

  • February 12, 2025

    Gail Slater Plans Antitrust 'Scalpel' To Protect Competition

    President Donald Trump's nominee to head the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, Gail Slater, pledged on Wednesday to enforce antitrust laws "vigorously and fairly" if she is confirmed to the role.

  • February 12, 2025

    Fla. Pot Patients Say 8th Circ. Precedent Backs Gun Rights

    A group of Florida residents challenging the federal policy disarming medical cannabis users is pointing to a recent Eighth Circuit ruling that they say supports their gun-rights position as they appeal in the Eleventh Circuit.

  • February 12, 2025

    Trump's Deputy AG Nominee Also Pledges No Politics

    President Donald Trump's former criminal defense attorney Todd Blanche, who was nominated for deputy attorney general, testified in the Senate on Wednesday that politics shouldn't be a part of the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • February 12, 2025

    KPMG Taps Walmart Executive For General Counsel

    A top executive for Walmart is leaving the retail giant at the end of the month to join the leadership ranks of KPMG LLP, one of the Big Four accounting firms, as general counsel.

  • February 12, 2025

    Ex-NYC Housing Worker Avoids Jail 1 Year After Mass Arrests

    A federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday allowed a former public housing superintendent to avoid jail time after he admitted to taking $3,500 in bribes, imposing the sentence just over a year after the mass arrest of 70 city workers — 63 of whom now stand convicted.

  • February 12, 2025

    DOJ Exits Continue As Fraud Atty Leaves, Rejoins DLA Piper

    A U.S. Department of Justice attorney, who most recently was the principal assistant deputy chief of the Criminal Division's fraud section, is among the latest lawyers to leave the agency, rejoining DLA Piper in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Tuesday.

  • February 12, 2025

    Sidley Litigator Tapped For Treasury GC Post

    President Donald Trump has nominated Sidley Austin LLP regulatory litigation and white collar partner Brian P. Morrissey to become the U.S. Department of the Treasury's top lawyer, which would mark a return to the department where he was previously the number two lawyer.

  • February 12, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Guilty Of Bribery In Mixed Verdict

    A federal jury on Wednesday partially convicted the man who was once the most powerful politician in Illinois on federal corruption charges, finding former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan guilty of bribery conspiracy and wire fraud but deadlocking on the government's overarching racketeering charge.

  • February 12, 2025

    Trump Picks Crypto Policy Advocate Quintenz To Lead CFTC

    President Donald Trump has nominated Brian Quintenz, a former member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and current head of policy for venture capital firm a16z's crypto fund, to lead the derivatives market regulator.

  • February 11, 2025

    Trump Tells Agencies To Plan 'Large-Scale' Cuts With Musk

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that directs agencies to prepare for "large-scale" cuts to the federal workforce and gives Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency the authority to approve the future hiring of career officials.

  • February 11, 2025

    Ex-NY Gov. Aide And Husband Deny Foreign Agent Charges

    A former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Linda Sun, and her husband on Tuesday pled not guilty to a superseding indictment that accuses her of secretly acting as an agent of China's government and adds new money laundering charges against her spouse.

  • February 11, 2025

    CFPB's Closure Not 'A Free Pass' For Financial Compliance

    Banks and other consumer lenders shouldn't let their compliance efforts around Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations go idle despite the uncertainty caused by the Trump administration's closure of the agency, experts say, as its rules are still on the books and other regulators may pick up the slack.

  • February 11, 2025

    Split 6th Circ. Backs Ex-Cincinnati Politician's Conviction

    A split Sixth Circuit ruled Tuesday that, although a close case, there was enough evidence to convict a former Cincinnati council member of bribery and attempted extortion in connection with a sports betting development project spearheaded by a former Cincinnati Bengals player.

  • February 11, 2025

    Ga. Tax Return Fraudster Gets 12½ Years In Prison

    An Atlanta man who was convicted more than two years ago of masterminding a fraudulent tax return scheme that brought in millions of dollars was hit with a 12½-year prison sentence by a Georgia federal judge on Tuesday.

  • February 11, 2025

    $3B Church Row May Be Too Religious For Courts, Panel Says

    The Family Federation for World Peace has spent the last 14 years locked in a legal battle with its founder's son over $3 billion in church funds it claims he stole, but the D.C. Court of Appeals seemed to think Tuesday that its hands were tied since the dispute is steeped in one big ecclesiastical question.

  • February 11, 2025

    Ex-Texas Mayor Fails Retrial Bid On Federal Bribery Charges

    A Texas federal judge on Tuesday shot down a bid by Laura Jordan, the former mayor of Dallas suburb Richardson, and her husband to get a new trial based on new evidence, saying the convicted fraudsters never showed the government suppressed the evidence in question.

  • February 11, 2025

    Ex-Seton Hall Law Worker Gets 8 Months For Embezzlement

    A former employee at Seton Hall University School of Law was sentenced Tuesday to eight months in prison for taking part in a 13-year embezzlement scheme that defrauded the school of $1.3 million.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Open Questions In Unsettled Geofence Warrant Landscape

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    The Fourth and Fifth Circuits recently reached radically divergent conclusions about the constitutionality of geofence warrants, creating an uncertain landscape in which defendants should assert and preserve the full range of conventional Fourth Amendment challenges, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.

  • Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.

  • Primer On Chinese Trade Secret Disputes For US Practitioners

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    Increasing cross-border disputes over trade secret misappropriation between U.S. and Chinese entities emphasize the need for U.S. practitioners to navigate China's legal landscape following recent reforms that enhance the viability of litigation in Chinese courts, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • John Deere Penalty Shows Importance Of M&A Due Diligence

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent $10 million penalty against John Deere underscores the risks of not conducting robust preacquisition due diligence and not effectively integrating a new subsidiary into the existing compliance framework, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Revisiting The Crime-Fraud Exception After Key Trump Cases

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    Evidence issues in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and classified documents cases involving former President Donald Trump offer an opportunity to restudy elements and implications of the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, noting the courts' careful scrutiny of these matters, say Robert Hoff and Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In a relatively light few months for banking legal updates in New York, the state Department of Financial Services previewed its views on banking sector artificial intelligence use via insurer guidance, and an anti-money laundering enforcement action underscored the importance of international monitoring processes, say Eric McLaughlin and Dana Bayersdorfer at Davis Polk.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Aviation Watch: Boeing Plea Agreement May Not Serve Public

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    The proposed plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing — the latest outgrowth of the company's 737 Max travails — is opposed by crash victims' families, faces an uncertain fate in court, and may ultimately serve no beneficial purpose, even if approved, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Using Primacy And Recency Effects In Opening Statements

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    By understanding and strategically employing the primacy and recency effects in opening statements, attorneys can significantly enhance their persuasive impact, ensuring that their narrative is both compelling and memorable from the outset, says Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Takeaways From TOTSA Settlement And Critical CFTC Dissent

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent settlement with TOTSA highlights the agency's commitment to enforcing market integrity and deterring manipulative practices, while Commissioner Caroline Pham's dissent to the settlement spotlights the need for transparency and consistency in enforcement actions, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Key Takeaways From DOJ's New Corp. Compliance Guidance

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s updated guidance to federal prosecutors on evaluating corporate compliance programs addresses how entities manage new technology-related risks and expands on preexisting policies, providing key insights for companies about increasing regulatory expectations, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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