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White Collar
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October 18, 2024
Conn. Brother Wants No Jail Time In Brazilian Oil Scheme
A Connecticut man who pled guilty to laundering money in a Brazilian oil bribery scheme that also ensnared his brother says he should not be sentenced to jail time because he needs cancer treatments and has been "devastated financially."
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October 18, 2024
Fla. Judge Reprimanded For Opining In DQ Approvals
The Florida Supreme Court has reprimanded a state judge who admitted to making improper comments in orders of recusal that he granted in two separate criminal cases.
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October 18, 2024
AG Taps DOJ Veteran To Lead Executive Office Of US Attys
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has chosen a longtime government lawyer to serve as director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, which serves as liaison between the U.S. Department of Justice and the country's 93 U.S. attorneys.
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October 18, 2024
Off The Bench: Wemby Suit, Antitrust Fights In NASCAR, MMA
In this week's Off The Bench, NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama sues over illicit merchandise bearing his likeness, while antitrust litigation rocks NASCAR and mixed martial arts promotion Bellator.
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October 18, 2024
Feds Win 1st Trial In Sprawling NYC Housing Bribery Case
A former New York City Housing Authority superintendent was convicted of taking bribes to award no-bid contracts, handing federal prosecutors a win in the first trial in a case that saw 70 defendants arrested earlier this year.
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October 18, 2024
Philly Atty Suspended After Guilty Plea In Pill Mill Scheme
A Philadelphia attorney who pled guilty to filling fraudulent opioid prescriptions in his side job as a part-time pharmacist had his law license suspended for a year and a day, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania announced.
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October 17, 2024
Indian Official Charged In Plot To Assassinate NYC Atty
New York federal prosecutors on Thursday unveiled murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against an Indian foreign intelligence official they claim orchestrated a plot to assassinate a New York City attorney connected to a Punjab political revolution.
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October 17, 2024
Trump Media Investors Get Prison For Insider Trading
A New York federal judge on Thursday sentenced a Florida venture capitalist to over two years in prison for insider trading on confidential plans to take the media company behind former President Donald Trump's Truth Social network public, a scheme that netted the investor and his brother nearly $23 million.
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October 17, 2024
Tulsa Massacre Survivors Want Accountability In DOJ Review
The federal government, in its first probe into one of the deadliest episodes of mass racial violence in the country's history that came during a period of Black affluence in an Indian Country community, is asking the public to come forward with more information that can help its review.
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October 17, 2024
Ex-NFL Player Indicted For Real Estate Embezzlement
Former Detroit Lions player Chris Harrison skimmed loan proceeds intended for real estate developments to fund personal expenses, including Rolex watches, landscaping services and a home mortgage, federal prosecutors alleged when announcing charges against the former NFL player on Thursday.
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October 17, 2024
Atty's 'Groundhog Day' Motion Trims Ex-Girardi Client's Suit
A California state judge on Thursday trimmed a family's $1.8 million malpractice lawsuit against an attorney that represented it in recovering millions lost in Girardi Keese's embezzlement scandal, calling a bid to nix one of the suit's claims a "Groundhog Day" motion because she already granted a similar one from the attorney's firm.
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October 17, 2024
Karen Read Can't Avoid Retrial Without Verdict, Mass. Says
Massachusetts prosecutors on Thursday told the state's top court that Karen Read, the woman accused of killing her police officer boyfriend in a case that garnered national attention, cannot escape a retrial by pointing to posttrial juror claims that the jury voted to acquit her on two counts, noting that a formal verdict was never rendered before a mistrial was declared.
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October 17, 2024
Treasury Unit Says Booze Maker Violated N. Korea Sanctions
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said Thursday that it has reached an $860,000 settlement with a Vietnam-based alcoholic beverage company over its alleged role in allowing U.S. financial institutions to process $1.1 million in payments to North Korea, violating sanctions regulations.
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October 17, 2024
Ex-Wash. Atty Who Stalked, Stabbed Rival Lawyer Is Disbarred
The Washington Supreme Court has disbarred a former criminal defense attorney imprisoned for stalking and stabbing another lawyer against whom he held a festering grudge, writing in a self-published book that he fantasized about killing his victim "thousands of times in my head."
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October 17, 2024
Feds Arrest Man In SEC X Account Hack Touting Bitcoin ETF
An Alabama man was arrested Thursday on federal charges tied to the January hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's X account, which caused bitcoin prices to spike after a phony post falsely touted that the agency had approved bitcoin exchange-traded products, federal authorities said.
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October 17, 2024
BIA Says Officer's Evals, Report Off Limits In Liability Dispute
The Bureau of Indian Affairs says a Northern Cheyenne woman who was sexually assaulted by one of its former officers isn't entitled to his psychological evaluation or criminal presentencing report, arguing that the information is protected under state and federal law in the dispute over the federal agency's liability.
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October 17, 2024
Brothers Get Prison For Ga. Concrete Bid-Rigging Scheme
A Georgia federal judge on Thursday sentenced brothers Gregory Hall Melton and John David Melton to serve time in prison for their roles in a scheme to fix prices and rig bids for the ready-mix concrete market in the greater Savannah area.
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October 17, 2024
Atty Who Repped Rodney King To Plead Guilty To Tax Evasion
An attorney who represented Rodney King in a civil case against the city of Los Angeles after King was severely beaten by police agreed Thursday to plead guilty to tax evasion in return for the government dropping other charges.
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October 17, 2024
Feds Drop Marketing Exec's Tricare Fraud Case In Florida
A Florida marketing executive previously convicted in a healthcare fraud scheme and then granted a new trial has had his criminal case dismissed by U.S. attorneys after he alleged prosecutorial misconduct, saying federal officials violated his constitutional rights and fed lies to a grand jury in order to secure an indictment.
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October 17, 2024
Pa. Man Cops To Running Fake Gambling Fund
A Pennsylvania man pled guilty Thursday to stealing about $650,000 from investors who believed he was using their money to make low-risk sports bets using a "sophisticated computer algorithm."
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October 17, 2024
No Privilege For Drug Discount Co. Accused Of Faking Deal
A Colorado federal judge held Wednesday that he saw probable cause that a drug discounter hired an attorney with the intent to commit fraud, ordering that company to disclose privileged documents in a lawsuit alleging it faked an acquisition to dupe an Illinois-based pharmacy benefit company into paying higher commissions.
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October 17, 2024
NYC Art Adviser Admits Defrauding Clients Of $6.5M
A well-known Manhattan art adviser pled guilty in New York federal court Thursday to fleecing her clients of $6.5 million through transactions related to about 55 pieces of art.
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October 17, 2024
FTX Insider Cites 'Limited' Fraud Role In Bid To Avoid Prison
The former head of engineering at FTX asked a Manhattan federal judge to spare him prison time in light of his cooperation with prosecutors and what he said was a relatively "limited" role in the crypto exchange's billion-dollar fraud.
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October 17, 2024
Ex-Mich. Speaker Denied Early Release Over Health Concerns
A Michigan federal judge on Wednesday rejected a request from the former speaker of the state House of Representatives to serve the last three and a half years of his bribery sentence at home on compassionate release, finding he is receiving adequate healthcare in prison.
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October 17, 2024
NJ Atty Disbarred On Charges Of Stealing Over $600K
A New Jersey attorney accused of stealing over $600,000 from several clients through fraudulent real estate transactions over the last 10 years has been disbarred in New Jersey state and federal court.
Expert Analysis
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The OIG Report: DOJ's Own Whistleblower Program Has Holes
A recent Office of the Inspector General memo found that the U.S. Department of Justice’s whistleblower program failed to protect federal employees whose security clearances were allegedly suspended in retaliation — a serious cause for concern that could have a potential chilling effect on would-be whistleblowers, says Diana Shaw at Wiley.
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Attorneys Can Benefit From Reverse-Engineering Their Cases
Trial advocacy programs often teach lawyers to loosely track the progression of a lawsuit during preparation — case analysis, then direct examination, then cross-examination, openings and closings — but reverse-engineering cases by working backward from opening and closing statements can streamline the process and also improve case strategy, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents
Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Enron Law Is Still Threat To Execs After Justices' Jan. 6 Ruling
While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Fischer v. U.S. decision is a setback for prosecutors’ obstruction charges against Jan. 6 defendants, it also represents a strong endorsement of the post-Enron Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s original purpose, serving as a corporate compliance reminder for executives, say Michael Peregrine and Ashley Hoff at McDermott.
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Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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What Cos. Should Note In DOJ's New Whistleblower Pilot
After the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a new whistleblower pilot program last week — continuing its efforts to incentivize individual reporting of misconduct — companies should review the eligibility criteria, update their compliance programs and consider the risks and benefits of making their own self-disclosures, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Series
After Chevron: New Lines Of Attack For FCA Defense Bar
Loper Bright has given defense counsel new avenues to overcome the False Claims Act elements of falsity and scienter, as any FCA claim based upon ambiguous statutory terms can no longer stand solely on agency regulations to establish the statute's meaning, which is itself necessary to satisfy the FCA's basic requirements, says Elisha Kobre at Bradley Arant.
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Autonomy Execs' Acquittal Highlights Good Faith Instruction
The recent acquittal of two former Autonomy executives demonstrates that a good faith jury instruction can be the cornerstone of an effective defense strategy in white collar criminal cases, in part because the concept of good faith is a human experience every juror can relate to, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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3 Ways To Lower Insider Trading Risk After First 10b5-1 Case
In light of the U.S. Department of Justice's insider trading prosecution against the former CEO of Ontrack based on alleged abuse of a Rule 10b5-1 safe harbor plan — designed to allow executives to sell their companies' securities without liability — companies and individuals should take steps to avoid enacting similar plans in bad faith, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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New Russia Sanctions Law: Bank Compliance Insights
Financial institutions must familiarize themselves with the new reporting obligations imposed by the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, a recent law that authorizes seizures of Russian sovereign assets under U.S. jurisdiction, say attorneys at Seward & Kissel.
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3 Healthcare FCA Deals Provide Self-Disclosure Takeaways
Several civil False Claims Act settlements of alleged healthcare fraud violations over the past year demonstrate that healthcare providers may benefit substantially from voluntarily disclosing potential misconduct to both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, say Brian Albritton and Raquel Ramirez Jefferson at Phelps Dunbar.
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Menendez Corruption Ruling Highlights Attorney Proffer Risks
The recent admission of slides used in a preindictment presentation as evidence during U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial highlights the potential pitfalls of using visual aids in attorney proffers, and the increasing importance of making disclaimers regarding information presented at the outset of proffers, say Carrie Cohen and Savanna Leak at MoFo.
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Opinion
Expert Witness Standards Must Consider Peer Review Crisis
For nearly two decades, the so-called replication crisis has upended how the scientific community views the reliability of peer-reviewed studies, and it’s time for courts to reevaluate whether peer review is a trustworthy proxy for expert witness reliability, say Jeffrey Gross and Robert LaCroix at Reid Collins.