Prosecutor Resigns, Judge Shows Slide Deck On AI Errors

By Abigail Harrison

A federal prosecutor told a North Carolina federal court Tuesday that he was separating from the office after admitting in open court to using artificial intelligence to help draft a response brief, which he called "the worst decision I've ever made in my 30-year career."

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DOJ Unveils Superseding Policy For Corporate Criminal Cases

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday released its first-ever, department-wide, corporate enforcement policy for criminal matters, outlining how it will decline to prosecute companies that voluntarily disclose misconduct, cooperate with investigators and remediate wrongdoing.

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Smartmatic Moves To Toss 'Vindictive' FCPA Prosecution

By Lauren Berg

Smartmatic urged a Florida federal judge Tuesday to toss charges against it in the U.S. Department of Justice's case accusing former company executives of bribing a Filipino official to secure contracts, slamming the superseding indictment as part of a "crusade to unconstitutionally target" President Donald Trump's perceived political enemies.

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Wisconsin Judges Decline To Extend Interim US Atty's Term

By Courtney Bublé

A majority of judges in the Eastern District of Wisconsin have declined to extend the tenure of interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel, according to an announcement Tuesday.

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CFTC Urged To Halt War Bets Over Insider Trading Fears

By Elaine Briseño

Two Democratic lawmakers from Colorado and Rhode Island have urged the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to "immediately halt" wagers on events tied to U.S. military operations, arguing those types of offerings on prediction markets threaten national security.

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Feds Want October Retrial For Tornado Cash Founder

By Aislinn Keely

Federal prosecutors have requested an October retrial for the alleged operator of the Tornado Cash crypto mixer in a letter that told the Manhattan federal court the government intends to take another crack at bringing money laundering and sanctions charges that deadlocked a jury in August.

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'Disrespectful' Defendant Chided As Amazon Fraud Trial Starts

By Kelcey Caulder

A woman accused of scheming to defraud Amazon out of $9.4 million through bogus invoices arrived four hours late to the first day of her trial Tuesday after a federal judge sent word warning her that the trial would proceed in her absence if she did not appear.

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Mining Co. Can't Decertify Class In Dam Collapse Suit

By Katryna Perera

A New York federal judge on Tuesday rejected Vale SA's bid to decertify a class of investors in a suit accusing the Brazilian mining giant and its executives of concealing safety problems at its Brumadinho dam in the lead-up to a deadly collapse there, finding unconvincing Vale's new expert report showing that its securities were traded in inefficient markets.

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Texas Crypto Exec Seeks To Vacate $141M Wyoming Judgment

By José Luis Martínez

A cryptocurrency executive is asking the Texas Business Court to vacate a $141 million Wyoming state court default judgment tied to an investment deal that is part of separate litigation from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a notice of removal.

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Fla. Real Estate Execs Convicted In Sexual Assault Case

By Isaac Monterose

Two Florida real estate executives and their brother have been convicted on sexual assault, rape and sex trafficking charges in a jury trial held in New York federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

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Judiciary Approves Supreme Court Public Defender Office

By Katie Buehler

The federal judiciary approved a new office Tuesday aimed at improving the quality of representation for indigent defendants with cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

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Salesforce Wins Stay Of Backpage Trafficking Cases In Illinois

By Gina Kim

An Illinois federal judge Tuesday temporarily put on hold litigation accusing Salesforce of benefiting from sex trafficking through advertisements uploaded on Backpage.com after finding that related criminal proceedings against Backpage's founder and former executives must first be resolved.

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Judge Blocks Perplexity AI Assistant From Amazon Shopping

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge has granted Amazon's request for a temporary injunction that could block Perplexity AI Inc. from using its artificial intelligence assistant Comet to purchase things on the retail site, an order that Perplexity has already appealed.

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Insurer's Cyber Liability Capped At $250K, Texas Court Finds

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Texas federal court ruled that an insurer has no further liability beyond a $250,000 policy limit it paid to a construction company for its losses stemming from a social engineering cyber theft incident.

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First Brands Seeks Quick $50M Sale Of Walbro Biz In Ch. 11

By Clara Geoghegan

Bankrupt car parts giant First Brands Group has asked a Texas judge to approve the $50 million sale of its small engine component business Walbro, the first in a series of anticipated business unit sales.

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NFLPA Leaders Align To Sink Ex-Lawyer's Retaliation Suit

By Alex Lawson

NFL Players Association officials are firing back against a former attorney's retaliation suit, hoping to dismiss her claims that union leaders intimidated her against testifying in a federal probe into its finances.

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Calif. Atty Gets Over 11 Years For Solar $1B Ponzi Scheme

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has sentenced a corporate attorney to 11 years and five months behind bars after he pled guilty to nearly two dozen charges for his role in DC Solar's $912 million Ponzi scheme, which duped major investors including Berkshire Hathaway, Progressive and SunTrust Equipment Finance & Leasing.

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Ex-Mass. Atty Gets 3 Years For $2M Client Thefts

By Julie Manganis

A now-disbarred Massachusetts attorney was sentenced Tuesday to just over three years in prison for stealing more than $2 million in client funds, admitting to a federal judge that the thefts were not mistakes but "horrible crimes."

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Ill. Tax Preparer Gets 10 Years For $14M PPP Loan Fraud

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge's decision to impose a 10-year prison sentence on a man for his role in a $14 million fraud scheme where he took kickbacks for preparing false applications for pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program loans drew surprised outbursts in the courtroom Tuesday from both the defendant and his attorney.

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Ex-Moses & Singer Partner Admits Tax Crimes, Will Pay $2.8M

By Aaron Keller

A former Moses & Singer LLP partner admitted to practice in New York and North Carolina courts has pled guilty to three counts of failing to file personal income tax returns and will pay $2.8 million in restitution, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced Monday.

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Drug Wholesaler's DPA Shows Imperfect Efforts Still Count

Atlantic Biologicals’ recent deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors for allegedly distributing controlled substances to pill mill pharmacies demonstrates that even subpar cooperation, when combined with genuine remediation and strategic advocacy, can yield outcomes that protect a company's long-term interests, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

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Ex-DOJ Atty Who Said 'This Job Sucks' Running For Congress

By Courtney Bublé

The former federal government lawyer detailed to Minnesota to help with immigration cases who last month told a federal judge "this job sucks" says she is running for Congress in the state.

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$600M IP Award, Quinn Emanuel Contempt Faulted On Appeal

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday vacated a verdict against the maker of Norton antivirus software for infringing Columbia University patents and reversed a contempt ruling against Norton's former law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP that had caused the judgment to grow to just over $600 million.

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Feature

Exxon Cements Texas As Delaware's Emerging Rival

By Spencer Brewer

Last year, Vinson & Elkins partner Katherine Frank fielded about one call a week from companies thinking about redomiciling in Texas. Speaking to Law360 the day after ExxonMobil announced its plan to reincorporate in the Lone Star State due to its business-forward courts and policies, Frank said the callers fell into three categories.

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Firm Probed In $4B LA Sex Abuse Deal Hit With UPL Charges

By Rachel Rippetoe

A co-founder of the Los Angeles personal injury firm facing investigation for its involvement in a record $4 billion sex abuse settlement against Los Angeles County was hit with disciplinary charges by the California State Bar, alleging the firm illegally practiced law outside the state.

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Analysis

Trump Cybercrime Order Creates New Compliance To-Do List

By Phillip Bantz

President Donald Trump's recent executive order calling for a coalition of government agencies to combat cybercrime is far more forceful than efforts under prior administrations, according to white collar lawyers, who tentatively applaud the proposal while warning it could raise new compliance risks.

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3 Attys Escape Ford's 'Retaliatory' Lemon Law RICO Suit

By Linda Chiem

A California federal judge has shut down Ford Motor Co.'s revised racketeering lawsuit accusing three attorneys affiliated with Knight Law Group LLP of orchestrating a massive fraudulent legal billing scheme, saying the attorneys' underlying conduct in pursuing lemon law litigation is shielded by First Amendment protections.

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Judges, Lawmakers Urge 4th Circ. To Affirm Halligan Ruling

By Ryan Boysen

Members of Congress and former federal judges have urged the Fourth Circuit to affirm that Lindsey Halligan was not properly appointed as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, saying the episode exemplifies why there are guardrails against installing political loyalists as federal prosecutors.

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VA, DOJ Cut Deal To Make Attys Mental Health Guardians

By Mark Payne

Under a new initiative, attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice will serve as legal guardians for some homeless veterans, the Trump administration announced on Wednesday, though some veterans advocates expressed concern that the new program could involuntarily coerce veterans experiencing mental health issues into institutional care.

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