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White Collar
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June 25, 2024
Assange Plea Deal Vindicates 'Fight To The End' Strategy
Julian Assange's plea deal with U.S. authorities has validated his legal team's decision to throw the kitchen sink opposing extradition, a strategy that may have cooled prosecutors' appetite for seeing the Wikileaks founder spend more time behind bars, lawyers say.
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June 25, 2024
Fed. Circ. Revives Class Action Against Feds' Visa Fraud Sting
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday revived an Indian citizen's proposed class action to recover tuition payments to a fake university the U.S. Department of Homeland Security set up to catch visa fraudsters, saying the lower court wrongly determined it lacked jurisdiction.
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June 24, 2024
Julian Assange To Plead Guilty To US Charge, Feds Say
Julian Assange will plead guilty to a single count of conspiring to disclose national security information, the U.S. Department of Justice told a federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands on Monday, likely ending the WikiLeaks founder's long-running battle to avoid a U.S. prison sentence.
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June 24, 2024
Menendez Was 'Weird' While Planning Egypt Trip, Jury Hears
A New York federal jury weighing charges that U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez took bribes for official acts related to Egypt heard Monday from a congressional staffer that the senator acted "weird" while planning an official trip there and was "making up lies."
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June 24, 2024
Willis' Plan To Prejudice Defendants Requires DQ, Trump Says
Former President Donald Trump told the Georgia Court of Appeals on Monday that a trial court judge inaccurately applied the legal standard for forensic misconduct when he ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could continue her prosecution of him and his co-defendants in the Georgia presidential election interference case.
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June 24, 2024
Ex-Philly Union Head Denied Acquittal On Embezzlement
A Pennsylvania federal judge has declined to throw out the conviction of John Dougherty, the former business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, on charges that he stole money from the union to pay for repairs to his home and others' properties.
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June 24, 2024
NYC Pharmacy Owners Get Jail Time For $18M Med Fraud
Two brothers who own several New York pharmacies will each have to pay over $18 million in restitution in addition to serving jail time for submitting fraudulent claims to Medicare for pricey cancer medication and funneling illicit proceeds through several shell companies, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.
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June 24, 2024
Baldwin Awaits Ruling On Bid To Toss 'Rust' Shooting Case
A New Mexico state judge is set to rule this week on Alec Baldwin's argument that his indictment on involuntary manslaughter charges over the "Rust" film shooting should be thrown out because forensic tests damaged the actor's gun, a key piece of evidence in the case.
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June 24, 2024
Justices End Irish Landowner's Fight Against $23M Clawback
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by Irish businessman Sean Dunne and his ex-wife Gayle Killilea to a Chapter 7 trustee's roughly $23 million avoidance action win, leaving intact a Connecticut jury verdict and a Second Circuit rejection of the onetime couple's claims.
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June 24, 2024
Billionaire Drops Case Against IRS Over Tax Info Leak
Billionaire hedge fund founder Ken Griffin dropped his case Monday seeking to hold the IRS accountable for the leak of his tax return information in a data breach that affected thousands of wealthy and powerful taxpayers, including former President Donald Trump.
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June 24, 2024
Doctor Left Text Trail Describing NBA Fraud Scheme, Jury Told
Prosecutors told a Manhattan federal jury that a Seattle medical professional sent a series of text messages detailing a plan to submit fraudulent claims to an NBA healthcare plan to obtain payouts, kicking off a second trial over the alleged scheme.
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June 24, 2024
Colo. Justices Send Back 'Rare' Atty Conflict Criminal Case
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday found that an appeals court panel used an outdated analysis when reversing the sexual assault conviction of a man because his defense attorney was being prosecuted at the same time by the same district attorney's office, remanding the case for another look.
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June 24, 2024
Ex-Chicago Alderman Gets Two Years For Boosting Law Firm
An Illinois federal judge on Monday sentenced former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke to two years in prison and fined him $2 million for using his official position to steer tax business to his personal law firm, closing what prosecutors called "another sordid chapter" in the city's history of public corruption.
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June 24, 2024
Mich. Justices Take Up Young Adults' Life Sentence Challenge
Michigan's top court will weigh whether the state's mandatory life sentence for murder is unconstitutional when applied to young adults, after 19- and 20-year-olds argued that a 2022 precedent banning the punishment for 18-year-olds should extend to them.
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June 24, 2024
Fintech Exec Gets 45 Months For Crypto Market Manipulation
A Florida federal judge on Monday sentenced the CEO of fintech company Hydrogen Technology Corp. to more than three years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to manipulate the market for Hydrogen's digital assets.
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June 24, 2024
Julie Chrisley To Be Resentenced, But Convictions Stand
The Eleventh Circuit on Friday upheld the tax evasion and fraud convictions of former reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, but ordered a Georgia federal judge to resentence Julie Chrisley after finding that the judge failed to fully explore her discrete role in the $36 million scheme.
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June 24, 2024
Mich. High Court Denies Officers' Judge-Shopping Appeals
A divided Michigan Supreme Court has rejected the appeals of three police officers facing charges related to a traffic-stop assault who complained that their cases should not have been handed to a new judge mid-prosecution.
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June 24, 2024
High Court Won't Take Up Michigan Tribal Tag Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a petition by a Native American man seeking to overturn a Michigan Supreme Court order that denied him the chance to appeal his traffic stop convictions stemming from a dispute over tribal-licensed tags.
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June 24, 2024
Trump Mar-A-Lago Case Is Unlawfully Funded, Fla. Judge Told
An attorney defending Donald Trump against the federal government's accusation that he illegally retained classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House in 2021 told a Florida judge Monday the criminal indictment should be dismissed against the former president, saying that the case isn't lawfully funded.
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June 24, 2024
Blumenauer Predicts Cannabis Rescheduling Before Year-End
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a longtime champion of cannabis reform in Congress who is retiring this year, told cannabis attorneys on Monday that he was optimistic marijuana would be moved to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act before the end of the year.
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June 22, 2024
Disciplinary Judge Hesitant To Oust Embattled Colo. DA
A Colorado attorney disciplinary judge said Friday he was uncomfortable removing an elected local prosecutor facing various misconduct charges, telling the parties after closing arguments that voters' choices should carry some weight.
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June 21, 2024
Manhattan DA Seeks To Retain Trump Gag Order, Amid Threats
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office urged a New York state judge Friday to leave in place most restrictions of the gag order preventing Donald Trump from speaking publicly about witnesses, jurors and others tied to his criminal trial, citing a barrage of threats from his supporters in recent months — including "actionable" death threats before and after the verdict.
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June 21, 2024
Crypto Vet With FTX Ties Launches Fintech Policy Think Tank
Former congressional hopeful and cryptocurrency veteran Michelle Bond announced her formation of fintech policy think tank Digital Future, making a return to financial services policy after the recent sentencing of her partner, former FTX executive Ryan Salame, and FTX-linked donations to her 2022 campaign.
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June 21, 2024
Trump Says AG Can't Appoint Prosecutor In Mar-A-Lago Case
Attorney General Merrick Garland did not have the statutory authority to promote an independent special counsel to prosecute former President Donald Trump over his allegedly illegal retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump's attorneys told a Florida federal judge Friday.
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June 21, 2024
Financial Advice Guru Says Timeshare Suit Must Be Arbitrated
A famous financial advice guru and his company have urged a Washington federal court to pause a proposed timeshare exit fraud class action and send it into arbitration, arguing that several of the named plaintiffs signed related agreements that include arbitration clauses.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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10 Tips To Build Trust With Your Witness During Trial Prep
Preparing a witness for deposition or trial requires more than just legal skills — lawyers must also work to cultivate trust with the witness, using strategies ranging from wearing a hat when conducting mock cross-examination to offering them a ride to court before they testify, say Faye Paul Teller and Sara McDermott at Munger Tolles.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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8 Steps Companies Should Take After An Internal Investigation
Given the U.S. Department of Justice’s increasing focus on corporate compliance and remediation of misconduct, companies must follow through in several key ways after an internal investigation to ensure history does not repeat itself, say Jonathan Aronie and Joseph Jay at Sheppard Mullin.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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NY Public Campaign Funding May Attract Scrutiny From Feds
The upcoming elections across New York this year will be the first under the state’s public campaign finance program — which may broaden federal prosecutors' purview to target state election fraud and corruption, says Jarrod Schaeffer at Abell Eskew.
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Perspectives
Justices' Repeat Offender Ruling Eases Prosecutorial Hurdle
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Brown v. U.S., clarifying which drug law applies to sentencing a repeat offender in a federal firearms case, allows courts to rely on outdated drug schedules to impose increased sentences, thus removing a significant hurdle for prosecutors, says attorney Molly Parmer.
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12 Keys To Successful Post-Trial Juror Interviews
Post-trial interviews offer attorneys an avenue to gain valuable insights into juror decision making and get feedback that can inform future litigation strategies, but certain best practices must be followed to get the most out of this research tool, say Alexa Hiley and Brianna Smith at IMS Legal.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Fintech Compliance Amid Regulatory Focus On Sensitive Data
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent, expansive pursuit of financial services companies using sensitive personal information signals a move into the Federal Trade Commission's territory, and the path forward for fintech and financial service providers involves a balance between innovation and compliance, say attorneys at Wilson Sonsini.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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Lessons In High-Profile Jury Selection Amid NY Trump Trial
Richard Gabriel and Michelle Rey LaRocca at Decision Analysis consider how media exposure can affect a prospective juror in a high-profile case, the misunderstood nature of bias, and recommendations for jury selection in these unique situations as the Trump hush money trial continues in New York.
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Proposed Cannabis Reschedule Sidesteps State Law Effects
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent proposal to move cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act provides certain benefits, but its failure to address how the rescheduling would interact with existing state cannabis laws disappointed industry participants hoping for clarity on this crucial question, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.