White Collar

  • July 31, 2024

    Ex-AUSA Joins Motley Rice Fraud Team From DiCello Levitt

    Plaintiffs' firm Motley Rice LLC said Wednesday that it hired a former New York assistant U.S. attorney to support its efforts to protect whistleblowers who expose misconduct, fraud and deceptive trade practices.

  • July 30, 2024

    11th Circ. Upholds Geofence Warrant In Carjacking Case

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday rejected a convicted carjacker's attempt to quash a geofence warrant that allowed law enforcement to obtain information from cellphones within a certain geographic area, finding that the man lacked standing to challenge a search that revealed no information from his own electronic device. 

  • July 30, 2024

    FTX Users Say Sullivan & Cromwell Must Face Abetting Claims

    FTX customers told a Florida federal judge on Tuesday that Sullivan & Cromwell LLP can't dismiss customer claims it aided and abetted the defunct cryptocurrency exchange's fraud as "speculative allegations" when the customers' complaint "paints a much more detailed and nefarious picture."

  • July 30, 2024

    Prosecutors Say Bribery Ruling Won't Disrupt Madigan Trial

    Prosecutors accusing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan of corruption said Monday night his case is unaffected by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling limiting the reach of a bribery statute that once criminalized gratuities, saying the government's allegations do not rely on gratuities, so "this dog will not hunt."

  • July 30, 2024

    Young Thug's 3rd Judge Denies Mistrial For Bench Swaps

    A Georgia judge who recently became the third presider in rapper Young Thug's sprawling racketeering trial ruled Tuesday there will be no mistrial on grounds of judge substitution, but said rulings on other mistrial motions are still to come.

  • July 30, 2024

    FTX Exec Gets Prison Report Date Delayed After Dog Attack

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday allowed ex-FTX executive Ryan Salame to delay his surrender date to begin his prison term from August to October, as he was forced to undergo medical treatment and surgery after being mauled by a German shepherd while visiting a friend's house last month.

  • July 30, 2024

    Ex-Allied World Insurance Exec. Admits To $1.5M Fraud

    A former Allied World Insurance Co. executive pleaded guilty Tuesday to running a scheme that tricked the company into paying nearly $1.5 million for phony construction work and collecting undisclosed kickbacks from its vendors.

  • July 30, 2024

    Ex-HFZ Capital Chief Can't Reduce Bail In $86M Fraud Case

    A Manhattan judge on Tuesday denied, for now, a request by the former head of troubled real estate firm HFZ Capital Group to lower a hefty bail requirement so he can get out of Rikers Island while fighting $86 million theft and tax fraud charges.

  • July 30, 2024

    NJ Men Accused Of Running $6.7M Fuel Investment Scam

    Two Middlesex County men ran a scheme using fake identities and "sham companies" to defraud investors out of about $6.7 million that they thought was going into fuel products businesses, according to an indictment announced Monday by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin.

  • July 30, 2024

    Calif. Broker-Dealer To Pay FINRA $1.5M For Excessive Trades

    Broker-dealer Western International Securities Inc. has agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to settle allegations from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that the firm failed to properly monitor potentially excessive trading in about 100 accounts, and it was hit with a separate cease-and-desist order from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday over Regulation Best Interest violations.

  • July 30, 2024

    Feds, SEC Say Creator Of Crypto Co. BitClout Misled Investors

    Federal prosecutors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced parallel actions Tuesday against the founder of crypto project BitClout for allegedly duping investors and spending millions of proceeds for his own benefit.

  • July 30, 2024

    Psychedelics And The Law: A Midyear Review

    A groundbreaking effort to secure federal approval for a psychedelic medication hit an unexpected snag. Religious groups asserting the right to access controlled substances had mixed success in federal court. Physicians seeking to administer psilocybin to terminally ill patients will finally have their day in court. Here are the major developments in psychedelics law from the first half of 2024.

  • July 30, 2024

    Former Prosecutor 'Coming Back Home' To NJ Boutique

    After prosecuting federal healthcare crimes in New Jersey, a former assistant U.S. attorney has returned to boutique firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP to guide clients as part of the firm's white collar criminal and regulatory defense and investigations practice with a focus on healthcare litigation and licensing, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • July 30, 2024

    Pot Cos. Can't Push RICO Claims Against Calif. City

    A California federal judge has thrown out racketeering claims by six cannabis companies that accuse the city of Cudahy of illegally assessing fees, saying that because Congress listed cultivation and sale of cannabis under the definition of racketeering, they can't recover damages.

  • July 30, 2024

    Atty Smuggled Marijuana-Soaked Papers To Inmate, Feds Say

    A Massachusetts solo practitioner has been charged with using her status as an attorney to try to smuggle papers soaked in synthetic cannabis to an inmate at a Rhode Island detention center, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

  • July 30, 2024

    Houston Energy CEO Ran $21M Stock Scheme, SEC Says

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued the head of a Houston energy company in Texas federal court, alleging he raised more than $21 million from over 300 investors nationwide through a fraudulent and unregistered offering of preferred stock in his fuel-blending company.

  • July 30, 2024

    What Mass. Attys Will Be Watching In The 2nd Half Of 2024

    Two potentially sweeping Massachusetts high court rulings and a long-awaited employment bill lingering in the State House are among the issues Bay State attorneys say they are monitoring closely heading into the latter half of 2024.

  • July 30, 2024

    Financial Co. To Pay $20M To Resolve DOL Embezzlement Suit

    A financial planner agreed to pay $20 million to 17 retirement plans it manages to resolve a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Labor accusing it of improperly shuffling money between accounts and embezzling at least $5 million in plan assets, a filing in Pennsylvania federal court said.

  • July 29, 2024

    NYC Prof And Purported Dissident A Chinese Spy, Jury Hears

    A New York academic and author secretly acted as an agent of the Chinese government in the United States, a prosecutor told jurors on Monday, betraying pro-democracy activists by feeding information to China's intelligence service.

  • July 29, 2024

    Calif. High Court Says Co-Worker's Slur Can Be Harassment

    The California Supreme Court on Monday revived a race bias suit brought by a longtime employee of the San Francisco District Attorney's Office, finding that her co-worker's one-time use of a racial slur may indeed have been so severe that it created a hostile work environment.

  • July 29, 2024

    Ky. Tower Sale Laundering Case Should Proceed, Judge Told

    A Florida magistrate judge has recommended denying a bid by two Miami businessmen to toss litigation filed by the U.S. government looking to seize about $9.1 million from the sale of a Kentucky office tower over alleged ties to a Ukrainian money laundering scheme.

  • July 29, 2024

    Fraudster Faces Florida Condo Eviction Over Chain-Smoking

    A Florida luxury condominium association has brought a state court lawsuit against an admitted real estate fraudster and seeks to have him removed as a tenant over his chain-smoking, saying he broke the terms of his lease but continues to reside in his condo unit.

  • July 29, 2024

    Amex Inks $3M Deal To Settle Girardi Bankruptcy Suit Claims

    American Express reached a $3 million deal to settle claims brought by the Girardi Keese bankruptcy trustee accusing the credit giant's banking unit and another subsidiary of enabling $50.25 million in fraudulent transfers as part of the now-defunct law firm's scheme to defraud creditors.

  • July 29, 2024

    Ex-Vitol Oil Trader Can't Unwind Conviction After Bribery Trial

    A New York federal judge refused Friday to acquit former Vitol Oil Group trader Javier Aguilar or grant him a new trial following his February conviction on charges that he bribed Ecuadorian and Mexican officials to win $500 million in business deals for the global energy and commodities company.

  • July 29, 2024

    Meadows Seeks High Court's Help In Ga. Case Removal Bid

    Continuing his long-running efforts to drag his Georgia election interference prosecution into federal court, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to intervene and stop state prosecutors from declaring "open season on federal officials."

Expert Analysis

  • NYSE Delisting May Be The Cost Of FCPA Compliance

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    ABB’s recent decision to delist its U.S. depository receipts from the New York Stock Exchange, coupled with having settled three Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement actions, begs the question of whether the cost of FCPA compliance should factor into a company's decision to remain listed in the U.S., says John Joy at FTI Law.

  • CFTC Action Highlights Necessity Of Whistleblower Carveouts

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's novel settlement with a trading firm over allegations of manipulating the market and failing to create contract carveouts for employees to freely communicate with investigators serves as a beacon for further enforcement activity from the CFTC and other regulators, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Avoiding Legal Ethics Landmines In Preindictment Meetings

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    U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's recent bribery conviction included obstruction charges based on his former lawyer's preindictment presentation to prosecutors, highlighting valuable lessons on the legal ethics rules implicated in these kinds of defense presentations, say Steve Miller and Hilary Gerzhoy at HWG.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • 3 Areas Of Enforcement Risk Facing The EV Industry

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    Companies in the EV manufacturing ecosystem are experiencing a boom in business, but with this boom comes increased regulatory and enforcement risks, from the corruption issues that have historically pervaded the extractive sector to newer risks posed by artificial intelligence, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Boeing Plea Deal Is A Mixed Bag, Providing Lessons For Cos.

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    The plea deal for conspiracy to defraud regulators that Boeing has tentatively agreed to will, on the one hand, probably help the company avoid further reputational damage, but also demonstrates to companies that deferred prosecution agreements have real teeth, and that noncompliance with DPA terms can be costly, says Edmund Vickers at Red Lion Chambers.

  • Justices' Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review

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    Each of the 11 criminal decisions issued in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently concluded term is independently important, but taken together, they reveal trends in the court’s broader approach to criminal law, presenting both pitfalls and opportunities for defendants and their counsel, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • 25 Years Of OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention

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    Marking its 25th anniversary this year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's anti-bribery convention has advanced legislative reforms and reshaped corporate conduct in dozens of countries amid the persistent challenges of uneven enforcement and political pressure, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Challenging Prosecutors' Use Of Defendants' Jail Phone Calls

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    Although it’s an uphill battle under current case law, counsel for pretrial detainees may be able to challenge prosecutors’ use of jail-recorded phone calls between the defendant and their attorney by taking certain advance measures, say Jim McLoughlin and Fielding Huseth at Moore & Van Allen.

  • 3 Policyholder Tips After Calif. Ruling Denying D&O Coverage

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    A California decision from June, Practice Fusion v. Freedom Specialty Insurance, denying a company's claim seeking reimbursement under a directors and officers insurance policy for its settlement with the Justice Department, highlights the importance of coordinating coverage for all operational risks and the danger of broad exclusionary policy language, says Geoffrey Fehling at Hunton.

  • Playing The Odds: Probing Sports Betting Allegations

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    With gambling-related controversies becoming a mainstay of the athletics landscape, it's essential for in-house and outside counsel to stay abreast of best practices for conducting sports betting investigations, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • What FTX Case Taught Us About Digital Asset Recoverability

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    FTX's Chapter 11 plan has drawn lots of attention, but the focus should be on the anticipated outcome for investors, which counters several myths about digital currencies, innovation and recoverability, says Kyla Curley at StoneTurn.

  • 'Outsourcing' Ruling, 5 Years On: A Warning, Not A Watershed

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    A New York federal court’s 2019 ruling in U.S. v. Connolly, holding that the government improperly outsourced an investigation to Deutsche Bank, has not undercut corporate cooperation incentives as feared — but companies should not completely ignore the lessons of the case, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Anna Nabutovsky at Selendy Gay.

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