White Collar

  • July 11, 2024

    Whispers, Curses As Menendez Trial Inches Toward Jury

    Federal corruption prosecutors wound down their bribery case against Sen. Robert Menendez Thursday with a mixture of dramatic into-the-mic whispering and reliance on the adjective "damn" as they argued that nothing in the tale would make sense without the alchemizing element of crime.

  • July 11, 2024

    2nd Circ. Backs Disbarred Atty's Prison Term For Fraud Plea

    A disbarred California attorney can't reverse a Manhattan federal court's 5½-year prison sentence and $5.5 million restitution order that followed his guilty plea to wire fraud for a real estate and venture fraud scheme, the Second Circuit ruled Thursday.

  • July 11, 2024

    Colo. Panel Rejects 3rd Party Shields To Anti-Influencing Law

    A Colorado law criminalizing attempts to influence public servants doesn't require an offender to personally influence the official "by means of deceit," a state appellate panel ruled Thursday, holding for the first time that a person can be liable for engaging in a plan of deception with a third party.

  • July 11, 2024

    Biden Taps Warren Protege, Ex-CFPB Atty For CFTC Seat

    President Joe Biden on Thursday nominated a senior Office of Management and Budget official and former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau attorney to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to replace one of two current CFTC members who themselves have been nominated for other offices.

  • July 11, 2024

    Ozy Media CEO Urges Jury To Reject 'Shady' Fraud Case

    Counsel for Carlos Watson on Thursday told a Brooklyn federal jury not to trust prosecutors' "shady" claims that the Ozy Media founder and CEO defrauded lenders and investors by falsely inflating the news and entertainment startup's bottom line.

  • July 11, 2024

    Texas AG Claims He's About To Be Impeached Again

    In a social media post about an upcoming Texas House committee meeting, Attorney General Ken Paxton said "weak-kneed" establishment Republicans and Democrats are conspiring on a second impeachment effort to try to remove him from office — a claim the committee chair called "farfetched fantasy."

  • July 11, 2024

    All Grand Jury Witnesses Get Civil Immunity, Colo. Panel Says

    A Colorado state appeals court held for the first time Thursday that all types of grand jury witnesses have absolute immunity for their testimony, though they don't have sweeping protection for statements made before the proceedings start. 

  • July 11, 2024

    Pa. Man Admits To Dick's Sporting Goods Insider Trading

    A Pennsylvania man who netted nearly $825,000 in profits from Dick's Sporting Goods securities has pled guilty to insider trading using tips he obtained from a company employee, according to a Thursday announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • July 11, 2024

    Baldwin Wasn't Only 'Rust' Actor With Live Rounds, Jury Told

    Alec Baldwin's counsel established Thursday during a contentious second day of testimony in the "Rust" trial in New Mexico that he wasn't the only actor unknowingly carrying live ammunition on the film's set before the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer.

  • July 11, 2024

    'Bridgegate' Defense Offers Road Map For NJ RICO Case

    Counsel for the powerful New Jersey mogul and Democratic operatives facing explosive racketeering charges are likely to justify their actions as just business, experts told Law360, describing defense tactics similar to the ones that absolved defendants in "Bridgegate," New Jersey's most notorious politics-fueled crime in recent history.

  • July 11, 2024

    Atty's Missteps Conflicted Her At Trial, Mass. Justices Say

    Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday ruled that a man convicted of murder should get a new trial because his lawyer would have had to deride her own performance during her client's police interview in order to provide the best possible defense.

  • July 11, 2024

    YSL Prosecutors Oppose Judge's Recusal Amid Mistrial Bid

    Prosecutors on Wednesday argued there is no reason Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville should stop overseeing the ongoing racketeering trial against Atlanta rapper Young Thug and his associates, approximately an hour after the rapper moved for a mistrial.

  • July 11, 2024

    Judge Warns Fake-Atty Suspect Not To Blow Off Court Dates

    A convicted fraudster from Long Island pled not guilty Thursday in New York federal court to charges that he earned hefty fees while posing as a lawyer in a scam targeting inmates — and also was warned not to "sick out" of court dates.

  • July 11, 2024

    Ex-Union Leader Gets 6 Years For Bribery, Embezzlement

    John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, the former business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 in Philadelphia, was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison after being convicted of bribing a city councilman and stealing over $500,000 from the union.

  • July 11, 2024

    Engineering Co. Seeks Coverage Of Deal In $80M Suit

    An engineering and design firm said its insurer must reimburse it for a settlement reached in an $80 million unfair business practice lawsuit, telling a Nebraska federal court the insurer wrongfully denied coverage, forcing the firm to defend itself.

  • July 11, 2024

    House Fails To Pass Inherent Contempt Resolution For AG

    The House on Thursday failed to pass a Republican-led inherent contempt resolution for Attorney General Merrick Garland in hopes of obtaining audiotapes of President Joe Biden's interviews with special counsel Robert Hur in the classified documents investigation, but the measure's sponsor promised to try again.

  • July 10, 2024

    BitMEX Cops To Flouting Anti-Money Laundering Rules

    Offshore crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX pled guilty in New York federal court on Wednesday to a charge alleging it violated the Bank Secrecy Act by knowingly failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering and customer identification programs, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

  • July 10, 2024

    Magnets Co. Must Face Export Control Violation Claims

    A magnetics manufacturer couldn't ditch criminal charges that it shipped sensitive defense-related schematics to Chinese companies without a federal license, after a Kentucky judge ruled that it bears the burden of showing the data qualified for exceptions under export regulations.

  • July 10, 2024

    Nassar Sex Abuse Law Not Retroactive, Mich. Justices Say

    The Michigan Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that a legislative change to extend civil suit deadlines for certain victims of sexual assault as minors does not apply retroactively, finding that claims from a man who said he was assaulted by a priest in the 1990s were untimely.

  • July 10, 2024

    Chiquita Says Ecuador Banana Co. Prez Must Be Jailed

    Chiquita Brands International asked a Florida federal court Wednesday to issue an arrest warrant for the president of an Ecuadorian banana exporter that has ignored court orders requiring the exporter to hand over financial information needed to execute a $6.9 million international arbitral award to Chiquita.

  • July 10, 2024

    Ex-VP Of Fla. Aerospace Co. Sentenced To Prison For Fraud

    The former vice president of a Miami-based aerospace company was sentenced to just over a year in federal prison after he pled guilty to fraud-related charges in connection to a scheme that involved embezzling millions of dollars and splitting the proceeds with a co-conspirator.

  • July 10, 2024

    SEC Nabs $6.7M Over Fraud Scheme But Must Tweak Fines

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has secured a $6.7 million order against a retired attorney and a former broker accused of fraud tied to a purported energy company, but a Brooklyn federal judge has determined that the agency must recalculate the additional fines and other relief it wants imposed upon the two men.

  • July 10, 2024

    Proof Of Ozy Media CEO's Fraud Is Overwhelming, Jury Told

    A New York federal prosecutor on Wednesday told the jury weighing the fate of Carlos Watson that the evidence presented at trial clearly shows that the former Ozy Media CEO was at the helm of a scheme to deceive investors into backing the struggling news and entertainment startup, by falsely inflating its financials and lying about the company's prospects in order to keep it afloat.

  • July 10, 2024

    Feds Say Guo Ran 'Fraud Empire' As Racketeering Trial Wraps

    Manhattan federal prosecutors urged a jury on Wednesday to convict Chinese dissident Miles Guo for operating his political movement as a vast racketeering conspiracy that "brainwashed" supporters into spending more than $1 billion on scam investments.

  • July 10, 2024

    4th Circ. Says Parole Entry Did Not Interrupt Residency Status

    The Fourth Circuit ruled that a Ghanaian national retained his status as a lawful permanent resident and is therefore eligible for U.S. citizenship, even though border officials refused to admit him into the country following a misdemeanor conviction for embezzlement.

Expert Analysis

  • Supreme Court's ALJ Ruling Carries Implications Beyond SEC

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    In its recent Jarkesy opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the types of cases that can be tried before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house administrative law judges, setting the stage for challenges to the constitutionality of ALJs across other agencies, say Robert Robertson and Kimberley Church at Dechert.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Series

    After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC

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    The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal

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    In its Snyder v. U.S. decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a bribery law does not criminalize gratuities, continuing a trend of narrowing federal anti-corruption laws and scrutinizing public corruption prosecutions that go beyond obvious quid pro quo schemes, say Carrie Cohen and Christine Wong at MoFo.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Key Takeaways From High Court's Substitute Expert Decision

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Smith v. Arizona decision, holding that the confrontation clause generally bars prosecutors’ use of a substitute expert witness at trial, will have the most impact in narcotics and violent crime cases, but creative defense lawyers may find it useful in white collar cases, too, say Joshua Naftalis and Melissa Kelley at Pallas Partners.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Proposed Customer ID Rule Could Cost Investment Advisers

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    A rule recently proposed by FinCEN and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make financial advisers collect more customer information parallels an anti-money laundering and counterterrorism rule proposed this spring, but firms may face new compliance costs when implementing these screening programs, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Perspectives

    High Court Ruling Leaves Chance For Civil Forfeiture Reform

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    Though advocates for civil forfeiture reform did not prevail in Culley v. Marshall last month, concerns voiced by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices potentially leave the door open to consider stricter limits in future cases, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • How Cannabis Rescheduling May Affect Current Operators

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    The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's proposal to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III provides relief in the form of federal policy from the stigma and burdens of Schedule I, but commercial cannabis operations will remain unchanged until the federal-state cannabis policy gap is remedied by Congress, say Meital Manzuri and Alexis Lazzeri at Manzuri Law.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • In Biz Account Breaches, Look Beyond The Payment Platform

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    A business's legal path to recovering funds after bad actors access a payment platform account and engage in unauthorized transactions can lead into murky legal territory where liability is unclear, and pursuing the payment platform itself will be an uphill, if not insurmountable, struggle, say Edward Marshall and Morgan Harrison at Arnall Golden.

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