White Collar

  • October 21, 2024

    BIA Officer's Psychological Eval Off-Limits In Liability Row

    A Northern Cheyenne woman who has accused a former Bureau of Indian Affairs officer of sexually assaulting her can reopen his deposition but won't be allowed access to his psychological evaluation in the ongoing dispute over the federal agency's liability in the incident, a federal judge said.

  • October 21, 2024

    Central Park 5 Say Trump Defamed Them During Debate

    The Central Park Five — New Yorkers who were wrongfully convicted as young teens of assaulting and raping a woman in Central Park — have hit former President Donald Trump with a defamation suit, saying he falsely claimed at a recent debate that they pled guilty, decades after calling for the boys to be executed.

  • October 21, 2024

    Ex-CFO Almost Pleads Guilty Before Snafu Snags Hearing

    The former chief financial officer of a Detroit nonprofit admitted in Michigan federal court on Monday that he is guilty of siphoning more than $40 million from the organization, but the plea hearing was derailed and adjourned after his attorney flagged an issue with the plea agreement to the court.

  • October 21, 2024

    Belgium Joins French Courts In Telegram CEO Criminal Probe

    Belgian investigators have joined French law enforcement in the criminal investigation of Pavel Durov, the CEO of encrypted messaging-platform Telegram, who is charged in France with aiding illegal child pornography, fraud and other crimes, the Paris prosecutor's office announced.

  • October 21, 2024

    French Co. Sues Woman Accused Of Stealing €100M

    A French fashion company sued a former financial consultant Friday in Florida seeking to recover the €100 million it says the consultant — a self-proclaimed "visionary entrepreneur redefining luxury living" — embezzled before absconding to Miami and laundering the proceeds through real estate.

  • October 21, 2024

    Ontrak Jury Lacked Key Compliance Instruction, Judge Told

    Counsel for convicted Ontrak founder Terren Peizer urged a California federal judge Monday to grant a new trial in the healthcare executive's novel insider trading case, saying jurors weren't properly instructed that they should acquit if Peizer's $20 million share sale was blessed by a compliance officer.

  • October 21, 2024

    Last-Minute Letter Delays Mich. Atty's Voting Machine Trial

    A Michigan state judge delayed a jury trial Monday for a lawyer accused of unlawfully accessing 2020 voting machines, after the attorney accused prosecutors overnight of hiding a letter outlining county clerks' "prerogative" to release the machines to some parties.

  • October 21, 2024

    Feds Say Doctor Used Pandemic Funds For Cars, Real Estate

    A Washington state dermatologist used $1.5 million from a loan intended for small business COVID-19 relief on two luxury Porsches, a second home and a storage unit, prosecutors said Monday.

  • October 21, 2024

    PAC Exec To Admit Pilfering From $28M Charitable Donor Haul

    A political action committee founder from Wisconsin accused of pilfering most of $28 million he raised through four PACs that were supposed to support veterans and firefighters is set to plead guilty to fraud charges, according to a Monday filing.

  • October 21, 2024

    Ga. Atty Admits To Role In $1.3B Tax Shelter Scheme

    A Georgia attorney has pled guilty in federal court related to helping orchestrate a $1.3 billion tax scheme involving fraudulent conservation easements, making him the 12th person convicted over the plot, including another attorney who was handed a 23-year prison sentence.

  • October 21, 2024

    MVP: Steptoe's Brian Heberlig

    Steptoe LLP's Brian Heberlig got a British tech billionaire and former CEO acquitted of federal securities fraud charges involving billions of dollars, and pushed through profound personal tragedy to serve his clients' needs, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 White Collar MVPs.

  • October 21, 2024

    20-Year FBI Vet Joins Motion Picture Association In California

    A former supervisory special agent with the FBI has joined the Motion Picture Association in Los Angeles to work as vice president of the group's content protection enforcement for the Americas region, and for its Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, according to a Monday announcement.

  • October 21, 2024

    Justices Pass On Cohen Suit Blaming Trump For Prison Stint

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a case brought against Donald Trump by his former personal attorney Michael Cohen, who claimed that he was vindictively put in prison for writing a memoir that painted the former president in a negative light.

  • October 21, 2024

    High Court Takes Case On Sentencing For Release Infractions

    The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to address a circuit split over what factors judges can consider when sentencing a person for violating conditions of supervised release, an issue estimated to affect thousands of defendants each year.

  • October 21, 2024

    Ex-Morgan Lewis Atty Seeks Moderation In LA County DA Bid

    Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and onetime partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, is running on a "hard middle" platform as he looks to unseat progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, the candidate told Law360 in an interview delving into his experience on both sides of the bar.

  • October 18, 2024

    Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attys From 74 Firms

    The attorneys chosen as Law360's 2024 MVPs have distinguished themselves from their peers by securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters and record-breaking deals.

  • October 18, 2024

    Downstream Lumentum Tippee Settles SEC Claims For $443K

    A New Jersey man will pay nearly $443,000 to end the latest insider trading allegations made by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission involving the 2021 acquisition of photonics company NeoPhotonics by optical product maker Lumentum Holdings Inc.

  • October 18, 2024

    How Dickinson Wright Attys Won A Victory Before The SEC

    It took more than four years and possibly an alleged slip-up by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement staff for Dickinson Wright PLLC attorneys to secure what they said is a first-of-its-kind ruling by the agency when it reversed a trading suspension against a firm client over the objections of the SEC's own staff.

  • October 18, 2024

    How Texas Legislators Blocked 1st 'Shaken Baby' Execution

    A bipartisan group of Lone Star State legislators stopped what would have been the nation's first execution for a conviction based on a "shaken baby syndrome" diagnosis by raising a novel separation-of-powers question about whether legislative subpoenas or death warrants carry more authority.

  • October 18, 2024

    Jan. 6 Witness Said Trump Speech May Have Been 'Political'

    Donald Trump's speech at a rally before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol may have been "political" rather than in his official capacity as president, witness testimony unsealed Friday in his D.C. election interference case said.

  • October 18, 2024

    Consultant Ducks Prison For Helping OneCoin Launder $35M

    A New York federal judge declined on Friday to sentence a co-founder of business consultancy and investment firm InterAmerican Group to any time in prison for his role in a scheme to launder about $35 million in proceeds from the multibillion-dollar OneCoin cryptocurrency scam.

  • October 18, 2024

    SEC Updates Binance Complaint As Judge Limits Discovery

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has updated its case against Binance with new allegations attempting to draw similarities between the crypto exchange and traditional securities platforms, but a Washington, D.C., federal judge made clear that discovery on those points and others won't move forward for the time being.

  • October 18, 2024

    NY County Says Tribe Wants Special Treatment In 911 Row

    New York's Cayuga County has asked a federal court to dismiss the Cayuga Nation's lawsuit accusing it and another county of refusing to forward 911 calls happening on tribal land to the tribe's police department without payment, saying it doesn't owe the tribe special treatment.

  • October 18, 2024

    US Fights PetroSaudi Bid To Limit $380M Seizure

    The U.S. on Friday slammed a PetroSaudi company's request for a California federal court to clarify that officials can only seize 5% of a $380 million award, calling the request an improper attempt at revisiting a 3-year-old court ruling.

  • October 18, 2024

    'Chaos' At New Mich. Jail Is Forcing Longer Stays, Suit Says

    A former detainee at Wayne County, Michigan's month-old jail alleged in a lawsuit that the center's "operational and administrative chaos," including staff shortages and computer system stoppages, has led to people getting lost in the system and being held for days after they were ordered released.

Expert Analysis

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Shows Lies Must Go To Nature Of Bargain

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Milheiser decision, vacating six mail fraud convictions, clarifies that the key question in federal fraud cases is not whether lies were told, but what they were told about — thus requiring defense counsel to rethink their strategies, say Charles Kreindler and Krista Landis at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports

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    The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.

  • Opinion

    New Guidance On Guilty Plea Withdrawals Is Long Past Due

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    In light of the Sentencing Reform Act's 40th anniversary, adding a new section to the accompanying guidelines on the withdrawal of guilty pleas could remedy the lack of direction in this area and improve the regulation's effectiveness in promoting sentencing uniformity, say Mark H. Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Alan Ellis at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Boeing Saga Underscores Need For Ethical Corporate Culture

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    In the wake of recent allegations about Boeing’s safety culture, and amid the U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower incentives, business leaders should reinvigorate their emphasis on compliance by making clear that long-term profitability requires ethical business practices, says Maxwell Carr-Howard at Dentons.

  • Key Takeaways From 2024 Accountants' Liability Conference

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    At the recent annual Accountants' Liability Conference, regulators provided important commentary on new Public Company Accounting Oversight Board rulemaking and standard-setting initiatives, and emphasized regulatory priorities ranging from the tone at the top to alternative practice structures, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond

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    Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • 10 Tips To Build Trust With Your Witness During Trial Prep

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    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.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    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.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    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.

  • 8 Steps Companies Should Take After An Internal Investigation

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    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.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    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.

  • NY Public Campaign Funding May Attract Scrutiny From Feds

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    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.

  • Perspectives

    Justices' Repeat Offender Ruling Eases Prosecutorial Hurdle

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    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.

  • 12 Keys To Successful Post-Trial Juror Interviews

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    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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