Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
White Collar
-
August 08, 2024
Judge Won't Fully Seal Atty's Trial Transcript In Contempt Bid
A group of families that secured a $42 million settlement against a North Carolina county over coercive child custody agreements can't have state trial transcripts sealed that allegedly reveal how much money certain minors got — at least not in their entirety, a federal judge has ruled.
-
August 08, 2024
Mass. Justices Toss Conviction Over 'Vague' Jailhouse Bribe
Massachusetts' top court on Thursday vacated a man's witness intimidation conviction based on "vague and amorphous" promises he made during jailhouse phone calls with his fiancée that prosecutors claimed were bribes.
-
August 08, 2024
McElroy Deutsch Seeks To Ax Former CFO's Ch. 11 Case
McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP urged a New Jersey bankruptcy court Thursday to throw out a Chapter 11 filing from its former chief financial officer, who has been sent to prison for stealing over $1 million from the firm, slamming it as a bad faith "tactical maneuver" to stall ongoing civil litigation.
-
August 08, 2024
Willis Defends Staying On Trump's Ga. Election Case
Georgia prosecutors have pushed back against former President Donald Trump's request for appellate intervention in his election interference case, arguing District Attorney Fani T. Willis doesn't have a conflict of interest and Trump failed to persuade the trial court that she had a conflict due to a relationship with a former outside counsel.
-
August 08, 2024
50 Cent Beats Liquor Consultant's 'Ridiculous' Wiretap Claim
A frustrated New York state judge on Thursday tossed a former Beam Suntory Inc. sales contractor's reworked wiretapping allegations against rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson in a $3 million embezzlement dispute, calling the claims "ridiculous" and an "obvious" delay tactic.
-
August 08, 2024
Exec Admits Price-Fixing $100M Of Rebar For Storm Rebuild
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the guilty plea Wednesday of a former Puerto Rico steel distributor executive who admitted to fixing prices on rebar used for post-hurricane reconstruction, in a conspiracy that impacted more than $100 million in his company's sales.
-
August 08, 2024
Rising Star: Akin's Thomas Moyer
Thomas Moyer of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP represented a multinational bank caught in a legal and political crossfire between then-President Donald Trump and two congressional committees and led his firm's pro bono work in a high-profile case involving the Lafayette Square protesters in Washington, earning him a spot among the white collar law practitioners under 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
-
August 07, 2024
FTX, Alameda Agree To Pay $12.7B To Resolve CFTC's Action
A New York federal judge Wednesday signed off on a consent order requiring FTX Trading Ltd. and its affiliated trading firm to pay back $8.7 billion to those duped by disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and disgorge an additional $4 billion.
-
August 07, 2024
Exec Unlikely To Get New Trial In SEC's 'Shadow Trading' Suit
A California federal judge said at a hearing Wednesday that he wasn't inclined to grant a new trial in a novel SEC "shadow trading" case, saying "there's no question" that a former executive of Medivation, a pharmaceutical company, knew that he was using inside information from his company when he purchased a rival's stock.
-
August 07, 2024
'Something Sketchy Was Going On,' Girardi Client Tells Jury
A man horribly injured in a gas explosion told a Los Angeles federal jury Wednesday that Tom Girardi lied to him for years about the true details of his civil settlement and withheld millions he was owed, but it took him years to figure out "something sketchy was going on."
-
August 07, 2024
4th Circ. Approves Payout Plan In $550M Ponzi Case
Investors defrauded in a $550 million Ponzi scheme can't reverse a receiver's asset distribution plan on the basis of arguments that the plan unfairly divides up recovered funds among claimants, the Fourth Circuit has determined.
-
August 07, 2024
DOD Contractor Wants No Prison For Parts Sales From Turkey
A Florida defense contractor who admitted to using a front company to supply critical military components that were made in Turkey asked Tuesday for a non-prison sentence, arguing that her participation in the scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense was driven by financial desperation and a misplaced trust in those who ran the operation.
-
August 07, 2024
Bank Dropped From Suit Over Alleged $100M Ponzi Scheme
Washington-based First Fed Bank and its brass have been dropped from a lawsuit claiming they aided a $100 million Ponzi scheme to defraud would-be investors in a water-vending machine company.
-
August 07, 2024
Santos, Feds Agree Jurors' Identities Should Be Secret
Expelled congressman George Santos wants jurors' identities protected for his trial next month on theft and identity theft charges, telling a New York federal judge on Tuesday that prosecutors feel the same given the "astounding" media attention on the case.
-
August 07, 2024
6th Circ. Backs 20 Years For Chinese Spy Who Targeted GE
The Sixth Circuit upheld a 20-year prison sentence for a Chinese spy convicted of espionage for trying to steal trade secrets from General Electric's GE Aviation unit, noting in an opinion unsealed Wednesday the punishment was reasonable as he continuously pursued the confidential information using sophisticated tradecraft processes for several years.
-
August 07, 2024
Pipe Co. Exec Says Criminal Antitrust Charges Unconstitutional
A former executive of an aluminum pipe company defending the Fourth Circuit's reversal of his bid-rigging conviction has told the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that all criminal antitrust prosecutions under Section 1 of the Sherman Act are unconstitutional, claiming they violate "fundamental constitutional principles" of nondelegation and objectivity.
-
August 07, 2024
SEC Accuses Urban Commons REIT Founders Of $70M Fraud
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has accused the founders of the Urban Commons real estate investment trust of running a pair of fraud schemes involving investments in U.S.-based hotels that the regulator said collectively cost investors $70 million.
-
August 07, 2024
6th Circ. Voids Man's Death Penalty Over 'Judicial Malfunction'
The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday granted a capital defendant's habeas petition based on a trial court's decision to recruit the prosecutor to ghostwrite a "corrupt opinion" issuing the death penalty and refusing to allow the defendant to proffer relevant mitigating evidence at his re-sentencing, in violation of his constitutional rights.
-
August 07, 2024
Ex-Pharma Exec Gets 20 Months In SEC Contempt Case
A former pharmaceutical executive who used an alias to flout a 2016 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission consent judgment barring him from the securities industry was sentenced Wednesday to 20 months in prison by a judge who called him "incorrigible."
-
August 07, 2024
Ripple Ordered To Pay $125M Penalty In SEC Case
A New York federal judge ordered Ripple Labs Inc. to pay a $125 million civil penalty on Wednesday in a long-awaited order addressing remedies for the blockchain company's failure to register institutional sales of its XRP token with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
-
August 07, 2024
Young Thug Decries 'Horror' Of Working With Prosecutors
Atlanta rapper Young Thug launched another bid to boot prosecutors from his long-running gang trial, citing various episodes of alleged misconduct and arguing that prosecutors' inability to provide "the simplest and most basic fundamental fairness" requires their disqualification.
-
August 07, 2024
Rising Star: Cohen & Gresser's Sri Kuehnlenz
Sri Kuehnlenz of Cohen & Gresser LLP was instrumental in securing the dismissal of six out of 13 criminal counts leveled against Sam Bankman-Fried for fraud related to the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and she helped an engineer avoid prosecution who was swept up in the U.S. Department of Justice's China Initiative, earning her a spot among the white collar law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
-
August 07, 2024
Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme
The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.
-
August 06, 2024
Ex-US Atty, Mayor Poised To Face Off In Wash. AG Race
Seattle's former U.S. attorney and an Eastern Washington mayor who's also a gun rights advocate were leading the statewide primary Tuesday night to become the state's next attorney general.
-
August 06, 2024
Convicted Mango Markets Crypto Trader Wants Acquittal
The crypto trader who was convicted of fraudulently draining more than $100 million from trading platform Mango Markets told a Manhattan federal judge that he should be fully acquitted on the grounds that federal prosecutors failed to prove at trial that he violated the law.
Expert Analysis
-
Perspectives
Context Is Everything In Justices' Sentencing Relief Decision
In the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, limiting the number of drug offenders eligible for sentencing relief, the majority and dissent adopted very different contextual frames for interpreting the meaning of “and” — with the practical impact being that thousands more defendants will be subject to severe mandatory minimums, says Douglas Berman at Moritz College of Law.
-
Opinion
The SEC Is Engaging In Regulation By Destruction
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent use of regulation by enforcement against digital assets indicates it's more interested in causing harm to crypto companies than providing guidance to the markets or protecting investors, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.
-
Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
-
Preparing For Possible Calif. Criminal Antitrust Enforcement
Though a recent announcement that the California Attorney General's Office will resume criminal prosecutions in support of its antitrust enforcement may be mere saber-rattling, companies and their counsel should nevertheless be prepared for interactions with the California AG's Antitrust Section that are not limited to civil liability issues, say Dylan Ballard and Lillian Sun at V&E.
-
What To Know About IRS' New Jet Use Audit Campaign
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced plans to open several dozen audits scrutinizing executive use of company jets, so companies should be prepared to show the business reasons for travel, and how items like imputed income and deduction disallowance were calculated, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
In Bribery Case, High Court's Past Is Probably Prologue
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in Snyder v. U.S. on the issue of whether federal law criminalizes gratuities that are not tied to an explicit quid pro quo, and precedent strongly indicates the court will limit an expansive reading of the bribery statute, say attorneys Sami Azhari and Don Davidson.
-
Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
-
Independent Regulator Could Chip Away At FIFA Autonomy
After the U.K.'s recent proposal for an independent football regulator, FIFA's commitment to safeguarding football association autonomy remains unwavering, despite a history of complexities arising from controversies in the bidding and hosting of major tournaments, say Yasin Patel at Church Court Chambers and Caitlin Haberlin-Chambers at SLAM Global.
-
New Concerns, Same Tune At This Year's SIFMA Conference
At this year's Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference on legal developments affecting the financial services industry, government regulators’ emphasis on whistleblowing and AI washing represented a new refrain in an increasingly familiar chorus calling for prompt and thorough corporate cooperation, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
-
Calif. High Court Ruling Has Lessons For Waiving Jury Trials
The California Supreme Court’s recent decision in TriCoast Builders v. Fonnegra, denying relief to a contractor that had waived its right to a jury trial, shows that litigants should always post jury fees as soon as possible, and seek writ review if the court denies relief from a waiver, say Steven Fleischman and Nicolas Sonnenburg at Horvitz & Levy.
-
Opinion
DOJ Press Office Is Not Fulfilling Its Stated Mission
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs’ apparent practice of issuing press releases when someone is indicted or convicted, but not when a defendant prevails, undermines its stated mission to disseminate “current, complete and accurate” information, and has negative real-world ramifications, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
-
Reducing Risk While DOJ Plans New Whistleblower Rewards
In light of the Department of Justice's newly announced plan to create a comprehensive whistleblower reward program to fill the gaps in the current patchwork of federal incentives, companies should mitigate their risk of external claims now by implementing internal systems where employees can confidently and anonymously report concerns, say Caleb Hayes-Deats and Walter Hawes at MoloLamken.
-
Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
-
DOJ's Safe Harbor Policy May Quietly Favor M&A Enforcement
In a change that has received little attention, the U.S. Justice Department's recently codified safe harbor policy essentially reads the Antitrust Division's criminal enforcement out of the policy entirely, and now appears to favor merger enforcement in antitrust, rather than criminal enforcement, as originally intended, say Daniel Oakes and James Attridge at Axinn.
-
Takeaways From The 2023 DOJ Fraud Section Report
Attorneys at Wiley discuss notable trends from the U.S. Department of Justice's recently reported Fraud Section activity last year and highlight areas of enforcement to watch for in the future, including healthcare fraud and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.