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White Collar
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September 03, 2024
Feds Abandon $12M Somali Fraud Case Against Atty
The U.S. government has dropped its Maryland federal court case against a lawyer who was set for trial this year on charges of misappropriating over $12 million in Somali state assets, citing "pre-trial evidentiary rulings."
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September 03, 2024
2nd Circ. Backs Toss Of Ericsson Investors' ISIS Bribes Suit
The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a New York federal judge's decision to toss an investor class action against telecom giant Ericsson and several members of its top brass over claims that they hid knowledge of possible bribes to the Islamic State from U.S. investors and committed other violations of federal securities laws.
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September 03, 2024
Alphabet Beats Investor Suit Over Antitrust Issues, For Now
A California federal judge on Tuesday tossed a proposed securities fraud class action against Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc., saying investors failed to adequately allege that Google intended to deceive them when responding to a congressional query on concerns of anti-competitive ad tech practices.
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September 03, 2024
Maduro's Private Jet Seized In Fla. Over Sanctions Violation
Federal officials have seized a private jet used by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his affiliates, alleging that it was purchased illegally using a shell company and smuggled out of Florida in violation of sanctions and export control laws, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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September 03, 2024
SEC Fines Adviser That Lost Clients' Crypto In FTX Collapse
An investment adviser that lost client funds in the collapse of FTX found itself on the receiving end of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action on Tuesday, with Galois Capital Management LLC settling allegations that it failed to find a proper custodian for those crypto assets.
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September 03, 2024
Judge Axes DoD Engineer's Release In 'Top Secret' Docs Case
A Virginia federal judge revoked a release order for a U.S. Department of Defense civilian employee accused of taking top secret and other classified documents from his workplace, saying instead that he should remain detained "pending disposition of this case."
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September 03, 2024
Manhattan DA's Art Seizure Unit Hit With New Calif. Challenge
A private art collector has filed a California federal lawsuit fighting the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into his ancient Roman statue, joining a small but growing number of legal challenges to the New York prosecution unit that seizes and returns allegedly stolen antiquities.
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September 03, 2024
Trustee, Trader Culled From Jury In $1M Brazilian Bribery Trial
A bankruptcy trustee and a commodities trader were among the potential jurors weeded out Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's opening statements in the criminal trial of a Connecticut oil trader accused of bribing officials with Brazil's state-owned oil giant Petróleo Brasileiro SA and its U.S. subsidiaries.
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September 03, 2024
Ex-Defense Contractor Arrested In $350M Tax Evasion Case
A former defense contractor who, with his wife, is facing a 30-count indictment alleging they were involved in a decades-long scheme to defraud the U.S. government and avoid taxes on more than $350 million in income was arrested Tuesday.
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September 03, 2024
Adviser Lied About Wall Street Skyscraper Digs, SEC Says
A purported $10 million private fund investment adviser faces U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that it lied about being a public company with an office on Manhattan's Wall Street as part of a filing in which it claimed registration exemption.
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September 03, 2024
Criminal Lawyers Group Backs YSL Atty In Contempt Appeal
The American Board of Criminal Lawyers told the Georgia Supreme Court that one of its fellows, an attorney defending rapper Young Thug in a racketeering trial, shouldn't have been held in contempt for refusing to divulge to a state judge how he learned about the judge's improper meeting with prosecutors and a key witness.
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September 03, 2024
Ch. 11 Bankruptcy Trustee Says Firm Charged Excessive Fees
The Chapter 11 trustee overseeing collapsed debt relief law firm Litigation Practice Group has accused a New York law firm of charging excessive fees while defending the California firm from lawsuits from merchant cash advance companies.
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September 03, 2024
Former Partner Of Bankrupt NC Firm Settles With Trustee
A former member of bankrupt North Carolina-based real estate law firm Washburn Law PLLC, which is being investigated by the FBI for millions of dollars in pilfered client money, has reached a settlement agreement with a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee.
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September 03, 2024
4th Circ. Affirms Father-Son Duo's COVID Fraud Conviction
The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday refused to walk back the convictions of a father-son duo who were found guilty of fraudulently obtaining $1.7 million in COVID-19 relief funds, finding there was sufficient evidence to bolster the guilty verdicts and the trial court did not otherwise make a mistake in allowing their prior counsel to be questioned at trial.
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September 03, 2024
NFL Senior VP Rejoins Robins Kaplan's White Collar Practice
B. Todd Jones, a former senior vice president and special counsel for conduct for the NFL, has returned to Robins Kaplan as a partner in its Minneapolis and New York offices, the firm announced Tuesday.
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September 03, 2024
Atty's Use Of AI Didn't Taint Rapper's Trial, Judge Says
A D.C. federal judge has rejected a host of arguments by Fugees rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel seeking a new trial on charges of assisting a Malaysian billionaire in illegally diverting funds, including claims that he was prejudiced by his former attorney's use of generative artificial intelligence to craft his closing argument.
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September 03, 2024
Founder Of Gibson Dunn Privacy Practice Joins McDermott
McDermott Will & Emery on Tuesday announced the firm added litigator Alexander Southwell, a former federal prosecutor who founded and co-led the privacy, cybersecurity and data innovation practice at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.
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September 03, 2024
Trump Loses Renewed Bid To Take Hush Money Case Federal
A New York federal court on Tuesday denied former President Donald Trump's bid to move the state's hush money case against him to federal court, ruling that the U.S. Supreme Court's July holding laying out grounds for immunity did not sway his opinion that the payments were "unofficial acts."
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September 03, 2024
Former Aide To NY Gov. Indicted On Foreign Agent Charges
A former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo was arrested Tuesday on allegations of secretly acting as an agent of China's government in a yearslong political conspiracy to promote the interests of the Chinese Communist Party and reap millions of dollars.
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August 30, 2024
Concrete Co. Owner Gets 5-Month Sentence For Bid-Rigging
The owner of Evans Concrete LLC, Timothy "Bo" Strickland, was handed a five-month prison sentence, followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to participating in a coastal Georgia concrete bid-rigging and price-fixing scheme.
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August 30, 2024
Steel Distributor Exec Pleads Guilty To Price-Fixing
A second steel distributor executive pled guilty Friday in Puerto Rico to criminal charges for allegedly participating in an eight-year-long scheme to fix the prices of steel products, including while the island was recovering from a pair of hurricanes.
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August 30, 2024
Doctor In Matthew Perry's Death Makes 1st Court Appearance
A physician charged in actor Matthew Perry's death made his initial appearance in Los Angeles federal court Friday and was allowed to remain free on a $50,000 unsecured bond pending his expected guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
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August 30, 2024
Md. Supreme Court Reinstates Adnan Syed Murder Conviction
A divided Maryland Supreme Court on Friday reinstated the decades-old murder conviction of Adnan Syed, whose case received renewed attention after being featured on the "Serial" podcast.
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August 30, 2024
5th Circ. Rejects SEC Whistleblower Award Calculation Appeal
The Fifth Circuit on Friday rejected petitions by two whistleblowers who allege that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shortchanged them after they helped to uncover purportedly the largest fraud in Texas history, by a company that was driven into bankruptcy.
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August 30, 2024
Ex-Detainee Can't Be Forced To Arbitrate Card Fee Suit
A Washington federal judge will not force arbitration in a proposed class action accusing a bank of charging former jail detainees debit card fees to regain access to their own money postrelease, saying the plaintiff never consented to an arbitration clause because the card was issued to him already activated.
Expert Analysis
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Carbon Offset Case A Win For CFTC Enviro Fraud Task Force
An Illinois federal court's decision in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Ikkurty — earning the CFTC a sizeable monetary award that will likely incentivize similar enforcement pursuit — shows the impact of the commission's Environmental Fraud Task Force, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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Whistleblowers Must Note 5 Key Differences Of DOJ Program
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently unveiled whistleblower awards program diverges in key ways from similar programs at other agencies, and individuals must weigh these differences and look first to programs with stronger, proven protections before blowing the whistle, say Stephen Kohn and Geoff Schweller at Kohn Kohn.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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Open Questions 3 Years After 2nd Circ.'s Fugitive Ruling
The Second Circuit’s 2021 decision in U.S. v. Bescond, holding that a French resident indicted abroad did not meet the legal definition of a fugitive, deepened a circuit split on the fugitive disentitlement doctrine, and courts continue to grapple with the doctrine’s reach and applicability, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.
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Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.
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How DOJ May Change FARA Exemption In Forthcoming Rule
Any day now, the U.S. Department of Justice is expected to issue proposed revisions to the Foreign Agents Registration Act regulations, and signs suggest that it will likely narrow one of FARA's broadest exemptions, which may compound public confusion about the law's requirements, says Murad Hussain at Arnold & Porter.
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Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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3 Presidential Privilege Questions After Trump Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Trump v. U.S., carving out a new evidentiary privilege for presidents, leaves unanswered several key questions concerning whether this new privilege is waivable or subject to various exceptions, says Jeremy Bates at Frankfurt Kurnit.
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Crypto Gatekeepers May Be The Next Front Of Enforcement
Lawyers and other professionals who advise cryptocurrency companies should beware regulators' increasing focus on gatekeeper accountability, and should take several measures to fulfill their ethical and legal obligations, including implementing a robust vetting mechanism when representing crypto clients, say Temidayo Aganga-Williams and Xinchen Li at Selendy Gay.
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Implementing Proposed AML Rules May Take More Guidance
Two recent rules proposed by financial regulators would modernize requirements for programs aimed at countering money laundering and terrorist financing by centering more robust risk assessments, but financial institutions may need more specific guidance before they could confidently comply, say Meghann Donahue and Nikhil Gore at Covington.
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Series
Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.
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Perspectives
2 High Court Rulings Boost Protections Against Gov't Reprisal
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Gonzalez v. Trevino and Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon significantly strengthen legal protections against retaliatory arrests and malicious prosecution, and establish clear precedents that promote accountability in law enforcement, say Corey Stoughton and Amanda Miner at Selendy Gay.
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Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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From Muppet Heads To OJ's Glove: How To Use Props At Trial
Demonstrative graphics have become so commonplace in the courtroom that jurors may start to find them boring, but attorneys can keep jurors engaged and improve their recall by effectively using physical props at trial, says Clint Townson at Townson Consulting.
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Opinion
The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address
A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.