White Collar

  • September 04, 2024

    Pillsbury Adds EDNY Veteran As Corporate Prosecutions Rise

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP announced Tuesday that it has hired a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York to help clients navigate the U.S. Department of Justice's increasingly aggressive pursuit of alleged corporate misconduct.

  • September 04, 2024

    McElroy Deutsch's Former CFO Fights Bid To Sink Ch. 11 Case

    The currently incarcerated former chief financial officer for McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP denied that his Chapter 11 filing was a bad faith maneuver meant to stall ongoing civil litigation, claiming instead that the bankruptcy will allow for the liquidation of property for the benefit of creditors.

  • September 04, 2024

    'Rust' Armorer Takes Plea Deal In Separate Gun Case

    The armorer for the Western film "Rust" who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of the film's cinematographer has agreed to plead guilty in a separate case to a felony charge alleging she sneaked a gun into a bar in New Mexico, a state courts representative announced Wednesday.

  • September 04, 2024

    Feds Say Ex-Judge's Misconduct Does Not Warrant New Trial

    "Troubling" allegations that a former Alaska federal judge engaged in sexual misconduct should not open the door for a new trial in one of his cases where a man was convicted of cyberstalking, federal prosecutors argued in a court filing.

  • September 04, 2024

    Brazilian Oil Bribery Case Jury Warned Of 'Liar' Witness

    Attorneys for a Connecticut trader accused of bribing Brazilian oil officials urged a jury on Wednesday not to trust an alleged co-conspirator scheduled to testify for the government, calling that man a "skilled and adept liar" who would "substantially assist" prosecutors in possible return for a favorable family immigration decision.

  • September 04, 2024

    Ex-Mass. Pol 'A Little Sloppy' But Not Criminal, Jurors Told

    Former Massachusetts state Sen. Dean A. Tran denied charges Wednesday that he stole pandemic unemployment assistance and cheated on his taxes, with his attorney telling a jury that Tran simply made a series of paperwork "mistakes."

  • September 11, 2024

    Hausfeld Snaps Up Litigation Pro From Covington In London

    Hausfeld LLP has hired a partner from Covington & Burling LLP in London to boost its profile in commercial disputes, after its office in the U.K. capital recently underwent changes in leadership.

  • September 04, 2024

    AI Musician Duped Streaming Giants To Steal $10M, Feds Say

    A North Carolina man streamed thousands of artificial intelligence-generated songs to dupe streaming giants like Spotify and YouTube and generate $10 million in an elaborate scam, federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Wednesday in a first-of-its-kind case.

  • September 04, 2024

    DOJ Assistant Anti-Bribery Unit Chief Joins Mayer Brown

    Mayer Brown LLP announced Wednesday it is bolstering its global investigations and white collar defense practice with the addition of a U.S. Department of Justice Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unit official who led more than 50 investigations under the anti-bribery law.

  • September 03, 2024

    DOJ Charges Senior Hamas Leaders Over Oct. 7 Attacks

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday announced criminal charges against six senior Hamas leaders the agency said had "central roles" in planning, supporting and perpetrating the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel.

  • 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."

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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."

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Defense Attys Must Prep For Imminent AI Crime Enforcement

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    Given recent statements by U.S. Department of Justice officials, white collar practitioners should expect to encounter artificial intelligence in federal criminal enforcement in the near term, even in pending cases, say Jarrod Schaeffer and Scott Glicksman at Abell Eskew.

  • Lessons For Nursing Facilities From DOJ Fraud Settlement

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent settlement with the owner of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in Florida provides a cautionary tale of potential fraud risks, and lessons on how facilities can mitigate government enforcement actions, say Callan Stein and Rebecca Younker at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Purdue Pharma High Court Case May Change Bankruptcy

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Purdue Pharma may be the death of most third-party releases in Chapter 11 cases, and depending on the decision’s breadth, could have much more far-reaching effects on the entire bankruptcy system, say Brian Shaw and David Doyle at Cozen O'Connor.

  • 5 Takeaways From SAP's Foreign Bribery Resolutions

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    German software company SAP’s recent settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, resolving allegations of foreign bribery, provide insights into government enforcement priorities, and how corporations should structure their compliance programs to reduce liability, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Series

    Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • Perspectives

    Context Is Everything In Justices' Sentencing Relief Decision

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

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