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White Collar
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January 16, 2025
1st Circ. Vacates Most Of Atty's Marijuana Bribe Conviction
The First Circuit vacated a pair of fraud convictions for a Massachusetts attorney charged in a marijuana bribery scheme, finding that sending an iMessage through an Apple cellphone is not enough to satisfy the wire fraud element requiring interstate communication.
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January 15, 2025
Alexander Bros. Must Remain Behind Bars Ahead Of Trial
Brothers Alon, Oren and Tal Alexander, who are accused of trafficking, drugging and sexually assaulting dozens of women over the last decade, will not be released from federal custody ahead of trial, a New York federal judge ruled Wednesday, according to news reports.
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January 15, 2025
SEC's Last-Minute Musk Suit Could Be Scuttled Under Trump
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's latest lawsuit against Elon Musk is unlikely to be viewed favorably by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, which may press for a lesser penalty or even move to dismiss the case outright, attorneys told Law360 on Wednesday.
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January 15, 2025
9th Circ. Revives H-1B Fraud Charges Against CEO, HR Head
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday revived criminal visa fraud charges against a semiconductor company's CEO and human resources manager, saying in a published opinion that the government could protect itself against fraud, even through questions it had no right asking.
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January 15, 2025
SEC Fines Advisers For Link To Alleged $410M IPO Fraud
Three investment adviser representatives have agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nearly $540,000 to end the regulator's claims that they acted as unregistered brokers while soliciting investors for a private equity firm accused of defrauding investors in a $410 million pre-IPO share scheme.
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January 15, 2025
Fla. Ex-Rep Can't Get Feds' Evidence In Foreign Agent Case
A Florida federal judge on Wednesday denied a former congressman's bid to force U.S. prosecutors to turn over evidence showing the government improperly directed Venezuela's state-owned oil company to file a New York lawsuit against his consulting firm to obtain evidence in his criminal case, calling the request speculative.
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January 15, 2025
SEC Dings Pharma Co., Ex-CFO Over Prescription Scheme
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced it has settled claims against bankrupt DMK Pharmaceuticals Corp. and its ex-chief financial officer over their alleged role in a fraudulent scheme to generate revenues using illegal prescriptions for horse medications.
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January 15, 2025
Crypto Co. Kraken's Legal Chief Says He's Stepping Down
The legal head of Kraken announced Wednesday that he is stepping down as chief legal officer and stepping into a senior adviser role that will see him build a global advisory council at the crypto exchange.
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January 15, 2025
Hino Motors Inks $1.6B Deal To End Emissions Fraud Claims
Toyota unit Hino Motors Ltd. will pay approximately $1.6 billion in criminal and civil penalties to close out claims it illegally manipulated emissions and fuel-economy test results for more than 100,000 diesel vehicles sold in the U.S., the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
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January 15, 2025
Mich. US Atty Talks Rooting Out Public Corruption 'Poison'
U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said Wednesday he's proud of his office's work prosecuting Michigan's former speaker for taking bribes from players in the state's nascent marijuana industry, calling the corruption crackdown vital to maintaining a healthy democracy, as he reflected on his time as the top federal prosecutor for the Western District of Michigan.
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January 15, 2025
Free Speech Groups Push State Law In Trump Defamation Suit
Several free speech advocacy groups and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania urged a federal judge Wednesday to apply the Keystone State's anti-SLAPP law in a defamation suit brought against President-elect Donald Trump by the so-called Central Park Five but took neither party's side on dismissal.
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January 15, 2025
Madigan Testimony Requires Separate Trials, Ex-Friend Says
Michael Madigan's former longtime friend and political ally on Tuesday renewed his request to be separated from the ex-Illinois House speaker as they defend criminal racketeering and bribery charges at trial, arguing that Madigan's testimony amounts to an attack against the former lobbyist that is impossible for him to fend off.
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January 15, 2025
Stacey Abrams' Group Fined $300K For Aiding Ga. Gov. Run
A Georgia voting rights group founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams agreed to pay a record $300,000 fine Wednesday after admitting it illegally funneled millions of dollars to support Abrams' first campaign for governor in 2018.
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January 15, 2025
DOJ Reports $2.9B Haul Under FCA, Largest In 3 Years
Litigation under the False Claims Act generated a little over $2.9 billion in settlements and judgments in the most recent fiscal year, a 5% bump over 2023's total and the most in three years, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Justice.
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January 15, 2025
Legislators Say Transparency Act Defies First Amendment
The Corporate Transparency Act is an unnecessary intrusion into the First Amendment rights of Americans, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and 13 House members told the Supreme Court in seeking to maintain an injunction issued in December.
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January 15, 2025
Broker, Traders Charged With $1M Insider Trading Scheme
A securities broker and three traders have been charged in New York federal court for their roles in what prosecutors described as a yearslong, $1 million insider trading scheme that involved tips about upcoming secondary stock offerings, including one by the owner of DVD rental company Redbox, an indictment unsealed Wednesday showed.
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January 15, 2025
Chinese Execs Sent Fentanyl Precursor To NY, Jury Told
A novel fentanyl-trafficking case went to trial in New York federal court on Wednesday, with prosecutors arguing that two Chinese chemical executives inked a multimillion-dollar deal to export the raw materials for the drug to a Manhattan lab in 2023.
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January 15, 2025
7th Circ. Wary Of New Bribery Trial Sought Over FBI Interview
A Seventh Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday of a sweepstakes machine business owner's argument that his roughly five-year bribery sentence should be vacated because his conviction was largely based on audio from an FBI interview that the original jurors shouldn't have been allowed to hear.
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January 15, 2025
Fla. Man Says Gov't Miscalculated Forfeiture In PPP Fraud
A Haitian man currently serving a 50-month prison sentence for concealing a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme from U.S. immigration officials to get citizenship urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to reverse a forfeiture judgment against him, arguing that the government miscalculated the amount of his ill-gotten gains from the scheme.
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January 15, 2025
NJ Prosecutors Can Shield Certain Docs In Atty Bribe Cases
New Jersey prosecutors won't have to turn over certain documents related to investigations involving potential crimes committed by a tax attorney who was a cooperating witness in a bribery case against three former public officials, a state appeals panel has ruled.
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January 15, 2025
Retired Admiral's Bribery Trial Postponed To May
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday postponed a bribery trial for a retired Navy admiral accused of steering a government contract to two executives of a New York company, finding the volume of discovery material in the case justified the delay.
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January 15, 2025
Booz Allen Must Pay For Harm Of Tax Info Leaks, Court Told
A proposed class action in Maryland federal court blames IRS contractor Booz Allen Hamilton over the thousands of tax returns that were stolen by an employee who took financial information about President-elect Donald Trump and others while on the job and leaked it to the media.
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January 15, 2025
New Jersey AG Deputy Steps Up To Director In Staff Shake-Up
The deputy director of New Jersey's Division of Criminal Justice will rise to the division's top role later this month when the current director returns to the private sector as part of a staffing shuffle that includes filling the office's chief of staff, Attorney General Matt Platkin said Wednesday.
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January 15, 2025
Judge Warns DOJ: Settle Burger Forfeiture Suit Or Pay Up
A Michigan federal judge on Tuesday expressed frustration with Justice Department officials' delays in resolving a civil forfeiture action over an alleged $11 million healthcare fraud scheme involving money laundered through Big Boy Restaurant, telling federal prosecutors they have until next week to settle the case or pay the chain's recent legal bills.
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January 15, 2025
US Atty For Central Calif. To Resign Before Inauguration
The U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, Martin Estrada, is stepping down at the end of the week, ending an eventful two-year tenure that's seen several high-profile prosecutions in the nation's most populous federal judicial district.
Expert Analysis
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Fla. Ruling May Undermine FCA Whistleblowers' Authority
A Florida federal court's decision in Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates last month will deprive relators of their ability to bring suits under the False Claims Act, limiting their capability to expose and rectify wrongdoings and potentially affecting billions in FCA recoveries, say Matthew Nielsen and Lily Johnson at Bracewell.
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What's Inside Feds' Latest Bank Merger Review Proposals
Recent bank merger proposals from a trio of federal agencies highlight the need for banks looking to grow through acquisition to consider several key issues much earlier in the planning process than has historically been necessary, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape
Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.
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How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure
Updated incentives, penalties and enforcement resources in the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently published final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations should help companies decide how to implement export control compliance programs and whether to disclose possible violations, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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11th Circ. Kickback Ruling May Widen Hearsay Exception
In a $400 million fraud case, U.S. v. Holland, the Eleventh Circuit recently held that a conspiracy need not have an unlawful object to introduce co-conspirator statements under federal evidence rules, potentially broadening the application of the so-called co-conspirator hearsay exception, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney
A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.
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Navigating Complex Regulatory Terrain Amid State AG Races
This year's 10 attorney general elections could usher in a wave of new enforcement priorities and regulatory uncertainty, but companies can stay ahead of the shifts by building strong relationships with AG offices, participating in industry coalitions and more, say Ketan Bhirud and Dustin McDaniel at Cozen O’Connor.
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Opinion
Barrett Is Right: Immunity Is Wrong Framework In Trump Case
Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s concurrence in Trump v. U.S., where the majority opinion immunized former presidents almost entirely from criminal prosecution for official actions, rests on a firmer constitutional foundation than the majority’s immunity framework, says Matthew Brogdon at Utah Valley University.
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Opinion
This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process
In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Series
Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers
Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.
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Open Questions In Unsettled Geofence Warrant Landscape
The Fourth and Fifth Circuits recently reached radically divergent conclusions about the constitutionality of geofence warrants, creating an uncertain landscape in which defendants should assert and preserve the full range of conventional Fourth Amendment challenges, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.
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Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA
After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.
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Primer On Chinese Trade Secret Disputes For US Practitioners
Increasing cross-border disputes over trade secret misappropriation between U.S. and Chinese entities emphasize the need for U.S. practitioners to navigate China's legal landscape following recent reforms that enhance the viability of litigation in Chinese courts, say attorneys at Jones Day.
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Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys
Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.
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John Deere Penalty Shows Importance Of M&A Due Diligence
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent $10 million penalty against John Deere underscores the risks of not conducting robust preacquisition due diligence and not effectively integrating a new subsidiary into the existing compliance framework, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.