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White Collar
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April 15, 2024
FTX Liquidators Describe Operating Blindly In Initial Days
The U.S. liquidator for collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX told attendees at the OffshoreAlert Conference in Miami Beach, Florida, the case was unlike any other he'd handled as the company had "no set of books," forcing both onshore and offshore liquidators to scramble to track down assets.
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April 15, 2024
'Pig Butchering' Scams' Human Toll Has Experts Alarmed
Financial institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges and social media companies need to do more to stem a growing tide of so-called pig butchering scams, which experts at the OffshoreAlert Conference in Miami said Monday are wreaking havoc on victims while funding a large human trafficking operation.
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April 15, 2024
Calif. Cannabis Co. Stiiizy Sued Over Delta-8 Products
California cannabis giant Stiiizy has been accused of selling products which were touted as federally compliant hemp wares but purportedly had high enough levels of psychoactive THC to qualify as marijuana products, according to a proposed class action in Illinois federal court.
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April 15, 2024
Allstate Asks Court To Order Takedown Of 'Smear' Posts
Allstate asked a Colorado federal judge to order a former independent contractor to remove false statements on his website accusing the insurer of selling customers' personal information to criminals, arguing it has been irreparably injured and that the defendant has signaled he has no plans to stop his smear campaign.
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April 15, 2024
Solar Power Co. Accuses Ex-Insider Of Building, Selling Rival
Delaware-chartered solar energy venture Volt Energy Utility LLC has sued a former top officer in Chancery Court, alleging that while employed by Volt, she secretly launched a competing company, contacted Volt's lenders and customers and then sold the new business to a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. for $216 million.
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April 15, 2024
Coinbase Wants 2nd Circ. To Weigh Crypto's Howey Question
Crypto exchange Coinbase has asked a Manhattan federal judge to send the question of whether digital assets meet the definition of investment contracts to the Second Circuit, challenging a March order that found the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had adequately pled that the platform offered securities.
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April 15, 2024
Baltimore Taps DiCello Levitt, Saltz Mongeluzzi For Key Bridge
The city of Baltimore announced Monday it has hired DiCello Levitt and Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky PC as it plans legal action against those responsible for a container ship destroying the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month, the same day FBI agents boarded the ship as part of a criminal investigation.
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April 15, 2024
Justices Suggest Bribery Law Could Criminalize Routine Gifts
U.S. Supreme Court justices pressed the federal government Monday to specify what kinds of rewards fall under a bribery statute frequently used in public corruption prosecutions and why they should be considered graft, voicing concerns that ordinary people could face hefty prison time for routine gift-giving.
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April 15, 2024
Feds Say $3.5M 'Cryptojacking' Scam Targeted Cloud Services
A Nebraska man defrauded two cloud computing services of $3.5 million and used the proceeds to mine an additional $1 million in cryptocurrency, Brooklyn federal prosecutors said Monday.
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April 15, 2024
'Magician' Tax Preparer Arrested On $100M Fraud Charges
The owner of a New York tax preparation business who was known as "the magician" was arrested Monday on charges that he caused more than $100 million in tax losses to the government over a decade, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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April 15, 2024
Feds Seek Prison For Group That Invaded Abortion Clinic
Prosecutors are seeking prison sentences for six anti-abortion activists convicted of storming a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic, including a six-year term for the alleged "criminal mastermind" behind this and other blockades.
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April 15, 2024
Prosecutor Says Trump Can't Keep Punting Docs Deadlines
The special counsel prosecuting former President Donald Trump over the alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate has asked a Florida federal judge to deny Trump's request for another delay, arguing Trump should not be able to use a trial against him in New York to further delay the proceeding.
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April 15, 2024
Feds Flag DNA, Bank Names On Menendez Cash Bundles
Federal prosecutors pursuing bribery charges against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez have countered his bid to scrap evidence — such as gold bars and $10,000 cash bundles — from his upcoming trial, telling a New York federal judge that fingerprints, DNA and currency straps from banks where Menendez and his wife don't have accounts derail his claim that the money comes from personal savings.
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April 15, 2024
Senators Demand Info On CFTC Chats With Bankman-Fried
Two U.S. senators have asked the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's chair to detail all of his communications and meetings with convicted FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
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April 15, 2024
9th Circ. To Hear Hunter Biden Appeal In Criminal Tax Case
The Ninth Circuit will hear Hunter Biden's argument that a California federal judge wrongly rejected requests by his defense team to toss a criminal tax case that Biden has claimed is politically motivated and vindictive, according to a notice filed Monday.
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April 15, 2024
'Rust' Armorer Gets 18 Mos. For On-Set Shooting Death
A New Mexico judge gave "Rust" film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed the maximum 18-month prison sentence Monday for involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the low-budget Western starring actor-producer Alec Baldwin, who faces trial on the same charge this summer.
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April 15, 2024
Conn. Atty Aided $1.4M Transfer Scam, Developer Says
Connecticut attorney Carole W. Briggs "intentionally orchestrated and participated in" a business email compromise scam that stole more than $1.4 million from a New Jersey-based real estate development company last year, according to a civil lawsuit in federal court.
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April 15, 2024
Sotomayor, Jackson Dissent As Court Rejects Capital Cases
In a pair of dissents, Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor on Monday broke with a majority of their colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court who declined to hear two death penalty cases.
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April 15, 2024
Justice Thomas Misses Monday's Supreme Court Arguments
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was absent Monday for oral arguments examining disputes over whether accepting illegal gratuities without a quid pro quo is prohibited under a federal bribery statute and what test courts should apply when determining whether malicious prosecution claims can proceed.
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April 15, 2024
Stressed About The Trump Trial? Imagine How The Attys Feel
A trial-of-the-century moment like Donald Trump's New York criminal case heaps singular attention and pressure on the lawyers involved — and a commensurate need for smart stress relief tactics during months of prep, lawyers who have taken on landmark cases say.
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April 15, 2024
Justices Won't Review Ex-NYC Union Head's Bribery Rap
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the appeal of a former New York City union president who was convicted of taking bribes from now-defunct hedge fund Platinum Partners, rejecting a petition that argued his attorney failed to tell him about the trial judge's conflicts of interest.
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April 15, 2024
Trump Accused Of Witness Threats As Jury Selection Begins
The Manhattan district attorney's office on Monday asked the judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush money trial to find Trump in contempt for flouting the court's gag order barring witness intimidation, on day one of jury selection in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
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April 12, 2024
Judge Refuses To Throw Out Hunter Biden's Gun Indictment
A Delaware federal judge has rejected Hunter Biden's various attempts to duck felony firearm charges ahead of a trial, in particular slamming his contention that he is being selectively prosecuted because he's the president's son as "nonsensical" and "all speculation."
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April 12, 2024
Trump Can't Derail Hush Money Trial Over Media Saturation
A New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush money case on Friday rejected another of the former president's bids to derail trial next week, waving off his complaints that prejudicial media coverage has tainted the jury pool.
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April 12, 2024
Feds Rest In $110M Mango Markets Trial Of Crypto Trader
Manhattan federal prosecutors on Friday rested their case against a crypto trader accused of stealing $110 million from Mango Markets investors by pumping the price of the exchange's native token, while the defense argued that the government had failed to show that the crypto derivatives at issue were swaps as alleged in the indictment.
Expert Analysis
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Lessons From Rare Post-Verdict Healthcare Fraud Acquittal
A Maryland federal court recently overturned a jury verdict that found a doctor guilty of healthcare fraud related to billing levels for COVID-19 tests, providing defense attorneys with potential strategies for obtaining acquittals in similar prosecutions, says attorney Andrew Feldman.
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ChristianaCare Settlement Reveals FCA Pitfalls For Hospitals
ChristianaCare's False Claims Act settlement in December is the first one based on a hospital allegedly providing private physicians with free services in the form of hospital-employed clinicians and provides important compliance lessons as the government ramps up scrutiny of compensation arrangements, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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EDNY Ruling Charts 99 Problems In Rap Lyric Admissibility
A New York federal court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Jordan powerfully captures courts’ increasing skepticism about the admissibility of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials, particularly at a time when artists face economic incentives to embrace fictional, hyperbolic narratives, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.
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3 Principles For Minimizing The Risk Of A Nuclear Verdict
In one of the latest examples of so-called nuclear verdicts, a single plaintiff was awarded $2.25 billion in a jury trial against Monsanto — revealing the need for defense attorneys to prioritize trust, connection and simplicity when communicating with modern juries, say Jenny Hergenrother and Mia Falzarano at Alston & Bird.
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Series
Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.
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Freight Forwarders And Common Carriers: Know Your Cargo
Freight forwarders and other nonprincipal parties involved in global cargo movement should follow the guidance in the multi-agency know-your-cargo compliance note to avoid enforcement actions should they fail to spot evasive tactics used in supply chains to circumvent U.S. sanctions and export controls, say attorneys at Venable.
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Takeaways From 9th Circ. Nix Of Ex-GOP Rep.'s Conviction
The Ninth Circuit recently reversed the conviction of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., for lying to the FBI, showing that the court will rein in aggressive attempts by the government to expand the reach of criminal prosecutions — and deepening a circuit split on an important venue issue, say attorneys at Skadden.
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SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap
As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.
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A Closer Look At Novel Jury Instruction In Forex Rigging Case
After the recent commodities fraud conviction of a U.K.-based hedge fund executive in U.S. v. Phillips, post-trial briefing has focused on whether the New York federal court’s jury instruction incorrectly defined the requisite level of intent, which should inform defense counsel in future open market manipulation cases, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.
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Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand
Though a Massachusetts federal court recently barred Google from Googling potential jurors in a patent infringement case, the company need not worry about missing evidence of bias, because internet research of jury pools usually doesn’t yield the most valuable information — voir dire and questionnaires do, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.
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Skirting Anti-Kickback Causation Standard Amid Circuit Split
Amid the federal circuit court split over the causation standard applicable to False Claims Act cases involving Anti-Kickback Statute violations, which the First Circuit will soon consider in U.S. v. Regeneron, litigators aiming to circumvent the heightened standard should contemplate certain strategies, say Matthew Modafferi and Terence Park at Frier Levitt.
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A Look Into How Jurors Reach High Damages Awards
In the wake of several large jury awards, Richard Gabriel and Emily Shaw at Decision Analysis shed light on challenges that jurors have in deciding them, the nonevidentiary and extra-legal methods they use to do so, and new research about the themes and jury characteristics of high-damages jurors.
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What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes
The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Managing Competing Priorities In Witness Preparation
There’s often a divide between what attorneys and witnesses want out of the deposition process, but litigation teams can use several strategies to resolve this tension and help witnesses be more comfortable with the difficult conditions of testifying, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout
While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.