Criminal Practice

  • September 16, 2026

    3rd Circ. Says Most Strip Searches Require Warrants

    A Third Circuit panel on Wednesday ruled that police cannot conduct warrantless strip searches outside of jails or prisons absent consent or an emergency, but found that Pennsylvania officers who unconstitutionally searched a man enjoy qualified immunity from his civil rights claims because the limitation was not clearly established at the time.

  • September 16, 2026

    Mich. Men Acquitted Of Whitmer Plot Accuse Nessel, FBI

    Michigan brothers acquitted of state charges stemming from the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have sued Attorney General Dana Nessel, FBI agents, Michigan State Police and others, alleging that law enforcement fabricated evidence, engineered the case through paid informants and violated their constitutional rights.

  • September 16, 2026

    Split Conn. High Court Won't Shield Yale Accuser's Name

    In a 4-3 opinion Wednesday, the Connecticut Supreme Court said a trial judge correctly dismissed a sexual assault accuser's emergency 2024 request to remove her name from transcripts in the long-closed criminal prosecution of former Yale student Saifullah Khan, ruling the trial court lost jurisdiction after a jury's 2018 acquittal.

  • September 16, 2026

    Ex-Nonprofit Worker Pleads Guilty To $97K Embezzlement

    A former employee of a Georgia nonprofit that advocates for abused and neglected children pled guilty to embezzling nearly $97,000 from the organization.

  • September 16, 2026

    MLB Pitcher Seeks Sanctions Over Alleged Brady Violations

    A Cleveland Guardians pitcher indicted in an alleged bet-rigging scheme urged a New York federal judge to sanction prosecutors Wednesday, saying they failed to promptly disclose exculpatory evidence to him.

  • September 16, 2026

    Pa. Justices Ask When Canes, Hot Dogs Become Crime Tools

    Pennsylvania's justices contemplated pummeling one another with canes, gavels and hot dogs as they grappled with what transforms a mundane object into an "instrument of crime" during arguments Wednesday.

  • September 16, 2026

    DOJ Fights Acquittal Motion Following Okla. Bid-Fixing Verdict

    The U.S. Department of Justice is urging an Oklahoma federal court to reject an acquittal bid from a man convicted of participating in an erosion control company's bid-rigging conspiracy that allegedly affected over $100 million in publicly funded transportation construction contracts.

  • September 15, 2026

    Judge Says Feds Should Investigate Philly DA Krasner

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday said that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner should be investigated for possible "criminal wrongdoing" in his office's handling of a man's long-running bid to overturn his murder conviction, referring the matter to the U.S. attorney's office.

  • September 15, 2026

    Conn. Justices Say Detective's 'Grooming' Definition Is Harmless

    The Connecticut Supreme Court on Tuesday held that a detective's explanation of the child sex abuse term "grooming" to jurors did not taint their verdict convicting a man of raping a young girl.

  • September 15, 2026

    Ohio Court Allows 18-Year Gap In Rape Prosecution

    An Ohio appeals court has ruled that a nearly 18-year delay in bringing a rape charge against a man does not violate his right to a speedy trial, because the right only begins after a defendant has been formally accused of a crime.

  • September 15, 2026

    Fla. Judge Won't Pause Trump-IRS Settlement Sanctions

    The Florida federal judge who barred President Donald Trump and others from citing a settlement resolving what she characterized as a sham $10 billion case against his own Internal Revenue Service won't pause her sanctions order while the president appeals to the Eleventh Circuit.

  • September 15, 2026

    Nadine Menendez Deadline Relief Bid Deemed Moot

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday denied as moot Nadine Menendez's request for 90 more days to file a potential challenge to her prison sentence after prosecutors said she misunderstood the deadline and still had plenty of time to seek relief.

  • September 15, 2026

    Feds Fight Ex-Fla. Rep's Bid For Time Served In FARA Case

    Federal prosecutors urged a Florida federal judge on Monday to reject ex-Florida Rep. David Rivera's request for a sentence of time served after he was found guilty of failing to register as a foreign agent after signing a $50 million contract with a unit of Venezuela's state-owned oil company.

  • September 15, 2026

    OnlyFans Freelancer Admits To Dodging Tax On $3M Income

    A woman who created content for the OnlyFans website pled guilty Tuesday to dodging taxes on more than $3 million in income from photographs and videos she posted for tax years 2019 through 2022, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut said.

  • September 15, 2026

    Lindberg Says Special Master Order Defies Court Record

    Imprisoned insurance mogul Greg Lindberg is asking a Charlotte federal judge to reconsider his order finding that the appointment of a special master tasked with unraveling his assets was constitutional, calling it a "manifest injustice" that warrants reversal.

  • September 15, 2026

    Calif. Judge Charged Over Fatal Crash With Bicyclist

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday that his office charged Kings County Superior Court Judge Kendra Weber with a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter, alleging she struck and killed a bicyclist.

  • September 15, 2026

    Colo. Justices OK Updated Model Jury Instructions

    The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that the state's updated model jury instructions defining reasonable doubt in criminal trials are constitutional and do not lower the bar for proving a defendant's guilt, finding a typical juror would not be confused by the new language.

  • September 15, 2026

    Washington Sen. Murray Vows To Block Trump US Atty Pick

    President Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington is under fire from one of the home state senators who vowed to use every avenue possible to block him.

  • September 15, 2026

    4th Circ. Appears Split On Reviving Comey, James Indictments

    Partisan splits were apparent Tuesday on the Fourth Circuit panel hearing the Trump administration's challenge to a federal district judge's dismissal of the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, with two of the three judges appearing to agree an improper appointment doomed the cases.

  • September 14, 2026

    Man Cops To Bombing Calif. Courthouse Over Gun Seizure

    A California man pled guilty on Monday to setting off a bomb at a Santa Barbara County courthouse in 2024 as retaliation for law enforcement officers taking away his firearms.

  • September 14, 2026

    Pa. Top Court Snapshot: Ex-Sacks Weston Atty Discipline Case

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court returns from its summer recess with arguments on exceptions to sovereign immunity, and which criteria to apply to an immigrant seeking in-home care benefits.

  • September 14, 2026

    DOJ Suit Over NY Medicaid Program Is 'Baseless,' Court Told

    New York officials and the state's chosen steward for managing its $10 billion Medicaid home-care program fired back at U.S. Justice Department allegations that the bidding process for that contract was a sham, telling a federal court the suit is politically motivated and legally deficient.

  • September 14, 2026

    Pa. Panel Says Vigilante Video Doesn't Violate Wiretap Act

    The Pennsylvania Superior Court on Monday upheld a man's child pornography conviction, saying a vigilante group's video of his admissions, which police used to obtain a search warrant, did not violate the state's wiretap and recording law.

  • September 14, 2026

    9th Circ. Orders Review Of Border Patrol Facebook Records

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday conditionally vacated a man's conviction for illegally entering the U.S., ordering a district court to determine whether the government withheld evidence about the involved Border Patrol agents' activity in a Facebook group that joked about migrant deaths and hurled racist and sexist slurs.

  • September 14, 2026

    Calif. Panel Vacates Murder Conviction Of Pursuit Passenger

    A California appeals court has vacated the felony murder conviction of a passenger in a fatal police-pursuit crash, saying he was ineligible for the charge after a change in state law.

Expert Analysis

  • Rethinking Corporate Travel Rules After Device Search Cases

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    A recent New York federal court decision approving a warrantless seizure and search of company laptops and a pending Georgia federal court criminal case over a phone's data deletion underscore how little protection corporate personnel have at the border, necessitating a review of corporate travel programs, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Reel Justice: 'Disclosure Day' Teaches Attys To Listen

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    The underlying message in “Disclosure Day” suggests that communication often breaks down because of a failure to hear and understand, highlighting why a lawyer's ability to listen is not ancillary to their practice — it is what makes effective representation and justice possible, says Veronica Finkelstein at Widener-Delaware Law.

  • Series

    Going To Hardcore Shows Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While government contracts law and the hardcore scene may seem entirely unrelated, in my experience, both are about community, focus, being prepared for the unexpected and managing chaos, says Isaac Natter at Fluet.

  • 9th Circ. Rule Block Unlikely To Deter FinCEN Cartel Focus

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    The Ninth Circuit recently blocked the Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit's border cash reporting rule, interpreting it as an impermissible use of an emergency anti-money laundering tool, but regulators are more likely to see the opinion as a road map for building a more defensible rule, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • Series

    Being A Sommelier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a sommelier has quietly shaped how I practice law by changing the way I think, communicate and connect with people, and offers a constant reminder that expertise is about making your knowledge useful and accessible to others, says Kara Du at Sheppard.

  • Series

    Teaching SEC Investigations Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Instructing a law school course on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations has made me a more thoughtful, deliberate practitioner because it requires me to continually reassess and challenge what I know about securities law enforcement, how I know it and how best to explain it, says David Chase at Miami Law.

  • Opinion

    Qualified Immunity Bill's Reach Goes Beyond Federal Officers

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    The federal Qualified Immunity Abolition Act, introduced earlier this year and described by the bill sponsors as a federal-officer measure, would in actuality reach the entire universe of Section 1983 defendants, a distinction that matters as much to defense counsel as to plaintiffs, says attorney V. James DeSimone.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: Examining Administrative, Organizational Uses

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    U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas examines how artificial intelligence could transform a court's ability to deal with administrative work and organize materials when preparing for hearings or drafting opinions, thereby affording judges more time to resolve contested issues.

  • Series

    Being A Singer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Before law school, I spent seven years trying to make it as a professional singer in Los Angeles, and nearly everything I learned about preparation, humility, confidence and more has followed me into my legal practice, says Jessica Caterina at Moses & Singer.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Parole Ruling Degrades Green Card Holders' Rights

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Blanche v. Lau, holding that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers can parole a returning lawful permanent resident without clear and convincing evidence of a crime, weakens the statutory and practical protections Congress intended, say attorneys at Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners.

  • RETRACTED: Updated Fraud Sentencing Guidelines Add New Defense Tools

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    Editor's note: This guest article has been removed to address author updates.

  • How Justices Stayed Off The Geofence In Location Data Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Chatrie v. United States decision reaffirms Fourth Amendment protections for location data but avoids more complicated questions about geofence warrants, say attorneys at Adams Duerk.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Post-Award Noncompliance

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    Grainful Holdings v. Mineev, a recent Commercial Court decision that resulted in a sentence for contempt following post-award enforcement proceedings, illustrates the point at which proceedings, having moved beyond recognition of an arbitral obligation, engage the court's own coercive jurisdiction, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • Series

    Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

  • Reel Justice: 'Obsession' And The Importance Of Precision

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    In “Obsession,” the main character’s failure to define the limits of his wish results in an unexpectedly horrifying outcome, highlighting for attorneys why careful word choice is essential not only in briefs, but also in charging decisions, statutory interpretation and all stages of criminal litigation, says Veronica Finkelstein at Widener-Delaware Law.

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