Criminal Practice

  • June 26, 2026

    Mass. Panel Revives Suit On Prison 'Anti-Racist' Book Ban

    A Massachusetts intermediate-level appeals court on Friday ruled that an incarcerated man's lawsuit can move forward alleging he was unconstitutionally denied access to a copy of "anti-racist material," despite a claim by prison administrators that the book's cover is racially charged.

  • June 26, 2026

    Exonerated Detroit Man Says Police Fabricated Murder Case

    A Michigan man who spent more than 15 years in prison before being acquitted at a new trial has sued more than a dozen Detroit police officers, alleging they fabricated evidence, hid proof that undercut the case, and coerced a wounded witness into falsely identifying him in a 2007 shooting.

  • June 26, 2026

    At Angola Farm Line Trial, An Enduring Debate Over Slavery

    A yearslong federal case over forced agricultural labor at Louisiana's Angola prison raised questions about prison labor and its ties to slavery, but ended earlier this year with a judge's refusal to halt the practice despite finding workers remained exposed to dangerous heat. Advocates say that was a mistake.

  • June 26, 2026

    To Protect And Stalk: How Some Police Misuse Plate Readers

    Police officers' abuse of public surveillance technology to stalk people in their private lives highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability when it comes to how these tools are used, say experts.

  • June 26, 2026

    Hogan Lovells Helps Abuse Survivor Reclaim Her Voice

    A sexual abuse survivor wanted to stand up in court to deliver a victim impact statement during her abuser's sentencing, but she didn't have the means to be there in person. A team from Hogan Lovells helped arrange her travel, using BigLaw resources to help a victim of a traumatic crime.

  • June 26, 2026

    Wash. Healthcare Firm's Ex-CEO Admits To Embezzling $24M

    A former chief executive officer of Washington-based Community Clinic Network has pled guilty to wire fraud in Washington federal court, admitting he drained almost $24.4 million from the healthcare company's coffers, most of which he lost in a series of poor investment decisions.

  • June 26, 2026

    Fintech Execs Tell 11th Circ. Token Wasn't Security

    Two former executives at fintech company Hydrogen Technology Corp. have asked an Eleventh Circuit panel to vacate their convictions and sentences, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support the charges that they conspired to manipulate the market for Hydrogen's digital assets.

  • June 26, 2026

    Fla. Justices 'Recede' From Opinion On Forced-Entry Evidence

    A split Florida Supreme Court has ruled that defendants must not suppress evidence obtained under a valid search warrant where officers violated the state's "knock-and-announce" laws, walking back a previous decision.

  • June 26, 2026

    NY Appeals Court Grants Hearing In Speedy Trial Fight

    A man sentenced to up to three years in prison for 2018 crimes including endangering the welfare of a child, stealing, violating an order of protection and harassment must have his trial delay claims addressed, a New York appeals court has ruled.

  • June 26, 2026

    High Court To Issue Big Decisions In Term's Final Days

    As the U.S. Supreme Court enters the final days of its term, the justices still have several major decisions to issue, including some concerning birthright citizenship, the president's power to remove independent agency officials, transgender athletes and election rules. 

  • June 26, 2026

    ATF Ends Location Data Contract After Bipartisan Push

    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives canceled a contract to obtain Americans' commercial location data without a warrant, a bipartisan pair of lawmakers announced Friday.

  • June 26, 2026

    Chiropractor Hidden Camera Suits Not Covered, Insurer Says

    An insurer has said it does not owe coverage to an Illinois chiropractor in lawsuits from patients claiming they were among nearly 200 who were secretly recorded while undressed at the chiropractor's office, saying the alleged criminal acts do not qualify as covered professional services.

  • June 26, 2026

    3rd Circ. Says Exculpatory Info Can't Undo Murder Conviction

    A man convicted of murder in 1995 can't reverse the jury's verdict based on the prosecution withholding impeachment evidence against two witnesses because he had not shown that evidence would have been likely to change the outcome of his trial, the Third Circuit ruled Friday.

  • June 26, 2026

    Palisades Fire Arson Trial Ends In Mistrial After Jury Deadlock

    A California federal judge declared a mistrial Friday morning in the government's arson case against Palisades Fire suspect Jonathan Rinderknecht, a day after the deadlocked jury told the judge that divided jurors were "dead set, unwavering and unwilling" to change their opinions.

  • June 26, 2026

    John Bolton Pleads Guilty In Classified Info Case

    Former National Security Adviser John Bolton pled guilty Friday to charges that he illegally retained classified national defense information and shared it with family members after prosecutors said that an individual associated with the Iranian government accessed classified information through a hack of his personal email.

  • June 25, 2026

    Insurance Mogul Wants Atty Access To Fight $1.6B Restitution

    A recently sentenced insurance magnate is asking a North Carolina federal court to order the federal Bureau of Prisons to grant him daily access to computers and his attorneys as he continues to fight a $1.6 billion restitution order.

  • June 25, 2026

    Epstein Files Don't Warrant Maxwell Retrial, Feds Say

    Ghislaine Maxwell's claim that the Epstein Files Transparency Act has unearthed new evidence requiring that she receive a new trial has no merit, New York federal prosecutors have told a judge.

  • June 25, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs Removals For Child Endangerment

    A federal statute allowing noncitizens to be deported over convictions for a crime of child abuse, child neglect or child abandonment can encompass endangerment situations where a child was put in danger but not hurt, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled Thursday.

  • June 25, 2026

    Palisades Fire Jury Says It Can't Agree On Arson Verdict

    Federal jurors in Los Angeles were at a standstill Thursday on whether Florida resident Jonathan Rinderknecht is guilty of setting what would later become the deadly Palisades Fire in January 2025, clarifying they "cannot reach a unanimous verdict" when asked if the court could give them any assistance.

  • June 25, 2026

    Feds Say Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Was Let Off Easy

    Both federal prosecutors and a Stephen Miller-founded public interest group believe that a Maryland federal judge let a woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh off too easy because of her gender identity and want the Fourth Circuit to order resentencing.

  • June 25, 2026

    Calif. Justices Say Custody Credits Don't Pool Across Cases

    California's top court ruled Thursday that courts are not required to credit defendants for aggregate time served before sentencing in separate cases, reversing a state appellate court decision.

  • June 25, 2026

    Wash. Resident Gets 18 Months For Russia Export Conspiracy

    The U.S. Department of Justice said a Washington state resident has received a prison sentence of 18 months on Wednesday over a scheme to flout U.S. export restrictions on Russia, after pleading guilty in New York federal court in October.

  • June 25, 2026

    Clinic Manager Asks 4th Circ. To Upend 6-Year Fraud Sentence

    A clinic manager who paid patients in gift cards is challenging her six-year prison sentence, telling the Fourth Circuit on Thursday that a federal judge failed to consider other mitigating factors when sentencing her for healthcare fraud and failing to file a tax return.

  • June 25, 2026

    NJ Justices Clarify Face Recognition Discovery Rules

    New Jersey's highest court has clarified when prosecutors are required to turn over information to defendants about facial recognition tools used as part of a criminal investigation, saying judges must examine such discovery requests on a case-by-case basis.

  • June 25, 2026

    11th Circ. Challenges Exclusion In Arson Death Dispute

    An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared skeptical of a property insurer's argument that an exclusion for a failure to maintain an apartment complex freed it from defending the owner in a wrongful death suit stemming from arson.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Speed Jigsaw Puzzling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My passion for speed puzzling — I can complete a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle in under 50 minutes — has sharpened my legal skills in more ways than one, with both disciplines requiring patience, precision and the ability to keep the bigger picture in mind while working through the details, says Tazia Statucki at Proskauer.

  • Why White Collar Juries Resist 'Honest Mistake' Defenses

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    Cases like the bribery conviction of a Cincinnati City Council member recently vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court show juries often reject “I made an honest mistake” as a white collar defense, but attorneys who understand why jurors convict defendants who made reasonable but flawed decisions can strategize around this, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • 2 AI Snafus Show Why Attys Can't Outsource Judgment

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    The recent incident involving Sullivan & Cromwell where citations in a filed motion were fabricated by artificial intelligence, as well as a punitive ruling from the Sixth Circuit in U.S. v. Farris, demonstrate that the obligation to supervise AI has belonged and always will belong to lawyers, says John Powell at the Kentucky School Boards Association.

  • DOJ Faces Key Hurdles In Proving SPLC Donor Fraud Theory

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center — on fraud and money laundering charges — illustrates the serious structural questions surrounding falsity, intent and materiality that prosecutors face when targeting donation-based fraud, say attorneys at Rogers Joseph.

  • Series

    Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

  • Improving Well-Being In Law, 10 Years After Landmark Study

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    An important 2016 study revealed significant substance abuse and mental health issues among lawyers, and while the findings helped normalize the conversation around these topics, a decade later, structural change is still needed, says Denise Robinson at PLI.

  • Reel Justice: 'No Other Choice' And Moral Rationalization

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    In the satirical thriller "No Other Choice," the main character rationalizes his decision to kill business competitors by creating a narrative of necessity, illustrating for attorneys the dangers of treating strategic litigation decisions as inevitabilities rather than choices, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.

  • 5 Trial Lessons You Learn By Losing

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    Exploring insights that are usually gained only after trial loss can expose the gaps between what we intend to communicate and what lands with the fact-finder, including why being right isn't always a win and how winning a cross‑examination can help you lose your case, says Allison Rocker at Baker & McKenzie.

  • 3 Factors Shifting Criminal Defendants' Cooperation Decisions

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    Several factors, including a recent decline in assistant U.S. attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice, new offense level changes to the sentencing guidelines and a swift uptick in presidential pardons, are prompting federal criminal defendants to rethink cooperation with the government, says Ben Schrader at Bass Berry.

  • Series

    Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On ESI Control

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    Several recent federal court decisions have perpetuated a split over what constitutes “control” of electronically stored information — with judges divided on whether the standard should turn on a party's legal right or practical ability to obtain the information, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • 2 Discovery Rulings Break With Heppner On AI Privilege Issue

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    While a New York federal court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner suggests that some litigants’ communications with AI tools are discoverable, two other recent federal court decisions demonstrate that such interactions generally qualify for work-product protection under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, says Joshua Dunn at Brown Rudnick.

  • Series

    Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Fraud Enforcement, Sentencing Face Unusual Convergence

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    The Trump administration’s newly created task force to eliminate fraud and the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s recent proposals to scale back certain elements of the federal sentencing framework seem to point in opposite directions, creating a collision of policy priorities that may reshape how fraud cases are charged, negotiated and sentenced for years to come, says David Tarras at Tarras Defense.

  • 2nd Circ. Clarifies When Prior Good Acts May Be Admissible

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    The Second Circuit's recent ruling in U.S. v. Cardenas, vacating a drug conspiracy conviction over improperly excluded evidence, indicates that evidence of prior good acts may be admissible to corroborate a defendant's testimony about their understanding of events and intent, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

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