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White Collar
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June 03, 2024
FTX, IRS Propose Settling $8B Tax Fight For Just $885M
FTX and the Internal Revenue Service have reached a proposed settlement worth roughly $885 million that would resolve the agency's contention that the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange operator owes $8 billion in taxes, according to a motion filed Monday in Delaware federal bankruptcy court.
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June 03, 2024
Ex-Autonomy CEO 'Had 500M Reasons' For Fraud, Jury Told
Autonomy's ex-CEO Michael Lynch "had 500 million reasons to defraud HP," since he reaped $500 million by selling his company to the tech giant at an inflated price, a federal prosecutor argued Monday during closings for the businessman's criminal trial, while Lynch's lawyer told jurors, "HP was not a victim."
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June 03, 2024
Voir Dire With No Judge Present Persists In State Courts
Data released Friday by the National Center for State Courts revealed that voir dire conducted by lawyers with no judge present in the room persists in 7% of state court trials, but has been virtually eliminated in federal courts.
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June 03, 2024
Mich. Justices Say Mid-Case Appeal Should Have Frozen Trial
The Michigan Supreme Court said Monday that a judge should not have moved ahead with a man's rape trial while an appeal of a pretrial ruling was pending before the high court, but the justices were split over whether the man deserved a new trial as a result.
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June 03, 2024
Colo. Defendants Must Show Real Need To Make DAs Testify
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled that criminal defendants must have a "compelling and legitimate need" for forcing their prosecutor to testify, concluding that a trial court judge in Boulder County was wrong to force such testimony in an assault case.
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June 03, 2024
Ex-Official Says Menendez Sparked Fear Of Ag Industry 'Harm'
A former U.S. Department of Agriculture official conceded under cross-examination Monday that a phone call he received from U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez about an acquaintance's certification business for meat exported to Egypt was like dozens he received from lawmakers advocating for their constituents, but he said it still left him worried for the industry.
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June 03, 2024
Some Racketeering Claims In $92M Award Suit Can Proceed
A Monaco bank and a Luxembourg lawyer and trust administrator must face racketeering claims accusing them of helping to hide the fortune of a Russian businessman who's on the hook for a $92 million arbitral award, a California federal judge ruled on Friday.
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June 03, 2024
Ericsson Says It Has Completed DPA Compliance Monitorship
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson announced Monday that it has completed a four-year compliance monitorship imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a deferred prosecution agreement over long-running bribery and slush fund schemes around the world.
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June 03, 2024
Chile Soccer Club Ex-Prez Says Amazon Series Defamed Him
The Amazon Prime drama series "El Presidente" defamed the former president of a Chilean football club by depicting him committing a variety of fabricated crimes related to the 2015 FIFA scandal, a new suit in Florida federal court alleged.
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June 03, 2024
NY 'No-Fault' Insurance Fraudster Gets 10 Years
A federal judge on Monday sentenced the ringleader of an insurance fraud scheme to the maximum term of 10 years in prison for what prosecutors say was a bribery-fueled, 14-year, $60 million scam that exploited New York's no-fault laws.
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June 03, 2024
Treasury Aims To Salvage Corp. Transparency Act At 11th Circ.
The Corporate Transparency Act is a valid exercise of congressional authority to curb money laundering under the commerce clause and the necessary and proper clause in the Constitution, the U.S. Treasury Department told the Eleventh Circuit on Monday in a bid to restore the law's reporting requirements.
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June 03, 2024
Epoch Times CFO Charged With $67M Laundering Scheme
The chief financial officer of the Epoch Times was charged with orchestrating a scheme to launder about $67 million of illicit proceeds to benefit himself and the newspaper, according to an indictment unsealed in New York federal court Monday.
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June 03, 2024
GAO Urges DEA To Streamline Religious Drug Use Requests
The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a new report that the nation's drug enforcement agency needs to be more transparent about its process for reviewing religious exemption requests from churches that use controlled substances as sacraments.
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June 03, 2024
Trump's NY Gag Orders Likely Lifted With Verdict
Despite claims by former President Donald Trump that he is still limited in what he can say about jurors and witnesses following his guilty verdict, the gag orders imposed on him likely evaporated at the end of the Manhattan trial, lifting a threat of further contempt if he goes on the attack ahead of his sentencing this summer.
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June 03, 2024
Tax Convictions Withstand Poor Counsel Claim, 4th Circ. Says
A North Carolina man's claim of ineffective counsel is not sufficient reason to vacate his convictions for filing false tax returns and obstructing an official proceeding in a case involving $2.1 million in unreported income sent from Bermuda entities, the Fourth Circuit ruled.
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June 03, 2024
Archegos Bets Moved Stock Prices Like A 'Magnet,' Jury Told
An economist on Monday told the Manhattan federal jury hearing charges that Archegos founder Bill Hwang perpetrated a $36 billion market distortion that his big-dollar market moves at the fallen hedge fund pulled share prices like a "magnet."
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June 03, 2024
Ga. Appeals Court May Hear Trump-Willis DQ Fight On Oct. 4
The Georgia Court of Appeals has set a tentative date of Oct. 4 to hear arguments from former President Donald Trump's lawyers that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from his election interference case over her personal relationship with the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case.
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June 03, 2024
Jury Trials Dwindle In State Courts; Fall Started Before COVID
Jury trials have continued to "vanish" from state courts, despite seeing a slight bump following the pandemic shutdowns, with 2021 seeing fewer than half the number of jury trials as 2019 and one-third the number held in 2007, according to a new report from the National Center for State Courts.
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June 03, 2024
2nd Circ. Reverses Polish Woman's Removal For Drug Offense
The Second Circuit revived a Polish immigrant's bid to cancel her deportation from the U.S., saying her drug conviction under New Jersey state law for distributing cocaine didn't qualify as an aggravated felony under a comparable federal law.
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June 03, 2024
Tax Crime Lacked 'Meeting Of Minds' With Atty, 5th Circ. Told
A Houston personal injury attorney told the Fifth Circuit on Monday that prosecutors didn't provide enough evidence at trial to show that he intentionally planned to help another lawyer evade federal income taxes as he pushed the court to vacate his conviction for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar ambulance-chasing kickback scheme.
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June 03, 2024
Skadden Adds Ex-SDNY Deputy US Attorney As Partner
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP is adding a former top federal prosecutor who recently worked on cases against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Archegos Capital Management founder Bill Hwang as a partner in New York, the firm announced Monday.
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June 03, 2024
Cozen O'Connor Hires Sidley Securities Litigator In NY
Cozen O'Connor has hired a longtime Sidley Austin LLP associate who joins the firm's New York City office to continue his practice focused on a range of securities matters, the firm announced Monday.
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June 03, 2024
DC Settles Tax Fraud Suit Against Tech Co. Founder For $40M
The District of Columbia will collect $40 million from the founder of a technology and bitcoin holding company to settle a whistleblower complaint that alleged tax fraud, the district's attorney general said Monday.
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June 03, 2024
Del. Judge Seats Federal Jury In Hunter Biden Trial Opener
A Delaware federal judge seated a jury late Monday in presidential son Hunter Biden's trial on three felony firearm charges related to his October 2018 handgun purchase while allegedly addicted to illegal drugs.
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June 03, 2024
Justices To Hear Mob Case Over 'Violent' Crimes Of Inaction
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the case of an alleged associate of New York's Genovese crime family in which the reputed mobster, and the government, argued that the justices should resolve a circuit split over whether crimes of violence can be committed through inaction.
Expert Analysis
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Securing A Common Understanding Of Language Used At Trial
Witness examinations in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump illustrate the importance of building a common understanding of words and phrases and examples as a fact-finding tool at trial, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Why Individual Officers Are BSA-AML Enforcement Targets
Banking compliance professionals should use recent enforcement actions against individual officers at both Sterling Bank and the New York State Employees Credit Union to assess whether they are equipped with the tools and authority necessary to avert deficient Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance, says Sam Finkelstein at Volkov Group.
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5 Issues To Consider When Liquidating Through An ABC
Assignments for the benefit of creditors continue to grow in popularity as a tool for an orderly wind-down, and companies should be considering a number of issues before effectuating the assignment, including in which state it should occur, obtaining tail coverage and preparing a board creditor mailing list, says Evelyn Meltzer at Troutman Pepper.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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How Harsher Penalties For AI Crimes May Work In Practice
With recent pronouncements from the U.S. Department of Justice that prosecutors may seek sentencing enhancements for crimes committed using artificial intelligence, defense counsel should understand how the sentencing guidelines and statutory factors will come into play, says Jennie VonCannon at Crowell & Moring.
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2nd Circ.'s Binance Locus Test Adds Risk For Blockchain Cos.
The Second Circuit’s recent use of the irrevocable liability test to rule a class action may proceed against decentralized crypto exchange Binance heightens the possibility that other blockchain-based businesses with domestic customers and digital infrastructure will find themselves subject to U.S. securities laws, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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NY Bond, Enforcement Options As Trump Judgment Looms
In light of former President Donald Trump's court filing this week indicating that he can't secure a bond for the New York attorney general's nearly $465 million judgment against him, Neil Pedersen of Pedersen & Sons Surety Bond Agency and Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen explore New York state judgment enforcement options and the mechanics of securing and collateralizing an appellate bond.
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Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference
Senior law enforcement officials’ statements this month at the American Bar Association's white collar crime conference suggest government enforcement efforts this year will increasingly focus on whistleblower incentives, artificial intelligence and data protection, and companies will need to update their compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
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Opinion
Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling May Spark Constitutional Crisis
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that former President Donald Trump must be reinstated to Colorado’s primary ballot endorses an unnecessarily broad legal theory of disqualification from federal office, raising constitutional questions that will only become more urgent as the next presidential election nears, says Devon Ombres at the Center for American Progress.
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Investment Advisers Should Prep For Money Laundering Regs
Investment advisers should prepare for a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed rule that would significantly expand anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism obligations by assessing illicit financing risks, and expect examiners to scrutinize unregistered advisers and those with certain foreign clients, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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What 2 Years Of Ukraine-Russia Conflict Can Teach Cos.
A few key legal lessons for the global business community since Russia's invasion of Ukraine could help protect global commerce in times of future conflict, including how to respond to disparate trade restrictions and sanctions, navigate war-related contract disputes, and protect against heightened cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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3 Litigation Strategies To Combat 'Safetyism'
Amid the rise of safetyism — the idea that every person should be free from the risk of harm or discomfort — among jurors and even judges, defense counsel can mount several tactics from the very start of litigation to counteract these views and blunt the potential for jackpot damages, says Ann Marie Duffy at Hollingsworth.
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CSA Case Could Shift Intrastate Commercial Cannabis
In Canna Provisions v. Merrick Garland, cannabis companies argue that the Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to intrastate commercial cannabis activity; the Massachusetts federal court's eventual decision will be important to the cannabis industry for several reasons, including that the threat of federal enforcement would disappear overnight, says Hilary Bricken at Husch Blackwell.