White Collar

  • October 08, 2024

    Ropes & Gray Attys Chided For Wielding Excessive Footnotes

    A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday struck a summary judgment motion penned by Ropes & Gray LLP lawyers representing Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a challenge to the government's interpretation of the Anti-Kickback Statute, finding that the filing improperly employed "excessive" footnotes to circumvent page limitations.

  • October 08, 2024

    Ex-Cop Guilty Of Excessive Force After Officers Testify

    A federal jury in Indianapolis has convicted a former New Castle, Indiana, police officer of excessive force and witness tampering after a series of incidents in which prosecutors said he assaulted a suspect and two imprisoned persons, then lied to a state police detective.

  • October 08, 2024

    OneCoin Co-Conspirator Wants No Prison For Laundering Plea

    A business consultant and investor who pled guilty to laundering approximately $35 million as part of the global OneCoin cryptocurrency scam has asked a New York federal judge for a probationary sentence and a minimal fine, arguing that he had a minor role in the scheme compared to other defendants and has lived an otherwise law-abiding life.

  • October 08, 2024

    FTX's Ellison To Give Up 'Substantially All Of Her Assets'

    Former FTX insider Caroline Ellison agreed to give up "substantially all of her assets" and cooperate with the FTX bankruptcy estate in a deal to resolve the claims against her in an adversary proceeding that sought to recover hundreds of millions of dollars from the collapsed crypto exchange's former leadership.

  • October 08, 2024

    Neb. Officials Cast Doubt On Medical Pot Legalization Effort

    Nebraska state officials are alleging that signatures gathered by activists trying to put medical marijuana legalization on the ballot may be invalid because of purported irregularities and have asked a state judge to determine whether to void the legalization effort.

  • October 08, 2024

    Exporting Chips To China Doesn't Merit 7 Years, 9th Circ. Told

    Counsel for a former UCLA electrical engineering professor urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to reduce his seven-year prison sentence for illegally exporting high-powered semiconductor chips to China, saying the conduct did not amount to an evasion of national security controls.

  • October 08, 2024

    Convicted Fla. Atty Suspended Over Theft In Court Clerk Post

    The Florida Supreme Court has suspended the law license of the onetime clerk of courts for Jefferson County after he was convicted of grand theft and sentenced to 18 months behind bars.

  • October 08, 2024

    Pa. Judge Misused COVID Funds To Pay Firm Staff, Feds Say

    A York County Common Pleas judge faces more than 30 federal counts, including fraud, witness tampering and obstruction of justice, over allegations of using federal unemployment benefits to pay staff members of his law office while they remained employed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • October 08, 2024

    Calif. Tax Preparer Gets 6 Years For $28M Scheme

    The owner of a California tax preparation business who helped customers create sham companies was sentenced to six years in prison for a decadelong scheme that caused a tax loss of at least $28 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 08, 2024

    Mass. High Court Won't Loosen Bail Rules In Rape Cases

    Massachusetts' highest court ruled Tuesday that a provision in state law allowing judges to deny bail to defendants charged with crimes involving physical force applies to rape cases, rejecting an argument on behalf of an accused serial rapist seeking release from custody.

  • October 08, 2024

    Ex-FDNY Safety Chief Cops To Taking Bribes For Inspections

    A Staten Island firefighter who headed the New York City Fire Department's office tasked with fire prevention told a Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday he took thousands of dollars in exchange for speedier safety checks, pleading guilty to bribery conspiracy.

  • October 08, 2024

    Ex-Aide To NYC Mayor Charged With Witness Tampering

    Manhattan federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a former aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams with witness tampering and destroying evidence, alleging he told five witnesses to lie to FBI agents investigating his boss.

  • October 07, 2024

    9th Circ. Eyes 'Justiciability' Of Ex-Rabobank Exec's OCC Row

    A Ninth Circuit panel Monday signaled doubts about a former Rabobank executive's challenge to enforcement proceedings that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency abruptly abandoned last year, flagging key mootness concerns while still expressing some unease with the agency's handling of the matter.

  • October 07, 2024

    Seinfeld-Inspired Investors Sue Bitwise Over $2M Crypto Losses

    A group of family-owned investment companies named after a gag from "Seinfeld" sued crypto asset manager Bitwise and its executives for allegedly duping them into staying invested in one of its funds as it sought a conversion to a less-preferable structure, causing them $1.9 million in losses.

  • October 07, 2024

    Activist Short Seller Blasts 'Preposterous' SEC Fraud Suit

    The founder of Citron Research, a newsletter for short sellers, has asked a California federal court to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fraud suit against him and his investment advisory firm, arguing the suit "strategically omits" the disclaimers it accused the founder of not making.

  • October 07, 2024

    Morgan Lewis Taps SEC Enforcement Vet As DC Partner

    Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced on Monday that it has bolstered its securities enforcement and litigation team by hiring as a new partner the former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission division of enforcement associate director, a 17-year agency veteran who supervised many of the SEC's groundbreaking or noteworthy crypto actions, including one against Kim Kardashian.

  • October 07, 2024

    Ex-Las Vegas Politician Convicted For Statue Funding Fraud

    A federal jury in Las Vegas has found a former city council member and ex-state assemblyperson guilty on seven counts of defrauding donors out of $70,000 through fake plans to honor two police officers who were killed on duty.

  • October 07, 2024

    5 Decisions To Know By Outgoing Mass. Chief Judge

    Chief Massachusetts U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, who announced Monday that he will step back from full-time judicial service next summer, has presided over numerous significant cases in recent years, including a dispute over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's disgorgement powers and a birth defects suit against GlaxoSmithKline.

  • October 07, 2024

    Trio Of 1st Circ. Criminal Cases Turned Away By Top Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review three white collar cases on appeal from the First Circuit, including challenges to a cryptocurrency founder's conviction for investor theft and an Illinois attorney's fraud and money laundering conspiracy verdict.

  • October 07, 2024

    Feds Face Biggest Test Yet In Madigan Probe: Mike Madigan

    The man who was once Illinois' most influential politician heads to Chicago federal court this week to stand trial on charges that he led a criminal enterprise for nearly a decade, amassing power and benefits for himself, his law firm and his allies. The stakes for prosecutors are higher than ever as they face the elected official at the center of their Illinois corruption probe.

  • October 07, 2024

    Sparring With Adams, Feds Shadowbox The Supreme Court

    The corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams may be the next front in an ongoing clash between federal prosecutors' desire to police official misconduct and a line of U.S. Supreme Court cases holding that alleged graft does not always amount to a federal crime.

  • October 07, 2024

    Ex-CEO Of Tribal Telecom Co. Indicted For $500K Fund Theft

    A former executive with a telecommunications company owned by the Yurok Tribe has been indicted by a San Francisco federal grand jury on charges she embezzled more than $500,000 from the tribe.

  • October 07, 2024

    Man Who Faced Espionage Case Gets Probation Over Taxes

    A Chinese engineer initially accused of illegally exporting documents on military aircraft to China was given probation and fined for failing to report about $1.4 million in business income by a Texas federal court after the government dropped its export charges.

  • October 07, 2024

    Mich. Judges Ask If 'Deplorable' Robocalls Actually Criminal

    A Michigan appeals court panel is considering for a second time whether two conservative activists can be criminally prosecuted for running a misinformation campaign that one judge on Monday called "deplorable," after the state Supreme Court narrowed the reach of the law they were charged with violating. 

  • October 07, 2024

    Manafort Associate's Bribery Case Won't Get Top Court Look

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the case of a former bank CEO who had argued the Second Circuit's decision to uphold his conviction for bribing former Donald Trump staffer Paul Manafort wrongly criminalized even the smallest of benefits a bank executive receives from a customer.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices' 'Blind Mule' Ruling Won't Change Defense Strategy

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Diaz v. U.S., holding that expert witnesses can testify broadly about the mental state of “most people” in a group, simply affirms the status quo for the majority of defendants, and is unlikely to change defense counsel’s strategy at trial, says Walter Gonçalves at the Arizona Federal Public Defender's Office.

  • 4 Steps To Repair Defense Credibility In Opening Statements

    Author Photo

    Given the continued rise of record-breaking verdicts, defense counsel need to consider fresh approaches to counteract the factors coloring juror attitudes — starting with a formula for rebuilding credibility at the very beginning of opening statements, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Del. Bankruptcy Ruling Will Give D&O Insureds Nightmares

    Author Photo

    In Henrich v. XL Specialty Insurance, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court recently found that a never-served qui tam claim had been "brought" before a D&O policy's retroactive date, thereby eliminating coverage, and creating a nightmare scenario for directors and officers policyholders facing whistleblower claims, says David Klein at Pillsbury.

  • Prejudicial Evidence Takeaways From Trump Hush Money Trial

    Author Photo

    The Manhattan District Attorney's Office's prosecution and conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts provides a lesson on whether evidence may cause substantial unfair prejudice, or if its prejudicial potential is perfectly fair within the bounds of the law, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Lower Courts May Finally Be Getting The Memo After Ciminelli

    Author Photo

    A year after the U.S. Supreme Court again limited prosecutors' overbroad theories of fraud in Ciminelli v. U.S., early returns suggest that the message has at least partially landed with the lower courts, spotlighting lessons for defense counsel moving forward, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

    Author Photo

    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • A Framework For Investigating Commercial Loan Fraud

    Author Photo

    As commercial loan transactions are increasingly subject to sophisticated fraud schemes, lenders must adopt dynamic strategies to detect, investigate and mitigate these schemes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

    Author Photo

    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • 3 Surprising Deposition Dangers Attorneys Must Heed

    Author Photo

    Attorneys often do not think of discovery as a particularly risky phase of litigation, but counsel must closely heed some surprisingly strict and frequently overlooked requirements before, during and after depositions that can lead to draconian consequences, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

    Author Photo

    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

    Author Photo

    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

    Author Photo

    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

    Author Photo

    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination

    Author Photo

    The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the White Collar archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!