White Collar

  • June 02, 2025

    1st Circ. Partially Revives 'Varsity Blues' Conviction

    The First Circuit has reinstated one of the two convictions against a former University of Southern California coach in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions case, saying a federal district court "did not explain" its decision to wipe out the entire verdict.

  • June 02, 2025

    Immunity Shields Mich. AG From Flint Water Prosecution Suit

    A Michigan federal judge has dismissed a wrongful prosecution lawsuit brought by a former aide to ex-Gov. Rick Snyder against the Michigan attorney general and Wayne County prosecutors, ruling that immunity shields the prosecutors from liability over their handling of charges against officials in the aftermath of the Flint water crisis.

  • June 02, 2025

    Ex-Par Funding CFO Sentenced To 5½ Years, Must Pay $303M

    Joseph Cole Barleta, the last of the triumvirate behind the $404 million Par Funding investment scam to be sentenced, was handed a 66-month prison term Monday, along with a staggering $303 million restitution order.

  • June 02, 2025

    Justices Won't Review Ex-Temple Biz Dean's Fraud Conviction

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the fraud conviction of Moshe Porat, the former dean of the Temple University Fox School of Business, who was accused of falsely inflating the school's stats to boost its rankings in U.S. News & World Report.

  • May 30, 2025

    Kousisis May Boost Fraud Cases, But Questions Remain

    The U.S. Supreme Court's finding that inducing a transaction through lies, even with no intent of economic loss, is a valid basis for a wire fraud conviction opens the door for a wave of aggressive fraud prosecutions, but unanswered questions on issues like materiality may lead the court to again consider reining in the government's power.

  • May 30, 2025

    Pharma Co. Hid Cancer Study Method Problems, Investor Claims

    Biotechnology company UroGen Pharma Ltd. and three current and former executives are facing a proposed investor class action in New Jersey federal court alleging the company failed to disclose methodology flaws affecting a study of its lead drug candidate that ultimately doomed its bid for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.

  • May 30, 2025

    SEC's Staking Guidance Ignores Court Rulings, Crenshaw Says

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's dismissal of its lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance paved the way for its staff's same-day statement that many "staking" services are no longer subject to agency jurisdiction, according to the SEC's sole Democrat, who criticized the move as conflicting with a pair of court decisions the agency won.

  • May 30, 2025

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    Saying that June's circuit court calendars include important arguments in all practice areas would be hyperbolic — but just slightly. That's because significant showdowns are imminent involving appellate procedure principles, "click-to-cancel" rules, government procurement protests, judiciary employment protections and litigation risk insurance — as well as President Donald Trump's felony convictions and extraordinary deportation measures.

  • May 30, 2025

    Tornado Cash Judge Won't Order Review Of Feds' Evidence

    A New York federal judge said Friday that she won't direct federal prosecutors to conduct a review for additional evidence in their case against Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm despite the defense's claims that a recent disclosure in a separate crypto mixer prosecution could impact Storm's defense.

  • May 30, 2025

    Ex-Mich. Speaker, Wife To Face Nonprofit Embezzlement Trial

    Former speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives Lee Chatfield and his wife on Friday were sent to circuit court to stand trial on allegations that the former speaker misused state and campaign funds, and that the pair embezzled money from Chatfield's nonprofit to pay for their lifestyle.

  • May 30, 2025

    Fla. Trucking Co. Exec Gets 23 Years For Duping 1,600 People

    A Florida federal judge on Friday sentenced the former president of a trucking and logistics company to 23 years in prison for defrauding more than 1,600 people who invested millions of dollars in purchasing big-rig vehicles, calling the crime "a classic Ponzi scheme of staggering scale."

  • May 30, 2025

    Convicted Crypto Investor's Wife Says Gov't Can't Seize Funds

    The wife of a bitcoin investor sentenced to prison for concealing millions of dollars from the IRS asked a Texas federal court Friday to stop the federal government from taking her money to help make up for $1 million in restitution stemming from his cryptocurrency sales.

  • May 30, 2025

    DHS Moves To Ax BigLaw Firm's Halkbank FOIA Dispute

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security urged a D.C. federal judge to end Williams & Connolly LLP's fight for records related to a businessman who cooperated with prosecutors in their pending case alleging the firm's client Halkbank laundered Iranian oil proceeds, arguing Thursday officials searched for responsive records, but nothing turned up.

  • May 30, 2025

    Ga. Panel Ends County Workers' Whistleblower Suit

    A Georgia appellate panel said that Fulton County should have been handed an early win in a whistleblower suit from two ex-employees who said they were canned for reporting corruption by an elected official, ruling the county was justified in firing them for their own financial indiscretions.

  • May 30, 2025

    Dissident Intelligence Worker Arrested Over Leak Attempt

    Federal officers arrested a Defense Intelligence Agency info technology specialist who has criticized the Trump administration on criminal charges alleging he provided classified information to an undercover FBI agent posing as a foreign government official in exchange for foreign citizenship, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

  • May 30, 2025

    OFAC Sanctions Philippine Biz, Alleging Role In Cyber Scams

    The Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned a Philippines-based technology company for allegedly providing computer infrastructure to "hundreds of thousands" of websites involved in virtual currency scams, according to a statement.

  • May 30, 2025

    Oklahoma Overrides Veto To Fund Indigenous Missing Cases

    The Oklahoma Legislature has voted to override Gov. Kevin Stitt's veto of a bill that would allow state funding to address the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous persons, with the overrides winning overwhelming approval in both the state House and Senate.

  • May 30, 2025

    Prosecutors Bet On Diddy's Ex-Workers To Build RICO Case

    Witnesses who worked for Sean "Diddy" Combs and saw his alleged abuses are a crucial component of federal prosecutors' racketeering case against the music icon, legal experts told Law360, as testimony from another anguished former worker came into the high-profile trial on Friday. 

  • May 30, 2025

    Ex-Ohio Mayor, Councilman Found Guilty In Corruption Trial

    An Ohio state jury has convicted a former Ohio mayor and a member of the same town's City Council of multiple corruption-related felonies and misdemeanors, and each man has been barred from public office for seven years.

  • May 30, 2025

    Trump Admin To Defend Biden's For-Profit College Loan Rule

    The Trump administration will defend parts of a Biden-era U.S. Department of Education rule allowing students to have their federal loans forgiven over their college's misconduct, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to resume briefing in a case that will pit the administration against the for-profit college industry.

  • May 30, 2025

    Former Pfizer Atty, Motley Rice Adviser Joins DiCello Levitt

    A former Pfizer vice president and assistant general counsel, who last June entered into a consulting agreement with Motley Rice LLC, is joining DiCello Levitt as a partner as part of the firm's Washington, D.C., public client practice group, the firm recently announced.

  • May 30, 2025

    Ex-NJ Councilman Cops To Taking Bribe From Town Atty

    A former member of a New Jersey borough council pled guilty to pocketing a $7,000 bribe to help grease the wheels for an attorney's reappointment as municipal counsel, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability announced Friday.

  • May 30, 2025

    Off The Bench: NASCAR V. Crypto, Puig Doc, NCAA Eligibility

    In this week's Off The Bench, NASCAR beats defamation claims from a cryptocurrency founder regarding the spurious value of the coin, former MLB star Yasiel Puig sues the media companies behind a series documenting his entanglements in a federal gambling probe, and a Seventh Circuit panel appears receptive to the NCAA's defense of its eligibility rules.

  • May 30, 2025

    Tax 'Magician' Gets 4 Years For $145M Return Fraud

    A tax preparer who falsified returns to the tune of $145 million in tax losses to the federal government was sentenced to four years in prison — half of what prosecutors had pushed for — after telling a New York federal court that he meant to help poor customers.

  • May 29, 2025

    Ex-MLBer Sues TNT And Warner For 'Dirty Moneyball' Doc

    Former Major League Baseball All-Star Yasiel Puig sued Turner Broadcasting, Warner Media and others for defamation in California state court Wednesday over his depiction in an episode of a documentary series stating he was awaiting trial on gambling charges, when the charges allege false statements and obstruction.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Hiring Former Jurors As Consultants Can Be Risky

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    The defense team's decision to hire former juror Victoria George in the high-profile retrial of Karen Read shines a spotlight on this controversial strategy, which raises important legal, ethical and tactical questions despite not being explicitly prohibited, says Nikoleta Despodova at ND Litigation.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw

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    While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.

  • Combs Case Reveals Key Pretrial Scheduling Strategies

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    The procedural battles over pretrial disclosure deadlines leading up to the criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs show how disclosure timing can substantially affect defendants’ ability to prepare and highlight several scheduling pointers for defense counsel, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

  • Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them

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    Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Is Latest Signal Of Shaky Qui Tam Landscape

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    In his recent concurring opinion in U.S. v. Peripheral Vascular Associates, a Fifth Circuit judge joined a growing list of jurists suggesting that the False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, underscoring that acceptance of qui tam relators can no longer be taken for granted, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Foreign Countries Have Strong Foundation To Fill FCPA Void

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    Though the U.S. has paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, liberal democracies across the globe are well equipped to reverse any setback in anti-corruption enforcement, potentially heightening prosecution risk for companies headquartered in the U.S., says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.

  • How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients

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    Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • A Tale Of Two Admins: Parsing 1st Half Of SEC's FY 2025

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    The first half of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fiscal year 2025, which ended March 31, was unusually eventful, marked by a flurry of enforcement actions in the last three months of former Chair Gary Gensler's tenure and a prompt pivot after Inauguration Day, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • How Attorneys Can Make The Most Of A Deposition Transcript

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    With recent amendments to federal evidence rules now in effect, it’s more important than ever to make sure that deposition transcripts are clear and precise, and a few key strategies can help attorneys get the most out of a transcript before, during and after a deposition, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • Getting Ahead Of The SEC's Continued Focus On Cyber, AI

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is showing it will continue to scrutinize actions involving cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, but there are proactive measures that companies and financial institutions can take to avoid regulatory scrutiny going forward, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • 3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims

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    Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.

  • IRS And ICE Info Sharing Could Drive Payroll Tax Enforcement

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    Tax crimes are historically difficult to prosecute, but the Internal Revenue Services’ recent agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share taxpayer records of non-U.S. citizens could be used to enhance payroll tax-related enforcement against their employers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

  • A New Tool For Assessing Kickback Risks In Health Marketing

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    The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in U.S. v. Sorensen, reversing a conviction after trial of a durable medical equipment distributor, highlights two principle considerations for determining whether payments to marketers in healthcare are unlawful under the Anti-Kickback Statute, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Crunching The Numbers Of Trump SEC's 1st 100 Days

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    During the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought significantly fewer stand-alone enforcement actions than at the beginning of the Biden and the first Trump administrations, with every one of the federal court complaints including allegations of fraudulent conduct, say attorneys at Dentons.

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