White Collar

  • June 14, 2024

    Russian Businessman's Fight To Enforce $92M Award Ends

    A Russian businessman's decade-long fight to enforce a $92 million arbitral award — a dispute that spurred the U.S. Supreme Court to let him forge a new path to enforcing foreign arbitral awards — finally came to an end this week, as the parties inked a settlement on the eve of a racketeering trial.

  • June 14, 2024

    Ga. CPA Admits To Role In $1.3B Tax Fraud Scheme

    After a federal jury convicted two of his co-conspirators in a landmark conservation easement tax shelter trial last year, a Georgia accountant who'd previously denied culpability elected to change course Friday and plead guilty to two felony charges.

  • June 14, 2024

    11th Circ. Shows Insurers Preference In D&O Coverage Row

    The Eleventh Circuit appeared poised to affirm a Florida district court's finding that the successor of an insurance services firm is not owed coverage for underlying shareholder-related litigation under 2017 claims-made policies because the claims are connected to ones made under a 2016 policy.

  • June 14, 2024

    SEC Says Bahamas Firm Was Set Up To Skirt Day Trading Rules

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened its case Friday against high-frequency trading expert — and former government informant — Guy Gentile, telling jurors in Florida federal court that he set up a broker-dealer in the Bahamas specifically to evade U.S. day trading regulations designed to protect American investors.

  • June 14, 2024

    Ripple Cites Terraform Fine In Call To Limit SEC Penalty

    Ripple Labs Inc. says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent settlement with fellow crypto firm Terraform Labs, with the company agreeing to pay a $420 million civil penalty, is further proof of the "unreasonableness" of the agency's request that it be made to pay a much larger fine for activities that did not amount to fraud.

  • June 14, 2024

    NJ Officials Stiffed Transit Contractor Over Politics, AG Says

    Two board members of the South Jersey Transportation Authority have been charged for their role in allegedly blocking payments to a contractor as political retribution in a feud between a Democratic Party leader and a county commissioner, the New Jersey attorney general announced Friday.

  • June 14, 2024

    'Bless Your Heart': The Art Of Taming A Chatty Witness

    When a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official took the stand as a prosecution witness in the federal corruption trial of Sen. Robert Menendez, he took great pains to be clear and complete in his answers — so much so that prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge repeatedly asked him to talk less.

  • June 14, 2024

    2nd Circ. Suspects Paralegal's Video Leaks Were Valid Threats

    The Second Circuit on Friday seemed skeptical of a former U.S. Department of Justice paralegal's attempt to trim a 33-month sentence for helping her gang-affiliated son expose two associates who cooperated with a law enforcement probe into a 2018 robbery, questioning why the recordings at issue couldn't be considered threats.

  • June 14, 2024

    Feds Lob New Charges Over $430M Dark Web Market

    Two owners of an online marketplace known as Empire Market were hit Thursday with additional charges alleging that over a period of years they allowed users worldwide to buy and sell $430 million worth of illegal goods and services.

  • June 14, 2024

    DOJ Can't Force Retroactive FARA Registration, DC Circ. Says

    The U.S. Department of Justice can't force casino magnate Steve Wynn to retroactively register as a foreign agent because his alleged lobbying efforts on behalf of China ended years ago, a D.C. Circuit panel ruled Friday.

  • June 14, 2024

    Guo's Crypto Venture Raised 'Red Flags,' Investigator Says

    A compliance investigator at cryptocurrency wallet provider BitGo testified in Manhattan federal court Friday that he identified multiple "financial crime red flags" in the digital asset exchange promoted by Chinese dissident Miles Guo.

  • June 14, 2024

    Defense Atty Group Backs Law Firm In Guo Trustee Clawback

    The New York Council of Defense Lawyers has slammed a Chapter 11 trustee's attempt to claw back legal fees from an Empire State law firm that represented three nondebtor entities associated with bankrupt Chinese exile Miles Guo, saying it "burdens the Sixth Amendment" right to counsel.

  • June 14, 2024

    DOJ Declines To Prosecute AG Garland For Contempt

    The U.S. Department of Justice is declining to prosecute Attorney General Merrick Garland after the House voted earlier this week to hold him in contempt for not turning over audio recordings of the president and his ghostwriter speaking with special counsel Robert Hur for his investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents.

  • June 13, 2024

    Goldman Exec's 'Mind Entirely Blown' By Fake Ozy Media Call

    A former Goldman Sachs executive who was looking into taking a stake in Carlos Watson's Ozy Media testified on Thursday that she was floored during a due diligence call when it became clear that someone was impersonating a YouTube executive in an apparent effort to persuade the bank to invest in Watson's startup.

  • June 13, 2024

    Menendez Trial Delayed After Co-Defendant Gets COVID

    The bribery trial against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and associates has been halted for at least two days because co-defendant Fred Daibes has COVID-19, a judge said Thursday afternoon.

  • June 13, 2024

    Canadian Businessman Cops To Stealing Tesla Trade Secrets

    A Canadian businessman residing in China pled guilty in New York federal court to scheming to sell secret battery manufacturing technology that belongs to Tesla, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.

  • June 13, 2024

    Ex-Colo. DA Rips Current Prosecutor Over Conduct In Murder Case

    A prominent former Colorado district attorney on Thursday roundly criticized a sitting prosecutor accused of misconduct, noting her freewheeling commentary about ongoing cases led to dismissals and suggested she refused to acknowledge the team she led had been "a bunch of disorganized, sloppy lawyers." 

  • June 13, 2024

    Judge Orders $2.9M Chinese Dissident's Fund Share Sale

    A Connecticut bankruptcy judge approved a request by the Chapter 11 trustee overseeing exiled Chinese billionaire Miles Guo's case to liquidate $2.9 million in investment fund shares held by Lamp Capital LLC, a shell company whose assets the judge already determined belonged to Guo's estate.

  • June 13, 2024

    House Hearing On NY Trump Prosecutors Flirts With Chaos

    The House Judiciary Committee spiraled Thursday morning after Rep. Matt Gaetz demanded a vote to subpoena Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who charged former President Donald Trump with 34 felonies, of which he has been convicted, and the Republican chair of the committee had to call for a recess.

  • June 13, 2024

    Indicted Ex-Conn. Official Missed Gun Sale Deadline, Feds Say

    Former Connecticut state budget official Konstantinos Diamantis has missed deadlines to remove guns from his residence and claimed he couldn't locate his passport despite orders to surrender it to federal authorities while he awaits trial on bribery and extortion charges, a U.S. probation officer reported Wednesday.

  • June 13, 2024

    Feds' Forfeiture Error Won't Tank Outcome Execs' Conviction

    Outcome Health executives can't wipe out their $1 billion fraud convictions or receive a new trial despite arguing that improperly frozen assets prevented them from hiring their chosen lawyers, an Illinois federal judge said Wednesday, ruling that they waived their challenge to the forfeiture by waiting too long.

  • June 13, 2024

    Michigan Supreme Court Curbs Voter Interference Law

    The Michigan Supreme Court narrowed the reach of a law criminalizing voter intimidation Thursday due to fears it could be used to chill political speech, sending prosecutions for robocalls that aimed to suppress Black voter turnout back to an appellate panel for more review.

  • June 13, 2024

    A Chronology Of The Hunter Biden Investigation

    The story behind President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden's conviction on federal gun charges started with a gun purchase in 2018, was complicated by a laptop repair in 2019, and could bleed into an upcoming trial on federal tax charges in California in September.

  • June 13, 2024

    Rakoff Says Criminal Justice Act Attys Should Work Weekends

    Indigent defendants requiring free criminal legal advice should have access to conflict-free counsel even over the weekends, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in Manhattan said in a blistering Thursday opinion, citing a suboptimal sequence of events in a high-profile drug case.

  • June 13, 2024

    Health Co. Execs Charged In $100M Adderall Sales Scheme

    Two California digital healthcare company executives were charged in a first-of-its-kind case Thursday with scheming to sell Adderall through deceptive advertising, allegedly bringing in $100 million in illicit profits.

Expert Analysis

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • FEPA Cases Are Natural Fit For DOJ's Fraud Section

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent announcement that its Fraud Section would have exclusive jurisdiction over the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act — a new law that criminalizes “demand side” foreign bribery — makes sense, given its experience navigating the political and diplomatic sensitivities of related statutes, say James Koukios and Rachel Davidson Raycraft at MoFo.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • 2 Oil Trader FCPA Pleas Highlight Fine-Reduction Factors

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    Recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act settlements with Gunvor and Trafigura — the latest actions in a yearslong sweep of the commodities trading industry — reveal useful data points related to U.S. Department of Justice policies on cooperation credit and past misconduct, say Michael DeBernardis and Laura Perkins at Hughes Hubbard.

  • How To Use Exhibits Strategically Throughout Your Case

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    Exhibits, and documents in particular, are the lifeblood of legal advocacy, so attorneys must understand how to wield them effectively throughout different stages of a case to help build strategy, elevate witness preparation and effectively persuade the fact-finders, say Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie and Colorado prosecutor Adam Kendall.

  • Crypto Mixer Laundering Case Provides Evidentiary Road Map

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    A Washington, D.C., federal court’s recent decision to allow expert testimony on blockchain analysis software in a bitcoin mixer money laundering case — which ultimately ended in conviction — establishes a precedent for the admissibility of similar software-derived evidence, say Peter Hardy and Kelly Lenahan-Pfahlert at Ballard Spahr.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • 15 Quick Tips For Uncovering And Mitigating Juror Biases

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    As highlighted by the recent jury selection process in the criminal hush money trial against former President Donald Trump, juror bias presents formidable challenges for defendants, and attorneys must employ proactive strategies — both new and old — to blunt its impact, say Monica Delgado and Jonathan Harris at Harris St. Laurent.

  • 5 Lessons From Ex-Vitol Trader's FCPA Conviction

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    The recent Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and money laundering conviction of former Vitol oil trader Javier Aguilar in a New York federal court provides defense takeaways on issues ranging from the definition of “domestic concern” to jury instruction strategy, says attorney Andrew Feldman.

  • Mitigating Incarceration's Impacts On Foreign Nationals

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    Sentencing arguments that highlighted the disparate impact incarceration would have on a British national recently sentenced for insider training by a New York district court, when compared to similarly situated U.S. citizens, provide an example of the advocacy needed to avoid or mitigate problems unique to noncitizen defendants, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy

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    The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Del. Dispatch: Chancery's Evolving Approach To Caremark

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    Though Caremark claims are historically the least likely corporate claims to lead to liability, such cases have been met in recent years with increased judicial receptivity — but the Delaware Court of Chancery still expressly discourages the reflexive filing of Caremark claims following corporate mishaps, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Global Bribery Probes Are Complicating FCPA Compliance

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    The recent rise in collaboration between the U.S. Department of Justice and foreign authorities in bribery enforcement can not only affect companies' legal exposure as resolution approaches vary by country, but also the decision of when and whether to disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations to the DOJ, say Samantha Badlam and Catherine Conroy at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

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