White Collar

  • March 27, 2024

    Minor League Players Charged With Insider Trading

    California federal prosecutors have hit current and former minor league baseball players with claims they made profits totaling over $162,000 trading off insider information about burger chain Jack in the Box's $575 million acquisition of its fellow chain Del Taco.

  • March 27, 2024

    Justices Poised To Expand Repeat Offenders' Jury Trial Rights

    The U.S. Supreme Court appeared likely Wednesday to agree with the Biden administration and the criminal defense bar that repeat offenders have a constitutional right to let a jury decide if past offenses were sufficiently distinct to trigger lengthy prison terms under a prominent sentencing enhancement.

  • March 27, 2024

    SD Gov. Seeks Federal Funds Audit Of Tribal Law Enforcement

    South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has asked President Joe Biden's administration to conduct a thorough audit of federal funding for the state's nine Native American tribes, saying additional law enforcement resources are urgently needed on reservation lands.

  • March 27, 2024

    SEC Wins Nearly $1M Against Penny Stock Influencer

    A California man who used his large social media following to manipulate penny stock prices has been ordered to pay more than $917,000 by a federal judge who said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proved the influencer committed fraud by failing to tell his followers he was selling off the very same stocks he was urging them to buy. 

  • March 27, 2024

    Energy Co. Origis Exits Investor Suit Over Devalued Shares

    Renewable energy company Origis USA Inc. has escaped a suit by former shareholders after a New York federal judge concluded that the plaintiffs failed to show that the company was privy to an alleged scheme by its now-former CEO to induce them to sell their stakes for considerably less than the $1.4 billion they were later sold for.

  • March 27, 2024

    Cannabis Caucus Dems Urge Garland To Restore Pot Protections

    The two Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives' Congressional Cannabis Caucus blasted Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday for not reissuing "overdue" protections for marijuana businesses acting in compliance with state and tribal law.

  • March 27, 2024

    The Ohtani-Shaped Cloud Looming Over The MLB Season

    Major League Baseball opens its season in an awkward position Thursday, with Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani at the margins of a still-unfolding gambling scandal that may have limited legal blowback, but will nevertheless present existential questions for the league.

  • March 27, 2024

    Sotomayor 'Annoyed' By Supreme Court's Focus On History

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed to release some pent-up frustration Wednesday over the court's increasing focus on history and tradition when reviewing constitutional disputes, suggesting the method frequently used by the court's more conservative members isn't foolproof.

  • March 27, 2024

    PwC Hiding Key Details Of Tax Scandal, Aussie Senate Says

    PwC is hiding key details from investigators about its partners marketing confidential drafts of tax laws to top U.S. firms, waited years to review the matter internally and does not appear capable of making substantive reforms, an Australian Senate committee said Wednesday.

  • March 27, 2024

    Imprisoned Bitcoin Fraudster Fights Loss Amount At 7th Circ.

    A Nigerian man serving eight years in prison for carrying out an $8 million bitcoin fraud scheme told the Seventh Circuit on Wednesday that he should be resentenced because a lower court incorrectly considered $46 million in intended losses while determining his sentencing range.

  • March 27, 2024

    Ex-NJ Corrections Officer Admits To Scamming $600K

    A former New Jersey corrections officer has admitted to orchestrating two fraud schemes, including an alleged cryptocurrency scam that resulted in losses of more than $600,000, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey has announced.

  • March 27, 2024

    Coinbase Denied Early Victory Over SEC Enforcement Action

    A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday rejected crypto exchange Coinbase's bid to defeat the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's claims that it operated as an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency.

  • March 27, 2024

    Ex-Mich. AG Hopeful Can't Show Bias In Criminal Election Case

    A Michigan attorney who advanced baseless 2020 election conspiracy claims must face charges he tampered with voting machines, after a judge said Wednesday that the lawyer's previous failed suit against the state demanding an election audit did not make prosecutors biased.

  • March 27, 2024

    Feds Say Murdaugh Lied, Broke Plea Deal Over $9M Fraud

    Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina attorney serving a life sentence for killing his wife and son, was dishonest with the government and should potentially face a harsher prison sentence than the one proposed in a plea agreement on federal charges of stealing at least $9 million from clients, prosecutors said. 

  • March 27, 2024

    Misconduct In 'Fat Leonard' Case Sinks 3 More Guilty Pleas

    Alleged prosecutorial misconduct has set up three more defendants charged in relation to the U.S. Navy's "Fat Leonard" scandal to yank their original guilty pleas so they can plead guilty to much less serious charges.

  • March 27, 2024

    Rosen Tells Ethics Panel Jeffrey Clark Was 'Out Of Bounds'

    Former acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen testified Wednesday that his onetime subordinate, former U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Clark, went far beyond the scope of his duties in the final days of the Trump administration, as Clark faces disciplinary charges from a Washington, D.C., attorney ethics panel.

  • March 27, 2024

    Advice-Of-Counsel Defense Curbed From NC Tax Fraud Trial

    Two St. Louis attorneys and a North Carolina insurance agent can't fall back on advice-of-counsel defenses during their upcoming tax fraud trial after a federal judge found that they had failed to follow court orders requiring them to hand over information about the advice they sought.

  • March 27, 2024

    Real Estate Exec Asks To Toss Shareholder's Self-Dealing Suit

    The president of a real estate management and investment firm asked a California federal court to toss a derivative shareholder suit accusing him of misusing nearly $35 million of company revenue in various ways, including hiring a business he owned with his mistress.

  • March 27, 2024

    Jury Convicts Ex-LA Official Chan In City Hall Bribery Scandal

    A California federal jury on Wednesday convicted former Los Angeles deputy mayor Raymond Chan of racketeering conspiracy, honest services wire fraud and bribery stemming from his role linking corrupt public officials with wealthy developers in the so-called CD-14 Enterprise.

  • March 27, 2024

    Atlanta Immigration Firm Accused Of Not Paying Paralegal OT

    An Atlanta immigration law firm is facing a lawsuit in Georgia federal court from a paralegal who says he was misclassified as an independent contractor and denied overtime pay, despite routinely working upward of 40 hours per week.

  • March 27, 2024

    Ex-SDNY Clerk Can't Skirt Prison For Bribe Plot, Feds Say

    Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York pushed back on a former court clerk's request for no prison time after he was convicted of scheming to refer clients to a defense attorney for kickbacks, calling for a sentence of 41 to 51 months.

  • March 27, 2024

    Terraform Loses Mistrial Bid After Rakoff Query About 'Lying'

    Manhattan U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Wednesday rejected a mistrial bid by counsel for Terraform Labs and creator Do Kwon centering on the judge's move to ask an investor if the bankrupt crypto startup had disclosed potential risks about "lying" to the public.

  • March 27, 2024

    Ex-Barclays, Citi Traders Lose Interest Rate-Rigging Appeals

    Two former traders convicted of manipulating benchmark interest rates lost their bid to clear their names on Wednesday as an English appellate court ruled that they had received fair trials. 

  • March 26, 2024

    Ex-LA Deputy Mayor's Fate In Bribery Trial Goes To Calif. Jury

    Former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan connected corrupt public officials to wealthy developers for years as part of the "CD-14 Enterprise" racketeering conspiracy, a federal prosecutor told California federal jurors in closing arguments Tuesday, saying their shared goal was ensuring they "get money, keep power and avoid the Feds."

  • March 26, 2024

    Banker Describes Confidential Work In 'Shadow Trading' Trial

    An Evercore investment banker who worked on Medivation's 2016 sale to Pfizer testified Tuesday in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's novel "shadow trading" trial, saying the defendant was involved in a confidential process that identified biopharma company Incyte as comparable to Medivation — information the defendant is accused of trading on.

Expert Analysis

  • NY Bond, Enforcement Options As Trump Judgment Looms

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    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.

  • Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling May Spark Constitutional Crisis

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    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.

  • Investment Advisers Should Prep For Money Laundering Regs

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    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.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    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.

  • What 2 Years Of Ukraine-Russia Conflict Can Teach Cos.

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    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.

  • 3 Litigation Strategies To Combat 'Safetyism'

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    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.

  • CSA Case Could Shift Intrastate Commercial Cannabis

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    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.

  • How AI May Be Used In Fintech Fraud — And Fraud Detection

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    Recent enforcement actions in the fintech and finance industries show that the government is increasingly pursuing fraud enabled by artificial intelligence — at the same time it’s using AI innovations to enforce regulations and investigate fraud, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • FARA Enforcement May Soon Be In The Halls Of Higher Ed

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    Given Congress’ increased attention to rising foreign influence on U.S. college campuses, the U.S. Department of Justice may soon turn the Foreign Agents Registration Act spotlight on educational institutions and groups, which will need to review their possible obligations under the statute, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • How FinCEN Proposal Expands RE Transaction Obligations

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    Against a regulatory backdrop foreshadowing anti-money laundering efforts in the real estate sector, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's proposed rule significantly expands reporting requirements for certain nonfinanced residential real estate transfers and necessitates careful review, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • When Your Client Insists On Testifying In A Criminal Case

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    Speculation that former President Donald Trump could take the stand in any of the four criminal cases he faces serves as a reminder for counsel to consider their ethical obligations when a client insists on testifying, including the attorney’s duty of candor to the court and the depth of their discussions with clients, says Marissa Kingman at Fox Rothschild.

  • 5 Things Trial Attorneys Can Learn From Good Teachers

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    Jennifer Cuculich at IMS Legal Strategies recounts lessons she learned during her time as a math teacher that can help trial attorneys connect with jurors, from the importance of framing core issues to the incorporation of different learning styles.

  • Why Preemption Args Wouldn't Stall Trump Hush-Money Case

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    With former President Donald Trump's New York hush-money criminal trial weeks away, some speculate that he may soon move to stay the case on preemption grounds, but under the Anti-Injunction Act and well-settled case law, that motion would likely be quickly denied, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.

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