Criminal Practice

  • August 14, 2025

    Colo. Sex Offender Can't Nix Registry Over Expunged Record

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel held Thursday in a matter of first impression that an expunged juvenile sex offense can be a factor in determining lifetime registration as a sex offender, rejecting a defendant's arguments that it violates the ex post facto clause and the Eighth Amendment.

  • August 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Allows Trial For Prisoner's Excessive Force Claim

    The Fourth Circuit said Thursday that a man incarcerated in a Maryland state prison should not have had claims that he was brutalized by correctional officers summarily dismissed because a reasonable jury could find that his allegations were credible.

  • August 14, 2025

    Okla. City Fights Creek Nation Over Tribal Court Authority

    An Oklahoma city is looking to dismiss a challenge by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation that looks to block the municipality from prosecuting Native Americans for crimes committed on tribal lands, arguing that a 2022 Supreme Court ruling gives it concurrent jurisdiction with the federally recognized tribe.

  • August 14, 2025

    NJ Officials Indicted Over Alleged Political Payback Plot

    A state grand jury has indicted a current and a former board member of a New Jersey transit agency for their roles in allegedly blocking payments to a contractor as political retribution, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Thursday.

  • August 14, 2025

    Boston Bomber Asks Full 1st Circ. To Weigh Judge DQ Bid

    The convicted Boston Marathon bomber on Thursday asked the full First Circuit to consider disqualifying his trial judge from leading an investigation into potential juror bias, arguing an appellate court panel failed to assess whether post-trial public comments tainted his impartiality.

  • August 14, 2025

    Senate Democrats Urge 'Robust' Funding For US Defenders

    Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday implored congressional appropriators to ensure that the federal public defender program has adequate funding for fiscal year 2026 after budget shortfalls. 

  • August 14, 2025

    Bipartisan Lawmaker Groups Lambaste Habba's Reappointment

    A bipartisan group of current and former members of Congress on Wednesday criticized the Trump administration's appointment of acting New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, saying doing it without congressional approval is unconstitutional.

  • August 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't DQ Judge From Church Mass Shooting Case

    Hearsay evidence and conclusory allegations of impartiality are not enough to cause the Fourth Circuit to remove the federal judge presiding over white supremacist mass shooter Dylann Roof's criminal case in South Carolina, a panel of out-of-circuit judges determined in a nonprecedential ruling.

  • August 14, 2025

    Feds Urge Court Not To Toss Rep. Cuellar's Bribery Case

    Allowing U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, to escape bribery charges under the Constitution's speech and debate clause would "eviscerate" several precedents set under the provision, prosecutors told a federal judge on Thursday.

  • August 14, 2025

    DOJ Employee Fired After Alleged Sandwich Assault On Agent

    A man charged with felony assault for allegedly throwing a sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent was a member of the U.S. Department of Justice and has been fired, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday.

  • August 14, 2025

    2nd Circ. Publicly Reprimands Ghosting NY Attorney

    The Second Circuit has rebuked a New York attorney who was removed from a case for disappearing on his client while appealing criminal migrant smuggling charges, and then failing to respond to a court order for years.

  • August 13, 2025

    Mich. Panel Says Teen's 67-Year Term 'Does Not Pass Muster'

    A Michigan man who was sentenced to at least 67 years in prison for crimes allegedly committed when he was 17 will be resentenced after a state appeals court ruled the punishment was unconstitutionally long.

  • August 13, 2025

    10th Circ. Orders Redo Of 14-Year Fentanyl Sentence

    The 10th Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a man's criminal conviction for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl but ordered a Wyoming federal court to redo his sentencing, saying in a published opinion that the lower court relied on unreliable hearsay from a confidential source.

  • August 13, 2025

    Wash. Court Allows Vacated Conviction DNA To Prove Rape

    A Washington state appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a sentence of up to life in prison for a man convicted of rape, finding the state could use DNA taken from him in connection with a vacated drug conviction to match forensic evidence because state law permitted testing any sample in possession to solve crimes.

  • August 13, 2025

    Cannabis' Social Equity Efforts In Doubt After 2nd Circ. Ruling

    A Second Circuit decision Tuesday, finding that the Constitution's dormant commerce clause applies to the federally illegal marijuana industry, further constricts states' ability to implement programs intended to award so-called social equity licenses favoring those harmed by past cannabis prohibition, experts told Law360.

  • August 13, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Revive Prisoner's Suit Over Toe Amputation

    A federal prisoner who was taken off his diabetes medicine, developed an infection and lost his toe cannot sue the government or a U.S. Bureau of Prisons doctor because he still has administrative remedies available, the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • August 13, 2025

    NJ US Atty Defends Status, Says She Is 'Validly Serving'

    Acting New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba has hit back against criminal defendants who claim her contentious appointment violates the U.S. Constitution, saying everything is above board and a "lengthy period of acting service is not unusual."

  • August 13, 2025

    Texas Malpractice Case Over Atty's Nixed Conviction Revived

    A Texas state appellate court on Wednesday revived a malpractice case filed by a now-deceased attorney whose forgery conviction was vacated, saying the trial court must determine whether she was actually innocent before deciding whether her malpractice claim against her criminal defense lawyer can proceed.

  • August 13, 2025

    Convicted ComEd CEO Seeks Bond Pending 7th Circ. Appeal

    Former Commonwealth Edison and Exelon Utilities CEO Anne Pramaggiore has requested to stay out of jail while she appeals her criminal conviction and two-year prison sentence, saying her case was "far from ordinary" and that bond would keep her from serving a substantial portion of her sentence unnecessarily if the Seventh Circuit finds in her favor.

  • August 13, 2025

    2nd Circ. Says Allowing Biased Jury Strikes Can Be Strategic

    A unanimous Second Circuit panel found Wednesday that a Black man sentenced to 14 years in prison for attempted murder and other crimes cannot win release by arguing his lawyer failed to adequately object to the dismissal of Black potential jurors, saying the attorney may have been acting "strategically."

  • August 12, 2025

    DC Circ. Rules Pole-Camera Footage Doesn't Require Warrant

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday ruled that pole-mounted surveillance cameras installed by police can be accessed without a warrant by law enforcement, and upheld the conviction of a man on federal drug and firearms charges as a result of the camera footage.

  • August 12, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Consider Man's Unconstitutional Arrest Case

    A North Carolina man arrested while protesting a Confederate monument in the wake of the death of George Floyd in 2020 cannot have his arrest declared unconstitutional by a federal court, the Fourth Circuit ruled Tuesday, sending the matter back to state court for lack of jurisdiction.

  • August 12, 2025

    Terraform Founder Cops To $40B Crypto Fraud Scheme

    The founder and former CEO of Terraform Labs on Tuesday admitted to perpetrating a multibillion-dollar fraud by deceiving investors about its decentralized finance-based ecosystem of crypto products, a scheme that wiped out $40 billion in market value when it collapsed.

  • August 12, 2025

    NJ Appeals Court Clarifies Ghost Gun Law, Affirms Sentence

    A New Jersey state appeals court found in a matter of first impression that a man who bought ghost gun kits in Pennsylvania, where they are legal, could be charged when he brought the non-serialized, unlicensed weapons back to his Garden State home, affirming his three-year sentence.

  • August 12, 2025

    Ohio Court Orders Resentencing Over Disclosure Failures

    An Ohio state appeals court has ruled that a man given an indefinite sentence for a series of assaults must be resentenced after a trial court failed to adequately inform him about his sentence when it was handed down.

Expert Analysis

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • New Interpol Silver Notice Could Be Tool For Justice Or Abuse

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    Interpol has issued dozens of Silver Notices to trace and recover assets linked to criminal activity since January, and though the tool may disrupt organized crime and terrorist financing, attorneys must protect against the potential for corrupt misuse, say attorneys at Clark Hill and Arktouros.

  • Justices' Resentencing Ruling Fortifies First Step Act Tools

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Hewitt v. U.S. ruling clarifies that resentencing after vacatur must reflect the law in effect at the time of the new sentencing, ultimately strengthening the strategic tools available to defense attorneys under the First Step Act, says Benson Varghese at Varghese Summersett.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Unpacking Enforcement Challenges Of DOJ's Bulk Data Rule

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    Now fully effective, the U.S. Department of Justice's new data security program represents the U.S.' first data localization requirement ripe for enforcement, but its implementation faces substantial practical challenges that may hinder the DOJ's ability for wide-ranging or swift action, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

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    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • Opinion

    Juries Are Key In Protecting The Rule Of Law

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    Absent from the recent discourse about U.S. rule of law is the crucial role of impartial jurors in protecting the equitable administration of justice, and attorneys and judges should take affirmative steps to reverse the yearslong decline of jury trials at this critical moment, says consultant Clint Townson.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • DOJ Actions Signal Rising Enforcement Risk For Health Cos.

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's announcement of a new False Claims Act working group, together with the largest healthcare fraud takedown in history, underscore the importance of sophisticated compliance programs that align with the DOJ's data-driven approach, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • How To Strengthen A Case By Mastering Expert Witness Prep

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    A well-prepared expert witness can bolster a case's credibility with persuasive qualifications, compelling voir dire responses and concise testimony that can withstand cross-examination, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Policy Shifts Bring New Anti-Money Laundering Challenges

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    In the second half of 2025, the U.S. anti-money laundering regulatory landscape is poised for decisive shifts in enforcement priorities, compliance expectations and legislative developments — so investment advisers and other financial institutions should take steps to prepare for potential new obligations and areas of risk, say attorneys at Linklaters.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

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