Analysis

How One Law Firm Got Two Big White-Collar Wins In 48 Hours

By Phillip Bantz

The white-collar team at Dykema Gossett PLLC secured back-to-back dismissals of two criminal cases in as many days last month by challenging the government's experts, flagging discovery issues and hammering on other perceived weaknesses in the prosecutions.

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Mistrial Declared For MIT Bros In $25M Crypto Heist Case

By Stewart Bishop

The trial of two MIT-educated brothers accused of a $25 million crypto heist that capitalized on a software glitch on the Ethereum platform ended in a mistrial late Friday, after jurors made clear in an emotional note that they could not reach a unanimous verdict.

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Ex-ATL Hawks Exec Charged With Stealing $3.8M From Team

By Chart Riggall

A former finance executive with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks has been hit with federal wire fraud charges for allegedly embezzling more than $3.8 million from the team by using its American Express cards for personal expenses and doctoring expense reports to cover his tracks.

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DOJ Backs Trump In NY False-Records Conviction Appeal

By Emily Sawicki

The U.S. Department of Justice is throwing its support behind President Donald Trump's effort to overturn his New York criminal conviction for falsifying business records, filing a proposed amicus brief on Friday citing the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 2024 decision "defining the contours of a president's federal constitutional immunity from criminal prosecution."

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Fla. Judge Sentences HIV Drug Fraudster To 8 Years In Prison

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge on Friday sentenced a man to more than eight years in prison after he pled guilty to a wire fraud-related charge in connection to a roughly $100 million HIV medication fraud scheme, referencing the harm that called into question the nation's pharmaceutical drug supply. 

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AI Startup CEO Gets 1-Year Sentence For $40M Fraud

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Friday sentenced the founder of a company that purported to sell artificial intelligence-based business automation software to one year behind bars for defrauding investors in what the federal government called a "fake-it-til-you-make-it" scheme that never made it.

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MLB Pitchers Clase, Ortiz Charged In Gambling Probe

By Pete Brush

Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers took bribes in exchange for throwing pitches that influenced betting outcomes in MLB games, federal prosecutors charged in an indictment unsealed Sunday in Brooklyn.

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DOJ Starts Price-Fix Probe Of Meatpackers Amid Trump Posts

By Gina Kim

The U.S. Department of Justice announced an investigation into alleged price-fixing by meatpacking companies, following social media posts by President Trump accusing "Majority Foreign Meat Packers" of colluding to drive up prices.

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BNP Wants Plaintiffs Attys At Sudan Suit Misconduct Hearing

By Sarah Jarvis

BNP Paribas has asked a New York federal judge to compel several plaintiffs' lawyers, including the eponymous founder of Hausfeld LLP, to testify at an upcoming hearing on withdrawn allegations of misconduct by their co-counsel, following a $20 million jury verdict against BNP in a suit brought by refugees accusing the bank of helping finance atrocities in Sudan.

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Unicoin Raised $100M Off 'Worthless' Investments, Suit Says

By Emilie Ruscoe

Cryptocurrency company Unicoin faces a proposed class action accusing it of fraudulently raising $100 million on the strength of claims that it planned to issue investors asset-backed cryptocurrency tokens, overstating its asset holdings and never issuing the tokens.

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Ex-CFO Convicted Of Bilking Startup To Fund Fintech Co.

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal jury convicted a software startup's former executive of wire fraud on Friday, after prosecutors accused him of siphoning $35 million in company funds into his personal fintech project and then losing the money in a cryptocurrency collapse weeks later.

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Javice Tells Chancery JPMorgan Is Stalling Appeal Fees

By Jarek Rutz

Charlie Javice, the convicted founder of college financial aid startup Frank, has told a Delaware judge that JPMorgan Chase & Co. is effectively trying to cut off her ability to appeal her criminal conviction by refusing to advance the vast majority of her ongoing legal fees.

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Ex-Mich. Speaker's Top Aide Admits To Nonprofit Fund Theft

By Danielle Ferguson

The one-time chief of staff to former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield has pled guilty to two felony charges of misappropriating funds from nonprofit organizations and political action committees, and has agreed to testify in future proceedings.

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'It's A War, Man': Trump's Deputy AG Unloads On Judges, Bars

By Jeff Overley

The U.S. Department of Justice is in "a war" with federal judges who are "not following the law," and it is separately formulating plans to block "activist, obnoxious" bar associations from assessing ethics complaints against government lawyers, a top DOJ official said Friday.

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Jury Awards $1M In Family Feud Over Trucking Co. Assets

By Carolina Bolado

A jury in Miami awarded $1 million to the estate of a man who owned a trucking company that was stripped of its assets by family members after his death.

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Wis. Judge, Feds Push For ICE Arrest Trial Guardrails

By Tom Lotshaw

A Wisconsin state judge set to stand trial for allegedly hindering an unauthorized immigrant's arrest urged a federal judge Friday to bar Trump administration prosecutors from introducing evidence related to acts alleged in an indictment, arguing that they were all lawful.

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Del. Federal Court Won't Keep Trump's Interim US Atty In Role

By Jack Karp

Delaware's federal court will not appoint the district's current interim U.S. attorney and President Donald Trump's choice for that position to remain in the role, according to a notice from the district's chief judge.

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Acting NJ Law Division Director Gets Permanent Post

By Jake Maher

The current acting director of the Division of Law in the New Jersey Office of Attorney General took over the role in a permanent capacity Friday, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced.

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Letitia James Rips 'Unconstitutional Vindictive' Indictment

By Hailey Konnath

New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked a Virginia federal court to dismiss the indictment accusing her of mortgage fraud, slamming the federal charges as "unconstitutional vindictive and selective prosecution" ordered by Donald Trump in response to her successful civil litigation against the president and her outspoken criticism of him.

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Why Appellees Should Write Their Answering Brief First

Though counterintuitive, appellees should consider writing their answering briefs before they’ve ever seen their opponent’s opening brief, as this practice confers numerous benefits related to argument structure, time pressures and workflow, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Senate Committee To Investigate Impeachment Of Judges

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee will have a hearing next week to consider impeachment of "rogue" federal judges, according to an announcement on Monday.

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After Exit, Judge Cites White House 'Assault On Rule Of Law'

By Emily Sawicki

A Boston federal judge who recently announced his resignation has penned a public letter describing why he stepped down after four decades on the federal bench, saying he could no longer "bear to be restrained" from speaking out against the Trump administration.

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Shutdown Deal Funds Justices' Security, Public Defender Pay

By Courtney Bublé

The government funding agreement reached in the Senate on Sunday includes funding for public defenders, some of whom haven't been paid since July, and security for U.S. Supreme Court justices.

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Judge To Review Grand Jury Materials In Comey Indictment

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge said he would review grand jury materials in camera to see if any privileged information was used to secure the indictment of ex-FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying to Congress.

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Ex-Judges, US Attys Urge Axing 'Political' Indictment Of NY AG

By Lauren Berg

A bipartisan group of former federal judges and U.S. attorneys on Monday threw their weight behind New York Attorney General Letitia James' bid to dismiss the indictment accusing her of mortgage fraud, rebuking the appointment of interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan and slamming the prosecution's apparent political motivations.

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Fitch Even, Ex-Client Settle $1.2M Fee Fight

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois federal judge suspended all briefing deadlines Monday in Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery LLP's $1.2 million fee dispute with a former client and a litigation funder's CEO, following the parties' signal that they've resolved their legal issues in principle.

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Trump Pardons Giuliani, Others Accused Of Election Crimes

By Emily Sawicki

President Donald Trump has reportedly pardoned scores of lawyers accused of attempting to interfere in the 2020 election, including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman and Sidney Powell, according to a social media post created by the president's pardon attorney, Ed Martin.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's top court issued a flurry of rulings last week and heard arguments on recently passed legislation that expanded liability shields for some corporate acts while the Court of Chancery passed on another round of arguments over control of Caribbean broadcaster Caribevision.

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