Criminal Contempt Of DOJ Attys Unlikely For Violating Orders

By Jack Karp

Federal judges have been floating the possibility of holding government attorneys in criminal contempt of court for violating immigration-related court orders, a potentially shocking move that scholars say is unlikely and probably less effective than civil contempt orders.

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Ex-Judge In Wis. Says ICE Prosecution Theory Has No Limits

By Britain Eakin

A former Wisconsin judge has said the government's case against her for obstructing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no limiting principle and wrongly turned her authority to manage her courtroom into a federal felony for impeding ICE.

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Former Ga. Chief Justice To Mediate Fulton Ballot Seizure

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia federal judge has tasked former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton, now a Troutman Pepper Locke LLP partner, to mediate the ongoing dispute over possession of Fulton County's 2020 election ballots after they were seized by the FBI in January.

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Wells Fargo Exits Last Outstanding Fed Enforcement Order

By Jon Hill

The Federal Reserve on Thursday closed out the rest of a 2018 enforcement order issued against Wells Fargo & Co. in the wake of its fake accounts scandal, saying the bank has met all requirements for release after nearly a decade of work.

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Hytera Fined $50M For Stealing Motorola Trade Secrets

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge on Thursday fined Hytera Communications Corp. $50 million for conspiring to steal Motorola's trade secrets but rejected the government's bid for more than $290 million in restitution on top of roughly $600 million it will pay in a parallel civil case, finding payments Hytera has made in that lawsuit offset what it owes in the criminal matter.

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Minn. Man Gets 5 Years For Jury Rigging In Fraud Case

By Parker Quinlan

A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to almost five years in prison for his role in a scheme to bribe a juror during the trial of Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which was accused of stealing $250 million in COVID-19 relief funds earmarked to provide lunches to schoolchildren.

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SEC To Settle Justin Sun Crypto Wash Trading Case

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday it has reached a settlement with Tron founder Justin Sun to end a closely watched, Biden-era enforcement action, with one of Sun's companies set to pay a $10 million penalty for allegedly facilitating wash trading of the cryptocurrency TRX.

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Pfizer Gets OK For $29M SEC Payout From Insider Case

By Katryna Perera

A New York federal judge on Thursday approved a request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Pfizer to have $29 million paid out to a Pfizer subsidiary from the roughly $75.2 million distribution left over from a $602 million insider trading deal.

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Pennsylvania Man Gets 9¼ Years, $12M Fine For Fraud Scheme

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A former Philadelphia-area businessman who admitted bilking millions from investors, business partners, and employees by holding himself out as a successful entrepreneur has been sentenced to 9¼ years in prison and ordered to pay more than $12 million in restitution to his victims. 

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Feds Oppose Early End To Supervision For Ex-Mich. Lobbyist

By Melanie Dorsey

Federal prosecutors urged a Michigan federal judge to deny a request by a former marijuana industry lobbyist convicted in a bribery scheme to end his supervised release early, arguing that simply following the rules for a short period of time does not justify shortening his sentence.

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NY Court Reverses Fraud, Unlicenced Lawyer Convictions

By Elizabeth Daley

A New York City man convicted by jury of grand larceny, scheming to defraud, criminal impersonation and practicing law without a license has had his judgments reversed by a New York state appeals court for being based on "duplicitous" charges or being against the weight of the evidence.

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Ill. Store Owner Gets 4 Years For $19M WIC Program Fraud

By Joyce Hanson

An Illinois federal judge has sentenced the owner of several Chicagoland convenience stores to a four-year term in prison for his part in a scheme to defraud a low-income food program for women and children, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced.

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9th Circ. Denies Bail Pending Nurse Wage-Fixing Appeal

By Bryan Koenig

A Ninth Circuit panel summarily refused to allow a Las Vegas home nursing executive to avoid prison while appealing the U.S. Department of Justice's first-ever criminal wage-fixing conviction.

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Tribe Says Calif. Overreached With Safety Penalties

By Crystal Owens

A California Indigenous nation is asking a federal district court to block the state's labor and safety departments from citing and enforcing civil penalties against one of its largest arms of tribal government, saying it is at risk of facing more than $200,000 in unlawful fines if the practice continues.

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How Banks Can Apply FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Relief

A recent Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit order limiting the circumstances under which banks should identify and verify beneficial owners may allow banks to tailor their approach to verification compliance, but only after reviewing customer due diligence policies and evaluating alignment with their risk profiles, say attorneys at Cleary.

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Series

Volunteering With Scouts Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Serving as an assistant scoutmaster for my son’s troop reaffirmed several skills and principles crucial to lawyering — from the importance of disconnecting to the value of morality, says Michael Warren at McManis Faulkner.

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OpenAI Practices Law Without A License, Insurer Alleges

By Lauren Berg

OpenAI is practicing law without a license, according to an insurer's lawsuit filed in Illinois federal court that alleges artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT provided faulty legal advice to a woman seeking disability benefits that led to a breached settlement and a flurry of frivolous court filings.

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Analysis

UK Law Sector's Private Equity Boom Offers Lessons For US

By Ryan Boysen

Private equity money is pouring into the U.K. legal sector, fueling a wave of consolidation in consumer-facing practices and offering a glimpse of what it could look like if outside investment in the U.S. legal industry takes off.

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Lindsey Halligan Faces Fla. Bar Investigation, Watchdog Says

By Lauren Berg

The Florida Bar is investigating Lindsey Halligan, the former interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia who pursued controversial indictments against President Donald Trump's political opponents, according to a letter the Campaign for Accountability made public Thursday.

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Troutman And Former Atty Push To Limit Scope Of Bias Trial

By Jake Maher

Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP and a former associate suing the firm for racial discrimination and retaliation this week fought over the role that charged language and calculations of financial damages should play in an upcoming trial.

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Atty's Scheduling Error Dooms Appeal In AT&T Forfeiture Suit

By Patrick Hoff

An AT&T worker can't ask the Ninth Circuit to review the dismissal of his proposed class action claiming the telecommunications company misused forfeited 401(k) funds, with a California federal judge saying his attorney's busy schedule was "one of the least compelling excuses" for filing a late appeal.

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Analysis

A Look At Four States' Tort Reform Legislation Fights

By Y. Peter Kang

There are currently four states debating whether to install business-friendly tort reform legislation or medical malpractice guardrails. The issues include a potentially brutal showdown in California over auto collision litigation and efforts in Florida to expand wrongful death liability for healthcare providers.

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Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana Judicial Nominees Advance

By Courtney Bublé

Four judicial nominees advanced out of committee Thursday along party lines, which included two for Texas.

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