White Collar

  • July 23, 2025

    Feds Seek 15 Months For Lobbyist Over Madigan Scheme

    Federal prosecutors have urged an Illinois federal judge to sentence ex-ComEd lobbyist Jay Doherty to one year and three months in prison for his "critical role" in a scheme to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, whose associates were paid as "subcontractors" under Doherty's lobbying contract with the utility even though they did little to no work.

  • July 23, 2025

    Operators Of Streaming Site Jetflicks Sentenced Up To 7 Years

    Five people convicted last year of running an illegal streaming website called Jetflicks have been sentenced by a Nevada federal judge, with one receiving seven years in prison and three others receiving shorter terms.

  • July 23, 2025

    Indiana CPA Gets 3 Years In Royalty Payment Tax Scheme

    An Indiana accountant received a three-year prison sentence for willfully preparing tax returns for clients who inappropriately claimed millions of dollars worth of business deductions based on false royalty payments made for using intellectual property, according to federal prosecutors.

  • July 23, 2025

    Unlicensed $1M Crypto Exchange Operator Pleads Guilty

    A 56-year-old Connecticut man has pled guilty to charging fees for swapping more than $1 million in cash, checks and money orders for cryptocurrency at a West Haven business that didn't obtain a license from the state banking commissioner.

  • July 23, 2025

    US Says It's Immune In Booz Allen Worker Tax Info Leak Suit

    A proposed class action seeking to hold the federal government and its contractor Booz Allen Hamilton responsible for a leak of thousands of wealthy people's tax returns, including President Donald Trump's, cannot move forward against the U.S., the government argued Wednesday, saying it's immune from the suit.

  • July 23, 2025

    Judge Cites 'Frankenstein' In Ruling On Human Remains Case

    An oddities shop owner failed to convince a Pennsylvania federal judge that buying and selling human remains does not amount to transporting stolen goods and that charges against her should be dismissed, with the judge reasoning that the body parts fit the legal definition of stolen property.

  • July 23, 2025

    NJ Power Broker Blasts AG's Bid To Revive RICO Case

    Garden State power broker George E. Norcross III on Wednesday urged a New Jersey appeals court to affirm the dismissal of the state's explosive racketeering indictment, arguing the trial court was right to toss the charges because there are no factual allegations in the indictment that amount to a crime.

  • July 23, 2025

    Takeaways From The US Attorney Role Tumult In New Jersey

    The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey was thrown into turmoil Tuesday with a leadership dispute that remained open Wednesday, teeing up a battle between the White House and the Garden State's senators on Capitol Hill.

  • July 23, 2025

    CFTC Settles With Puerto Rico-Based Gas Futures Trader

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a Puerto Rico-based natural gas futures trader on Wednesday announced that they had reached a settlement, ending the agency's suit alleging that the trader used nonpublic information to make profitable energy trades.

  • July 23, 2025

    2nd Circ. Orders Review Of Sealed Epstein Case Docs

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday vacated rulings denying requests to unseal materials in a defamation case tied to deceased financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, ordering a New York district court to review certain filings after determining they're considered judicial documents and presumed to be public.

  • July 23, 2025

    Apple Tells 9th Circ. Birthright Ruling Scraps Epic's Injunction

    Apple Inc. told the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in litigation challenging President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order means that a nationwide injunction and civil contempt order in Epic Games Inc.'s antitrust case over Apple's App Store policies cannot stand.

  • July 23, 2025

    Rising Star: Sullivan & Cromwell's Jacob Croke

    Jacob Croke helped Sullivan & Cromwell LLP locate and recover billions of dollars worth of missing assets left over from the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, earning him a spot among the white collar law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 23, 2025

    Judges Order Abrego Garcia's Release, Bar ICE Detention

    A Tennessee federal judge ruled Wednesday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is facing human smuggling charges after he was mistakenly deported and then returned, can be released, following which a Maryland judge quickly barred him from being taken into immigration custody.

  • July 23, 2025

    Feds Launch Forfeiture Suit For $7M In Fraud-Linked Crypto

    The acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington said she is pushing for the forfeiture of about $7 million in cryptocurrency assets seized as part of an investigation into an oil and gas investment fraud scheme.

  • July 23, 2025

    Ex-SDNY Civil Rights Unit Chief Joins Boies Schiller

    A former high-ranking federal prosecutor in Manhattan who oversaw the recent criminal trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs has joined Boies Schiller Flexner LLP as a partner in its New York office, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • July 22, 2025

    FCA Draws Heavy Constitutional Fire After $1.6B J&J Verdict

    Reeling from a record fraud verdict tied to drug promotion practices, Johnson & Johnson is pursuing a sweeping constitutional challenge to the False Claims Act, and in filings this week at the Third Circuit, major industry allies rallied behind its views of whistleblower litigants usurping executive branch power.

  • July 22, 2025

    Engineer Cops To Stealing Missile Tracking Tech To Aid China

    An engineer who worked at a tech company admitted in California federal court to stealing trade secrets regarding nuclear missile detection used by the U.S. government after previously seeking to help the People's Republic of China with its military research, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • July 22, 2025

    SEC Says Ariz. Man Traded On Pal's Divulged Merger Info

    An Arizona man has agreed to pay the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission nearly $168,000 to resolve claims he engaged in insider trading of a trucking company's shares after a friend who worked for the company's competitor informally mentioned his employer's secret acquisition talks.

  • July 22, 2025

    Convicted Crypto Hacker Used Tornado Cash To Aid Coverup

    A former Amazon engineer who was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting to stealing approximately $12 million from cryptocurrency exchanges testified Tuesday that he used Tornado Cash as part of a complex scheme to cover his hacking activities, as the trial of its co-founder entered its second week.

  • July 22, 2025

    OCC Defends Ex-Wells Fargo Exec's $10M Fake Accounts Fine

    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has urged the Eighth Circuit to uphold a $10 million penalty and industry ban against a former Wells Fargo risk executive for her role in the bank's fake accounts scandal, arguing her post-Jarkesy claims rest on a "fundamental misconception" of the Constitution.

  • July 22, 2025

    CFTC Denied Early Win In $185M Metals Fraud Suit

    A Texas federal judge has denied summary judgment to both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and two individual defendants in a fraud suit that accuses them and their entities of ripping off more than 1,600, mostly elderly, investors and causing over $185 million in customer losses, setting the matter up for a potential trial.

  • July 22, 2025

    Sandoz Loses 'Nonsense' Bid To Avoid DOJ Deal In AGs' Case

    A Connecticut federal judge has given dozens of state attorneys general a small but important win in a sprawling price-fixing litigation against generic-drug makers, applying previous admissions of criminal wrongdoing and flatly rejecting "ridiculous" efforts by Sandoz, Taro Pharmaceuticals and a former Sandoz official to avoid that application.

  • July 22, 2025

    Fla. Woman Gets 30 Months For Nearly $1M Student Aid Fraud

    A Florida woman was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to fraud-related charges for her role in a years-long scheme enrolling fake students in low-cost colleges to steal almost $1 million in federal financial aid from the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday. 

  • July 22, 2025

    Ex-Broker Charged In $9.5M Ponzi Scheme Targeting Investors

    An ex-securities broker was indicted on one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering for allegedly orchestrating a $9.5 million Ponzi scheme involving purported bond investment opportunities and faces a parallel civil suit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • July 22, 2025

    Judge Nixes 'Ghost' Lawyer's Suit Against Ex-Employee, Atty

    A Florida judge has tossed a lawsuit that an attorney accused of ghosting and defrauding his clients brought against his former paralegal and a legal malpractice lawyer alleging they conspired to steal his clients and trash his reputation.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Volunteering At Schools Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Speaking to elementary school students about the importance of college and other opportunities after high school — especially students who may not see those paths reflected in their daily lives — not only taught me the importance of giving back, but also helped to sharpen several skills essential to a successful legal practice, says Guillermo Escobedo at Constangy.

  • Attacks On Judicial Independence Tend To Manifest In 3 Ways

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    Attacks on judicial independence now run the gamut from gross (bald-faced interference) to systemic (structural changes) to insidious (efforts to undermine public trust), so lawyers, judges and the public must recognize the fateful moment in which we live and defend the rule of law every day, says Jim Moliterno at Washington and Lee University.

  • Statistics Tools Chart A Path For AI Use In Expert Testimony

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    To avoid the fate of numerous expert witnesses whose testimony was recently deemed inadmissible by courts, experts relying on artificial intelligence and machine learning should learn from statistical tools’ road to judicial acceptance, say directors at Secretariat.

  • Remediation Still Reigns Despite DOJ's White Collar Shake-Up

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    Though the U.S. Department of Justice’s recently announced corporate enforcement policy changes adopt a softer tone acknowledging the risks of overregulation, the DOJ has not shifted its compliance and remediation expectations, which remain key to more favorable resolutions, say Jonny Frank, Michele Edwards and Chris Hoyle at StoneTurn.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Appreciating Civil Procedure

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    If you’re like me, law school’s often complex and theoretical approach to teaching civil procedure may have contributed to an early struggle with the topic, but when seen from a practical perspective, new lawyers may find they enjoy mastering these rules, says Chloe Villagomez at Foster Garvey.

  • Calif. Bar Exam Fiasco Shows Why Attys Must Disclose AI Use

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    The recent revelation that a handful of questions from the controversial California bar exam administered in February were drafted using generative artificial intelligence demonstrates the continued importance of disclosure for attorneys who use AI tools, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • The Sentencing Guidelines Are Commencing A New Era

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    Sweeping new amendments to the U.S. sentencing guidelines — including the elimination of departure provisions — intended to promote transparency and individualized justice while still guarding against unwarranted disparities will have profound consequences for all stakeholders, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Max Pressure On Iran May Raise Secondary Sanctions Risk

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    New sanctions designations announced June 6 are the latest in a slew of actions the administration has taken to put pressure on Iran’s military programs and petroleum exports that will likely increase non-U.S. businesses’ secondary sanctions risk, says John Sandage at Berliner Corcoran.

  • White Collar Archetypes: Molding Your 'Great Gatsby' Ally

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    To ensure their witnesses effectively perform the role of ally and earn jurors’ trust at trial, white collar attorneys can glean a few lessons from the narrator of “The Great Gatsby,” whose credibility with readers arises in part from his perspective as both an insider and an outsider, say attorneys at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • In 2nd Place, Va. 'Rocket Docket' Remains Old Reliable

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    The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was again one of the fastest civil trial courts in the nation last year, and an interview with the court’s newest judge provides insights into why it continues to soar, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • What FCA Liability Looks Like In The Cybersecurity Realm

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    ​Two recent settlements highlight how whistleblowers and the U.S. Department of Justice have been utilizing the False Claims Act to allege fraud predicated on violations of cybersecurity standards — timely lessons given new bipartisan legislation introducing potential FCA liability for artificial intelligence use, say​ attorneys Rachel Rose and Julie Bracker.

  • Foreign Sovereign Entities Should Heed 9th Circ. IP Ruling

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    After the Ninth Circuit recently held that four Chinese state-controlled companies were not immune from criminal indictment for alleged economic espionage, foreign sovereign-controlled entities should assess whether their operations and affiliation with their parent states qualify for sovereign immunity under the common law, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • How Attorneys Can Become Change Agents For Racial Equity

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    As the administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and law firms consider pulling back from their programs, lawyers who care about racial equity and justice can employ four strategies to create microspaces of justice, which can then be parlayed into drivers of transformational change, says Susan Sturm at Columbia Law School.

  • 5 Takeaways From DOJ's Media Compulsory Process Rules

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s new rules, making it easier for law enforcement investigating leaks to compel members of the media and third parties to disclose information, could have wide-ranging impacts, from reduced protections for journalists and organizations, to an expanded focus on nonclassified material, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Public Cos. Must Heed Disclosure Risks Amid Trade Chaos

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    Ongoing uncertainties caused by President Donald Trump's shifting stances on tariffs and trade restrictions have exponentially escalated financial reporting pressures on public companies, so businesses must ensure that their operations and accounting practices align with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's standards, say Jennifer Lee at Jenner & Block and Edward Westerman at Secretariat Advisors.

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