White Collar

  • June 16, 2025

    Finance Influencer Admits To Tax Fraud In $20M Ponzi Scheme

    An Ohio social media finance influencer pled guilty to wire fraud and abetting a false tax filing tied to a $20 million real estate Ponzi scheme he was operating between 2019 and 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

  • June 16, 2025

    Judge Orders DOJ To Address Cuellar's Grand Jury Request

    A Houston judge has given prosecutors until the end of the month to address whether they should provide U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar with certain grand jury materials connected to his bribery case.

  • June 16, 2025

    Calif. Bar Panel Upholds Recommending Eastman Disbarment

    A panel of the California State Bar Court's Review Department has affirmed the March 2024 recommended disbarment of President Donald Trump's former attorney, John Eastman, over attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

  • June 16, 2025

    Fake NY Lawyer Admits To Stealing Over $290K From Clients

    A New York man admitted Monday that he posed as a lawyer to steal over $290,000 from people who thought he was doing class action, discrimination and other legal work, copping to larceny and fraud charges in state court.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ex-Mich. Worker Gets 3.5 Years For 'Awful' $1.5M COVID Fraud

    A former employee for the state of Michigan was sentenced Monday to spend 41 months in prison and pay $1.5 million in restitution, the amount of a conspiracy a federal judge called "awful" to defraud the government of money meant for unemployment assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • June 16, 2025

    Ex-Deputy AG Joins Baker McKenzie As Nat'l Security Chair

    Former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein has joined Baker McKenzie as chair of the national security practice in Washington, D.C., the firm said Monday.

  • June 16, 2025

    High Court Turns Down Influencer's Jury Right Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear the case of a social media influencer who argued his case deserved to be heard by a jury after he was convicted of a misdemeanor in a bench trial.

  • June 13, 2025

    DOJ Reveals Criminal Antitrust Probe In Fragrance Market

    The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday it is investigating potential price-fixing in the fragrance industry and asked a New Jersey federal judge for permission to intervene in litigation accusing fragrance giants of conspiring to reduce competition, saying it needs to protect the criminal investigation.

  • June 13, 2025

    Gotbit To Pay $23M For Crypto Market Scheme

    Crypto trading firm Gotbit Consulting LLC was ordered to forfeit approximately $23 million in seized cryptocurrency and sentenced to a five-year probation term in the government's suit accusing it of market manipulation, while its founder received an eight-month term.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Vinco Ventures Chair Inks SEC Deal Over Investor Fraud

    A former chairman of media and technology company Vinco Ventures Inc. who in April copped to lying about company operations and secretly ceding control of the business to his romantic partner has reached an agreement to end parallel U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations.

  • June 13, 2025

    Quinn Emanuel Drops Binance Founder Amid $8M Fraud Suit

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has withdrawn as counsel for the founder of Binance amid an $8.1 million lawsuit against him, telling a Massachusetts federal judge that the former cryptocurrency exchange executive has breached an agreement with the law firm and moved for arbitration against it.

  • June 13, 2025

    PetroSaudi Unit Liquidators Seek Pause In $380M Award Suit

    Liquidators seeking to establish control over a PetroSaudi unit that won a $380 million arbitral award asked a California federal judge to let them join U.S. Justice Department litigation targeting the award over ties to funds embezzled from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

  • June 13, 2025

    The Law Firm Loophole: How Debt Cos. Snare NC Consumers

    To get around bans in North Carolina and many other states, debt relief companies set up facade law firms — companies that are law firms in name only, with a tiny number of lawyers nominally serving thousands of clients, consumer advocates and regulators say.

  • June 13, 2025

    Investment Co.'s Ex-Officer Gets 1 Year For Role In Fraud

    A former officer for an investment company was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison Friday for the recruiting and public-facing role he played in an investment scheme that took more than $1 million from victims.

  • June 13, 2025

    Omitted Jury Instruction Tainted Fraud Trial, DC Circ. Says

    A D.C. Circuit panel ruled Friday that a new trial was warranted in a pandemic relief loan fraud case based on the trial court's inadvertent failure to instruct jurors to not draw negative conclusions from the defendant's decision not to testify.

  • June 13, 2025

    Casino Workers Say Mich. Tribe Can't Exit Data Breach Suit

    A group of casino employees are fighting a motion in Michigan federal court by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians to throw out a proposed class action involving a data breach, arguing that tribal sovereign immunity does not bar the lawsuit.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-UMich Coach Fights Default Judgment In Hacking Case

    A former University of Michigan assistant football coach accused of hacking the personal information and intimate photos of thousands of students has asked a Michigan federal judge to set aside a default entry against him, saying in the pro se filing that he was never properly served.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Attorney Cops To Tax Evasion In Massachusetts

    A former attorney pled guilty to tax evasion in a Massachusetts federal court Friday after prosecutors accused him of transferring money to his wife to hide his earnings and using his business accounts to pay for guns and jewelry.

  • June 13, 2025

    Fund Manager Reindicted In $4M Insider Trading Case

    Federal prosecutors on Friday revived a $4 million insider trading case against a former Miami asset manager who previously dodged charges after a key witness backed out of testifying against him in 2022.

  • June 13, 2025

    Con Man Galanis Can't Get $2M Back, Despite Trump Clemency

    A New York federal judge denied convicted fraudster Jason Galanis' request to halt restitution payments and recover $2.17 million in forfeited assets, ruling that President Donald Trump's reduction of his sentence applied only to future obligations.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker Madigan Gets 7½ Years For Bribery

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday sentenced former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to seven and a half years in prison and fined him $2.5 million for his conviction on bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud charges, saying his determination that Madigan perjured himself on the stand at trial impacted the stiff penalty.

  • June 13, 2025

    Celsius Founder To Drop Ch. 11 Claims After Prison Sentence

    Claims asserted by Alexander Mashinsky, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Networks, and his affiliated entities in the company's Chapter 11 case are being withdrawn and disallowed now that Mashinsky has been sentenced to prison.

  • June 13, 2025

    Pa. Home Care Agency Owner Gets Prison, $235K Restitution

    The New York-based owner of a Berks County, Pennsylvania, home care agency has been sentenced to spend a month in jail and repay $235,778 in fraudulently billed Medicaid claims, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office announced Friday.

  • June 13, 2025

    Former Oregon Federal Prosecutor Joins Stoel Rives

    Stoel Rives LLP announced that it has hired a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon as a partner in its litigation group.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Judges Slam DOJ Bid To Block Them In Wis. Judge Case

    A group of retired judges is urging a Wisconsin federal judge to deny the U.S. Department of Justice's attempt to keep them out of a criminal case against a state judge charged with hindering an arrest by immigration authorities, saying there is "neither factual nor legal support" for their amicus brief to be declined.

Expert Analysis

  • Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them

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    Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling Is Latest Signal Of Shaky Qui Tam Landscape

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    In his recent concurring opinion in U.S. v. Peripheral Vascular Associates, a Fifth Circuit judge joined a growing list of jurists suggesting that the False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, underscoring that acceptance of qui tam relators can no longer be taken for granted, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Foreign Countries Have Strong Foundation To Fill FCPA Void

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    Though the U.S. has paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, liberal democracies across the globe are well equipped to reverse any setback in anti-corruption enforcement, potentially heightening prosecution risk for companies headquartered in the U.S., says Stephen Kohn at Kohn Kohn.

  • How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients

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    Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.

  • A Tale Of Two Admins: Parsing 1st Half Of SEC's FY 2025

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    The first half of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's fiscal year 2025, which ended March 31, was unusually eventful, marked by a flurry of enforcement actions in the last three months of former Chair Gary Gensler's tenure and a prompt pivot after Inauguration Day, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • How Attorneys Can Make The Most Of A Deposition Transcript

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    With recent amendments to federal evidence rules now in effect, it’s more important than ever to make sure that deposition transcripts are clear and precise, and a few key strategies can help attorneys get the most out of a transcript before, during and after a deposition, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • Getting Ahead Of The SEC's Continued Focus On Cyber, AI

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is showing it will continue to scrutinize actions involving cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, but there are proactive measures that companies and financial institutions can take to avoid regulatory scrutiny going forward, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • 3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims

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    Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.

  • IRS And ICE Info Sharing Could Drive Payroll Tax Enforcement

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    Tax crimes are historically difficult to prosecute, but the Internal Revenue Services’ recent agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share taxpayer records of non-U.S. citizens could be used to enhance payroll tax-related enforcement against their employers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

  • A New Tool For Assessing Kickback Risks In Health Marketing

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    The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in U.S. v. Sorensen, reversing a conviction after trial of a durable medical equipment distributor, highlights two principle considerations for determining whether payments to marketers in healthcare are unlawful under the Anti-Kickback Statute, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Crunching The Numbers Of Trump SEC's 1st 100 Days

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    During the first 100 days of the second Trump administration, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought significantly fewer stand-alone enforcement actions than at the beginning of the Biden and the first Trump administrations, with every one of the federal court complaints including allegations of fraudulent conduct, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law

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    Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • AG Watch: Letitia James' Major Influence On Federal Litigation

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    While the multistate cases brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James appear to be based upon her interpretation of the effect of the Trump administration's policies on New York state and its residents, most also have a decidedly political tone to them, says Dennis Vacco at Lippes Mathias.

  • 3 Change Management Tools To Boost Compliance Efforts

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    As companies grapple with rapidly changing regulations and expectations, leaders charged with implementing their organizations’ compliance programs should look to change management principles to make the process less costly and more effective, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

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