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White Collar
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April 15, 2024
Trump Accused Of Witness Threats As Jury Selection Begins
The Manhattan district attorney's office on Monday asked the judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush money trial to find Trump in contempt for flouting the court's gag order barring witness intimidation, on day one of jury selection in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.
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April 12, 2024
Judge Refuses To Throw Out Hunter Biden's Gun Indictment
A Delaware federal judge has rejected Hunter Biden's various attempts to duck felony firearm charges ahead of a trial, in particular slamming his contention that he is being selectively prosecuted because he's the president's son as "nonsensical" and "all speculation."
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April 12, 2024
Trump Can't Derail Hush Money Trial Over Media Saturation
A New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush money case on Friday rejected another of the former president's bids to derail trial next week, waving off his complaints that prejudicial media coverage has tainted the jury pool.
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April 12, 2024
Feds Rest In $110M Mango Markets Trial Of Crypto Trader
Manhattan federal prosecutors on Friday rested their case against a crypto trader accused of stealing $110 million from Mango Markets investors by pumping the price of the exchange's native token, while the defense argued that the government had failed to show that the crypto derivatives at issue were swaps as alleged in the indictment.
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April 12, 2024
Ex-Biotech CEO Gets 7 Years In Fake COVID Test Case
A former biotech CEO accused of defrauding investors by touting a phony rapid finger-prick COVID test was sentenced to seven years in prison in D.C. federal court Friday.
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April 12, 2024
Charges In Trump Docs Case Aren't Specific, Personnel Say
Two men charged with conspiring to obstruct the investigation into whether former President Donald Trump illegally retained classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office urged a Florida federal court on Friday to dismiss the indictments against them, saying they don't specifically allege any crimes.
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April 12, 2024
Anthem Wants Kwok Ch. 11 Trustee To Foot Mediation Bill
Anthem has objected to plans from the Chapter 11 trustee overseeing Chinese exile Ho Wan Kwok's estate to force it and hundreds of other avoidance action defendants into mediation, questioning the merits of the case against it and arguing the insurer should not be forced to cover half of the costs of the efforts.
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April 12, 2024
Petition Watch: Judge DQs, 'Excessive' Damages & Price Wars
A former al-Qaida member has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify disqualification protocol for judges overseeing a case related to their prior work as a government attorney, and energy drink manufacturers want the court to develop a modern-day test to determine if companies qualify as price-discrimination competitors. Here's four high court petitions filed recently that you might've missed.
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April 12, 2024
DEA Unlawfully Pushing Psychedelics Ban, Researcher Says
A psychedelic research company has asked a Washington federal judge to block the Drug Enforcement Administration from proceeding with its plan to ban two psychedelic substances, saying the agency's process for bringing the matter before an administrative judge has been unlawful.
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April 12, 2024
Ohtani's Ex-Translator Gets $25K Bond On $16M Fraud Charge
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's ex-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, made his first appearance in California federal court Friday, with a magistrate judge ruling that he can be released on a $25,000 bond following his arrest for a bank fraud charge filed Thursday over allegations that he stole over $16 million from the baseball player.
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April 12, 2024
Ex-Pfizer Worker's Pal Avoids Prison In Insider Trading Case
An electrical engineer was sentenced to probation Friday for trading Pfizer Inc.'s stock using confidential tips about the efficacy of its COVID-19 drug, after a Manhattan federal court recognized his decision to voluntarily assist prosecutors with the trial conviction of his friend, a former Pfizer employee who leaked insider information.
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April 12, 2024
SEC Says Developer Pulled EB-5 Funds From Nursing Homes
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused a Las Vegas developer of using $10 million raised by overseas investors hoping to immigrate to the U.S. to pay down a loan for a project unconnected to their immigration applications.
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April 12, 2024
Ex-US Diplomat Gets 15 Years For Spying For Cuba
A Florida federal judge accepted a plea deal Friday and gave a 15-year prison sentence to a U.S. diplomat who secretly acted as an agent of the Cuban government for decades, but only after the government inserted a provision into the agreement making him liable for restitution to any potential victims.
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April 12, 2024
Trump Trial's Anonymous Jury Signals Sacrifice Of Service
As jury selection begins Monday in the criminal trial of former president Donald Trump, the panel's identities will remain shielded from the public and the media. So-called anonymous juries are relatively new and rare, but they're being used more and more for high-profile cases in an age of doxxing and political polarization.
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April 12, 2024
Panama Papers Attys Deny Money Laundering At Trial
Two attorneys who ran the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama, at the center of a 2016 leak that produced multiple convictions for tax evasion, pled not guilty with 27 others to money-laundering charges as a trial began in Panama, according to prosecutors.
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April 12, 2024
Up Next At High Court: Jan. 6, Gratuities & Ineffective Attys
The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the term's last two weeks of oral arguments, during which it will consider whether the U.S. Department of Justice can use the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to prosecute defendants accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the correct standard courts should apply when reviewing malicious prosecution claims.
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April 12, 2024
Fraudster Gets 2 Years For African Sports Ponzi Scheme
A federal judge has sentenced a Massachusetts fraudster to 27 months in prison and ordered him to pay more than $625,000 in restitution for a Ponzi scheme involving African youth sports, according to a Thursday statement.
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April 12, 2024
Woman Pleads Guilty To $1.3M COVID Tax Credit Fraud
A California woman pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining $2 million in COVID-19 government loans and falsely claiming $1.3 million in tax credits, crimes that could result in a 20-year prison sentence, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
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April 12, 2024
DC Circ. Upholds Jan. 6 Rioter's 52-Month Sentence
The DC Circuit on Friday affirmed a judgment and 52-month sentence against a Texas militia leader who pled guilty to assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, saying the judge had acted within his discretion in applying certain enhancements.
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April 12, 2024
Ex-Philly Union Leader Denied Bench Trial In Extortion Case
A Pennsylvania federal judge has denied twice-convicted former International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 leader John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty's request to have his third criminal trial — this time over extortion charges — handled by a judge instead of a jury.
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April 12, 2024
The Week In Trump: Catch Up On The Ex-President's Cases
Donald Trump and his legal team proved that they are nothing if not persistent as they repeatedly tried — and failed — to hit the brakes on the former president's porn star hush money trial in Manhattan.
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April 12, 2024
Off The Bench: Ohtani 'Victim' In Theft, Arbitration Nod To NFL
In this week's Off The Bench, Shohei Ohtani looks to get off the hook on sports-betting allegations while his former interpreter faces charges, the NFL wins a critical court victory in the Brian Flores lawsuit, and troubled WWE founder Vince McMahon cuts even more financial ties with the company.
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April 12, 2024
Ex-Amazon Engineer Gets 3 Years For $12M Crypto Hacks
The former technical lead of Amazon's "bug bounty" program was sentenced in Manhattan federal court Friday to three years in prison for using his specialized computer engineering skills to steal more than $12 million from two decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges.
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April 12, 2024
Santos Says Feds Withheld Key Evidence For Over A Year
Former U.S. Rep. George Santos accused New York federal prosecutors of withholding evidence that he said undermined their fraud and campaign finance charges against him.
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April 12, 2024
Absent Link To $10M Root Suit, Exec's Family Info Off Limits
An Ohio federal magistrate judge has shut down two subpoenas directed at the wife and father of an advertising executive named in car insurance company Root Inc.'s $10 million racketeering and fraud suit, writing in the order that the insurer cannot simply assume documents are relevant in requesting them.
Expert Analysis
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Global Cartel Enforcement Looks Set To Intensify In 2024
The cartel enforcement winds may strengthen this year, with the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as regulators in other countries, placing a renewed focus on pursuing international cartels and more traditional, hard-core cartel conduct, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Series
Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer
After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.
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Federal Courts And AI Standing Orders: Safety Or Overkill?
Several district court judges have issued standing orders regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courts, but courts should consider following ordinary notice and comment procedures before implementing sweeping mandates that could be unnecessarily burdensome and counterproductive, say attorneys at Curtis.
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Series
NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4
New York's banking and financial sector saw a number of notable regulatory and legislative changes in the final quarter of 2023, including guidance on climate risks and heightened cybersecurity protocols issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as final revisions to virtual currency listings in the state, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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4 Questions On Groundbreaking New Foreign Bribery Law
The recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act will significantly alter the anti-corruption landscape under U.S. law by allowing prosecutors to pursue foreign officials for soliciting or accepting bribes, but it’s not yet clear how the statute will be used and by whom, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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OIG Report Has Clues For 2024 Healthcare Fraud Enforcement
A recent report from the Health Department's Office of the Inspector General reveals healthcare fraud and abuse enforcement trends that will continue in 2024, from increased telehealth oversight to enhanced policing of managed care, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond
The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.
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Securities Class Actions Show No Signs of Slowing In 2024
Plaintiffs asserted securities class actions at elevated levels in 2023 — a sign that filings will remain high in the year ahead — as they switched gears to target companies that allegedly have failed to anticipate supply chain disruptions, persistent inflation, rising interest rates and other macroeconomic headwinds, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Landmark Product Safety Prosecution May Signal Sea Change
U.S. v. Chu, a novel prosecution and guilty verdict of corporate executives for failing to report product defects under a consumer safety law, will certainly not be the last case of its kind, and companies will need to prepare for the government’s increasingly aggressive enforcement approach, say attorneys at Cooley.
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On The Edge: Lessons In Patent Litigation Financing
A federal judge's recent request that the U.S. Department of Justice look into IP Edge patent litigation, and that counsel be disciplined, serves as a reminder for parties asserting intellectual property rights — and their attorneys — to exercise caution when structuring a litigation financing agreement, say Samuel Habein and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.
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2 FCPA Settlements Illuminate Self-Disclosure, Disgorgement
Two of last year’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act settlements — with biomedical company Lifecore and mining company Corsa Coal — suggest that the government will be much more flexible in negotiating disgorgement amounts if an entity voluntarily self-discloses misconduct, say Michael Gilbert and Lucas Amodio at Sheppard Mullin.
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Opinion
Anti-Kickback Statute Does Not Require But-For Causation
A proper interpretation of the Anti-Kickback Statute clearly indicates that but-for causation is not required for False Claims Act Liability, and courts that hold otherwise will make it significantly easier for fraudsters to avoid accountability, says Kenneth Capesius at Baron & Budd.
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A Closer Look At The Federal Criminal Enforcement Slump
Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, now at King & Spalding, explains that the U.S. Department of Justice’s statistical reports reveal that federal authorities are considerably less productive today than in the past, as criminal prosecutions fell in 2022 in every major category, for reasons that are not entirely clear.
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5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024
Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
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Lessons From DOJ's Handling Of Rare Medicare Fraud Case
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent indictment against HealthSun sheds light on the relatively rare circumstances in which the agency may pursue criminal charges for fraud involving Medicare Advantage, but its subsequent decision not to prosecute shows that compliance efforts can mitigate penalties, say attorneys at WilmerHale.