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White Collar

  • August 29, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs $4.5M Fraudster's 8-Year Prison Sentence

    A real estate investment firm owner who transferred investor money to his friends' companies without permission and advertised to his own less-educated Amish community was properly sentenced to eight years in prison, the Seventh Circuit has ruled.

  • August 29, 2025

    Bookie Who Took Bets From Ohtani Interpreter Gets 1 Year

    A resident of Orange County, California, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to operating as an unlicensed bookmaker who placed bets for current and former professional athletes as well as a Japanese language interpreter who is serving time for stealing from baseball megastar Shohei Ohtani.

  • August 29, 2025

    Vanguard To Pay $19.5M Over Adviser Conflict Disclosures

    Vanguard Advisers Inc. agreed to pay $19.5 million to resolve claims from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it failed to adequately disclose conflicts of interest in connection with its recommendation to clients to enroll in its managed account program.

  • August 29, 2025

    2nd Circ. Orders Resentencing In $600M Medical Billing Fraud

    A Second Circuit panel affirmed a Long Island medical biller's conviction Friday for bilking about $600 million from insurance companies through fraudulent claims and impersonating an NBA player and the NFL's former top lawyer, but said a federal judge had wrongly enhanced the man's prison sentence to 12 years.

  • August 29, 2025

    Longtime DOJ Atty Joins Atlanta Boutique Firm

    Atlanta boutique Chaiken Ghali LLP announced that a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney who's spent nearly 15 years with the federal government has joined the firm as a partner.

  • August 29, 2025

    SEC, Musk File Competing Bids To End Twitter Buy-Up Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Elon Musk have both moved for early victories in a lawsuit accusing Musk of failing to timely disclose a beneficial ownership stake in Twitter, with the billionaire owner of the social media site calling the case one of "gross governmental overreach."

  • August 29, 2025

    7th Circ. Affirms Sweepstakes Co. Owner's Bribery Conviction

    The Seventh Circuit has refused to vacate the roughly five-year sentence a lower court handed down to a sweepstakes machine business owner convicted of bribing two Illinois state lawmakers, finding the judge made no errors in instructing the jury or admitting certain statements at trial.

  • August 29, 2025

    SEC Says Luxury Car Export Biz Was $30M Scam

    A Turkish national and his Massachusetts-based company conned investors out of $30 million through a fake business venture that claimed to export luxury cars from the U.S., the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said.

  • August 29, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen Prosecco DOC Consortium bring an intellectual property claim against a distributor, the Serious Fraud Office bring a civil recovery claim against the ex-wife of a solicitor jailed over a £19.5 million fraud scheme, and law firm Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen LLP sue its former client, the bankrupt Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya. Here, À¶Ý®ÊÓÆµ looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • August 29, 2025

    'I'm Flabbergasted': Fla. Atty's Accusers Rip Bar For Inaction

    More than a year after it began receiving complaints that a Florida lawyer was ghosting clients, the state bar has yet to take action — highlighting what experts call a slow-moving process that can fail to keep pace with expansive alleged frauds.

  • August 28, 2025

    Hollywood Producer Stole $12M From Films, Others, Feds Say

    A Hollywood producer was arrested Wednesday in South Carolina and accused of stealing $12 million from film projects and others by misappropriating funds and forcing productions to pay for COVID-19 testing that never occurred, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

  • August 28, 2025

    LA Atty Convicted Of Laundering $2.1M From Swiss Oil Co.

    A Los Angeles federal jury on Thursday found a divorce and immigration attorney guilty of money laundering, tax evasion and obstruction of justice related to a $2.1 million payment he received from a Swiss oil company while working in a government position in Nigeria that prosecutors allege was a bribe.

  • August 28, 2025

    Fla. Parts Broker Sentenced To Prison For Invoice Scheme

    A Florida federal judge Thursday sentenced an aircraft parts broker who admitted to netting $375,000 from a scheme involving falsified invoices to serve 12 months and one day in prison.

  • August 28, 2025

    Ex-Fugees Rapper Ordered To Pay $6.5M In Loan Dispute

    A Georgia federal judge has ruled that former Fugees rapper Prakazrel Samuel "Pras" Michel must repay $6.5 million to a lender that accused him of fraudulently selling his music catalog while it was being held as collateral.

  • August 28, 2025

    Kimberly-Clark To Pay $40M Over Adulterated Surgical Gowns

    Kimberly-Clark agreed to pay up to $40 million to resolve federal prosecutors' criminal charge that the multinational consumer goods and personal care company sold adulterated surgical gowns and conducted fraudulent testing on the gowns to avoid having to submit a new premarket notification to the FDA.

  • August 28, 2025

    Unicoin Says SEC's $100M Fraud Suit 'Twists' Its Disclosures

    Crypto firm Unicoin told a New York federal judge that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's claim that it ran a $100 million fraud is based on "cherry-picked" statements taken out of context and "ignores" the firm's warnings to investors within its own disclosures with the agency.

  • August 28, 2025

    Baltimore Med Mal Atty Appeals $25M Extortion Conviction

    A medical malpractice attorney in Baltimore who was convicted in federal court in April of attempting to extort $25 million from the University of Maryland Medical System has asked the Fourth Circuit to review his conviction, saying he was unfit to represent himself at trial.

  • August 28, 2025

    Justices Asked To Limit Private Investment Fund Suits

    A group of investment funds seeking to fend off a challenge from an activist investor are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a ruling in the case that would end the ability of private parties to file contractual disputes under the Investment Company Act.

  • August 28, 2025

    ATM Network Investment Was $700M Ponzi Scheme, Suit Says

    Four individuals have been hit with a proposed class action from an investment advisory firm, accusing them of using purported investments in ATM networks to run a $700 million Ponzi scheme.

  • August 28, 2025

    Illinois Atty Gets 2½ Years For Tax Fraud, Scripting Testimony

    A former Chicago attorney who covered up $1 million in payments to his romantic interest and tried scripting his bookkeeper's initial trial testimony has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

  • August 28, 2025

    Wash. Sen. Opposes Full-Term Role For State's New US Atty

    The newly installed interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Washington at this juncture has not been nominated for the full-term role, but one of the state's Democratic senators is already vowing to prevent his confirmation.

  • August 28, 2025

    Bid For DQ From FCA Suit Over AI Use 'Drastic,' Relator Says

    The unexpected disclosure that an expert witness misused artificial intelligence should not be enough to essentially doom a False Claims Act fraudulent billing suit, the case's relator told a Salt Lake City federal judge, arguing a sanctions bid brought by the anesthesiologist defendants is "grossly disproportional" to the error he already sought to rectify.

  • August 28, 2025

    Lawyer Accused Of Bribing DEA Agent Cuts Deal To End Case

    A Florida criminal defense attorney accused of bribing a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent for law enforcement tips entered into an agreement Thursday with Manhattan federal prosecutors that will see charges against him dropped in a year.

  • August 28, 2025

    Compliance Atty Who Duped Lender Wants New Trial

    A compliance lawyer convicted of pilfering from a $20 million line of credit that a subsidiary of Emigrant Bank extended to his tax-lien business has asked a Manhattan federal judge to order a new trial, arguing that prosecutors' evidence is insufficient and that the charges were "multiplicitous," in violation of the Fifth Amendment.

  • August 28, 2025

    Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook Sues Trump To Block Firing

    Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook filed suit in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Thursday challenging President Donald Trump's "unprecedented and illegal attempt" to remove her from her position.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    Running Marathons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    After almost five years of running marathons, I’ve learned that both the race itself and the training process sharpen skills that directly translate to the practice of law, including discipline, dedication, endurance, problem-solving and mental toughness, says Lauren Meadows at Swift Currie.

  • High Court Ruling Bucks Trend Of Narrowing Fraud Theories

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Kousisis v. U.S. decision, holding that economic loss is not required to establish prosecutors’ fraudulent inducement theory of fraud, is at odds with its decadeslong narrowing of federal fraud statutes’ reach, and may lead to convictions for a wide variety of contractual misrepresentations, say attorneys at Keker Van Nest.

  • DOJ Policy Shifts May Resurrect De Facto 'China Initiative'

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recently unveiled white collar enforcement strategy seemingly marks a return to a now-defunct 2018 policy aimed at combating national security concerns with China, and likely foretells aggressive scrutiny of trade and customs fraud, sanctions evasion, and money laundering, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Supporting A Trial Team

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    While students often practice as lead trial attorneys in law school, such an opportunity likely won’t arise until a few years into practice, so junior associates should focus on honing skills that are essential to supporting a trial team, including organization, adaptability and humility, says Lucy Zelina at Tucker Ellis.

  • 7 D&O Coverage Areas To Assess As DOJ Targets DEI

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    Companies that receive federal funds or have the remnants of a diversity, equity and inclusion program should review their directors and officers liability insurance policies ahead of a major shift in how the U.S. Department of Justice enforces the False Claims Act, says Bill Wagner at Taft.

  • CFPB Industry Impact Uncertain Amid Priority Shift, Staff Cuts

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    A recent enforcement memo outlines how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory agenda diverges from that of the previous administration, but, given the bureau's planned reduction in force, it is uncertain whether the agency will be able to enforce these new priorities, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Compliance Essentials To Mitigate AI Crime Enforcement Risk

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    As artificial intelligence systems move closer to accurately mimicking human decision-making, companies must understand how the U.S. Department of Justice might prosecute them for crimes committed by AI tools — and how to mitigate enforcement risks, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From US Attorney To BigLaw

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    When I transitioned to private practice after government service — most recently as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — I learned there are more similarities between the two jobs than many realize, with both disciplines requiring resourcefulness, zealous advocacy and foresight, says Zach Terwilliger at V&E.

  • How The DOJ Is Redesigning Its Approach To Digital Assets

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    Two key digital asset enforcement policy pronouncements narrow the Justice Department's focus on threats like fraud, terrorism, trafficking and sanctions evasion and dial back so-called regulation by prosecution, but institutions prioritizing compliance must remember that the underlying statutory framework hasn't changed, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • At 'SEC Speaks,' Leaders Frame New Views

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    At the Practising Law Institute's recent SEC Speaks conference, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission leadership highlighted the agency's significant priority changes, including in enforcement, crypto and artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Measuring The Impact Of Attorney Gender On Trial Outcomes

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    Preliminary findings from our recent study on how attorney gender might affect case outcomes support the conclusion that there is little in the way of a clear, universal bias against attorneys of a given gender, say Jill Leibold, Olivia Goodman and Alexa Hiley at IMS Legal Strategies.

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