Lathrop B. Nelson, III
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Ethical Considerations in Representing Clients at Risk of Suicide
Criminal defense attorneys often represent their clients when they are at their most vulnerable, facing an extremely stressful and often overwhelming investigation or prosecution. As lawyers, we focus on facts and the law, but as defense counsel, we must also focus on the mental and… Read More
Seizure of MSC GAYANE Raises Forfeiture Issues for the Maritime Industry
A drug bust does not ordinarily fit as a subject of a White Collar Alert, but when law enforcement seizes 16 tons of cocaine from a container ship, the enforcement action raises some critical issues for the maritime industry. Yesterday, our partner Nicole Phillips, who… Read More
Supreme Court Limits Tax Obstruction Charge
Today, the Supreme Court delivered a welcome decision narrowing the obstruction “Omnibus Clause” within the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 7212(a). The Court held in Marinello v. United States that in order to sustain a tax obstruction conviction, there must be a nexus between the… Read More
Second Circuit Vacates Sheldon Silver’s Conviction: Parsing Official Act “Quids” and “Quos”
Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the conviction of Sheldon Silver, the former Speaker of the New York State Assembly, concluding that the court’s jury instructions regarding the “official act” element of honest services fraud and Hobbs Act extortion were erroneous in light… Read More
Insider Trading and Brotherly Love at the Supreme Court
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Salman v. United States, wading into the “personal benefit” requirement necessary to establish criminal insider trading liability. Justice Alito, writing for a unanimous Court, didn’t think the question presented was particularly difficult, stating that the Court’s… Read More
Mickelson Seeks Relief from Insider Trading Hazard
Almost two years ago, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times first reported an insider trading investigation involving sports gambler William “Billy” Walters and pro golfer Phil Mickelson. At the time, the investigation appeared to focus on trading activity surrounding a potential take-over bid… Read More
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry’s Indictment Dismissed as Unconstitutional
Today, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals held that the prosecution of former Texas Governor Rick Perry was as much an “oops” as his own slip that famously felled his 2012 Presidential campaign. The court remanded the case to the district court with orders to… Read More
Second Circuit Accepts Rajat Gupta’s Insider Trading Appeal
This week I spoke with Fox Business reporter Serena Elavia about the Second Circuit’s decision to grant a certificate of appealability in the Rajat Gupta insider trading prosecution. Gupta is the high-profile former McKinsey & Co. Managing Director and Goldman Sachs board member who was… Read More
Supreme Court Takes on Insider Trading “Personal Benefit” After All
Just when the Supreme Court appeared to be turning its collective attention away from the standard for insider trading convictions by denying the writ for certiorari in United States v. Newman, the Court today granted cert. in Salman v. United States, which addresses the “personal… Read More
Supreme Court Denies Review of Second Circuit’s Newman Insider Trading Decision
We’ve taken a summer (early fall?) recess here at White Collar Alert but have been jolted back into the blogosphere with the news of the Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in United States v. Newman. We’ve written and blogged repeatedly (and here, too) about the… Read More