U.S. Supreme Court Unanimously Agrees Mandatory Victims Restitution Act Does Not Reach Expenses From Civil Proceedings and Private Investigations
This guest post was authored by Joseph Samuel, a summer associate with Montgomery McCracken. In a 9-0 decision handed down earlier today in Lagos v. United States, 584 U.S. __ (May 29, 2018), the Supreme Court held that the terms “investigation” and “proceedings” found in the… 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
Senator Menendez to Avoid Retrial on Corruption Charges
In a surprising development, the Department of Justice announced yesterday that it would drop corruption charges against Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ). The move comes just weeks after the Government declared its intent to retry the case, after the Senator’s first trial concluded in a November… Read More
SCOTUS to Clarify Protections for Securities Fraud Whistleblowers
This guest post was authored by Bianca Valcarce, a summer associate with Montgomery McCracken. The Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to review the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers and address the apparent tension between two provisions of the… Read More
Fifth Amendment Concerns Result in Overturned Convictions in First Criminal LIBOR Appeal
The Second Circuit yesterday became the first court of appeals to address a criminal appeal regarding the government’s investigation into the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). Its decision in United States v. Allen reversed the convictions of two former Rabobank employees accused… 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
First Circuit Confronts Perils of Non-Custodial Interrogation in Fraud Prosecution
Miranda warnings are one of those things most lawyers and non-lawyers alike know something about. Most know we enjoy a right under the Fifth Amendment and Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), to be told before being taken into custody that we need not… Read More
Prosecutorial Discretion under the CFAA Gets More Discretionary: US v. Nosal
This guest post was authored by our colleague Jeremy D. Mishkin, partner and co-chair of the Litigation Department of Montgomery McCracken. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1030 (“CFAA”), has become increasingly popular both for civil actions and criminal prosecutions involving hacking or… 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