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The DOJ Steps Up for Military Families
Jun 29, 2026
The DOJ Steps Up for Military Families
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), 50 U.S.C. § 4025a, grants military spouses portability of their professional licenses. That means when a military spouse moves with his or her servicemember to the servicemember’s assigned duty station in a new state, the spouse’s professional license essentially moves with them.[1] In order to take advantage of this…
How Much is Too Much? – Second Circuit Establishes Guardrails for Sentencing Hearings
Jun 22, 2026
How Much is Too Much? – Second Circuit Establishes Guardrails for Sentencing Hearings
As any federal criminal practitioner can attest, judges holding a sentencing hearing are privy to an intentionally wider universe of information about the defendant than a jury would have heard about at trial. We want judges to consider all sorts of things about the offender and the offense, beyond just the facts establishing the crime – social background, employment history, criminal record,…
Robotic Risk—but Is the Ultimate Answer Still a Human One?
May 26, 2026
Robotic Risk—but Is the Ultimate Answer Still a Human One?
It now goes without saying that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a convenient solution for accomplishing certain tedious tasks, such as planning an upcoming trip, figuring out what to make for dinner with ingredients already on hand, or adding some professional flare to an email. But when it comes to some of the more high-stakes…
White-Collar Sentencing Under the Amended Guidelines: Fewer Steps, Same Dance
Nov 12, 2025
White-Collar Sentencing Under the Amended Guidelines: Fewer Steps, Same Dance
For years, the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Guidelines Manual has guided courts through a three-step process to determine the sentence to be imposed. At a high level, that process looked like this: First, the court would calculate the guideline range based on relevant offense conduct and related factors, along with the defendant’s criminal history. Second, the…
This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
Aug 25, 2025
This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
Bankruptcy continues as a favored vehicle for the resolution of mass-tort claims, particularly asbestos-based claims. In two recent cases in Delaware, an often-overlooked issue has raised a red flag concerning the fairness of the trusts proposed in many of these cases. The plan proponents in those cases proposed asbestos trusts that provided that foreign claimants…
Biden and DOJ’s Spiteful Ploy Boomerangs: How Politics Destroys Privilege
Jun 30, 2025
Biden and DOJ’s Spiteful Ploy Boomerangs: How Politics Destroys Privilege
During the pre-indictment period in which I was one of President Trump’s lawyers, there was a considerable amount of then-sealed litigation over the Special Counsel Office’s (“SCO”) insatiable search for incriminating evidence. We regularly found ourselves fighting against prosecutors providing ex parte information to the Court in support of their singular claims that Donald J….
Maryland Moving at a Misguided PACE
Mar 14, 2025
Maryland Moving at a Misguided PACE
Maryland legislature is considering passing a law ineptly called the Protecting the Admissibility of Creative Expression (“PACE Act”) which would limit the use of rap lyrics, among other forms of expression, in criminal and juvenile proceedings. While prosecution use of rap lyrics in criminal trials is a bit uncommon, the state house move here is…
No Need for Speed
Dec 14, 2023
No Need for Speed
In most U.S. District Courts, the trial date for a defendant who is not incarcerated is typically many months—and often easily over a year—from the time of his or her initial appearance after indictment. Many trials are resolved by plea agreements without ever having set a “real” trial date. There is lip service to the…
True Threats and True Agendas
Jul 6, 2023
True Threats and True Agendas
Last week’s Supreme Court opinion on the “true threats” doctrine seemingly settles a long- brewing issue in threat-based prosecutions but also reflects the anticipatory positioning of various Associate Justices on much hotter issues that may make their way to SCOTUS consideration in the near future. As such, the debate-behind-the-debate between the Court’s members is of…
More than a Mantra: Pitfalls of Excluding Time under Speedy Trial Analysis
Jul 1, 2022
More than a Mantra: Pitfalls of Excluding Time under Speedy Trial Analysis
This week the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stinging reminder about the need for precision in the case of U.S. v. Pikus, No. 20-3080 (2d Cir. 2022). Aleksander Pikus was one of four defendants charged with money laundering conspiracy and related offenses for bilking Medicare and Medicaid through false billings. The scheme featured…
