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This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
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August 25, 2025
This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
By: George Calhoun
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 were not eligible for payment. It is a foundational principle of U.S. bankruptcy law, however, that the bankruptcy courts do not discriminate against claimants based on the origin of their claims. The motivation behind these exclusions appears to be a claimant-driven desire to limit competition, but that motivation is incompatible with the Bankruptcy Code. The result has been, at least in the Imerys talc bankruptcy,…
The Referral was the Easy Part – Where does Gabbard’s Evidence Lead DOJ?
July 29, 2025
The Referral was the Easy Part – Where does Gabbard’s Evidence Lead DOJ?
By: James Trusty
Americans are used to a considerable level of dirty tricks when it comes to politics. Occasionally, however, a legal line is crossed and a high-level official is either chased out of office, subjected to a criminal prosecution, or both. Ask Richard Nixon, Marvin Mandel, and Bob Menendez. Despite the predictable proclamation from prominent democrats that DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard’s referral is “old news” and “politically…
Baltimoronic Investigation
July 8, 2025
Baltimoronic Investigation
By: James Trusty
June 24, 2025, may mark the day that the criminal justice system for Baltimore, Maryland finally established its lunacy. If the allegations are correct, an employee of Pretrial Services committed what Maryland officials view as a cardinal sin—he or she let ICE know that there was an illegal alien coming to the office. Armed with that information, ICE showed up at the courthouse, was allowed…
How Poking the Bear Gets Your Assets Kicked
August 23, 2017
How Poking the Bear Gets Your Assets Kicked
By: James Trusty
For many decades, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals was viewed as a very conservative place, where prosecutors were usually quite comfortable with the status quo, a largely “law and order” kind of venue. During the Obama presidency, the Court’s makeup changed dramatically, with a batch of younger, more liberal judges joining the “old guard” from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Consequently, this particular…
Supreme Court to Decide Whether Prosecutors Can Use Pleas to Skirt Constitution
August 11, 2017
Supreme Court to Decide Whether Prosecutors Can Use Pleas to Skirt Constitution
By: Ifrah Law
While the endless portrayal of jury trials in media might indicate otherwise, trials are actually quite rare in the U.S. criminal justice system. With 97% of federal cases ending in pleas, the Atticus Finch conception of American justice has been largely confined to books. Ordinarily, when an accused enters into a plea agreement, he waives his right to appeal his conviction—otherwise, future appeals could require…
Why Banning Criminals from the Web Doesn’t Work
July 21, 2017
Why Banning Criminals from the Web Doesn’t Work
By: Steven Eichorn
A few weeks ago, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Packingham v. North Carolina, 137 S. Ct. 1730 (U.S. 2017) invalidating a state law outlawing registered sex offenders from accessing websites which could facilitate offender-minor direct communication. While the majority opinion and concurrence seems grounded in, and specific to, sex offender restrictions, the underlying characterizations and beliefs about websites has far-reaching consequences for…
You Can’t Run From Justice
July 19, 2017
You Can’t Run From Justice
By: Ifrah Law
Just last week, a Kentucky lawyer by the name of Eric Conn was sentenced to twelve years in prison by a federal judge for bribery and theft of government money. Though similar sentences are doled out around the country on a daily basis, this was unique because the defendant was not even in the courtroom. The notion that a judge could sentence a defendant in…
The Lowdown on Takedowns
July 13, 2017
The Lowdown on Takedowns
By: James Trusty
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a battery of other federal law enforcement officials today announced the “largest health care fraud takedown” in U.S. history, with 412 charged defendants, including 56 doctors, accused of defrauding taxpayers of roughly $1.3 billion. Importantly, the takedown focused on the over-prescription of opioids, a phenomenon that has led to thousands of addictions and overdoses across the U.S. Takedowns like this…
