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The DOJ Steps Up for Military Families
FEATURED
June 29, 2026
The DOJ Steps Up for Military Families
By: Lauren Scribner
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 license portability benefit in the new state, the SCRA requires a military spouse to submit only three documents: (1) proof of military orders documenting the assigned duty station in the new state; (2) a marriage certificate; and (3) a notarized affidavit affirming a few key details, such as the applicant being in good standing in all other states of licensure. The reasons the SCRA exists…
How Much is Too Much? – Second Circuit Establishes Guardrails for Sentencing Hearings
June 22, 2026
How Much is Too Much? – Second Circuit Establishes Guardrails for Sentencing Hearings
By: James Trusty
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, substance abuse history, mental health issues, and more. Particularly in…
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?
By: Lauren Scribner
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 areas of life, such as obtaining financial, medical, or legal…
Speed Bump or Dead End? The 2018 Retrial Prospects for Sen. Menendez
January 8, 2018
Speed Bump or Dead End? The 2018 Retrial Prospects for Sen. Menendez
By: James Trusty
This holiday season was undoubtedly festive for Senator Bob Menendez, whose corruption trial ended with a deadlocked jury in mid-November. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has yet to announce whether it will elect to re-try the New Jersey senator, but here are some of the factors they will, and will not, consider in making that decision: The Split In many jury deadlock situations, the judge,…
The Territorial Tax System Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
January 5, 2018
The Territorial Tax System Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
By: Jeffrey Hamlin
Last year, the Senate and House approved the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act along partisan lines; on December 21st, President Trump signed the bill into law. Nearly 1100 pages long, the Act makes a number of sweeping changes to the U.S. tax code. Among other things, the bill reduces individual income tax rates, nearly doubles the standard deduction, eliminates the personal exemption, and caps deductions…
Marijuana May Be Headed for a Showdown Out West
January 4, 2018
Marijuana May Be Headed for a Showdown Out West
By: Steven Eichorn
Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a one-page memo to all U.S. Attorneys that announced a sharp reversal on the DOJ’s approach to marijuana prosecutions. Under the Obama administration, the DOJ issued a memorandum in 2013 (the “Cole memo”) that basically provided a safe harbor to the marijuana industry in states that legalized recreational marijuana. The Cole memo allowed the recreational marijuana industry to thrive…
Mental Gymnastics: Silenced Voices of Victims in the Sexual Assault Case by USA Gymnastics Team Physician
December 11, 2017
Mental Gymnastics: Silenced Voices of Victims in the Sexual Assault Case by USA Gymnastics Team Physician
By: James Trusty
The high-profile prosecution of the disgraced physician who treated U.S. Olympic gymnasts ended with a stern sentence but a lingering mystery regarding victim rights. U.S. District Court Judge Janet Neff, serving in the Western District of Michigan, sentenced Larry Nassar to 60 years in prison for his possession of child pornography, as well as some related charges. Nassar had been the team physician for USA…
Did the Paradise Papers and Panama Papers Play a Role in the GOP Tax Plan?
December 5, 2017
Did the Paradise Papers and Panama Papers Play a Role in the GOP Tax Plan?
By: Jeffrey Hamlin
Congress is poised to deliver on tax reform this year. As part of the package, both houses are seeking to encourage the repatriation of trillions of dollars that corporations and wealthy individuals have been stockpiling offshore. For decades, corporations and wealthy individuals have been able to avoid taxes legally by transferring assets to tax-friendly jurisdictions like Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Panama. Only when the…
