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Biden and DOJ’s Spiteful Ploy Boomerangs: How Politics Destroys Privilege

Biden and DOJ’s Spiteful Ploy Boomerangs: How Politics Destroys Privilege

June 30, 2025

Biden and DOJ’s Spiteful Ploy Boomerangs: How Politics Destroys Privilege

By: James Trusty

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. Trump did not have the same legal privileges as almost anyone else in the history of our country. One of the more maddening moments during these battles was when a U.S. District Court judge chastised me for not “addressing the facts,” when all of the pertinent facts were hidden from the president’s lawyers. Make no mistake, the hostility towards President Trump and his counsel led…

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AI Conversations Feel Private. Could They Be Privileged?

June 11, 2025

AI Conversations Feel Private. Could They Be Privileged?

By: Robert Ward

The New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI continues to spark debate, and not just about copyright. Most recently, a federal magistrate judge ordered OpenAI to preserve chats that the company might otherwise have deleted at a user’s request. In response, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggested that it may be time for a version of the attorney-client or physician-patient privilege, but for AI. While any attempt…

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It is Time for a “Second Look” at Legislative Efforts to Combat Mass Incarceration & Recidivism

May 19, 2025

It is Time for a “Second Look” at Legislative Efforts to Combat Mass Incarceration & Recidivism

By: Sara Dalsheim

Government efficiency and spending is a hot topic of controversy in the United States. But even in the context of heated “DOGE” fights, there are proven examples of government efficiency and reduced spending that are clearly working—the passing of measures like the Second Chance and First Step Acts in an effort for mass incarceration and recidivism reduction. The U.S. government spends a total of $80.7…

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Appeals Court: Forced Rectal Search of Suspect Violates Fourth Amendment Law

October 8, 2013

Appeals Court: Forced Rectal Search of Suspect Violates Fourth Amendment Law

By: Ifrah Law

In a recent opinion, the US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit addressed whether it was constitutionally reasonable for police to use a doctor – in this case, a doctor “who is known to conduct unconsented intrusive procedures when suspects are presented by the police” – to forcibly recover drugs from a man’s rectum. Judge Julia Smith Gibbons’ dissent notwithstanding, the 6th Circuit found…

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Colorado Defense Attorney Charged With Felony – Why?

September 18, 2013

Colorado Defense Attorney Charged With Felony – Why?

By: Nicole Kardell

A recent indictment in a state court in La Plata County, Colorado, has ruffled feathers in the defense bar. The accused was one of our own, criminal defense attorney Brian Schowalter. The charge was based on Schowalter’s refusal to turn over evidence he ostensibly held for a client. The evidence, an original letter, was apparently relevant to a homicide investigation involving the attorney’s client (though…

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FBI Hacking Into Electronic Devices: An Effective But Invasive Tool

September 13, 2013

FBI Hacking Into Electronic Devices: An Effective But Invasive Tool

By: Ifrah Law

Privacy and national security interests are notoriously tricky to balance.  Lean too far one way, and you lose an important tool in preventing and detecting crime; lean too far the other way, and you are depriving Americans of their liberty through persistent government intrusion and observation. This balancing act has been an especially hot topic given recent revelations about the National Security Agency’s surveillance and…

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Circuit Split Brewing Over Government Access to Cell Phone Location Data

August 22, 2013

Circuit Split Brewing Over Government Access to Cell Phone Location Data

By: Jeffrey Hamlin

A split among the U.S. courts of appeals is taking shape over the threshold requirements for the government’s ability to obtain historical cell phone location data, in the wake of a July 30, 2013, ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. That court held that a U.S. district court must order a cell phone service provider to produce a subscriber’s cell…

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Was This Sentence Quite Excessive for a Bizarre Fraud Scheme?

August 15, 2013

Was This Sentence Quite Excessive for a Bizarre Fraud Scheme?

By: Ifrah Law

A $3 billion fraud scheme, more farcical than dangerous and in any case doomed to fail, led to 20-year sentences in federal prison for all four conspirators. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, however, vacated the sentences on procedural grounds, and U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill of the District of Connecticut, sitting by designation, wrote a concurrence that drew back the…

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Articles and Presentations by Our Firm Attorneys

Biden and DOJ’s Spiteful Ploy Boomerangs: How Politics Destroys Privilege

Biden and DOJ’s Spiteful Ploy Boomerangs: How Politics Destroys Privilege
By: James Trusty

AI Conversations Feel Private. Could They Be Privileged?

AI Conversations Feel Private. Could They Be Privileged?
By: Robert Ward

It is Time for a “Second Look” at Legislative Efforts to Combat Mass Incarceration & Recidivism

It is Time for a “Second Look” at Legislative Efforts to Combat Mass Incarceration & Recidivism
By: Sara Dalsheim

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