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Overrun and Overreach: the New Challenge to Grand Jury Subpoenas
FEATURED
March 26, 2026
Overrun and Overreach: the New Challenge to Grand Jury Subpoenas
By: James Trusty
Most criminal law practitioners are quite familiar with clients receiving grand jury subpoenas. There are rituals we go through to figure out whether it’s a “friendly” subpoena, i.e. just trying to get business records from the client to be used against some other target, or whether it’s the visible start of a potential criminal prosecution against the client. Because the legal standard to justify issuing a subpoena is so low, an outright fight against the prosecutor issuing the subpoena is extremely uphill. A motion to quash is only granted “if compliance would be unreasonable or oppressive.”[1]Until a couple of weeks ago, that framework usually translated into successful challenges only when the subpoena’s request was so broad in terms of substance…
Through the Looking Glasses: Will the Public Accept Meta Ray-Bans?
March 17, 2026
Through the Looking Glasses: Will the Public Accept Meta Ray-Bans?
By: Nicole Kardell
What do a plastic grocery sack and a pair of Meta Ray-Bans have in common? The harm they can do to others who are powerless to their use. A grocer may pack a shopper’s groceries in a disposable plastic bag, and the shopper may be fine with the packing – the bag is cheap for both. But the environment ends up paying a hefty toll…
The New Corporate Enforcement Blueprint: DOJ’s “First-Ever” Department-Wide Corporate Enforcement Policy
March 16, 2026
The New Corporate Enforcement Blueprint: DOJ’s “First-Ever” Department-Wide Corporate Enforcement Policy
By: Robert Ward
Understanding the DOJ’s New Corporate Enforcement Framework On March 10, 2026, just weeks after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) released its updated voluntary corporate self-disclosure program for fraud and financial misconduct, the Department of Justice introduced its first Department‑wide Corporate Enforcement Policy (CEP). The CEP establishes a uniform approach for evaluating voluntary disclosures and cooperation across all DOJ…
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…
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…
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…
Law Enforcers Place Online Payday Lenders in Their Cross Hairs
August 13, 2013
Law Enforcers Place Online Payday Lenders in Their Cross Hairs
By: Ifrah Law
At least six federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), are currently coordinating a broad crackdown of the online payday lending industry. The agencies are trying to shut down companies that offer short-term loans online at very high interest rates. The online payday lending industry is rapidly growing. Online payday lending…
Did Florida Accidentally Outlaw All Smartphones?
August 8, 2013
Did Florida Accidentally Outlaw All Smartphones?
By: Ifrah Law
A lawsuit recently filed by Incredible Investments, LLC, owned by entrepreneur Consuelo Zapata, alleges that the language in a recently enacted Florida law that was intended to shut down Internet cafes and slot machines has actually outlawed all mobile devices that are capable of accessing the Internet. The complaint, which seeks to have the new law declared unconstitutional, alleges that in the process of hastily…
