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In the age of AI, litigators must read between the lines—literally.
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August 18, 2026
In the age of AI, litigators must read between the lines—literally.
By: Robert Ward
In the age of AI, litigators must read between the lines—literally. Any attorney who has litigated a case against a party proceeding pro se is familiar with the common refrain that courts liberally construe pro se filings.[1] This leniency was not enough for one Connecticut litigant. In a scheme that gives new meaning to the phrase “reading between the lines,” pro se plaintiff Matthew Elliot included hidden instructions in his filings with the goal of ensuring any AI model’s output would agree with his position. In doing so, Elliot undertook what appears to be the first confirmed prompt injection attack aimed at an American court. The Attempted Prompt Injection On July 24, 2026, pro se plaintiff Matthew Elliot filed what…
The DOJ Steps Up for Military Families
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…
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…
Judge Dismisses Lindsey FCPA Case, Finding Prosecutorial Misconduct
December 12, 2011
Judge Dismisses Lindsey FCPA Case, Finding Prosecutorial Misconduct
By: Ifrah Law
In May 2011, a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Lindsey Manufacturing Co., its president Keith Lindsey, and CFO Steve Lee, on foreign bribery charges for their dealings with Mexico’s state-owned electricity utility, Comision Federal de Electricidad. The prosecutors claimed that Lindsey Manufacturing retained Enrique Aguilar, a Mexican company representative, after repeatedly failing to win contracts legitimately – and that the defendants knew that the…
More Big Pharma Companies Cough Up Big Dollars in DOJ Settlements
November 30, 2011
More Big Pharma Companies Cough Up Big Dollars in DOJ Settlements
By: Ifrah Law
The parade of major drug companies coughing up nine-digit or ten-digit dollar amounts in settlements with the U.S. government is continuing. GlaxoSmithKline recently broke a record by agreeing to pay the federal government $3 billion to settle an illegal pharmaceutical marketing case. This surpasses the previous record of $2.3 billion paid by Pfizer in 2009 over the marketing of its Bextra painkiller and other drugs….
Convicted of Fraud but Changed Their Lives; Appeals Court Takes Note
November 29, 2011
Convicted of Fraud but Changed Their Lives; Appeals Court Takes Note
By: Ifrah Law
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit recently issued a notable decision in the case of United States v. Robertson, vacating and remanding the sentences of two defendants convicted of a mortgage fraud scheme because the sentencing judge failed to consider unusually strong evidence of self-motivated rehabilitation. In the late 1990’s, Henry and Elizabeth Robertson were involved in a mortgage fraud scheme through…
In Appeal of Construction Fraud Case, DOJ Seeks Tougher Sentences
November 17, 2011
In Appeal of Construction Fraud Case, DOJ Seeks Tougher Sentences
By: Ifrah Law
In a very rare case in which the government argued that it viewed criminal sentences as too lenient, the U.S. Department of Justice contended in an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit on Nov. 7, 2011, that the sentences handed out to two government contractors convicted of fraud did not accurately reflect the seriousness of their crimes. Robert Prosperi, the…
Options for Suing the Federal Government Under Bivens Unlikely to Expand
November 7, 2011
Options for Suing the Federal Government Under Bivens Unlikely to Expand
By: Ifrah Law
In 2001, federal inmate Richard Lee Pollard sustained two broken elbows after tripping over a cart in a privately operated prison housing federal inmates. He sued five prison employees for their actions after his injuries. On Nov. 1, 2011, the Supreme Court held oral argument in Minneci v. Pollard and considered the possibility of creating a new federal remedy against private employees who work for…
