Insights < BACK TO ALL INSIGHTS
This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
FEATURED
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…
Lesson From Ex-Congressman’s Plight: Follow Rules, Come Clean
August 13, 2010
Lesson From Ex-Congressman’s Plight: Follow Rules, Come Clean
By: Ifrah Law
Federal prosecutors often take very seriously the prohibitions on illegal lobbying and on withholding the truth from the FBI. That’s one of the lessons that former U.S. Rep. Mark Siljander probably learned last month when he pleaded guilty to two federal charges relating to his alleged ties to an Islamic charity claimed to have funded money to international terrorists. When Siljander was indicted in January…
In Lerach Case, An Interesting Sentencing Distinction
August 11, 2010
In Lerach Case, An Interesting Sentencing Distinction
By: Ifrah Law
The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles just took an interesting and nuanced position concerning a very high-profile request for community service as part of a guilty plea. Disgraced plaintiffs attorney William Lerach pleaded guilty in 2007 to a charge of conspiring to obstruct justice and make false statements in many of his law firm’s class actions. He completed a two-year prison term and is…
Honest Services Fraud — Still Alive and Kicking?
August 9, 2010
Honest Services Fraud — Still Alive and Kicking?
By: Ifrah Law
We wrote recently that the very recent Supreme Court decision in United States v. Skilling, limiting the reach of the federal “honest services” statute, may have an immediate impact on the ongoing case against Kevin A. Ring, a former associate of Jack Abramoff. See “Skilling Having Impact on Pending Honest Services Fraud Cases,” July 28, 2010. But last week, U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle…
Court Places Limits on DOJ’s Asset Forfeiture Powers
August 4, 2010
Court Places Limits on DOJ’s Asset Forfeiture Powers
By: Ifrah Law
The D.C. Circuit recently handed a significant victory to anyone with assets in the U.S. – especially anyone under investigation in another country for violation of that country’s laws. As reported on the Blog of Legal Times, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision on July 16 holding that the Department of Justice could not seize the assets of two funds pending Brazil’s investigation of the…
Federal Sentencing: A Longer Sentence For Post-Conviction Comments to the Press?
August 2, 2010
Federal Sentencing: A Longer Sentence For Post-Conviction Comments to the Press?
By: Ifrah Law
Lynne Stewart, an attorney who was convicted in 2005 of providing material support to a terrorist group by passing messages to and from her imprisoned client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, to his followers, was re-sentenced last month by U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in the Southern District of New York to 10 years in prison, far more than observers expected. But most surprising was the…
