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AI Conversations Feel Private. Could They Be Privileged?
FEATURED
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 to define such an “AI privilege” would involve tackling difficult questions about our relationships with AI systems, the more likely barrier will be the general reluctance to recognize new evidentiary privileges, particularly in federal courts. The expansive AI privilege Altman appears to envision is therefore unlikely to materialize any time soon. The premise of Altman’s…
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…
A Luigi Mangione Death Penalty Trial
April 15, 2025
A Luigi Mangione Death Penalty Trial
By: James Trusty
The Attorney General’s recent announcement that DOJ will seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione raises a host of interesting legal and philosophical issues, and it almost certainly reflects a dramatic about-face from the Biden administration’s approach towards federal prosecutions for death-eligible offenses. Aside from having personally prosecuted three death penalty trials while I was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Maryland and when I was…
When Double Jeopardy Means No Jeopardy
March 25, 2021
When Double Jeopardy Means No Jeopardy
By: James Trusty
In March of 2019, on the afternoon in which Paul Manafort was sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison by the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance unveiled an indictment against Manafort for mortgage fraud and similar state offenses. As rumors had begun to swirl that President Trump might pardon Manafort’s two federal prosecutions, Vance announced that, “No…
Civil or Criminal Liability: Charging A Payment Processing Case by Coin Toss?
August 17, 2020
Civil or Criminal Liability: Charging A Payment Processing Case by Coin Toss?
By: James Trusty
In the eyes of federal investigators, when is a payment processor considered a benevolent alternative to traditional banks, and when is it viewed as a shady facilitator of all things criminal? In other words, is the client another Paypal or Venmo, or are we looking at a potential WireCard AG prosecution? We have noticed in recent cases that prosecutors are across the board in their…
Going…Going…Ghosn
May 22, 2020
Going…Going…Ghosn
By: James Trusty
While much of the focus on the Japanese prosecution of high-profile executive Carlos Ghosn has been on his spectacular private jet escape from Japan while hidden in an instruments case, his prosecution actually raises much more profound issues about white collar criminal prosecution in Japan and in the United States. Ghosn is an indisputably talented executive at the highest reaches of the auto manufacturing and…
Death by a Thousand Cuts
May 8, 2020
Death by a Thousand Cuts
By: James Trusty
When legal scholars look back at the failed Flynn prosecution, they will not be able to pin the dismissal on a single deficiency or legal principle, but if they are fair they will recognize a small case that was plagued with innumerable flaws. The DOJ Motion to Dismiss, filed in the rarified air of a case where the guilty plea already took place, spends a…
Videoconferencing to the Rescue
April 1, 2020
Videoconferencing to the Rescue
By: James Trusty
While the recent passage of the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act is receiving tremendous attention because of its price tag, strategies to keep businesses and families afloat, and its hidden gems for beneficiaries like the Kennedy Center, it also has a component that is important for federal practitioners who handle criminal matters in District Courts around the country. Federal courts currently show…
