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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…
Reading the Plea Leaves
October 25, 2023
Reading the Plea Leaves
By: James Trusty
Are guilty pleas in Fulton County confirming the righteousness of Fani Willis’ RICO prosecution or do they reflect an inherent frailty of the case, even in a venue where jurors largely can be expected to instinctively support a prosecution of high-profile Republicans? A close look at the recent plea agreements suggests that prosecutorial victory laps are premature. While the indictment itself has joined the ranks…
Not a Grande Victory for DOJ
September 13, 2023
Not a Grande Victory for DOJ
By: James Trusty
Frustrated with the massive influx of aliens into Texas, Texas Governor Greg Abbott came up with a plan that was physically simple, but legally complex: drop a 1000-foot-long buoy barrier into the middle of the Rio Grande. The four-foot spherical orange buoys were chained together and anchored to the riverbed near the town of Eagle Pass—a sector that reported 270,000 encounters with migrants during the…
When Acquitted Conduct Becomes Untouchable
July 27, 2023
When Acquitted Conduct Becomes Untouchable
By: James Trusty
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was never prosecuted for murder, so there was never a jury determining whether Al was responsible for the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in which seven gang rivals were executed by Capone’s underlings. Instead, “Scarface” Capone was prosecuted and convicted for felony tax evasion offenses, for which he received 11 years in prison. Since that conviction in 1931, the concept of “getting…
True Threats and True Agendas
July 6, 2023
True Threats and True Agendas
By: James Trusty
Last week’s Supreme Court opinion on the “true threats” doctrine seemingly settles a long- brewing issue in threat-based prosecutions but also reflects the anticipatory positioning of various Associate Justices on much hotter issues that may make their way to SCOTUS consideration in the near future. As such, the debate-behind-the-debate between the Court’s members is of great interest to those who like predicting the next big…
Robocop Finds His Man, But Man Gets Robocop’s Instruction Manual
June 22, 2023
Robocop Finds His Man, But Man Gets Robocop’s Instruction Manual
By: James Trusty
Many years ago, a prosecutor I worked with at the time was in a fascinating murder trial, where the defense included a forensic psychiatrist opining that the defendant suffered from multiple personalities. According to this expert, one of the “inhabitants” of the defendant’s mind was a creature named Tofu the Demon Dog. On cross examination, the doctor volunteered to the jury that these distinct personalities…
