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How Much is Too Much? – Second Circuit Establishes Guardrails for Sentencing Hearings
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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 federal proceedings, a lot of ink, angst, and argument is devoted to addressing thorny issues of unadjudicated “relevant conduct” and “jointly undertaken criminal activity.” In many cases, these expansive concepts can lead to a tax case having the same penalty as a murder prosecution (“Al Capone sentenced for tax evasion”) or a judge holding defendant…
Robotic Risk—but Is the Ultimate Answer Still a Human One?
May 26, 2026
Robotic Risk—but Is the Ultimate Answer Still a Human One?
By: Lauren Scribner
It now goes without saying that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a convenient solution for accomplishing certain tedious tasks, such as planning an upcoming trip, figuring out what to make for dinner with ingredients already on hand, or adding some professional flare to an email. But when it comes to some of the more high-stakes areas of life, such as obtaining financial, medical, or legal…
Murdaugh She Wrote
May 21, 2026
Murdaugh She Wrote
By: James Trusty
As the information regarding Alex Murdaugh’s conniving, murderous ways began to spread far beyond the Lowcountry of South Carolina and into the cable and social media airwaves, a curious and ominous thing took root. The temptation of star power and riches slumped stealthily behind the public face of the proceedings, causing a low-level bureaucrat to destroy the notion of an impartial jury in one of…
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…
ABA White Collar Conference: Political Commentary vs. Best Practices
March 16, 2026
ABA White Collar Conference: Political Commentary vs. Best Practices
By: James Trusty
This year’s ABA White Collar conference in San Diego displayed a good number of the usual suspects in these week-long educational echo chambers: smug moments of schadenfreude when panelists smirk at Trump administration missteps, not-so-subtle calls to arms by former prosecutors who hoist the “Rule of Law” banner, and former Southern District of New York (SDNY) prosecutors touting the superiority of their old office, even…
Chatbots, Copyrights, and the Courts: The Latest in Litigation Developments in the Cases Against OpenAI
January 5, 2026
Chatbots, Copyrights, and the Courts: The Latest in Litigation Developments in the Cases Against OpenAI
By: Abbey Block
Litigation Update: Open AI’s Discovery Woes and Fair Use Defenses in Infringement Lawsuits Since its formation in 2015, the artificial intelligence company “Open AI” – most known for its creation of the widely used chatbot, “ChatGPT” – has faced its fair share of legal disputes. Two of the most notorious lawsuits, one filed by the New York Times and the other by a class of…
The Truth Will Out – Even About Mar-a-Lago
December 27, 2025
The Truth Will Out – Even About Mar-a-Lago
By: James Trusty
The Truth Will Out is a fairly obscure phrase that was popularized in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” It suggests that even against the most active obstruction and obfuscation, the Truth seemingly has an invisible hand behind it that relentlessly—if slowly—pushes it into plain view. Nearly 2 ½ years after the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, the Truth may be emerging into the daylight. August 8,…
White-Collar Sentencing Under the Amended Guidelines: Fewer Steps, Same Dance
November 12, 2025
White-Collar Sentencing Under the Amended Guidelines: Fewer Steps, Same Dance
By: Robert Ward
For years, the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Guidelines Manual has guided courts through a three-step process to determine the sentence to be imposed. At a high level, that process looked like this: First, the court would calculate the guideline range based on relevant offense conduct and related factors, along with the defendant’s criminal history. Second, the court would consider the Sentencing Commission’s policy statements or commentary…
