White Collar

Expert Analysis

• 5th Circ.'s Health Care Fraud Ruling May Help Defendants Broadly

  

  The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in U.S. v. Nora, reversing a defendant's health care fraud conviction, highlights the difficulty in proving a defendant's intent and may strengthen myriad defense theories, say Richard Roper and Elissa McClure at Thompson & Knight.

• Lessons From Key Expert Testimony In Chauvin Trial

  

  During the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, pulmonologist Martin Tobin gave a gripping account of the cause of George Floyd’s death, engaging jurors in creative ways and bringing five important lessons for lawyers preparing expert witnesses, say Harlan Prater and Logan Matthews at Lightfoot Franklin.

• What To Expect From FinCEN's Beneficial Ownership Rules

  

  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent request for input on the Corporate Transparency Act's beneficial ownership reporting obligations offers insight into FinCEN's thinking on how to implement them, and suggests the regulator may be considering some unexpected requirements, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• Using Cryptocurrency To Evade Sanctions Creates New Risks

  

  As sanctioned countries and individuals increasingly use cryptocurrency to circumvent restrictions on their access to mainstream international financial markets, companies providing digital currency services need to step up efforts to identify illegal transactions undertaken using their services, say attorneys at Freshfields.

• Prepare For Global Collaboration In Crypto Tax Enforcement

  

  Recent Internal Revenue Service victories involving John Doe summonses served on cryptocurrency exchanges — and statements by the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement about global collaboration in cryptocurrency-related tax investigations — should prompt assessment of prior virtual currency transactions and remediation before an enforcement agency shows up at the door, say attorneys at McDermott.

• Lessons From Federal Fraud Charges Against UBiome

  

  The U.S. Department of Justice's and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent fraud allegations against uBiome executives illustrate the challenges of navigating interactions between clinical testing companies, health insurers and government oversight efforts, say attorneys at Debevoise.

• Why The Future Law Firm Model Is Industry-Based Offerings

  

  Multidisciplinary, industry-based groups at law firms allow for more holistic legal advice, lead to sustainable client relationships, and are likely to replace practice group monoliths at many firms, say Jennifer Simpson Carr at Furia Rubel, Timothy Corcoran at Corcoran Consulting and Mike Mellor at Pryor Cashman.

• Beware Sunny Days: Lessons From BP's 2005 Texas Blast

  

  The 16th anniversary of the massive explosion at BP's Texas City refinery is an occasion to remember that when companies grow complacent about favorable safety metrics, they leave themselves open to disaster — and to the civil and criminal liability that may follow, says Gerry Caron, chief counsel for safety, health and environment at Cabot.

• Opinion

  DOJ Accountability Bill Is Flawed And Inadequate

  

  The proposed Inspector General Access Act that would allow the U.S. Department of Justice inspector general to investigate allegations of misconduct by DOJ attorneys would do little to increase accountability, and could undermine decades of practiced procedure at the Office of Professional Responsibility, says Steven Wasserman at the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys.

• Enforcement Takeaways From ABA Antitrust Meeting

  

  Although many are calling for sweeping changes to antitrust laws, virtual sessions of the American Bar Association's 69th Antitrust Law Spring Meeting reveal that state and federal enforcers are already able to challenge big tech, acquisitions of small, nascent competitors, and wage-fixing and no-poach agreements, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

• Thought Leadership's Critical Role In Law Firm Diversity

  

  Minority attorneys are often underrepresented in conferences, media interviews and other law firm thought leadership campaigns, which affects their visibility with potential clients and their ability to advance at their firms, says John Hellerman at Hellerman Communications.

• Opinion

  US Antitrust Regulators Should Foster Climate Collaboration

  

  U.S. regulators should follow the lead of their European counterparts and clarify how antitrust law applies to cooperation between companies on fighting climate change, so that businesses have more flexibility to work together on green initiatives, say Ben Steinberg and Adam Mendel at Robins Kaplan.

• Where Health Care Enforcement Is Headed Under Biden

  

  Early actions by President Joe Biden's administration signal a robust health care enforcement environment in which federal agencies will aggressively scrutinize pandemic-related and Medicare Advantage fraud, nursing homes, and medical technology, and False Claims Act activity will likely increase, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

• What Associates Should Consider Before Switching Practices

  

  The current high demand for midlevel associates provides them a rare opportunity to potentially explore new practice areas, but associates should first ask themselves six questions to begin figuring out why a change sounds appealing, says Stephanie Biderman at Major Lindsey.

• 3 Reasons Securities Fraud Litigation Exposure Fell In Q1

  

  Nessim Mezrahi and Stephen Sigrist at SAR analyze data on securities class actions filed against public companies in the first quarter of 2021, and explore factors that may have contributed to issuers facing their lowest exposure to such claims in years.