$2.1M IRS civil penalty for unreported Swiss bank account merits SCOTUS review, Gorsuch argues

Justice Neil Gorsuch argued Monday that the U.S. Supreme Court should have agreed to hear the case of a woman who argued that the Internal Revenue Service violated the excessive fines clause when it required her to pay a $2.1 million civil penalty for failing to report a Swiss bank account.

Jan 24, 2023 10:04 AM CST

Judge won’t sanction Texas lawyer for missteps after mistaken disclosure of info about Sandy Hook families

Updated: A Connecticut judge has declined to sanction a Texas lawyer representing Infowars host Alex Jones for failing to take proper action after his paralegal mistakenly released confidential documents to the opposing counsel.

Jan 19, 2023 9:41 AM CST

Bankruptcy judge suspends lawyer for ‘bizarre gamesmanship,’ urging clients to infect trustee with ‘nasty disease’

A bankruptcy judge in Colorado has suspended a Denver lawyer from practicing before the court for three years as a sanction for “egregious lawyer misconduct” that included asking his clients to infect the trustee with COVID-19 or another “nasty disease.”

Jan 12, 2023 12:38 PM CST

Lawyer who missed deadline after spending 25 minutes trying to file ECF document gets no mercy from 10th Circuit

A lawyer has failed to persuade a federal appeals court that his missed deadline should be excused because of his difficulty filing a complaint with an electronic case filing system.

Dec 21, 2022 12:30 PM CST

Sullivan & Cromwell pressured me to file for FTX bankruptcy, crypto exchange’s founder says

Indicted cryptocurrency exchange FTX founder Samuel Bankman-Fried is accusing Sullivan & Cromwell of pressuring him to seek bankruptcy protection for his company and filing documents nominating a new CEO after he tried to withdraw permission.

Dec 15, 2022 1:01 PM CST

Judge orders Trump to appoint independent monitor in New York attorney general’s $250M fraud case

The Trump Organization was ordered by a New York judge to appoint an independent monitor, a win for the New York attorney general in her $250 million fraud lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, his companies and his officers.

Nov 7, 2022 8:58 AM CST

Lawyer is acquitted on tax and wire-fraud charges for wiring $6.5M in client funds to Swiss bank account

Federal jurors acquitted an Oakland County, Michigan, lawyer Tuesday who had been accused of wiring $6.5 million in client money to his Swiss bank account. Jurors acquitted tax lawyer Jeffrey Freeman of Birmingham, Michigan, on charges of tax evasion and wire fraud.

Oct 26, 2022 1:53 PM CDT

Barrett denies emergency request to halt student-loan forgiveness program; federal judge tosses different suit

Court challenges to President Joe Biden’s student-debt relief program encountered two roadblocks Thursday.

Oct 21, 2022 9:53 AM CDT

Funding structure for consumer agency violates separation of powers, 5th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has ruled that the funding structure for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional because it is funded by the Federal Reserve System, rather than Congress.

Oct 21, 2022 8:59 AM CDT

Ex-lawyer who argued football head injuries made him unable to form fraud intent loses in 6th Circuit

A federal appeals court has affirmed the conviction of a disbarred lawyer who argued that football head injuries made him unable to form an intent to defraud his bank.

Oct 20, 2022 1:14 PM CDT

Trump inflated net worth by billions to get favorable loans, obtaining $250M in benefits, NY attorney general says

Former President Donald Trump obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate loans and favorable insurance coverage based on financial statements that inflated his net worth by billions of dollars, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the New York attorney general.

Sep 21, 2022 12:49 PM CDT

Litigation lenders bankrolled Tom Girardi despite his apparent ‘proclivities’ for stealing from clients, suit says

Sep 6, 2022 4:15 PM CDT

Class action suit over gender bias at Goldman Sachs slated for 2023 trial

Despite Goldman Sachs’ attempt to avoid a 12-year-old gender bias class action lawsuit, a federal judge said Monday the case will head to trial next June.

Aug 23, 2022 10:31 AM CDT

Lawyers can hold cryptocurrency in escrow for clients, with safeguards, state ethics opinion says

Lawyers may hold cryptocurrency in escrow for clients, but they must have technical competence and safeguard against losses, according to an Ohio ethics opinion.

Aug 12, 2022 9:13 AM CDT

Wells Fargo didn’t have contractual duty to catch scam check that cost law firm nearly $200K, judge rules

A scammed law firm that wired nearly $200,000 to a Nigerian bank can’t recover the money from Wells Fargo, a federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled.

Jul 21, 2022 3:27 PM CDT