Yesterday, we posted a blog entry concerning an anticipated announcement by Eric Holder involving the Department of Justice’s decision to stop requiring appellate waiver provisions in plea agreements in federal court. Although the announcement has not yet been made, a number of individuals with whom we have spoken confirmed that…
If reports are true, those of us that handle federal criminal cases here in Atlanta and elsewhere received some much welcomed news this morning. It is being reported by Law 360 that within the next week or so, Eric Holder is expected to announce that the Department of Justice will…
Those you that handle white collar matters in federal court may want to take a look at the Court’s decision yesterday interpreting subsection two of the federal bank fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1344(2). Subsection (2) of § 1344 makes it unlawful to knowingly execute or attempt to execute a…
Over at the State Bar today here in Atlanta, the Federal Defender Office is holding its annual Saint Crispin’s Day Seminar. Although I may be off a year or two, the FDP began holding this annual celebration over 10 years ago when Paul and I were still working in that…
In a much welcomed opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which hears all federal criminal appeals from Georgia, Alabama and Florida, reversed an individual’s conviction last week due to the failure of the indictment to allege all the essential elements of the offense. The case…
Paul Kish and I started our federal criminal defense firm here in Atlanta over seven years ago. Before that, we were both lawyers with the Federal Defender Office here in Atlanta. Paul was a lawyer in that office for more than twenty years and I was a lawyer in that…
Ellen Podgor over at the White Collar Crime Prof Blog recently pointed out a significant decision out of the Ninth Circuit involving the federal mail fraud statute which could be helpful to those of us that handle white collar cases in federal court. Specifically, in United States v. Phillips, Judge…
Earlier today, the Department of Justice issued a press release announcing that it reached an agreement with BP Oil in which BP agreed to plead guilty to a number of federal criminal violations. More specifically, according to the press release, BP has agreed to enter guilty pleas to violations of…
Recently, I read an article in Bloomberg Businessweek entitled: “American Pain: The Largest U.S. Pill Mill’s Rise and Fall.” Among other things, the article recounts the story of two brothers who were investigated and prosecuted in federal court for operating a number of pain management clinics in Florida, Georgia, and…
This Wednesday, United States Court of Appeals Judge Beverly Martin will be speaking here in Atlanta at a luncheon sponsored by the Criminal Law Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. Federal criminal lawyers here in Atlanta know Judge Martin well because she served as a district court judge here in…