Featured Articles

No notice to subscriber required when officers seize stored email from ISP

Alain Leibman
October 30, 2009 22:07

The usual protocol when agents execute a search warrant at an office or home is to leave a copy of the warrant with the person in control of the premises, often but not necessarily the owner.  Rule 41(f)(1)(C) requires it.  But what kind of notice is required when agents execute a search...

Recent Articles

The Madoff Aftermath and Charities: Should the IRS Adopt the New Requirements for Amending Form 990 for Form 990-PF? - Installment 26

May 17, 2010 13:04

This is the twenty-sixth in a series of Installments on this blog that discusses issues that arose in the aftermath of the Bernard L. Madoff (“Madoff”) scandal. Against the backdrop of the Madoff scandal, prior Installments of this series have discussed and analyzed new disclosure...

Another Revisit to Madoff and His Charity Stakeholders - Has an Upgrade in Compliance Compromised Auditor Independence for Yeshiva University? - Part IV - Installment 25

April 17, 2010 17:03

This is the twenty-fifth in a series of installments on this blog that are discussing issues arising in the aftermath of the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff (“Madoff”). Defined terms and links not otherwise contained in this Installment are included in Installments 22, 23...

CFO Has No Fiduciary Duty To Correct Another Officer's Statements To The Market

April 09, 2010 20:52

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals this week reaffirmed the limited circumstances under which a duty to disclose arises under Rule 10b-5, rejecting in a criminal case the Government’s theory that a fiduciary duty attaches to “high corporate executives” obliging them to correct...

Victim Of Securities Fraud Successfully Relies On SEC Protective Order To Shield Tax Information From IRS

April 06, 2010 20:59

There are a variety of circumstances under which investors may provide sensitive tax-related information to the Securities and Exchange Commission; they may be victims of securities fraud eager to assist the SEC in recovering lost monies or, under the SEC's newly-developed policy of...

Overcoming A Too-General Search Warrant? Government Need Only Say "See Attached Affidavit"

March 25, 2010 21:17

There are several recurring instances in the practice of criminal law where the use of particular terminology in the right circumstance makes the difference between an action which is unconstitutional or improper and one which is not, e.g., effectively invoking the right to counsel under the Fifth...

Rule of Completeness is Broader than FRE 106

March 19, 2010 20:09

A useful lesson drawn from a recent Tenth Circuit case: don’t hesitate to use the common law “rule of completeness” in an effort to admit verbal statements, such as those memorialized in transcripts of plea allocutions or grand jury testimony, when no hearsay exception presents...

Another Revisit to Madoff and His Charity Stakeholders - Has an Upgrade in Compliance Compromised Auditor Independence for Yeshiva University? - Part III - Installment 24

March 16, 2010 22:18

This is the twenty-fourth in a series of installments on this blog that are discussing issues arising in the aftermath of the long global Ponzi scheme of Bernard L. Madoff (“Madoff”). Defined terms and links not otherwise contained in this Installment are included in Installments...

Confrontation Clause in the lower courts -- inconsistency is the only constant

March 15, 2010 21:18

As reported here recently, the lower courts continue to struggle to apply the new, restrictive Confrontation Clause jurisprudence of the Supreme Court's decision last year in Melendez-Diaz to various kinds of certifications and reports which previously were regularly admitted at trial. ...

Seventh Circuit Does End-Run Around Sixth Amendment to Admit Drug Testing Evidence

March 06, 2010 15:38

Last year the Supreme Court emphatically extended its new Confrontation Clause jurisprudence -- abjuring reliance on historically-rooted hearsay exceptions to require in criminal cases that  "testimonial" hearsay be kept out unless subject to cross-examination -- to in-court evidence...