Bringing Sentencing Sanity to Operation Malicious Mortgage
August 27, 2008
Harsh sentences can be generated by a rote application of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines in mortgage fraud cases. Challenging the scope of "relevant conduct" should be defense counsel's first line of attack in many cases, because victims' losses may not have resulted from a convicted client's activities or the reasonably foreseeable acts of others in furtherance of jointly undertaken criminal activity under ' 1B1.3.
Prosecution of Subprime-Mortgage Fraud
August 27, 2008
With the meltdown of the U.S. housing market, many players in mortgage lending now face the triple threat of criminal, civil, and administrative legal action. But the scope of federal action against questionable lending practices will depend on the answer to a key question: What funding will be made available to law enforcement agencies?
The 'Sophisticated Insured' Defense
July 30, 2008
A majority of courts consider the <i>contra proferentem</i> doctrine to be a pillar of insurance law. The doctrine requires ambiguous terms in an insurance policy to be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage for the insured. A prominent rationale behind the doctrine is that insurance policies are usually standard-form contracts drafted entirely by insurers.
White-Collar Crime: Another View
July 30, 2008
In a November 2007 article, we noted the government's aggressive enforcement and broad interpretation of federal money-laundering statutes, expressing concern that prosecutorial use of the statutes had been unfairly and improperly expanded. Elkan Abramowitz and Barry A. Bohrer, 'Federal Money-Laundering Statutes: Course Correction?' New York Law Journal (Nov. 6, 2007). In the same article, we expressed hope that the U.S. Supreme Court would take corrective action in cases then pending before it. …
The Case for Non-Discretionary Advancement Policies
July 30, 2008
Non-discretionary advancement policies provide officers and directors with the necessary resources to resist unjustified lawsuits. At the same time, they encourage highly qualified people to serve as officers and directors, 'secure in the knowledge that the corporation will absorb the costs of defending their honesty and integrity.'
Parallel Proceedings: The End of an Error?
July 30, 2008
Three years ago, two similarly minded district court decisions rocked federal regulatory agencies and the Department of Justice (DOJ) by rejecting longstanding assumptions about the proper conduct of simultaneous civil and criminal investigations, commonly known as 'parallel proceedings.' This article analyzes those decisions.
In the Courts
June 26, 2008
Recent rulings of importance to your practice.
Parent Corporations and Their Subsidiaries' Liabilities: Guidelines
June 26, 2008
In February 2007 the Illinois Supreme Court in a unanimous decision held as a matter of first impression that a parent corporation could be directly liable for its negligence to the estates of two employees of its subsidiary corporation. <i>Forsythe v. Clark USA.</i> The Illinois Court relied extensively on the unanimous 1998 opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court in <i>U S v. Bestfoods.</i> Both courts limited the reach of their opinions by making explicit the common law principle that corporate shareholders are not generally liable for the acts and omissions of their subsidiaries in the absence of active involvement of the parent in those acts or omissions.
