The former chief financial officer of Dewey & LeBoeuf, once one of the nation’s largest law firms, has been convicted for hiding “severe financial challenges” that eventually led to the firm’s bankruptcy, reports The New York Times.

“A jury in Manhattan convicted Joel Sanders, the law firm’s former chief financial officer, on three criminal counts arising from what prosecutors said was a scheme to hide the firm’s failing finances from financial backers,” write Matthew Goldstein and Liz Moyer.

The jury acquitted the firm’s former executive director, Stephen DiCarmine, of the same charges.

Sanders’ guilty verdicts came on charges of securities fraud, scheme to defraud and conspiracy.

Read the NYT article.

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Reuters is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice has begun a criminal investigation into Uber Technologies Inc.’s use of a software tool that helped its drivers evade local transportation regulators, two sources familiar with the situation said.

Reporters Dan Levine and Joseph Menn write that Uber has acknowledged the software, known as “Greyball,” helped it identify and circumvent government officials who were trying to clamp down on Uber in areas where its service had not yet been approved, such as Portland, Oregon.

“The criminal probe could become a significant problem facing the company that is already struggling with an array of recent business and legal issues,” they explain.

Some Uber employees told Reuters that the Greyball technique was used against suspected local officials who could have been looking to fine drivers, impound cars or otherwise prevent Uber from operating.

Read the Reuters article.

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Legendary Houston attorney Richard “Racehorse” Haynes died early Friday morning, April 28, according to a statement from a family spokesman. He had had been in declining health for the past several years, the spokesman said.

“Haynes was one of the most well-known criminal defense lawyers in the country,” reports the Houston Chronicle. “He made a name for himself in the 1970s, with cases including the State of Texas v. John Hill, when he represented a River Oaks surgeon accused of murdering his socialite wife. After the first trial ended in a hung jury, Hill was murdered in the driveway of his River Oaks mansion. The case was made the subject of the Thomas Thompson book ‘Blood and Money,’ which was also turned into a movie.”

He also represented Cullen Davis, the first billionaire indicted for murder in the U.S., and Pam Fielder, who was accused of killing her abusive husband. Reporter Margaret Kadifa writes that Haynes’ defense on the Fielder case is now embodied in Texas law, giving women the right to defend themselves against abusers.

Criminal defense lawyer Chris Tritico said Haynes was easy-going until he stepped into a courtroom, Tritico said. He was legendary for his ability to take command of the courtroom, and effectively cross-examine witnesses.

Read the Houston Chronicle article.

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The third-generation leader of South Korea’s top conglomerate was mostly silent at his first court appearance in what has been called the “trial of the century,” as his lawyers labored to portray him as an innocent bystander in a graft scandal, reports Reuters.

Jay Y. Lee, the 48-year-old de facto leader of Samsung Group, could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years on charges including bribery and embezzlement in a scandal that led to the ouster of President Park Geun-hye, writes Joyce Lee.

“The leader of the smartphones-to-biopharmaceuticals business empire is the only founding family member among the country’s most powerful conglomerates, called chaebol, to be indicted in a graft scandal that led to Park becoming South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to be removed from office,” according to the report.

Read the Reuters article.

A disbarred Connecticut lawyer who owes more than $600,000 for stealing money from a client was given a dressing down by a frustrated Stamford judge who was angered that the man had paid less than $400 in restitution in five years, reports the Stamford Advocate.

Benson Snaider pleaded guilty to felony charge of first-degree larceny in 2012 for misappropriating an $800,000 check written by the city in 2005 for what turned out to be the partial payment for property to make way for the Stamford Urban Transitway, John Nickerson writes. Snaider received a five-year probated sentence and was ordered to pay $680,000 in restitution.

A court earlier found him to be in violation of his probation because he had maid only $180,000 in restitution payments.

Read the Stamford Advocate article.

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Atlanta police say Trinh Huynh, an attorney with UPS, was singled out and targeted before she was shot and killed on her way to work, according to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

A suspect has been arrested in connection with the murder of Huynh, who escaped from Vietnam as a child with her family. She was a graduate of Princeton University and Emory University School of Law. Besides working for UPS, she provided pro bono legal services to immigrants, a local television station reported.

A police spokesman said surveillance footage shows the suspect, Raylon Browning, calmly approaching Huynh before the shooting and then briefly running afterward, before slowing down and walking away.

Read the AJC article.

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A U.S. district judge sentenced disbarred Harvard-educated lawyer Matthew Muller to 40 years in prison for abducting a California woman in a crime so elaborate and bizarre that police initially dismissed it as a hoax, the Associated Press reports.

The victim was drugged along with her boyfriend and then dragged from their home in the San Francisco Bay area two years ago. She was forced to endure two days of physical and psychological torture.

“U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley called the abduction a ‘heinous, atrocious, horrible crime’ as he sentenced Muller, 39,” reports Don Thompson. “He had faced up to life in prison, but prosecutors agreed to recommend 40 years in exchange for his guilty plea.”

Prosecutors say Muller used a remote-controlled drone to spy on the couple before he broke into their home with a fake gun, tied them up and forced them to drink a sleep-inducing liquid.

Read the AP article.

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Dylann Roof will face the death penalty after a Charleston, South Carolina, jury found him guilty of shooting and killing nine people at the historic Emanuel AME Church in June 2015. Although he had legal representation during the federal trial, he chose to represent himself during the penalty phase, leaving open the possibility of an appeal. It also sets the stage for South Carolina prosecutors to seek the death penalty in an upcoming state murder trial, according to an article published by Androvett Legal Media & Marketing.

Explains Dallas criminal defense attorney Nicole Knox:

“Roof’s decision to take the innocent lives of South Carolina citizens is deplorable, and the pursuit of the death penalty in state court is likely an effort to offset any potential success he may find during his federal appeal. Roof has a sound basis to support his motion for new trial because he did not have the benefit of qualified counsel during the punishment phase. Without the arguments of defense counsel, we cannot be sure that Roof, arguing for himself, was capable of pursuing mitigation arguments that could have precluded a death penalty verdict. His post-trial motions and the appeals could continue for several years. Should the state pursue and succeed in obtaining a death penalty verdict on its own case, then Roof will be able to appeal that case as well, but it will give the state another opportunity to hold him accountable for his crimes.”

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A Florida ice cream truck driver suffering financial woes and frustrated that his wife wanted to move back to New Jersey shot and killed her and his son and badly wounded an attorney before police ended a three-hour standoff Wednesday afternoon when they shot him, reports The Miami Herald.

Real estate lawyer Larry Harshman, 54, was shot five times at his Kendall law office earlier in the day. Harshman, who had drawn up paperwork for a home Jabado was forced to sell short three years ago, underwent surgery and was recovering in a hospital, police said.

WSVN 7 News talked to Harshman’s wife: “Now I find out that he came last week to tell Larry that he was getting divorced, that his wife wanted to leave him. And he was gonna take the kid. And Larry said, ‘Well, there’s nothing I can do for you because I’m not a divorce attorney.’” The suspect, Fadel Jabado, allegedly returned to Harshman’s office later and shot him in the stomach.

Articles: Miami Herald and 7 News.

A prominent San Francisco attorney returning to his home in El Cerrito, Calif., Thursday night was confronted by an assailant who shot him to death, according to a report on SF Gate.

Paramedics pronounced James Gilliland Jr., 62, dead at the scene on his front porch in the San Francisco Bay area.

“Gilliland was a partner at Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton LLP in San Francisco, where he headed litigation from 2013 to 2015. Specializing in patents, copyright and antitrust, he represented companies including Oracle, Sony, Williams-Sonoma and Levi Strauss and Co.,” write Kimberly Veklerov and Steve Rubenstein.

SF Gate reported that a police spokesman said it was not known whether Gilliland was stalked or followed, whether he was the victim of a robbery, or whether the victim and gunman knew each other.

Read the article.

A South Carolina attorney who pleaded guilty to defrauding her sorority at the University of Alabama of hundreds of thousands of dollars was sentenced Tuesday to six months in prison and fined $50,000, reports AL.com.

The sentence also calls for Jennifer Elizabeth Meehan, 40, to serve 18 months of home confinement and 40 months supervised probation, along with community service and participation in a mental health program.

Meehan told the judge that she placed $234,000 of the money in a shoebox inside a closet to use for a scholarship program and other sorority expenses, according to the report by Kent Faulk.

Gamma Phi Beta Sorority at the University of Alabama intended the money to be used to furnish its sorority house.

Read the article.

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A prominent New Jersey lawyer who specializes in elder care law was arrested on Tuesday and charged with stealing more than $1 million from some of his clients, reports NJ.com.

Charges against Robert Novy of Novy & Associates in Manchester involve his handling of funds of some of his clients, state Attorney General Christopher Porrino said.

According to Porrino, Novy, who had his own radio show on topics of interest to senior citizens, is accused of stealing $1.2 million between 2010 and 2015 from at least four people, some of whom suffered from Alzheimer’s or did not have or close relatives to keep track of their funds, repots MaryAnn Spoto.

Read the article.

Dallas police have released documents that detail evidence they’ve sought in the slaying of prominent attorney Ira Tobolowsky, according to a report by The Dallas Morning News.

“A search warrant affidavit reveals that detectives suspected that someone drilled holes into the 68-year-old’s fence to spy on him before he was set on fire May 13 at his North Dallas home,” writes Chris Siron.

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Carl Ferrer, chief executive of advertising website Backpage.com, was arrested on Thursday on criminal charges including pimping, as authorities investigate the company which has been accused of facilitating sex trafficking of minors, according to a Reuters report.

“Backpage, the second-largest U.S. online classified ad service after Craigslist, has faced scrutiny from the U.S. Senate as well as civil lawsuits over allegations that the site facilitates sex trafficking, especially of children,” reports Dan Levine for Reuters.

The California AG’s office also announced a criminal charge against the controlling shareholders of Backpage.com, Michael Lacey and James Larkin. Ford said warrants have been issued for Lacey and Larkin but they are not in custody. Ferrer was custody in Houston on a California warrant.

Read the article.

A California man, described as a Harvard-educated lawyer who was later disbarred, pleaded guilty Thursday in a federal court to an elaborate kidnapping that law enforcement had initially branded a hoax, reports NPR.

Reporter Merrit Kennedy writes that defendant Matthew Muller, 39, is identified in court documents as a former Marine who suffers from bipolar disorder. The Associated Press reports he calmly told U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley that he was taking antidepressant, mood-stabilizing and anti-psychotic drugs.

The AP reports that Muller “could face life in prison when he is sentenced, though prosecutors have agreed as part of his guilty plea to recommend a maximum term of 40 years.”

Read the article.

Many of those attending the 34th international symposium on economic crime in Cambridge, England, have the view that the record of combating economic crime is so woeful that governments need a new approach, according to a report in The New York Times.

About 1,600 delegates from academia and the legal and compliance profession attended the event.

“If this is a war, we are not winning it,” said Alison Levitt, a partner at the London law firm Mishcon de Reya, speaking on a panel at the University of Cambridge’s Jesus College. She was not opining on drugs or terrorism, rather on the limited progress law enforcement has made in battling economic crimes like money laundering, fraud and insider trading.

Levitt recommended that the same stigma that is associated with crimes like rape be attached to economic crime, reports Anita Raghavan.

“Ironically, one participant suggested that the publication of the Panama Papers, which revealed how wealthy individuals used elaborate corporate structures and offshore tax havens to obscure their ownership of assets, would lead to less transparency,” The Times reports.

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Alan Koslow, one of South Florida’s most effective lawyers, pleaded guilty Thursday to a money-laundering conspiracy charge.

Federal prosecutors charged him earlier this year with helping people he thought were criminals to hide the source of $220,000 linked to illegal gambling and drug dealing of cocaine and counterfeit Viagra, reports the Sun Sentinel. The transactions were actually part of an undercover FBI sting.

In his Nov. 10 sentencing, Koslow will lose his law license and will face up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The Sun Sentinel’s Paula McMahon reports: “Koslow accepted $8,500 from undercover agents as payment for laundering cash by running it through his friend Susan Mohr’s business bank account in Fort Lauderdale during several months in 2012 and 2013, according to court records.”

Read the article.

Fugitive ex-CEO Jacob (Kobi) Alexander, who is scheduled to return to the U.S. from Namibia on Wednesday to plead guilty to securities fraud after leaving America more than 10 years ago, will try to convince a Brooklyn judge to release him on $25 million bail, reports the New York Daily News.

The 64-year-old ex-CEO of Comverse Technology Inc. moved to Namibia before he was formally charged in 2006 in a scheme involving the backdating of stock options at Comverse. He faces up to 10 years in prison, writes John Marzulli.

The Wall Street Journal explains how the alleged scheme worked:

Prosecutors allege Mr. Alexander, along with Comverse’s general counsel and its finance chief, for years would look for low-price trading days in the past on which to pretend they and other employees had been awarded stock options at that day’s price. Since an option grants its holder the right to buy shares at a fixed price, the alleged manipulation scored them instant gains. The backdating added millions to Mr. Alexander’s compensation.

Read the article.

For 50 years, police officers across the United States have been reciting the so-called Miranda warning to criminal suspects before they are detained.

Androvett Legal Media & Marketing reports that the largest legal association in the United States – the American Bar Association – is taking steps to ensure that the language in Miranda warnings is accurately translated for Spanish-speaking suspects who may not understand English. When the ABA meets this week in San Francisco for its annual convention, members will consider a proposal to adopt a uniform Spanish-language translation of the now-immortalized words from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1966 Miranda v. Arizona ruling.

In its blog post, the Androvett firm quotes Dallas lawyer John Teakell, who represents white-collar and other criminal defendants:

“Miranda has stood the test of time and protects both defendants from self-incrimination and police officers from allegations of investigative misconduct,” says  “The ABA’s efforts to create a standard translation will go a long way toward extending these constitutional rights to everyone.”

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A former FBI agent faces sentencing for lying during his testimony at the 2013 racketeering trial of Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, reports The Boston Globe.

Prosecutors and the defense have have proposed a plea agreement that recommends two years probation for Robert Fitzpatrick, 76, who is suffering from kidney disease, cancer, and diabetes.

“Fitzpatrick, who served as second-in-command of the FBI’s Boston office from 1981 to 1986, pleaded guilty in May to six counts of obstruction of justice and six counts of perjury for testimony that exaggerated his accomplishments and assisted the defense,” reports Shelley Murphy. “It marked a dramatic reversal for Fitzpatrick, who has been an outspoken critic of the FBI’s handling of Bulger since it was publicly revealed in the late 1990s that the gangster was a longtime informant who got away with murder while being protected from prosecution by corrupt agents.”

Read the article.