On December 22, 2020, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Civil Division, Consumer Protection Branch, and five U.S. Attorneys’ Offices announced a groundbreaking civil enforcement action against Walmart Inc. (“Walmart”). The 160-page complaint alleges that the world’s largest company (by revenue) and the operator of over 5,000 in-store pharmacies contributed to the national opioid crisis by
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SHOCK and AWEsomeness: President Trump Unleashes His Executive Clemency Power
On December 22, 2020, President Donald Trump granted fifteen full pardons and commuted the sentences of five incarcerated individuals. The next day he did it again, granting twenty-six more pardons and three additional sentence commutations. While there is no doubt that a President has the constitutional authority to grant pardons and commute criminal sentences, the
Lock-up the Formula and Throw Away the Key: Recent Trade Secret Guilty Plea Highlights Continued Focus on China-related Trade Secret Prosecutions
Trade secrets are often a company’s most valuable asset, whether those secrets involve cutting-edge medical research or the formula for Coca-Cola. Businesses must take significant steps to protect these valuable “crown jewels” at all costs, whether by securing them on a network or a locked room, encrypting them, or restricting employee access on a need-to-know
Lock-up the Formula and Throw Away the Key: Recent Trade Secret Guilty Plea Highlights Continued Focus on China-related Trade Secret Prosecutions
Trade secrets are often a company’s most valuable asset, whether those secrets involve cutting-edge medical research or the formula for Coca-Cola. Businesses must take significant steps to protect these valuable “crown jewels” at all costs, whether by securing them on a network or a locked room, encrypting them, or restricting employee access on a need-to-know
Varsity Blues: Are University Admissions Slots “Property” for Mail/Wire Fraud Purposes?
Defendants in the “Varsity Blues” university admissions scandal recently succeeded in their latest effort to beat back some of the charges against them by arguing that university admissions slots are not “property” for purposes of federal mail and wire fraud. The decision in U.S. v. Ernst (D. Mass. 19-cr-10081) conflicts with the conclusion reached by
Public Corruption Indictments in Ohio: From the Queen City to the State Capitol
The Southern District of Ohio, where interstate highways stretching from the southern tip of Florida enter the southwestern point of Ohio, usually and understandably boasts a steady stream of interstate drug trafficking cases. Since 2019, however, the District has prosecuted a growing number of public corruption cases as well. In that short time, the United
Ohio’s Governor DeWine Announces Additional COVID-19 Restrictions on Businesses: How to Avoid Government Shutdown
COVID-19 continues to rage on after months of impacting our lives, businesses, and the economy. Ohio, at one point a beacon of the country’s COVID-19 response, has recently set state records for new daily cases, hospitalizations, and, sadly, deaths. In response to the increased number of cases in Ohio, last week, Governor DeWine announced a
No End in Sight for PPP Fraud Prosecutions
“Never let a good crisis go to waste” was an observation supposedly made by Winston Churchill at the Yalta Conference towards the end of the Second World War while he was pressing for the formation of the United Nations. In 2020, Churchill’s admonition has found a less lofty home with COVID fraudsters who have abused
Despite Promises to the Contrary, Enforcement Against Nursing Homes Has Fallen Short—When It’s Been Needed the Most
Several months into the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the United States, it is well established that hotbeds for spread of the disease are nursing homes and other assisted living facilities. Tight quarters holding vulnerable populations is precisely the kind of environment in which the novel coronavirus thrives. That fact is made all the worse
Is Brady the GOAT? The Due Process Protections Act Aims to Make That So
This past September, District Court Judge Alison Nathan, from the Southern District of New York, issued a withering decision reprimanding prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for a “cascade of failures to timely disclose” Brady materials before or even during trial, including documents that the Government disclosed to the defense only after the trial concluded