On November 1, 2025, the most recent amendments to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual went into effect. Among other changes, the amendments streamline the sentencing process from three steps to two by eliminating the requirement that sentencing courts consider departures, which have now been removed from the operative text of the guidelines. As amended, the
The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently obtained several cybersecurity-related False Claims Act (FCA) settlements totaling more than $50 million dollars. Collectively, these settlements reflect a clear message: Cybersecurity is an enforcement priority for the second Trump administration, and any organization that contracts with the federal government is a potential target.
On June 6, 2025
On October 22, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sweeping new sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, citing the Kremlin’s continued refusal to engage in good-faith negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. The action designates Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft) and Lukoil OAO
The public-disclosure bar is a defense to the False Claims Act (FCA) that prevents relators from pursuing fraud and false claims allegations that have already been publicized, unless the relator is the original source of the information. As statutorily defined, a relator is an “original source” if they voluntarily disclosed the information to the government
On August 27, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion highlighting that, when public companies disclose risks using hypothetical language, those disclosures may be deemed misleading if the risks have already materialized. See City of Hialeah Employees’ Ret. Sys. v. Peloton Interactive, Inc., — F.4th —, 2025 WL
On September 5, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought enforcement actions against a public company and one of its executives for materially misleading statements. Although disclosure fraud cases are nothing new for the SEC, they have been a rarity thus far during the tenure of Chairman Paul S. Atkins. So, these cases
Under federal law, government agents are authorized to “interrogate any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or to remain in the United States.” Under applicable regulations, the agents “may briefly detain” an individual “for questioning” if they have “a reasonable suspicion, based on specific articulable facts, that
On August 11, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought two settled administrative proceedings against a broker-dealer and one of its registered representatives for violations of Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). Reg BI generally requires a broker-dealer, when making a recommendation of a securities transaction to a retail customer, to act in the
In United States v. Mims, No. 22-13215, 2025 WL 1934570 (11th Cir., July 15, 2025), the Eleventh Circuit addressed a relatively straightforward question of first impression: “whether a district court continues to have jurisdiction in a criminal case to order compliance with unsatisfied restitution obligations after the defendant completes her probationary sentence.” In
In May 2025, we summarized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Enforcement activity during the first quarter of the new presidential administration. With the second quarter now concluded, and Paul S. Atkins hitting his stride as the new Chairman of the SEC, we summarize below the types of SEC enforcement