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An analyst who stole computer information related to the writing of algorithms used in High Frequency Trading (“HFT”) caught the sympathetic ear of the Seventh Circuit which overturned three year prison sentence ordered by the lower court. The case has been remanded back to the trial court for a new sentence. The Seventh Circuit Court determined that although definite crimes took place, there was a disconnect between the claimed intended damage of $12....

Editor’s Note: This blog was reviewed and updated on April 20, 2020 Working remotely has changed the way many of us approach our 9 to 5. Even before the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 pushed many to work remotely, one study found that around 70% of people worked from home at least one day a week, and 53% spent at least half the week working remotely. Even attorneys are starting to jump on the bandwagon, trading late nights at the office for simply taking their laptop home....

From 1820 to 1950, the government census gathered information on citizenship status, as well as standard demographic information like race, sex, and age. The government dropped citizenship inquiries in 1960, based on evidence that noncitizens would be less likely to participate in the census if they were worried that honest answers to the citizenship question could be used against them and their loved ones. The Trump administration attempted to re-introduce the citizenship question on the 2020 census, claiming that it would provide more accurate information for drawing voting districts....

Judge Anthony J. Scirica is trading his gavel for a gradebook after 25 years on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The former chief judge – who reigned over the Philadelphia-based appellate court from 2003-2010 – is joining the law school faculty as a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. Judge Scirica may be shaking up his routine, but he is by no means severing all ties with the Third Circuit....

Appeal of a district court judgment is dismissed for want of jurisdiction, as the judgment was not final in regards to the question of damages and the treatment of insurance proceeds. When the district court decides who gets the benefit of the insurance proceeds, the judgment will then be final and any adversely affected party may appeal. Read Kerr- McGee Chemical Corp. v. Lefton Iron & Metal Co., No. 03-2991...

Arguments began this week in a West Virginia federal court in what will likely be a groundbreaking trial for those affected by the opioid epidemic. The City of Huntington and Cabell County have pushed forward their claims against the nation’s three largest drug distributors - McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp., and Cardinal Health - despite settlements in thousands of other related lawsuits. This case marks the first time a legal theory put forward by more than 3,000 other lawsuits will reach the trial stage: That drug wholesalers created a public nuisance by allowing prescription opioids to flow into communities unchecked....

According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, True the Vote, Inc., a pro-Trump 501(c)(3) organization, took several million dollars from a donor to contest the election in its “Validate the Vote 2020” program. As designed, the program would fund litigation, conduct marketing efforts, and solicit whistleblowers. The organization subsequently filed four lawsuits in key battleground states. However, 10 days after filing the lawsuits, the organization voluntarily dismissed all of them....

Don’t assume that a federal court will give your client credit for time served for multiple supervised release violations. This week, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a district court was not required to credit a defendant for his previous terms of revocation imprisonment. After serving a 41-month sentence on firearm charges, Shannon Keith Hunt began serving a 3-year term of supervised release. Only six months into his term, Hunt failed to comply with the drug-testing condition of his release....

Americans largely approve of marijuana. Americans largely disapprove of taxes. Yet, somehow, when pitted against each other, taxes always win. That is the essence of a recent 10th Circuit Court of Appeals case. The issue arose again because the IRS does not allow business deductions for expenses for controlled substances that are illegal under federal law. This is true even in states that have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Federal law still bans the sale of marijuana....

In US v. Smith, No. 09-2040, the court of appeals affirmed defendant’s conviction and sentence for sexual assault, holding that 1) nothing suggested that defendant was intoxicated, or otherwise incapable of sufficient comprehension, when the police advised him of his Miranda rights or when he signed the form acknowledging that he had been apprised of, understood, and waived those rights; 2) the presentment rule did not support suppressing defendant’s confession; 3) the victim’s statement that she had been raped constituted an excited utterance; and 4) the conditions of defendant’s supervised release were linked to the offense and no broader than necessary to rehabilitate the defendant and protect the public....

Choosing a strong trademark poses companies a classic conundrum. Do you select a mark that describes your product or its qualities and run the risk that your description is so generic that competitors can use it under the protection of fair use, or do you seek a more unique mark that leaves some confusion about what it is you make in the first place? SportFuel decided to chance a somewhat descriptive mark and ran up against its downside in a recent federal court decision....

California’s Prop 22 Passes The costliest state ballot measure at issue was California’s Proposition 22, which allows gig companies like DoorDash, Lyft, and Uber to designate their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. Its passing is seen as a loss for workers’ rights. As employees rather than contractors, workers would be granted sick pay, overtime, and a guaranteed minimum wage. These gig-based driving companies spent over $188 million in advertising to lobby for the passing of Prop 22, which means they can continue to pay their workers lesser wages....

The California State Bar is moving to disbar Michael Avenatti, who is probably thinking now about where he went wrong – if not that, then how to defend himself. Not so long ago, he was the media darling who took on the President of the United States. He even flirted with a run at the presidency. Then everything started to fall apart. His mistake was not that he represented a porn star in a case against the president....

A case out of Oklahoma’s Supreme Court is making national headlines for holding the oil and gas industry to task and overturning the heavy handed state law that was in its favor. The 2014 case involves the death of David Chambers, who, while working for a trucking company, was severely burned while working at an oil well site owned by Stephens Production Company. A change to the state’s worker compensation laws in 2011 that specifically exempted oil and gas companies from lawsuits, essentially rendered Stephens immune from liability for the injury and death....

One thing is sure in litigation. The attorneys will get paid. Well, that’s a half-truth because one side may not get anything. Plaintiffs’ lawyers – especially the contingency fee kind – know this all too well. But in Xlear v. Focus Nutrition, it remains to be seen whether the defense attorneys will get their fees. A trial court awarded them, but the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals wants the trial judge to rethink it....

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that a person doesn’t have to be aware that he’s violating the terms of his supervised release in order to be penalized for violating his supervised release. In a case involving a man from El Salvador, the New York-based appellate court also clarified that supervised release terms in the U.S. don’t magically disappear when an alien returns to his home country. (Just in case you were considering that argument....

The Supreme Court released its final batch of decisions for the term on Monday, major opinions in abortion rights, political corruption, and firearm ownership. But the justices didn’t take off for summer vacation straight away. On Tuesday, the Court granted cert to eight new cases, to be scheduled for the October 2016 terms. That brings the Court’s cases for the upcoming term to 32. Many of them promise to be important and potentially controversial decisions, touching on everything from racial bias in criminal proceedings, to the death penalty, to the role of church and state, and even ATM fees....

Gage Hunter was born female, but has identified as male since childhood. In 2006, Hunter applied for a job at UPS under his birth name, Jessica Axt, and presenting as female. Hunter was offered a position, but turned it down. In 2008, Hunter applied to be a UPS package handler, a popular position due to the great benefits. (Less than 20 percent of package handler applicants are hired.) Hunter didn’t get an offer....

Conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not err in imposing an enhancement under Guidelines sec. 2K2.1(b)(6) for possession of a firearm in connection with another felony offense, as the court properly applied the preponderance of the evidence standard and found the enhancement warranted; and 2) the sentence was not unreasonable. Read US v. Bridges, No. 08-2959...

Medical Marijuana Convictions Affirmed In US v. Schafer, No. 08-10167, the court affirmed defendants’ convictions and sentences arising from their operation of a medical marijuana growing operation and dispensary where 1) pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 12, the district court could not resolve the parties’ suppression issues before trial, and therefore it did not abuse its discretion when it denied defendants’ request for an evidentiary hearing; 2) whether defendants were lulled into believing their marijuana operation was legal and done on the express authorization of agents who could bind the federal government necessitated a credibility determination that fell within the province of the jury; and 3) medical necessity was not a defense to manufacturing and distributing marijuana....