By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsThe lines between legal doctrines sometimes intersect. One of those intersections lies between tort law and criminal law. That intersection will be interesting to watch as the Navy proceedings move forward regarding the recent collisions between ships. One also wonders about some of the collisions involving non-Navy ships. As to the Navy proceedings, a January … Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsImagine being jailed for two years for a “vehicular homicide” that arose when you and your car drove into another car, causing deaths and devastating injuries. Imagine the guilt for the harm caused. Imagine the anguish of going through a criminal trial and conviction even though you and the family member passengers in your car… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and Torts,ScienceWhen are corporate officers subject to criminal convictions, and for what actions (or inaction)? The inaction part can be the more troubling in some settings, and the issues are highlighted in the recent criminal convictions and appeal arising out of the s0-called salmonella egg cases. A July 12, 2016 post at D&O Diary explores some… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsLooking for a great, real cyber-crime story with lawyers as some of the good guys? Read Michael Goldhaber’s great account in the American Lawyer on February 21, 2016: Case Study: How To Catch an IP Thief http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202747504746/Case-Study-How-To-Catch-an-IP-Thief#ixzz44xpG0pbZ… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and Torts,Litigation Industry,ScienceAs DNA sequencing gets better and better, it’s also improving and changing the standards for proof in criminal law. This March 7, 2016 article from Science (a great journal) provides a science heavy update, focused on the work of a scientist who teams up with lawyers on one of the many “Innocence” projects. The work… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and Torts,Litigation IndustryAs businesses evolve and change, the litigation industry often evolves and changes to confront criminal, regulatory and civil law issues arising from the businesses. That outcome apparently is at work in Chicago for both criminal law and civil law related to high-speed trading, a topic covered at length by Michael Lewis in Flash Boys. As… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and Torts,Mass Tort IssuesThe much publicized peanut butter deaths (9 of them) provide another example of the intersections between tort law and criminal law. Last month, a federal judge handed down a 28 year sentence for the former CEO at sentencing after his conviction. A September 21, 2015 NPR story includes the background and video. The nutshell version… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and Torts,Litigation IndustryThe intersections continue to increase between torts and crimes, and potential defendants need to pay attention. A recent example arises from six deaths in a construction disaster. LAW360 has the story in an October 19, 2015 article. The short version is as follows, as explained by LAW360: “Law360, Philadelphia (October 19, 2015, 2:43 PM ET)… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and Torts,Litigation IndustryRecent statements by senior people at DOJ are notable for the litigation industry. The relevant statements are set out in a July 16, 2015 article by Adam Spicer in the ABA Journal. The entire article should be read; here is the opening paragraph: “On May 19, 2015, the head of the Department of Justice’s Criminal… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and Torts,OfftopicRepresenting the State of Florida, Bruce Jacob argued and lost Gideon v. Wainwright. Thereafter criminal defendants had at least some right to defense counsel. Mr. Jacob is glad he lost, and loved the experience. The story he tells is well worth reading. His telling also brings back memories of the days when lawyers were not aided… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and Torts,Crisis Management,Mass Tort IssuesWhen should corporate officers face criminal charges? Judge Rakoff famously commented on DOJ not indicting bankers from the 2008 financial fiasco. There also are ongoing media stories regarding GM’s ignition switch recall failures, and some related calls for new criminal laws to foster criminal charges. (see this July 16, 2014 McClatchy News article by Greg… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsA Chicago area reminder that criminal law does apply to filing false reports with the federal government. In this instance, a federal judge decided not to imprison Crestwood village officials who filed false reports about village use of contaminated water. The target defendant avoided prosecution and jail because of proven dementia.… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsMany lawyers are troubled by the lack of criminal prosecutions of bankers. The concerns find support in astute comments by Judge Rakoff on the lack of criminal prosecutions. Judge Rakoff has a sound basis to comment because he has presided over a series of cases about events at banks and other large financial houses, and… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsJennnifer Wagner at the Genomics Law Report includes a great post focused on this week’s oral argument at SCOTUS regarding DNA fingerprinting. Science keeps pushing the law. Set out below is one excerpt from the post – it goes to a key topic: how does law cope with the exponential pace of scientific change? ___________________________________________________________________________________… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsUK prosecutors continue to use the nation’s relatively new corporate manslaughter statute. Fields Fisher Waterhouse issued a paper summarizing the 2007 statute and the charges recently asserted against a UK mining company. The fact pattern they describe is as follows: "In September 2011 four men tragically died following a flash flood in a coal mineshaft in… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsA WSJ Law Blog summary covers this study from "innocence" projects. Exonerations are being tracked in an online registry: exonerationregistry.org. The big picture questions and outcome? They are: "It raises the question: Just how many exonerations (due to DNA evidence or otherwise) happen in the U.S.? The answer, it turns out, is over 2,000 in the… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsThe story is here on the 6th Madoff employee to plead guilty to conspiracies related to covering up Ponzi scheme events. This employee – like others – is cooperating with prosecutors. One wonders when outsiders will be indicted for aiding and abetting. … Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsThe Conglomerate includes an interesting post on Dodd-Frank, plus SEC whistleblower statistic for the first seven weeks. The commentary is from a guest blogger, former insider lawyer, Marcia Narine, now working as a law professor. The theme of this specific post, she seconds the view that the current crisis has been wasted due to less… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsThe UK has now seen its first criminal conviction of a corporation for homicide. CMS Cameron McKenna provides the story in an article here at Mondaq. The defendant company, a small entity with only 8 employees, "was convicted of the offence of corporate manslaughter under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. The conviction by jury follows… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsLike other EU countries, Spain is implementing a wider range of criminal sanctions for corporate misdeeds, including "environmental" crimes. This NLJ article provides a broad overview. For some deeper background, see this 2002 Maastricht summary of criminal law in Europe with respect to environmental issues. Environmental justice also is a growing topic for legal education, as described here.… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsPublic government corruption surely is one of the most venal of all misdeeds. A weekend NYT article by Elisabeth Malkin covered in brief an interesting story regarding an innovative UN project to root out public corruption and organized crime in Guatemala through a prosecution partnership known as CiCig. The program is detailed in full at the CiCig… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsThis AmLaw article by Alison Frankel details Boeis Schiller & Flexner joining the fray in tort claims arising from Chiquit’as admitted payments to a terrorist group. The article includes a link to the undelrying complaint. It alleges a series of illegal payments, Chiquita’s guilty plea, and claims that the payments resulted in deaths and injuries to clients. Set… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsIf you think Toyota is having a bad year, think about Eternit entities and its executives (not all are Eternit entities are presently related). The long arm of criminal law continues to reach out and touch Eternit entities. In Italy, trial goes forward in a week on thousands of criminal charges arising from deaths and… Continue Reading
By Kirk Hartley on Posted in Criminal Law and TortsFrom the WSJ, word of an upcoming criminal fraud trial in Italy against investment bankers selling derivatives to municipalities. Some points to consider. The Italian system allows one trial to include both criminal charges and civil claims. And, Italian law is explicit that criminal sanctions may be lessened if restitution is paid to victims. Also, the trials often proceed in phases and… Continue Reading
