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Prosecutors

Prosecutors ‘gravely injured’ his reputation with misleading assertions, SCOTUSblog founder Goldstein says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 21, 2025, 9:20 am CDT

Updated: SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein is alleging that federal prosecutors “seriously misled the court” and should be rebuked for misstatements in public filings in a tax fraud case against him.

Goldstein criticized the government in a bid to compel production of grand jury testimony from an office manager who received an offer of cryptocurrency and other compensation from Goldstein. The government had characterized the compensation as an apparent attempt to influence a witness, an assertion contested by Goldstein in a March 18 document filed in federal court for the District of Maryland.

Goldstein’s court filing said his reputation was “gravely injured by the government’s false and misleading allegations in public filings,” including allegations that he likely tried to bribe the potential witness.

Goldstein said the court should address at a March 25 hearing “whether sanctions against the government are warranted—in the form of a rebuking the government on the record—for its lack of candor.”

Bloomberg Law and Law360 have coverage.

Goldstein, a former high-stakes poker player and U.S. Supreme Court litigator, has been accused in a federal indictment of hiding millions of dollars in income and cryptocurrency transactions on tax returns. He is also accused of using his boutique law firm to help cover his debts and of making false statements to mortgage lenders.

Prosecutors made allegations about attempting to influence a witness while seeking to keep in place conditions of Goldstein’s pretrial release.

The witness was a manager who had decided to leave Goldstein’s former firm, Goldstein & Russell. Prosecutors had said Goldstein was apparently trying to influence the manager when he offered the departing employee a $10,000 bonus, student loan payments and cryptocurrency.

After Goldstein sought disclosure of the grand jury testimony, the government said in a court filing the witness “has explained that defendant did not suggest that the witness not assist in the investigation, and the witness cannot testify as to defendant’s subjective intent.”

Goldstein’s lawyers characterized those caveats as a “belated confession” that discloses “exculpatory witness testimony” by the manager.

Goldstein also said there is another explanation for offering compensation to the manager: to retain the manager to assist the firm in gathering materials responsive to government subpoenas.

Goldstein’s court filing also criticized the government for alleged “false and misleading allegations” that he “used cryptocurrency accounts in violation of his release conditions” and “that he has access to millions of dollars in secret cryptocurrency accounts.”

The government’s lack of candor on the witness issue is “part of a broader pattern of misleading statements and omissions in the litigation over Mr. Goldstein’s release conditions,” the court filing said.

Updated March 27 at 10:37 a.m. to report that the office manager received an offer of cryptocurrency and compensation.

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3. Merely misleading statements aren’t illegal…

U.S. Supreme Court

Merely misleading statements aren’t illegal under false statements law, Supreme Court says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 24, 2025, 3:41 pm CDT

A federal law that makes it a crime to knowingly make false statements to influence the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. does not punish statements that are merely misleading, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The high court ruled for Patrick Daley Thompson, a lawyer and a former alderman who is the grandson of former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and the nephew of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, SCOTUSblog reports. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the unanimous March 21 decision.

According to SCOTUSblog, the decision “was the most recent of a series of rulings over the past several years in which the court has pushed back against a broader reading of federal criminal laws by prosecutors.”

Other publications covering the opinion include Law360, WBEZ, the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times.

Thompson had received three loans totaling $219,000 from the Washington Federal Bank for Savings over a three-year period. The first loan of $110,000 was used to make an equity payment to his law firm. The second loan was for $20,000, and the third loan was for $89,000. The FDIC became responsible for collecting outstanding loans after the bank failed in 2017.

Thompson told the FDIC’s loan servicer and two FDIC contractors that he had borrowed $110,000. Thompson maintained that his statement was misleading but not false because he referred only to the first $110,000 loan. He later agreed to settle the debt for $219,000.

Thompson was convicted in February 2022, and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the appellate decision.

“Given that some misleading statements are also true, it is significant that the statute uses only the word ‘false,’” Roberts wrote in the unanimous opinion. “In casual conversation, people use many overlapping words to describe shady statements: false, misleading, dishonest, deceptive, literally true and more. Only one of those words appears in the statute.”

The Supreme Court did not decide whether the conviction could be upheld because Thompson’s statement was false. The issue can be addressed on remand, Roberts said.

Thompson has already served his sentence of four months in prison, according to WBEZ. He was also convicted for filing false tax returns, but that was not an issue in the appeal.

The case is Thompson v. United States.

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3. Co-founder of defunct firm LeClairRyan may…

Law Firms

Co-founder of defunct firm LeClairRyan may be able to avoid tax liability after 4th Circuit decision on his exit

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 12, 2025, 10:44 am CST

The co-founder and former CEO of the defunct law firm LeClairRyan may be able to avoid tax liability in connection with the firm’s collapse because of a ruling Friday by a federal appeals court.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, ruled for former partner Gary LeClair in a Feb. 7 opinion, Law360 reports.

The Legal Profession Blog published highlights.

The 4th Circuit ruled that LeClairRyan’s operating agreement didn’t bar LeClair from withdrawing as a partner after a vote to dissolve in July 2019. Bankruptcy and federal courts had reached the opposite conclusion, which made LeClair liable for some tax obligations because he was considered a partner on the day that the firm filed for bankruptcy in September 2019.

The firm had included LeClair on a list of equity holders filed with the bankruptcy court. LeClair wanted to amend the list to remove his name.

The 4th Circuit remanded for a determination.

“We leave it to the bankruptcy court on remand to determine whether any equitable considerations warrant denial of the motion to amend despite LeClair’s correct interpretation of the operating agreement,” the appeals court said.

See also:

Too big too soon: How LeClairRyan went under

LeClairRyan bankruptcy trustee targets firm co-founder, compares firm to movie ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’

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3. SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein wins pretrial…

Criminal Justice

SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein wins pretrial release after denying moving millions in crypto

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 13, 2025, 3:37 pm CST

SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein has won his pretrial release a second time after offering proof to contravene prosecutors’ claims that he moved millions of dollars in cryptocurrency while facing tax fraud charges.

Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan of the District of Maryland ordered Goldstein’s release Thursday after finding that the former U.S. Supreme Court litigator had plausibly denied the crypto allegations. Sullivan nonetheless imposed additional conditions on release to bar access to computers and internet-capable devices absent prior approval. Goldstein will also have to disclose all cryptocurrency wallets that he owns or to which he has access.

Bloomberg Law, Law360 and PokerNews have coverage.

Goldstein is a former “ultrahigh-stakes” poker player, prosecutors have said. In a Jan. 16 indictment, he was accused of understating gambling winnings and concealing cryptocurrency transactions on tax returns, using his boutique law firm to help cover his debts, putting women he was pursuing on the law-firm payroll, and failing to report money owed in debts and taxes when he applied for a mortgage.

Goldstein was arrested on Monday after federal prosecutors alleged that Goldstein violated the terms of his release by failing to disclose two cryptocurrency wallets. Prosecutors said Goldstein received $8 million in crypto through the wallets and sent another $6 million, all within the span of five days in February. The wallets were “unhosted,” which makes it impossible for prosecutors to subpoena a cryptocurrency exchange, a bank or a financial institution to learn the owner.

Prosecutors thought that Goldstein owned the wallets because of messages dating back to 2023 indicating that he had used them to transfer crypto. But Goldstein offered “a plausible explanation” that he had instructed others in the past to use the wallets in a way that benefited him, even though the wallets were never actually his, Sullivan said.

Lawyers from Munger, Tolles & Olson sought the release of Goldstein, their new client, in a Feb. 11 emergency motion. Attached to the motion were cellphone messages supporting Goldstein’s claim that he didn’t own the wallets.

“The government has made a mistake,” they wrote.

While Sullivan said he was no longer convinced, by clear and convincing evidence, that Goldstein violated the terms of his release, he is still “highly suspicious that Mr. Goldstein has used cryptocurrency while on conditions of release.”

“There is ample evidence that Mr. Goldstein has been and remains a sophisticated and frequent user of cryptocurrency for years,” Sullivan wrote. “He has used cryptocurrency—or directed others to use it on his behalf—to pay for everything from gambling losses to luxury watches for multiple women. … And it now even appears that Mr. Goldstein currently has cryptocurrency accounts—besides [the two wallets mentioned by prosecutors]—that he controls, and of which he did not inform his supervising pretrial services officer.”

Prosecutors had alleged that Goldstein transferred millions in cryptocurrency even as he claimed to be “destitute” in a bid to substitute properties owned by relatives as collateral to assure his future court appearances. Goldstein didn’t want to use the home that he owns with his wife, SCOTUSblog co-founder and reporter Amy Howe.

Goldstein had referenced a pretrial services report that said he had a negative net worth of more than $3.3 million in a motion that he filed under his signature Feb. 5. Goldstein said he wanted to use the equity in his home to pay for his lawyers.

Yet one of Goldstein’s bank accounts has a balance of $250,000, and he has been spending $20,000 per month for an apartment in Dallas, $5,000 per month for a housekeeper, and $8,000 per month on a personal assistant, prosecutors said.

See also:

Indicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein can’t switch collateral, magistrate judge rules

Poker-playing SCOTUSblog founder has net worth of negative $3.3M, criminal court document says

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3. SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein accused…

Criminal Justice

SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein accused of transferring millions in cryptocurrency after tax indictment

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 11, 2025, 9:55 am CST

A federal magistrate judge has concluded that SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein violated his conditions of release on tax fraud charges by failing to disclose the existence of two cryptocurrency wallets through which he allegedly received and sent millions of dollars in the currency.

Goldstein, a former U.S. Supreme Court litigator and a high-stakes poker player, was arrested again Monday, report Law360, Bloomberg Law and Reuters.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan of the District of Maryland ordered Goldstein’s detention the same day, finding that prosecutors had produced clear and convincing evidence of the pretrial release violation.

Goldstein received more than $8 million in cryptocurrency and sent more than $6 million over the last five days, according to a prosecution motion unsealed Monday. The motion sought an arrest warrant and a revocation of the order authorizing Goldstein’s pretrial release.

Goldstein “presents an urgent risk of flight,” the motion said.

Prosecutors also alleged in a separate legal filing that Goldstein has instructed third parties, including potential witnesses, to destroy evidence that is relevant to the charges.

Goldstein said at a hearing Monday the cryptocurrency wallets did not belong to him, according to Law360.

“These are not my accounts,” he said after asked to be placed under oath. “I didn’t engage in these transfers.”

Goldstein was charged in a Jan. 16 indictment with understating gambling winnings on tax returns earned in “ultrahigh-stakes” poker matches while using his boutique law firm to pay debts and to pay women with whom he was involved or pursuing. He was also accused of failing to report money owed in debts and taxes when he applied for a mortgage.

The indictment includes allegations that Goldstein concealed cryptocurrency transactions on his tax returns.

One of the witnesses in the case is a California-based actor who hired Goldstein to collect a poker debt, prosecutors said. The government thinks that the actor will testify that Goldstein told him to pay his fee directly to a businessman to whom Goldstein owed money, which meant that the income was not captured in his firm banking records or reported on his tax returns.

At the same time that he most recently moved cryptocurrency, Goldstein claimed to be “destitute,” prosecutors said. Goldstein made the claim in a bid to substitute properties owned by relatives for the Washington, D.C., home that he owned with his wife, SCOTUSblog co-founder and reporter Amy Howe, as collateral to assure his future court appearances.

Goldstein had referenced a pretrial services report that said he had a negative net worth of more than $3.3 million in a motion that he filed under his signature Feb. 5. Goldstein said he wanted to use the equity in his home to pay for his lawyers.

Yet one of Goldstein’s bank accounts has a balance of $250,000, and he has been spending $20,000 per month for an apartment in Dallas, $5,000 per month for a housekeeper, and $8,000 per month on a personal assistant, prosecutors said.

The wallets said to have been recently used by Goldstein were “unhosted,” meaning that no cryptocurrency exchange, bank or financial institution controls access to the wallets, and there is no institution that can be subpoenaed for the owner’s identity, the government said.

But Goldstein allegedly revealed existence of the wallets to others.

Goldstein had identified one of the wallets to the CEO of a luxury travel company, and he had used it to send more than $73 million in cryptocurrency and receive more than $75 million in the currency since it was opened, according to prosecutors. There were no assets in the wallet at the time of Goldstein’s indictment.

Goldstein had used the second wallet to collect a poker debt of more than $242,000, prosecutors said.

Goldstein continues to maintain that he can’t afford the lawyers who had been representing him as “limited appearance” counsel, Sullivan said. Goldstein will be representing himself in the future, Sullivan said, after he was advised that “any type of hybrid representation (where he acts has his own attorney for some matters but has a lawyer act on his behalf for other matters) will not be permitted.”

See also:

Indicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein can’t switch collateral, magistrate judge rules

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3. Poker-playing SCOTUSblog founder has net…

Criminal Justice

Poker-playing SCOTUSblog founder has net worth of negative $3.3M, criminal court document says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 6, 2025, 3:21 pm CST

A U.S. magistrate judge wrongly concluded that SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein could finance his defense in a tax evasion case with his bank accounts, the former U.S. Supreme Court litigator asserted in a court filing Wednesday.

Goldstein currently has a negative net worth of more than $3.3 million, according to a pretrial services report that Goldstein cited in a Feb. 5 motion.

Law360, Bloomberg Law and PokerNews have coverage.

Among the allegations in Goldstein’s Jan. 16 indictment are that he schemed to understate gambling winnings on tax returns that he earned in “ultrahigh-stakes” poker matches while using his boutique law firm to pay debts.

Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan of the District of Maryland had required Goldstein to use his marital home as collateral to guarantee his criminal court appearance while rejecting the lawyer’s request last month to substitute property owned by family members.

Goldstein wants to tap the equity in his marital home to fund his defense.The magistrate judge’s refusal to substitute properties violates his Sixth Amendment right to counsel, Goldstein said.

The substitute properties are worth more than the $3.2 million marital home when the outstanding $1.8 million mortgage is taken into account, the motion said.

Refusing to allow substitute collateral also prejudices Goldstein’s wife, “who all agree is an entirely innocent party,” Goldstein wrote. Goldstein is married to SCOTUSblog co-founder and reporter Amy Howe.

In addition, Goldstein wrote, “The magistrate judge’s conclusion that Mr. Goldstein might flee—and strip his closest family members of by far their most significant assets—is not supported by the record,” including a pretrial services report that recommended no secured bond.

Goldstein described himself as “a deeply respected member of the bar who practiced at the highest levels for decades.”

Bloomberg Law reports he argued 45 cases before the Supreme Court before he retired in 2023.

The indictment also accuses Goldstein of failing to report cryptocurrency transactions, using his firm’s money to pay women he was pursuing or with whom he was involved, and failing to report money owed in debts and taxes when he applied for a mortgage.

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3. KPMG’s bid to deliver legal services delayed…

Law Firms

KPMG’s bid to deliver legal services delayed as top Arizona court seeks more information

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 29, 2025, 3:21 pm CST

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday pushed back a decision on whether to allow a new subsidiary of accounting company KPMG to practice law in the state.

KPMG Law US is seeking to operate through Arizona’s alternative business structure program, which allows nonlawyers to own or invest in law firms. The state supreme court has requested “additional information or clarification on aspects of the application” before reaching a decision, a court spokesperson told Bloomberg Law and Law.com.

The Arizona Supreme Court’s Committee on Alternative Business Structures had unanimously recommended approval of KPMG’s application earlier this month. The committee acted after a KPMG representative answered questions, including a query about how the firm would provide legal services in other states without violating ethics rules.

The new firm plans to work with staffing agencies and local lawyers to serve clients in other jurisdictions, KPMG compliance lawyer David Rizzo told the committee.

KPMG, which has more than 3,750 employees, already has legal practices in more than 80 jurisdictions.

Law360 recently spoke with Christian Athanasoulas, a U.S. tax partner and head of tax services at KPMG, about the accounting company’s plans.

KPMG Law US plans to hire Arizona-licensed lawyers who will deliver legal services in the state. The new firm does not intend to offer legal services to audit clients but will seek opportunities with clients served by its tax and advisory businesses.

“We’ve recognized that there is a need for services related to legal that are very much adjacent to the services we deliver today,” Athanasoulas said. “That’s not a full portfolio of legal services but rather a handful of pinpointed legal services that address client pain points and are adjacent to our existing portfolio and service offerings.”

Athanasoulas noted that Arizona wants to bring innovation to the legal profession. KPMG has already “invested incredible resources in technology, including AI,” and that investment could help KPMG Law US deliver “a better work product in a faster, more efficient way,” he said.

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3. Indicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein…

Criminal Justice

Indicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein can’t switch collateral, magistrate judge rules

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 30, 2025, 10:20 am CST

A federal magistrate judge has denied SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein’s request to switch collateral to avoid putting at risk the Washington, D.C., home that he owns with his wife, SCOTUSblog co-founder and reporter Amy Howe.

“The court finds that maintaining the Hawthorne Street property (the residence of Mr. Goldstein’s wife) as the property subject to forfeiture under the appearance bond … is necessary to reasonably assure that Mr. Goldstein will appear for all future proceedings in this case,” wrote Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Sullivan of the District of Maryland in a Jan. 29 order.

In a motion filed that same day, Goldstein had argued that he had to use equity in the Hawthorne Street home to pay his lawyers in the federal tax case against him.

Goldstein had asked the court to substitute South Carolina properties owned by his father, stepmother and half-sister, Law360 reports.

Goldstein is represented by John Lauro of Lauro & Singer and Christopher Kise of Continental, lawyers who have also represented President Donald Trump, Bloomberg Law has reported. Stuart Berman of Lerch, Early & Brewer may be serving as local counsel, Lauro said when Goldstein pleaded not guilty to tax and loan fraud charges Monday.

Goldstein’s Jan. 16 tax indictment alleged that he schemed to understate gambling winnings on tax returns that he earned in “ultrahigh-stakes” poker matches, failed to report cryptocurrency transactions, used millions of dollars of his law firm’s money to pay gambling and personal debts, used firm cash to pay health insurance and salaries to women he was pursuing or with whom he was involved, and failed to report money owed in debts and taxes when he applied for a mortgage.

Goldstein was a U.S. Supreme Court litigator at Goldstein & Russell, the boutique firm that he owned until he announced in March 2023 that he was retiring from practice.

Goldstein is facing four counts of tax evasion, 10 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns, five counts of willful failure to pay taxes, and three counts relating to false statements on mortgage loan applications.

Goldstein’s lawyers have said he is “a prominent attorney with an impeccable reputation” who expects to be exonerated at trial.

Goldstein’s Jan. 29 motion also asked the judge to change the wording of his appearance bond, which allowed forfeiture of the home for failing to comply with conditions of release. Goldstein and his wife were concerned that the home could be forfeited based on a minor violation of release conditions.

One of the conditions of Goldstein’s release is that he refrain from gambling, including poker, PokerNews reports.

Sullivan agreed to the wording change. The appearance bond now requires forfeiture only if Goldstein fails to appear.

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3. SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein faces tax…

Tax Law

SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein faces tax evasion charges

By Amanda Robert and Lee Rawles

January 16, 2025, 3:58 pm CST

Updated: SCOTUSblog publisher and co-founder Tom Goldstein was indicted on federal tax evasion charges Thursday.

Between 2016 and 2022, Goldstein allegedly schemed to “evade the assessment of taxes, file false tax returns and fail to pay his tax obligations when they were due,” according to the indictment, which was filed in the District of Maryland. The 22-count indictment lists four counts of tax evasion; 10 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns; five counts of willful failure to pay taxes; and three counts relating to false statements on mortgage loan applications.

Law360 has coverage.

Goldstein was described as an “ultrahigh-stakes poker player” and allegedly took millions of dollars from his boutique law firm, Goldstein & Russell, to pay personal debts, including gambling debts, the indictment said. He also underreported his gambling winnings by millions of dollars.

Goldstein announced his retirement from his U.S. Supreme Court practice and his firm, which was in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2023. At the time, he cited the increasingly conservative balance of the court as one of the reasons.

He said he would continue to publish the blog that he co-founded, SCOTUSblog, which features reporting by his wife, Amy Howe, who’s also a co-founder.

Past ABA Journal coverage also noted that Goldstein is a “formidable” poker player who once won $100,000 in an 18-hour game at the Bellagio. In 2009, the Journal included Goldstein in its inaugural class of Legal Rebels.

According to the indictment, Goldstein also allegedly was involved in intimate relationships with a least a dozen women from 2016 to 2022, and he created “sham employment arrangements” for several of those women.

The indictment said he transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to them for travel and other expenses, and to supplement those payments, he “hired” them as employees at his firm.

They received salaries and health insurance despite performing little to no work for the firm, the indictment said.

Among the other details alleged in the indictment:

• In 2014, Goldstein approached a former client, a California-based billionaire, for a $10 million loan to support his gambling activities. The businessman “agreed to do so but required Goldstein to sign a promissory note memorializing the loan and Goldstein’s obligation to repay” and “by the end of 2022, Goldstein still owed more than $8.89 million.”

• In a series of poker games in Beverly Hills in 2016, Goldstein won $26,435,000. The same year, he also lost millions and sent $1,171,600 via wire transfers from the Goldstein & Russell bank accounts to satisfy “four gambling debt payments and two promissory note payments.” The firm manager was not told that these were personal debts, “resulting in those transfers being falsely classified as ‘Legal Fee[]’ expenses” of the firm.

• In 2017, Goldstein had a $250,000 legal fee owed by an unnamed law firm to Goldstein & Russell “in connection with G&R’s Supreme Court briefing in a securities class action case” deposited to a personal bank account he used for gambling. According to the indictment, Goldstein did not have his firm manager prepare an invoice for the $250,000, and “he did not tell anyone at G&R or the accounting firm that he had diverted the G&R fee to his gambling account, or that he had used it to satisfy a personal poker debt.”

• Also in 2017, a second unnamed law firm and a named partner at that law firm agreed to “invest” $500,000 in return for a share of Goldstein’s winnings from a series of poker matches against a California businessman. However, “the overall result of the matches during that period was that Goldstein lost more than $16 million,” and the law firm demanded its $500,000 be returned. Payments were transferred to the law firm from the Goldstein & Russell accounts, but the Goldstein & Russell firm manager was not told they were personal gambling-related debts.

• After a 2018 trip to Macau, China, Goldstein landed at Dulles International Airport with a duffel bag holding $968,000 in cash. He told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer that these were gambling winnings, but failed to report it as such on his 2018 taxes.

• In 2019, Goldstein represented a foreign gambler whom he had previously played poker against, “in connection with certain court proceedings in Macau.” He was paid $235,000 for that legal work, but when the money was deposited into his firm’s bank account, it “was not reported as legal fee income,” and Goldstein allegedly asked his accounts to make sure the money was “classified as a reduction to shareholder distributions.”

• During 2020 and 2021, Goldstein allegedly conducted some 280 cryptocurrency transactions worth more than $9.5 million. Despite this, on both years’ tax forms, he answered “no” when asked whether he had made any virtual currency transactions.

• In 2021, when applying for a mortgage for a $2.65 million home in Washington, D.C, Goldstein “falsely omitted more than $15,500,000 that he owed in personal debts and federal taxes.”

CNBC reports that Goldstein has hired attorneys John Lauro of Lauro & Singer and Christopher Kise of Continental Attorneys-at-Law to represent him. Lauro and Kise have appeared in previous media coverage in connection with their representation of President-elect Donald Trump.

In a statement to CNBC, Kise and Lauro said: “Mr. Goldstein is a prominent attorney with an impeccable reputation. We are deeply disappointed that the government brought these charges in a rush to judgment without understanding all of the important facts. Our client intends to vigorously contest these charges, and we expect he will be exonerated at trial.”

An email sent by the ABA Journal to Goldstein’s SCOTUSblog address was returned as undeliverable.

Last updated on Jan. 17 to correct a reference to John Lauro’s law firm.

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3. Former BigLaw partner, fen-phen lawyer among…

Criminal Justice

Former BigLaw partner, fen-phen lawyer among those granted commutations by Biden

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 8, 2025, 8:50 am CST

A former Jenkens & Gilchrist partner and an ex-diet-drug lawyer are among nearly 1,500 people granted commutations by President Joe Biden in December.

All those granted commutations had been placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and had “successfully reintegrated into their families and communities,” according to a White House press release.

Law.com has the story on the former Jenkens & Gilchrist partner, Paul Daugerdas, while the Louisville Courier Journal has a report on the ex-diet-drug lawyer, William Gallion.

Daugerdas, who headed the Chicago office of Jenkens & Gilchrist, was convicted in a fraudulent $8 billion tax shelter scheme that led to the 2007 dissolution of his law firm. He was sentenced in June 2014 to 15 years in prison for the scheme in which legal opinion letters backed the phony tax shelters.

Daugerdas was ordered to forfeit $165 million and pay $371 million in restitution, penalties upheld by a federal appeals court in 2022.

Gallion and another lawyer were convicted in April 2009 for cheating clients out of $94.6 million in settlement funds in litigation over the diet drug fen-phen, which was removed from the market after it was linked to heart problems. Gallion was sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.