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Custody Evaluations and the Illusion of Helpfulness
The opinions of forensic evaluators in child custody cases carry the potential power to change lives by force of law. Too often those opinions are received in evidence without serious examination of whether they are based upon demonstrable knowledge as opposed to subjective beliefs and idiosyncratic value judgments. Intellectually empty proclamations, such as 'the opinion is helpful' or 'I'll take it for what it's worth' usher these potent utterance into evidence in all too many courtrooms. The notion that an opinion that is not demonstrably valid can be helpful and ought to be admitted 'for what it is worth' is as illusory as it is foreign to evidence doctrine.
Learned Hand once declared that the use of the term res gestae was an open admission of a refusal or an inability to think. Younger, I. Hearsay: A Practical Guide Through the Thicket. Prentice-Hall (1988); United States v. Matot, 146 F.2d 197 (Second Cir. 1944). The same can be said of the 'take it for what it's worth' idiom and the illusion of 'helpfulness.' Both expressions are meaningless because they ignore the evidentiary requisite of demonstrable validity.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.