LJN Newsletters

A computer hard drive transformed Karen Zilkha v. David Zilkha from a messy divorce case into an insider trading investigation that led to the downfall of a major hedge fund.

In our day-to-day practice as family law practitioners, we help clients negotiate their way through the maze that is divorce. Besides the usual parenting and financial issues, some clients experience abuse at the hands of their spouse, a significant other or another household member. If this happens, the victim can obtain a Protective Order. However, as is too often seen in the newspapers, the Protective Order is merely a piece of paper and does not guarantee safety.

Behavioral Finance is a practical and pragmatic way of conceptualizing the social, cognitive, and emotional factors that influence financial decisions during a divorce.

Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.

Analysis of recent key rulings.

Over the past several years, the United Kingdom has been flexing its muscles in the global anti-corruption arena with the imposition of large penalties against companies involved in foreign-bribery offenses, focusing on individual accountability for corporate officials, close coordination with U.S. prosecutors in parallel investigations, and enforcement tools such as self-disclosures, settlements and negotiated plea agreements.

What are the implications of having child pornography on the premises? In businesses, child pornography generally is discovered by IT personnel. Or, if a corporation undergoes an unrelated internal investigation in which all computers, hard drives, e-mail servers, etc. are frozen and searched for responsive material, such a search can to lead to the discovery of child pornography stored on the corporation's server or on an individual's hard drive. What can/must/should be done as a result?

In June, the Supreme Court unanimously held that Enron's former CEO Jeffrey Skilling did not commit "honest services" fraud, ruling that the statute under which he was convicted must be limited to bribery and kickback schemes to avoid constitutional concerns over vagueness. The decision should curtail prosecution of a variety of conduct that the government would otherwise seek to criminalize through the statute. In contrast, the courts are expanding the reach of other criminal statutes to encompass conduct previously regarded as outside their scope.