2010 - What Will We See

What's Coming this 2010?

The New Year delivers a variety of interesting cases and issues in the white collar crime field, and many unresolved issues from last year. What can we expect to see (in no particular order):   

• A decision regarding the status of "honest services" in the fraud statutes
• The aftermath of a decision on "honest services" may bring cases using habeas corpus and coram nobis (assuming the Court alters the government's use/misuse of this statute) - and some perhaps new sentences/non-sentences for individuals like Conrad Black, Jeff Skilling, George Ryan, Bruce Weyhrauch, and others - but a realization that all DOJ cases will not crumble (see here)
• The government finally thinking twice about using section 1346 - honest services and proceeding instead with classic bribery/extortion/gratuities charges
• Seeing whether the SEC is capable of redesigning itself to provide greater ability to detect Ponzi schemes
• More TARP related indictments
• More financial fraud indictments
• More defense procurement scrutiny
• UBS related cases
• An initial ruling on the use of a wiretap in the Rajaratnam case
• Scrutiny of discovery violations by the past DOJ in the aftermath of cases like Stevens (see also here)  
• Many new U.S. Attorneys
• Some deferred prosecution agreements reaching the termination points of living with government scrutiny

(esp)