SEC Charges Insider Trading Ahead of Merger

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged three software company founders with insider trading and forced them to disgorge $5.8 million in illegal profits, penalties and interest.  Insider trading occurs when people in high levels of management trade company securities based on non-public information. Lawson Software’s co-chairman, Herbert Richard Lawson, tipped his brother and a family …

Courts Decide Spiderman “Web Blaster” Patent Case

Posted by Bailey Obetz. In this article, Stephen Kimble, inventor of a toy that allowed consumers to shoot web-like material from their palms imitating the power of the superhero Spiderman, sued Marvel in 1997 for patent infringement because it was selling a similar item called the “Web Blaster.” In an agreement between Kimbel and Marvel, …

Fake IRS Agent Scam Targets Public–Identity Theft Tax Fraud is Rampant

Posted by Shanice Cooper. In an article by Forbes Magazine entitled, Fake IRS Agent Scam Targets Public, Even Feds, while Identity Theft Tax Fraud is Rampant, Robert Wood outlines the seemingly growing issue of identity theft. This particular article takes a close look at how horrible identity thieves are especially during the inevitable tax season. Identity …

Italy, US Joint “Operation Columbus” Brings Down Drug Ring Run Out of a Pizzeria

In class, we discuss organized crime and its effects on business and society. Recently, Italian special agents, SCO, and the FBI arrested 13 persons in Calabria, Italy, allegedly connected with the ‘Ndrangheta crime family. With affiliates in the U.S., the suspects were organizing cocaine shipments out of Costa Rica. Authorities arrested them in the middle of the night while they were sleeping and charged …

SEC Charges Insider Trading Ahead of Merger

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged three software company founders with insider trading and forced them to disgorge $5.8 million in illegal profits, penalties and interest.  Insider trading occurs when people in high levels of management trade company securities based on non-public information. Lawson Software’s co-chairman, Herbert Richard Lawson, tipped his brother and a family …

Hedge Fund Manager Accused of Insider Trading

Posted by Gabriella Campen. Unfortunately, in this day and age being well-known in Wall Street circles also happens to be synonymous with being well known by the SEC. The SEC has recently charged hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman, 73, of insider trading by using his easy access to executives to gather information, which he used to buy …

The Fourth Amendment Requires the Police to Act Reasonably Not Perfectly

In Heien v. North Carolina, the Supreme Court held that where a police officer makes a stop based upon a reasonable mistake about a law, the stop is justified. In this case, an officer stopped a vehicle because one of its two brake lights was out, based on a misunderstanding that the North Carolina law …

Fighting a DUI in New Jersey–A Review of Criminal Procedure

In a recent NJ.com article, expert lawyers in DUI laws revealed how they attack drunk driving charges.  Normally, defense lawyers rely on plea bargaining when a client is charged with a crime. Plea bargaining involves an agreement between a prosecutor and defendant where the defendant will plead to a lesser charge in return for dismissal …