In the News

In a recent wide-sweeping decision, Twitter v. Taamneh, the United States Supreme Court dramatically reshaped liability under the 2016 Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (“JASTA”), which imposes secondary, civil liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act (“ATA”) on persons who aid and abet or conspire to commit acts of international terrorism.

“My view is that while the law allows the prosecutor to play it close to the vest, it seems that best practice and fairness requires they reveal — to the extent they know — what the crimes are,” said Marc F. Scholl, who served in the district attorney’s office for nearly four decades in both trial and senior investigative roles. “And because it’s a matter of such public interest,” he added of the Trump case, “you really want to show the world you’re not hiding anything.”

Marc Scholl, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan DA's office, said that while Trump had a chance of success, it was more likely that the case would be sent back to state court.

"At the end of the day, New York is not trying to prosecute him for a federal crime or for anything he did in connection with his presidential duties," Scholl said. "But it's certainly a potential delaying tactic."

LBKM’s Middle East team is featured in The Legal 500 Private Practice Powerlist 2023 for Arbitration (Middle East). The publication is designed to highlight the region's leading arbitration counsel to Legal 500's broad international readership of private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, and expert witnesses.

The United States Supreme Court decided for the first time that foreign sovereigns and foreign-owned entities are subject to criminal prosecution in United States courts, rejecting the contentions of a Turkish state-owned bank that it was immune from prosecution under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”).  

Cristián Francos, partner at Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss and head of the firm’s Latin America practice, has again been recognized by Who's Who Legal as a global leader in the field of investigations.

According to recent policy announcements, the U.S. Department of Justice is increasing incentives for corporate cooperation to further its goal of prosecuting individuals rather than the corporations where they work.

While the DOJ has long pursued this goal, the recent changes create firm new incentives for corporations to report wrongdoing by their officers and employees.

Adam Kaufmann joined Dan Abrams on NewsNation to discuss the use and credibility of Michael Cohen as a witness in the Trump hush money case.

“The question is, should you prosecute or not,” John Moscow explained. “There’s some thought that falsifying business records is too small a crime. My thought is it is a very small crime. But your choices are to prosecute or not to prosecute, and if the evidence is there, you’ve got to prosecute.”

On March 2, 2023, the US government published a multi-agency notice setting forth red flags and warning of enhanced enforcement efforts related to third-party intermediary evasion of US Russia-related sanctions and export controls.  The Financial Times subsequently reported that a senior Treasury official stated that the UAE was a “country of focus” for US investigators.

Tim Taylor KC, named to Legal 500's Private Practice Powerlist for Arbitration in the Middle East, sat down to chat about the most impressive arbitration he's worked on as counsel, how disputes differ between London and the Middle East, and more.

Marc Scholl, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney's office, told Reuters that Trump being given an opportunity to testify suggests that the grand jury had heard evidence implicating him in a crime. "The invitation should mean the prosecutor is preparing to seek criminal charges."

Tim Taylor KC, former head of international arbitration in Dubai at King & Wood Mallesons, has joined the partnership at US disputes boutique Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss – but will continue to be based in the Middle East.

The International Bar Association (IBA) has appointed partner Cristián Francos as Co-Chair of its Business Crime Committee for a two-year term.

Disputes veteran Tim Taylor joins litigation boutique Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss (LBKM) and will reside in Doha and Dubai, further expanding the firm’s footprint in the Middle East. 

Tim Taylor KC comes on as a partner and will be based in Doha, Qatar, and Dubai, Lewis Baach said Wednesday. He has known his new firm's chair and co-founder, Eric Lewis, for several decades.

Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss (LBKM), a globally-recognized international litigation boutique, has added international arbitration and dispute resolution leader, Tim Taylor KC, as a partner. Mr. Taylor will reside in Doha and Dubai, further expanding the firm’s growing footprint in the Middle East. 

Adam Kaufmann, who has served in the past as a top executive in the district attorney’s office and is now in private practice, said Pomerantz is exposing himself to “a lot of possible jeopardy from a bunch of different directions.”

The National Black Lawyers is an invitation-only professional development and networking association comprised of the top African American attorneys from across the country. 

Eric Lewis, a lawyer and expert on extraditions, said that Bankman-Fried’s decision to go along with extradition might have been due to his not wanting to spend months in a Bahamian jail, where conditions are notoriously bad. While Bankman-Fried has the legal right to challenge the extradition, prosecutors might view that negatively “when it comes time to look at both bail and a potential sentence.”

Adam Kaufmann and John Moscow, both former financial crimes prosecutors, are quoted in this article on the possibility that a judge will give Allen Weisselberg more jail time than the five months promised as part of his plea deal.

Tara Plochocki was appointed to ICC FraudNet, an international network of leading civil asset recovery specialists.

Art Middlemiss appeared on the Gatenox series "Crypto Compliance" to discuss the FTX scandal from a compliance perspective. 

El Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Unidos colocó en el ojo público la actividad de transferencia de dólares sin licencia habilitante en los Estados Unidos. Las repercusiones para la industria financiera de Uruguay fueron tratadas por Cristián Francos y Jean-Jacques Bragard Cooper en el siguiente artículo publicado en el diario El Observador.

Aisha Bembry, managing partner of LBKM's Washington office, was featured in Law.com's "How I Made It" series.

The Lafarge case illustrates the extent companies with operations in high-risk jurisdictions must be aware of increasing ATA-related risk, including the risk of civil litigation.

En una demanda por confiscación de fondos presentada ante una corte del Distrito Sur de Nueva York, los fiscales estadounidenses explicaron porqué el movimiento de esos dólares en su entrada y paso por el país norteamericano sería ilegal.

According to U.S. authorities, the U.S.-based activities of “blue dollar peso exchangers” are illegal, and those exchangers that maintain U.S. bank accounts are subject to asset forfeiture and criminal prosecution. The recent U.S. forfeiture case brought by U.S. authorities in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Partners Capital Investment (“PCI”) illustrates intense interest by U.S. authorities in the “blue dollar peso exchange,” and additional U.S. actions should be expected. 

OFAC, banking regulators and criminal enforcement authorities agree: there are big cases to be made in the crypto space. The latest example is OFAC’s October 2022 sanctions enforcement action against crypto-trading platform Bittrex, Inc.

Solomon Shinerock joins LBKM from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, where he worked in the Major Economic Crimes Bureau. Before that, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York.

A senior prosecutor who played a key role in New York’s investigations into former President Donald Trump has moved into private practice.

Solomon Shinerock, who left the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Sept. 30, joined litigation boutique Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss on Tuesday as a partner.

N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James has a solid case against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization, but it could take years for the case to get to trial, former prosecutors say.

Who's Who Legal has recognized four Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss lawyers as leading asset recovery practitioners in its 2022 guide. 

Chambers Litigation Support 2022, a guide to leading litigation professionals, has ranked Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss in its Global-Wide Asset Tracing & Recovery category. 

The United States complied with a federal court order and released a former Afghan militiaman from detention in Guantánamo Bay. Last year, Tara J. Plochocki, one of Mr. Haroon’s lawyers, described her client as “desperate to get home” to make sure his daughter gets an education. Ms. Plochocki credited State Department efforts “over the past two months” for arranging the transfer and said the decision in this case “shows that no one, not even the U.S. government, and not even in war, is above the law.”

As a Manhattan prosecutor, attorney John Moscow handled complicated white-collar criminal investigations. He's been following the public court filings in the AG's probe, and believes the lack of Trump documents is remarkable — and intentional.

The United States Supreme Court concluded in ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd. that federal district courts cannot order discovery for use in a private foreign arbitration via 18 U.S.C. § 1782—a statute that permits litigants to seek discovery in federal court for “use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal.”  The unanimous decision narrows a useful discovery tool by prohibiting parties in or contemplating private, foreign arbitration from obtaining discovery through federal courts for use in that arbitration.