News & Publications

On May 22, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed prosecutors' ability to pursue mail and wire fraud charges under the "fraudulent inducement" theory. Under that theory, a defendant need not intend to cause economic harm. As this blog previewed before and after oral argument in Kousisis v. United States, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has suffered a recent wave of defeats in pursuing fraud charges under various theories, such as when the Supreme Court foreclosed the [...]

One of the core competencies of a good appellate lawyer is spotting arguments that have been preserved. Whether you're the appellant or the appellee, knowing when an argument is properly preserved goes a long way. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit publishes very few opinions, so finding a roadmap for issue preservation can sometimes be tricky. In this article, we'll highlight three common questions about practice before the Court, set out [...]

Bankruptcy trustees and chapter 11 debtors-in-possession ("DIPs") frequently seek to avoid fraudulent transfers and obligations under section 544(b) of the Bankruptcy Code and state fraudulent transfer or other applicable non-bankruptcy laws because the statutory "look-back" period for avoidance under many non-bankruptcy laws exceeds the two-year period governing avoidance actions under section 548. "Governmental units" (defined below) sometimes argue that avoidance actions against them under non-bankruptcy law are precluded by the doctrine of sovereign immunity, even [...]