Second Circuit Holds that Personal Benefit is Not Required for Insider Trading
Insider trading, or “securities fraud,” is prohibited by 18 U.S.C. § 1348 and 15 U.S.C. § 10(b) As the Supreme Court explained in Dirks v. SEC, someone engages in insider trading under §10(b) if they breach a fiduciary duty by disclosing material, nonpublic...
Ninth Circuit Holds That an Inability to Perform is Not a Defense to Bribery
California, cannabis, and corruption recently squared off in United States v. Kimbrew. The Ninth Circuit’s holding in United States v. Kimbrew, 2019 WL 6693744 (9th Cir. Dec. 9, 2019) clarified the reach of the federal bribery statute, 18 U.S.C. § 201, which requires...
San Francisco Magazine Names Its Top Women Attorneys in Northern California
The December 2019 issue of San Francisco Magazine features its annual list of Top Women Attorneys of Northern California based on Super Lawyers’ rankings. Jayne Law Group is proud to announce that founder Julia Jayne has been selected as a member of the Top Women...
California Supreme Court Narrows Exception to the Fourth Amendment’s Warrant Requirement
On November 25, 2019, the California Supreme Court overturned a 17-year-old exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement. People v. Lopez holds “that the desire to obtain a driver’s identification following a traffic stop does not constitute an independent,...
Theft of Trade Secrets: The Economic Espionage Act, China Initiative, and Silicon Valley
This article was originally published in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer's White Collar Crime issue of The Champion, available here. Prosecutions alleging theft of trade secrets have been creeping upward since 2009. White collar practitioners must...
What is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?
Background In 1986, Congress enacted the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or CFAA. The Act, codified in 18 U.S.C. § 1030, criminalizes unauthorized access of “any protected computer.” A “protected computer" is a “computer used in or affecting interstate or foreign...
Kansas Professor Indicted for Wire Fraud and Program Fraud
University of Kansas professor, Feng “Franklin” Tao, was recently indicted on one count of wire fraud and three counts of program fraud. Assistant Attorney General Demers for National Security explained, “Tao is alleged to have defrauded the U.S. government by...
Indictment Following Contentious Civil Lawsuit Highlights the Dangers of Trade Secret Litigation
A federal grand jury recently indicted Google's former wunderkind, Anthony Levandowski, on 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1832. The charges relate to self-driving car technology developed by Waymo, Google's sister...
Julia Jayne Recognized as Super Lawyer for 10th Year in a Row
Criminal Justice Reform in California: Five Bills That Could Dramatically Change the Golden State’s Criminal Law Landscape
In 2018, California ushered in a new era of criminal justice; both the cash bail system and the felony murder rule were abolished with the stroke of then-Governor Jerry Brown’s pen. Not to be outdone, state legislators have introduced 2,628 bills since December 2018....