text:
Firstly, allow us to get this out of the way: L.U.R.K. mod is no longer in active development, and we're launching a new project on Unreal Engine 4.
For a long time now, a lot of you have been asking about L.U.R.K. 2.0. Truth be told, we were enthusiastic about the future of the mod, and all the recent developments in the STALKER modding community were extremely promising. Within the past few months, we've seen the release of the much-awaited Lost Alpha mod, as well as the source code leaks for both SoC and CoP.
We were spoiled for choice, and took a step back to reassess the direction of the mod, now we had so much more to work with. Despite all these new and exciting developments, we kept having to face the grim reality: no matter what, we'd still be working with half-broken tools, shoddy SDKs, and messy code just to make it all work.
Relatively recently, Epic Games launched their new Unreal Engine 4 on a new subscription model, making it accessible to many indie developers putting their foot in the door of the games industry. Some of us who already hold game dev jobs were already working with UE4 and enjoying its power and usability immensely, which made going back to STALKER development all the more frustrating. So in the end, we made the decision: we're going to march into the future, and carve out something from scratch. A new game that serves as a spiritual successor, but without all the shortcomings and buggy workarounds inherent to working with STALKER's engines.
This decision was based on a lot of factors - with the amount of assets we've made for LURK, we can painlessly move them over to UE4 to have a solid foundation to work with. We'd also be gaining a lot of relevant experience working with UE4, so even if we fail, we'd still walk away with something we can take into potential future careers.
However, it's still sad to say goodbye to the project that first inspired us to become developers, and I hope that you all understand that we don't make this decision lightly. L.U.R.K. has been my baby for over three years now, but now is as good of a time as any to move on to bigger and better things.
Keep on lurking, fellow LURKers. We have great confidence in the STALKER modding community still, and we know that you'll all find enjoyable mods still being released into the future for this great game series. Expect to hear from us again about our new project sometime soon!
- Panzerdraco
Team LURK Lead Manager
In this video you can see the first footage of triggered music in the game. After leaving the bunker, you'll hear this tune.
Daemonion describes his approach to interior audio during storms, as a teaser of sorts to the full Dev Diary 12.
Yannick talks about the new way we're approaching musical cues in L.U.R.K. and also shares some of his methods for composition.
Daemonion provides some insight into the long awaited 12th Sound Design Development Diary regarding how he'll handle rain, storms and weather in L.U.R.K...
No articles were found matching the criteria specified. We suggest you try the article list with no filter applied, to browse all available. Post article and help us achieve our mission of showcasing the best content from all developers. Join now to share your own content, we welcome creators and consumers alike and look forward to your comments.
The latest installment in the versions of L.U.R.K. for Shadow of Chernobyl.
Latest Patch made for L.U.R.K. version 0.9, brings it to Release Candidate 1.0552. Includes all previous options and features from previous patches.
This pack includes all the previous releases up to this point with only one installation needed. Please follow the Readme supplied for installation instruction...
No downloads were found matching the criteria specified. We suggest you try the download list with no filter applied, to browse all available. Join now to share your own content, we welcome creators and consumers alike and look forward to your comments.
You all who have complained are bloody faggots. If I were the modders themselves I wouldn't have released this work at all now - just to **** you further off. How can you complain about anything when a complete stranger is doing something for you on his own time, especially when the work is so brilliant!?
Because something is good surely the person who makes it is incapable of doing something wrong, who cares if he leaves his fans in the dark about when said thing is coming out, after all we all know that a 3 second post is so hard to make.
Mods don't work like Games, they are side projects people do in their spare time, THEY can decide what they want to do, you have no say if they decided against it. So stop your complaining, grow up a little, and show some patience.
As a "Fan" you aren't entitled to anything.
I could understand if you paid these people to finish the patch by a certain time, or were buying the mod.
But you aren't.
Also, they didn't "Promise" anything, they only said on the status update that you should expect to see it by the months end or sooner in a little side comment. Last time I checked that wasn't set in stone.
If anything these guys deserve a break, the mod is already great as it is.
Major gaming company's set back release dates all the time and they are actually getting payed to finish the game, so if your gonna have a bitch fit go do it on one of their website's.
What you are doing is the equivalent of complaining about a welfare check.
You should be glad your getting anything at all.
As a person I am entitles to atleast be told if something isn't going to be out when promised, I ask for little more then a one line post in here saying it will be late ahead of time. Last I heard letting people expect something and then not delivering, no matter what the thing, was not a great thing to do.
It was never promised to be out. Never, if you can post where he said that, I'd gladly agree with you, but all he said is that we would see something by the end of the month and we did. Now grow up, and learn a little patience.
Damn you people!! Have some patience! This person is taking his time to re-create a game for all our enjoyment.
If you guys want the perfect version, make your own :)
Why is everyone getting all hostile because the patch wasn't released the exact day it was supposed to? This is a mod... he doesn't have to do this for us but chose to with his spare time give us this great STALKER experience. That's called thinking of others. Something you guys obviously haven't learned. I never knew spoiled 12 year olds played STALKER.
While I disagree with all of this constant bitching, one thing I must agree with is that you should at least update us on what is going on.
A simple, "Sorry guys, we need to push this back to Oct 5" would suffice.
I Think you should all just kindly hold on. Who knows, Holden Might have been hit by a car and be in a hospital for all WE Know. Its safe to assume any mod will be off a few days. You don't expect a guy to work when hes in physical or mental pain to where he can't. I wouldn't expect any of you to, and I'm sure Holden wouldn't either so why bother him about it. I'm sure if he could had he would of told us what is up, so just give him a few days and I'm sure if he IS in the hospital the idiots that mocked him will feel stupidity for their bad judgment or if they are just immature children, they will act as if they never said anything negative. But for the rest of us, we shall continue to wait patiently as we've learned to grow up and mature a little.
Then I would apologize of course, but we both know this isn't the case.
If he is in the hospital, then my sincerest of apologies. And my best of wishes.
Good job ******* up the release date chantard.
Just when I put my faith in a modder keeping his word, he ***** up and won't even tell his fans whats up.
Still waiting, Comeon holden give us something!
I hope you upload the patch 1.1 today!


text:
You can find other events in our calendar, or use our search:
About the trade show
We are sorry, but this event is already finished.
World of Pet Supplies has been created in response to strong market demand. World of Pet Supplies offers suppliers an unprecedented opportunity within the Asian region to promote their company image and products to a wide range of discerning buyers from around the world. World of Pet Supplies takes place with the HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware Fair, illustrating the importance of this niche within the wider home living market. This well-established fair is the biggest event of its kind in Asia and is a magnet for serious buyers from around the world sourcing houseware and lifestyle products. It is a fantastic showcase for the design-led trend in homeware and lifestyle products; the World of Pet Supplies plugs into this energy, creating synergy that benefits suppliers.
Make money with ExpoPromoter affiliate program!
Become an exhibition partner and get a commission for attraction of exhibitors and visitors!
Partnership for Exhibitors
Become a partner and advertise yourself on entrance tickets!
Attract visitors – and get bonus placement of your advertising materials on a ticket (e.g. venue map with a root towards your booth).
Venue: Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre
Address: 1 Expo Drive, Wanchai , Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Find the best price hotels nearby the venue! We compare prices from 9 booking systems.
Contacts for exhibitors
UK: 4th Floor, 13 John Prince's St, London W1G 0JR
Tel. + 44 20 7043 5170
Russia: Tel. + 7 499 969 8024
Ukraine: Tel. + 380 44 200 0392
China: Tel. +86 21 6125 1245
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Tel. + 44 20 7043 5170
Russia: Tel. + 7 499 969 8024
Ukraine: Tel. + 380 44 200 0392
China: Tel. +86 21 6125 1245
e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
At this time, officials believe a northbound vehicle collided with a westbound vehicle, but it is unclear exactly how the accident occurred.
Clay County Sheriff Mike Heaton said an accident reconstruction would be performed to help determine the official cause of incident, which could take a couple of weeks to complete.
Officials confirmed that one victim sustained minor injuries, one was taken by air ambulance to an Indianapolis hospital and Clay County Coroner Rick Swearingen pronounced the third victim dead at the scene.
Heaton said that no information about the victims would be released until official notification of the three victim's families.
Members of the Brazil City Police, Dick Johnson and Posey Township Volunteer Fire Departments and the Clay County Search and Rescue provided assistance at the accident scene.
The Brazil Times will provide updates about this story as they become available.


text:
Cluster: 1971-1981
By John Garratt
A formative and furtive period for the Krautrock duo is the focus of the blessed box set Cluster: 1971-1981. 29 Apr 2016 // 2:30 AMRead more
21 Feb 2006 // 12:00 AM
The progressive folk music band once put out an album only heard in Canada. Now that they have gathered a bigger audience, the disc has been re-released for the rest of us.READ more
21 Feb 2006 // 12:00 AM
Jeff Hanson is a lovely record that will not disappoint fans of his debut and can only serve to increase the popularity of this talented singer/songwriter.READ more
21 Feb 2006 // 12:00 AM
Guillermo Scott Herren's new "mini-album" sounds to be entirely a reaction to his previous album, and a solid one at that. Even so, the two share a single damning trait...READ more
21 Feb 2006 // 12:00 AM
It's an '80s summer album made 2000s-style, without the slightest regard for the aggressively jaunty dance-rock popularized by the slew of Brit indies hanging around.READ more
20 Feb 2006 // 11:00 PM
Rappers shout, crowd members fight, and through it all Teddy T hosts like a man possessed... this is like Christmas in February.READ more
20 Feb 2006 // 3:00 PM
While he never developed a singular performing presence, Cavett is a skilled comic technician whose sense of timing and punchline set-ups pays off in playing straight man to his guests.READ more
20 Feb 2006 // 1:00 AM
Throat singing sounds eerie and hypnotic at first. But, like Alan Lomax's field recordings of Delta Blues, its primitive honesty is immediately apparent.READ more
20 Feb 2006 // 1:00 AM
Material can turn scandalous, even scatological. Bill Maher is often the first to drag the focus into the social sewer, and he loves to play the non-PC card.READ more
20 Feb 2006 // 1:00 AM
About as funny as anything involving Andy Dick has ever been: this sums it up for this whole roast experience, really.READ more
20 Feb 2006 // 1:00 AM
Reading this novel is like watching Auster trying his best to remake his beloved city out of sand castles on Coney Island instead of the shattered fragments of the World Trade Center.READ more
Underworld "Born Slippy" (Singles Going Steady Classic) // Music
Wassermann "Die Schallplatte" (Singles Going Steady) // Music
FKi 1st and NJOMZA "For What It's Worth" (Singles Going Steady) // Music
Jeremy Squires "Carry You" (video) (premiere) // Music
'SUPERHOTLine Miami' Is Exactly What It Sounds Like
// Moving Pixels
"SUPERHOTLine Miami provides a perfect case study in how slow-motion affects the pace and tone of a game.READ the article


text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Publication date
|Feb 20, 1968
|Filing date
|Jun 1, 1967
|Priority date
|Jun 1, 1967
|Publication number
|Hartman Robert G
|Original Assignee
|Robert G. Hartman
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (6), Referenced by (56), Classifications (10)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
Feb. 20, 1968' RGHARTMA N 3,369,660.
DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR FOOTWEAR 03 OTHER ARTICLES Filed June 1, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvenmn ROBERT e. mama" so 25 3o 24 WW,
Ahoanzvs Feb. 20, 1968 R. G. HARTMAN 3,369,660
DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR FOOTWEAR OR OTHER ARTICLES Filed June 1, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvsm'on noasa'r s. HARTMAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,369,660 I DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR FOOTWEAR OR OTHER ARTICLES Robert G. Hartman, 4780 Old Orchard Trail, Orchard Lake, Mich. 48033 Filed June 1, 1967, Ser. No. 642,776 Claims. (Cl. 20665) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An elongated box housing with front and rear walls and closed top, bottom and sides with the front and rear walls cut away defining shoe shaped apertures with the cutaway portions remaining joined at their toe ends to the respective wall to define a pair of oppositely arranged diagonal shoe supports and a pair of transparent plastic shoe enclosing blisters projecting through said apertures, peripherally flanged to retainin-gly engage the interior surface of the respective wall.
The present invention relates to a footwear display package and more particularly to a box housing adapted to mount therein a pair of shoes arranged with the soles facing each other heel to toe.
The present invention recognizes as its primary object the need of a new type of package for holding footwear which will not only protect the same from transit damage, exhibit the footwear visibly for sales purposes and to classify the footwear for store stocking purposes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide the novel use of packaging materials which includes a blank cut and scored to form an elongated box with shoe shaped cutouts in its opposing front and rear walls and with a pair of transparent outwardly projecting shoe enclosing blisters secured thereto.
It is another object to provide a combination of packaging materials to define a box housing and a see-through enclosing blister so that the housing and blister assemblies with a pair of shoes packed therein cooperate to support each other as assembled and wherein the housing depth accommodates a substantial portion of the shoe therein, the remainder projecting outwardly into the blister.
These and other objects will be seen from the following specification and claims in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the present footwear display package.
FIG. 2 is a similar view from the opposite side thereof.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the die cut and scored box defining blank.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the blisters.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section on an increased scale taken in the direction of arrows 55 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a transverse section taken in the direction of arrows 66 of FIG. 1.
FIG. 7 is an end view of the box housing illustrating the bottom wall assembly.
It will be understood that the above drawings illustrate merely a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set forth.
Referring to the drawing, the present footwear display package 11, FIGS. 1 and 2 includes an elongated box housing 12.
Said housing includes front wall 19, FIG. 3, rear wall 20, and including top, bottom and sides defined by the respective tabs 25, 28, and 22, hereafter described in detail in connection with the description of FIG. 3.
Respective front and rear walls 19 and as in the blank, FIG. 3 are cut through defining the oppositely ex- See tending shoe shaped apertures 13, from which projects outward-1y of the box 12 the pair of opposed oppositely arranged clear transparent plastic blisters 14.
The said display package is adapted to enclose therein the pair of shoes 15, whose opposing soles are arranged adjacent each other, heel to toe to provide an attractive display package for viewing the enclosed pair of shoes from opposite sides for protectively enclosing the shoes during shipment and during display as suspended from the handle assembly 16.
The present elongated box housing 12 is formed from a suitably formed die cut blank from a cardboard strip as for example 28 point cardboard, as particularly shown in FIG. 3.
A series of parallel score lines 18 are provided so that when portions of the blank are folded therealong there will be defined the corresponding front and rear walls 19' and 20, the side 21 integral therewith, and the outer side flaps 22 adapted for overlapping securing registry in the completed housing and with associated tabs 24 conventional in box assembly.
The respective transverse score lines 23 across the blank 17, FIG. 3 define the said side tabs 24, the pair of overlapping and interconnected top flaps 25, and the overlapped interconnected bottom flaps 28.
The respective top flaps 25 are further defined by the additional score lines 26, providing fold lines for the pair of upright engaging handle elements 27 adapted for cooperative regis-try and securing together by the fastening tab 41 defined by the slit 39 and score line 40 which interlockingly projects through the corresponding cutout 42, within the opposing handle element 27.
A series of fastening tabs 29 are defined within bottom flap 28 and side flap 22 in a conventional manner which with the box elements proper-1y folded and with the corresponding flaps overlapped provide an interlock of the said fastening tabs with corresponding transverse slits or slots 30 in the adjacent flaps, which are arranged in overlapping engaging registry.
Furthermore the bottom flaps 28 and the side flaps 22 may be secured together additionally or separately by the adhesive material 31 which may be a pressure sensi tive adhesive or other type so that the said bottom flaps and side flaps which define the bottom wall and one of the side walls of the housing may be fixedly secured together.
The respective shoe shaped cutout portions 13 define the shoe shaped shoe backing tabs 32 which are oppositely arranged but with portions of the respective front and rear walls uncut and remaining to define fold lines 33 so that the said backing tabs may extend inwardly in cooperating engaging relation so as to extend diagonally across and lengthwise of the housing as best shown in FIG. 5.
The above described blisters 14 shown in FIG. 4 also, are formed of a suitable clear or transparent plastic material such as polystyrene or polyethelene, or any other suitable plastic material so as to provide the hollow forwardly extending blister body 34 which takes generally the shape off the shoe to be packaged and which includes the peripheral substantially continuous flange 35 which projects substantially normally of the said blister.
The said flange is notched at the toe end thereof at 36 and is adapted to cooperatively register with the interior surface portion of the respective front and rear walls 19 and 20 loosely engaging the same and with the notched portion 36 interlocking with the backing tabs 32 respectively at the points where the said tabs are joined as at 33 to the corresponding front and rear walls. This functions as an aligning and centering device for the blisters and 3 for effectively interlocking the said blisters with the said housing, which in cooperation with the diagonal two backing tabs 32 are adapted to protectively enclose a pair of oppositely arranged shoes, arranged toe to heel.
With conventional shoe constructions it is recognized that the heel portion has greater height than the remainder of the shoe. For this purpose a substantial portion of the shoe adjacent its heel portion is nested and enclosed within the housing 12 itself and with the remainder of the shoe projecting outwardly into and being enclosed by the retaining transparent blisters 14.
Since the shoe soles are bearing against the backing tabs 32, the shoes are actually sitting on a diagonal line from the bottom of the pack to the top as viewed from the side, FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, so that the heel portions thereof extend practically the depth of the box like housing 12. Thus the balance of the shoe is enclosed by the blister which protrudes through the precut shoe shaped apertures 13.
In the illustrative embodiment of the invention the shoe pack may be made up in four standard sizes for illustration, ranging from a pack to fit baby shoes, to childrens sizes and on through adult sizes.
In each instance the dimensions of the pack are standard except for the blisters, and the area taken up by the blisters.
The blisters are actually not joined to the cardboard front and rear walls but actually float in the pack.
In the illustrated form, as shown in FIG. 3, the blank 17 is preformed so as to define adjacent the top flaps the pair of handle elements 27. The top flaps 25 include respectively the securing tab 37, the transverse slit 38 by which the said top flaps are joined together in overlapping engaging relation and with the handle assembly 27 projecting centrally thereabove. The handle element fastening tab 41 hinged at 40 projects through the cutout 42 in the adjacent handle element 27 and is adapted to be folded upwardly for cooperative engaging registry therewith completing the assembly.
It is contemplated that the handle could be of an alter.- nate type such as shown in FIG. 6 wherein a pair of handle ends 43 project through corresponding apertures in top flaps 25 and are fixedly secured thereto in any suitable manner such as by staples or other fasteners 44.
In the illustrative embodiment of the invention it is contemplated that the present display package could be adopted for the display of articles other than footwear and which would incorporate as equivalent structure article enclosing blisters by which a pair of symmetrical articles may be stored enclosed and displayed.
Having described my invention reference should now be had to the following claims.
4 I claim: 1. A footwear display package comprising an elongated box housing including front and rear walls and closed top, bottom, and sides;
said front and rear walls being cut through defining oppositely extending shoe shaped apertures with the cutaway portions remaining joined at their toe ends to the respective front and rear walls defining a pair of oppositely aranged engaging shoe supports extending diagonally across and lengthwise of said housing; and a pair of oppositely arranged transparent plastic shoe shaped blisters mounted on said front and rear walls projecting outwardly through said apertures;
and a peripheral flange on each blister extending normally thereof and retainingly engaging the corresponding inner surface of said front and rear walls, said shoe supports adapted to engage respectively the soles of a pair of shoes packed heel to toe, and partly nested within said housing and projecting into said blisters.
2. In the footwear display package of claim 1, a handle assembly extending from the housing top.
3. The footwear display package of claim 1, and a handle assembly extending from the housing top;
said box housing being formed from a die-cut blank scored to define the box parts and said handle assembly.
4. The footwear display package of claim 1, said blister flanges being notched at their toe ends for interlock with the shoe supports at their respective connections to said front and rear walls.
5. In the footwear display package of claim 1, said box housing being formed from a die-cut blank scored to define pairs of overlapped side, bottom and top flaps;
means interconnecting said flaps;
said top flaps being formed and folded to define a pair of upright engaging and interconnected box support elements. I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,568,625 9/1951 Harvey 20678 2,709,518 5/1955 Justin 206-46 45 2,895,834 7/1959 Brav 206-4519 3,003,624 10/1961 Ramsay 20646 3,033,356 5/1962 Meyerson 20645.31 3,292,810 12/ 1966 Schechter 206-65 50 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, IR., Primary Examiner.
|Cited Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Mar 5, 1948
|Sep 18, 1951
|Harvey Wilfred G
|Package for novelty items
|Apr 17, 1952
|May 31, 1955
|Justin Jr John S
|Boot package
|Aug 2, 1955
|Jul 21, 1959
|Sue Ann Food Products Corp
|Novelty package
|Oct 22, 1959
|Oct 10, 1961
|Burlington Industries Inc
|Display package for hosiery and method
|Feb 23, 1960
|May 8, 1962
|Meyerson Robert F
|Carton for fluid containers
|Sep 3, 1963
|Dec 20, 1966
|Phillips Petroleum Co
|Multipacks for perishable merchandise
|Citing Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Apr 14, 1980
|Apr 14, 1981
|Champion International Corporation
|Display package
|Jul 29, 1987
|Jan 3, 1989
|Campbell Robert B
|Shoe display and storage device
|Jul 13, 1988
|Jan 2, 1990
|Voxcom, Inc.
|Folded hang tab
|Nov 23, 1993
|Jan 10, 1995
|General Mills, Inc.
|Package including a separately formed premium tray
|Jan 5, 1996
|Dec 10, 1996
|Kay; Norman
|Three-dimensional display and packaging device
|Oct 21, 1998
|May 9, 2000
|Gillette Canada Inc.
|Toothbrush display and storage package
|Nov 12, 1999
|Jan 16, 2001
|General Mills, Inc.
|Package including a separately formed premium tray
|Sep 25, 2000
|Oct 29, 2002
|General Mills, Inc.
|Apparatus for externally mounting a premium package to a cereal box
|Mar 3, 2000
|Nov 26, 2002
|Bcny International, Inc.
|Shoe display support and associated method
|Sep 25, 2001
|Nov 11, 2003
|See The Shoes, Llc
|Footwear package
|May 9, 2002
|Jul 4, 2006
|L'oreal S.A.
|Packaging for two or more items
|Feb 14, 2003
|Jul 17, 2007
|See The Shoes, Llc
|Thermoformed package
|Jun 13, 2005
|Nov 13, 2007
|Altivity Packaging, Llc
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Nov 23, 2005
|Jul 15, 2008
|Altivity Packaging, Llc
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Nov 23, 2005
|Jul 15, 2008
|Altivity Packaging, Llc
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Feb 24, 2005
|Sep 1, 2009
|Nike, Inc.
|System and method for footwear packaging
|Jul 13, 2010
|Graphic Packaging International, Inc.
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Nov 23, 2005
|Oct 5, 2010
|Graphic Packaging International, Inc.
|Assembly for packaging a product
|Jul 14, 2008
|Oct 5, 2010
|Graphic Packaging International, Inc.
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Jan 25, 2011
|Target Brands, Inc.
|Product container assembly with product window
|May 17, 2010
|Feb 8, 2011
|Graphic Packaging International, Inc.
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Aug 21, 2012
|Colgate-Palmolive Company
|Display package
|Aug 30, 2010
|Feb 5, 2013
|Graphic Packaging International, Inc.
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Sep 30, 2009
|Mar 11, 2014
|Nike, Inc.
|Flexible packaging
|Mar 14, 2013
|Dec 9, 2014
|Park Global Holdings, Llc
|Dry nail applique packaging system
|Apr 15, 2002
|Oct 16, 2003
|First Act, Inc.
|Windowed display carton
|Feb 14, 2003
|Mar 25, 2004
|Johnny Coppedge
|Thermoformed package
|Mar 12, 2004
|Jul 14, 2005
|Greg Siwak
|Dual-use container and methods of reusing same
|Feb 24, 2005
|Aug 24, 2006
|Nike, Inc.
|System and method for footwear packaging
|Apr 28, 2005
|Nov 2, 2006
|Crouchley Robert G
|Self service display
|Nov 23, 2005
|Dec 14, 2006
|Sumurfit-Stone Container Enterprises, Inc
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Jun 13, 2005
|Dec 14, 2006
|Learn Angela E
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Nov 23, 2005
|Dec 14, 2006
|Smurfit-Stone Container Enterprises, Inc.
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Nov 23, 2005
|Dec 14, 2006
|Smurfit-Stone Container Enterprises, Inc.
|Methods and systems for packaging a product
|Dec 8, 2004
|Jun 7, 2007
|Lee Simon L
|Footwear packaging
|Apr 13, 2006
|Oct 18, 2007
|Columbia Insurance Company
|Container for shoes
|Jul 14, 2008
|Oct 30, 2008
|Learn Angela E
|Methods and Systems for Packaging a Product
|Sep 5, 2007
|Mar 5, 2009
|See The Shoes Llc
|Aug 29, 2008
|Mar 4, 2010
|Target Brands, Inc.
|Packaging with product window
|May 17, 2010
|Sep 9, 2010
|Learn Angela E
|Methods and Systems for Packaging A Product
|Sep 16, 2010
|Colgate-Palmolive Company
|Display package
|Feb 10, 2011
|Learn Angela E
|Methods and Systems for Packaging a Product
|Jul 13, 2012
|Jan 24, 2013
|Meadwestvaco Corporation
|Paperboard accordion package
|Mar 22, 2011
|The Procter & Gamble Company
|Portion of a toothbrush package
|May 21, 2013
|Feb 2, 2016
|Msd Consumer Care, Inc.
|Package for a foot care product
|Mar 16, 2010
|Jun 18, 2014
|Display package
|Aug 20, 1983
|Mar 7, 1985
|Plastina Trading Co Ltd
|Transport and storage container for shoes
|Aug 3, 1989
|Oct 19, 1989
|Schulz, Martin, 8000 Muenchen, De
|Title not available
|Jan 17, 1992
|May 21, 1992
|Clemens, Anja, 5202 Hennef, De
|Title not available
|Apr 10, 1981
|Oct 28, 1981
|COURTY, Claude Bernard
|Type of package for shoes
|Mar 13, 2001
|Oct 2, 2002
|Valsport S.p.A.
|A method of packaging shoes or boots
|Apr 8, 2002
|Nov 13, 2002
|Display container for at least two articles
|Nov 18, 1998
|May 27, 1999
|Handelman, Joseph, H.
|Packaging enclosure for footwear
|Mar 8, 2002
|Sep 19, 2002
|Valsport S.P.A.
|A method of packaging shoes or boots
|Feb 7, 2006
|Aug 31, 2006
|Nike, Inc.
|System and method for footwear packaging
|Mar 16, 2010
|Jan 13, 2011
|Colgate-Palmolive Company
|Display package
|U.S. Classification
|206/294, 206/489, 206/776, 206/462
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification


text:
State: Lottery still assessing damage of impasse
Illinois Lottery officials say they are still feeling the aftereffects from when payouts to winners were in limbo last year.Read more
Illinois Lottery officials say they are still feeling the aftereffects from when payouts to winners were in limbo last year.Read more
By Alastair Macdonald, Foo Yun Chee & Ingrid Melander Reuters BRUSSELS – Belgium's interior and justice ministers offered to resign onRead more
CHICAGO – An alleged sex abuse victim of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert could testify at his sentencing on a convictionRead more
Staff Report State Rep. Litesa Wallace, D-Rockford, has called for more transparency and community input regarding the closure of medicalRead more
The controversial law is about to get its inaugural use in a major statewide vote, Wisconsin's April 5 primary. ByRead more
By Daniel Antonius University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Editor's note: This article, originally published Dec. 4,Read more
By Lawrence Hurley Reuters WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Wednesday headed toward a possible 4-4 split over a legal challengeRead more
Staff Report Beloit Regional Hospice will host a seven-week grief support group for any adult who has experienced the deathRead more
Staff Report In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Rock Valley College is partnering with Rockford Sexual Assault Counseling (RSAC)Read more
Staff Report The Rockford Art Museum Board of Trustees launched the I AM RAM campaign Tuesday to support growth forRead more
By Jan Strupczewski, Julia Fioretti & Alastair Macdonald Reuters BRUSSELS – Belgium's chief prosecutor named two brothers on Wednesday as Islamic StateRead more
By Simon Reich Rutgers University After over three decades of living in the United States, one thing that I have learnedRead more
By Drs. Robert & Sonia Vogl President and Vice President Illinois Renewable Energy Association Some analysts say peak oil isRead more
Coordinated bombings in Brussels may have been in the works for some time, aided by an underworld where crime andRead more
Check out this week's edition of The Rock River Times right on your computer, tablet or mobile device.Read more


text:
Visit our other Wisconsin Historical Society websites!
Refine or narrow your results by clicking any term in the gray boxes below.
Expand your results by removing any breadcrumb in a gray outlined box above. Click on the blue "X" to remove the term.
Narrow your results by entering a keyword into the search box above. Then click the "Search Within" checkbox, then click on the orange "Search" button.
If you did not find what you are looking for or you did not get any results, try changing your search term(s). See our Search Help page for more tips.
Description: Letterhead of Wirth, Hammel & Company, a dealer in horses and mules headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a front view of the company building on the...
Date: 1914-09-18
Description: Three-quarter length seated studio portrait of J.P. Rundle, Milwaukee company president.
Date: 1968
Description: Exterior of stage entrance. The state door is below a fire escape that connects to a white balcony to the right. Below the balcony is a poster for the Mil...
Date: 1942-08-15
Description: A man orders a beer from the outdoor bar at a Civil Defense Rally. The banners on the booth read "Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer On Draft" and "Greendale Civilian...
Description: Looking west on W. North Avenue from N. 14th Sreet. The Roosevelt Theater is on the far right and the Luick ice cream building is on the far left.
Date: 1971 before
Description: Rear view of Vel Phillips sitting at her desk in the Milwaukee Common Council chamber. Other unidentified council members are sitting at their desks. The m...
Date: 1937
Description: A man loads a piece of equipment onto the back of an International D-40 truck owned by the Romanowski Coal Company while it is parked in a residential driv...
Description: Truck stop sign that reads: "Dreamland" which is north of Milwaukee. Across the street is the Wauwatosa Savings and the Tri City National Bank. An airplane...
Date: 1942 ca.
Description: Monument located on 13th Street. Large rough stone with a metal plaque set into it. The plaque marks the spot near where Lincoln made an address in 1859.
Date: 1893 ca.
Description: View of the ruins from a fire in the 3rd Ward. A section of a tall building, perhaps a wall, still stands. In the foreground on the right is a cart near a...
Date: 1941 ca.
Description: Wildflowers next to the side yard and the front steps of a house.
Date: 1967 ca.
Description: Father James Groppi (center) and the NAACP participate in a civil rights march. Police are armed and escorting the protestors. The marchers are passing an...
Date: 1910 ca.
Description: The postcard caption is in error in its reference to Lake Park, which is distantly located from this street. Possibly Highland Park was intended. A secon...
Date: date unknown
Description: Quarter-length studio portrait of William Irvine, Chippewa Falls lumberman.
Date: 1968-08-14
Description: A group of children are holding up hand-made signs, demonstrating for "Snoopy for President." Several children are wearing Peanuts tee-shirts and sweatshir...
Date: 1962-07-31
Description: A head and shoulders studio portrait of Richard W.E. Perrin wearing a bow tie.
Date: 1958
Description: Salvator Moshe's daughters, Mathilde and Marcia.
Description: Photograph celebrating Henry Kuttner's visit to Milwaukee. He had driven an old Plymouth all the way from Los Angeles. Cut line was: On arrival, he immedia...
Date: 1920 ca.
Description: This map shows wards, streets, railroads, parks, cemeteries, select buildings, and Lake Michigan. Also included is a street index. Cemeteries and parks are...
If you didn't find the material you searched for, our Library Reference Staff can help.
Call our reference desk at 608-264-6535 or email us at:
© 1996-2016 Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State Street, Madison, WI 53706


text:
Now that the deadline to file our income tax returns has come around again, it's only natural to wonder what all that money's paying for.
These days, the money we're sending to Washington is buying a lot more war and a lot less economic security.
In the current White House budget request, Pentagon spending would rocket upward, with a $29 billion increase. If you include military portions of the budgets of Homeland Security, Energy, and other departments, US taxpayers would fork over $563 billion for military spending in the coming fiscal year.
But wait! (as they say on infomercials) There's more! That $563 billion doesn 't even include the cost of the war in Iraq! President Bush has submitted a supplemental budget request for $74 billion, of which $61 billion will fund that continuing military occupation.
The Iraq war has cost $273 billion so far. But to account for the total cost of the war, according to Nobel-prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, we should project the future costs of fighting and withdrawal, added veterans' costs, the cost of lifetime care for brain-injured troops, the added interest on the national debt, and other expenses.
Do that, says Stiglitz, and the price tag of the Iraq war will be between $750 billion and $1.3 trillion. That's trillion with a 't', and even that figure, says Stiglitz, is "highly conservative ".
To pay off an extra $1.3 trillion would require every dollar of federal individual income taxes paid by every working American for a period of one year and seven months! That's impossible, so much of it will be borrowed money.
Then there are the costs of the war that can't be counted in dollars. There are the lost lives of 2364 US troops, 208 other foreign troops, 314 private contractors, 4435 US-backed Iraqi police and military, and 86 journalists.
And of course, there are the individually counted 34,000 to 38,000 Iraqi civilians who have died as the direct result of military violence - undoubtedly a low estimate. Respected estimates put indirect civilian deaths caused by war-related environmental hazards, declining sanitation, child nutrition, etc. in the hundreds of thousands.
The number of Iraqi civilians wounded during initial US invasion in March-April 2003 has been estimated at 20,000. The number wounded by fighting in the three years since is unknown but huge.
The Pentagon reports that about 17,500 US troops have been wounded in Iraq. However, that counts only those wounded in combat, not the many thousands injured by war-related accidents or other causes.
By any reckoning, the numbers of American wounded are not declining. In the February-March period of 2004, there were 473 troops officially wounded in combat. In 2005, it was 785 for the same period. This year, 829.
An estimated 6000 US troops have suffered serious physical brain injuries so far. Psychological trauma is even more widespread. Of the 500,000-plus men and women who have served in Iraq to date, the Pentagon estimates that 175,000 have required psychological treatment.
Largely because of the hunger for more military spending, the President 's budget request for fiscal year 2007 would eliminate or slash 141 domestic programs, many of them crucial to the economic survival of many Americans.
Non-military domestic programs (not including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) stand to lose $15 billion. That's a 4.4% cut in real dollars.
War spending has hurt us. But has it helped the citizens of Iraq? Hardly.
1 | 2


text:
Found 537 jobs for £25,000 - £34,999
Refine your search
Job position
- Advisor 6
- Assistant 108
- Associate 23
- Consultant 21
- Executive 22
- Manager 24
- New Graduate 13
- Qualified / Chartered 161
- Senior Manager 5
- Student 6
- More…
Job Function
- Architect 268
- Architectural Assistant 158
- Architectural Technician 163
- Architectural Technologist 101
- CAD / 3D Visualiser 43
- Interior Designer / Decorator 79
- Part II 78
- Part III 90
- Project Architect 76
- More…
Recruiter Type
- United Kingdom 525
- Africa 12
- Oceania 4
- Europe 525
- Asia Pacific 4
Salary Band
£25,000 - £34,999
Remove selection
Contract Type
- Temporary / Contract 70
- Permanent 467
Part II/Newly qualified Architect for Listed building project
A design focused medium sized practice are looking for an experienced Part II Assistant or Newly qualified Architect with job running experience
Part II for widely recognised design studio based in Edinburgh
A multi-awarding design studio, with an array of in-house designers, architects and urban designers are looking for a Part II Assistant to join the...
Part I Assistant for multi-disciplinary design studio,Edinburgh
An eminent emerging design studio in Edinburgh, are looking for talented Part I Assistants to join their socialable and friendly team.
Design focused Junior Interior Architect/Part II Assistant
A reputable studio in the heart of London, are looking for junior interior Architects or Part II Assistants, to join their talented team, of multi-...
Part I/II for 1 month contract role
If you are a confident and passionate Architectural Assistant with superb Sketch-up and Vectorworks skills, this role could be for you.
BIM/ArchiCad Architect for high-profile Education scheme
If you are a talented Architect or experienced Architectural Assistant who is keen to work within the Education sector, please get in touch.
Architect - Ambitious, Career Minded - Director Designate
Fast-track opportunity available for a compelling design-led Architect with well-rounded experience and strong business acumen, to join a small pra...
Architect or Architectural Technician - Revit BIM
A leading architectural consultancy has a strategic position available for a Revit proficient Architect or Architectural Technician, following a nu...
Confident Part II/III with strong design and Vectorwork skills
Ideally you will be an Architectural Assistant who is strong working at concept/early design stages. If you are confident working at pre-planning s...
Education Architecture – London
An internationally renowned architecture studio based in central London are looking for talented architectural assistants.
Residential Architect for Exciting Project!
An established, globally recognised practice based in the metropolitan central Manchester is seeking an experience architect to come and join their...
Studio Assistant to join Award Winning & sociable Practice
Established and leading architectural engineering practice are seeking an enthusiastic Receptionists/Administrator to join them in their wonderful ...
Charming Part-time Office Manager for Outstanding Studio
This is a fantastic opportunity, immediate start, for someone wanting to work a two/three days a week.
Energetic Creative Support Consultant at Place
We are currently looking for a very sociable, highly organised, confident and articulate consultant to join our friendly team based in Clerkenwell,...
Architect with an interest in contemporary residential projects
A small architectural studio in Central London is looking for a personable and well-rounded Architectural Assistant or Architect to join their love...
Senior Architect with strong pre planning stage experience
A 90 strong studio, renowned for quality social housing schemes is looking for a talented new team member, at Senior Architect level.
Senior Landscape Architect
A busy practice in Bath are looking for a Senior Landscape Architect to take the lead on their developing project profile. Think you could be ...
Talented, Design-led Architects for Top Design-Led Manchester Studio
A well-known architecture and design practice in Manchester City Centre is looking for talented, design-led Architects and Part IIs to join their t...
Architects/ Assistants/ Technicians/ Interior Designers- Contract and Perm
Stride Architectural Recruitment are recruiting for all levels from Part II Assistants to Associate, Junior Architectural Technician to Senior Tec...
Junior Landscape Architect for an immediate start!
There is an immediate exciting opportunity with a highly-acclaimed global design practice for an initial 3 month contract (possibility of extension...


text:
Readers of IBM Redbooks publications are familiar with their easy-to-use and view Adobe PDF format. Now, readers will have exciting new options for viewing them: IBM Redbooks are newly available in EPUB format for e-readers, including iPhone, iPad, iPod and Nook!
EPUB (short for electronic publication) is a free and open e-book standard by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). EPUB is designed for reflowable content, which allows the text display to be optimized for the devices used by readers, including smaller devices such as mobile phones. Users of these devices will be able to easily read and navigate Redbooks publications on any size screen. They will also be able to leverage all the handy e-book features their devices provide, such as viewing using touch screen, changing font sizes, bookmarking and more.
Three hundred of the latest IBM Redbooks publications are currently available for no-cost download in EPUB format on the IBM Redbooks website. They will also be available for free download from the Apple iBookstore in the near future. And moving forward, look for more future Redbooks publications to be available in EPUB format immediately upon publication.
Latest IBM Redbooks available in EPUB format
|Implementing the IBM Storwize V7000 and IBM Spectrum Virtualize V7.6, SG24-7938-04
Redbooks, published 28 April 2016, Rating: (based on 1 review)
|IBM FlashSystem A9000R Product Guide, REDP-5326-00
Redpapers, published 27 April 2016, last updated 5 May 2016
|IBM FlashSystem A9000 Product Guide, REDP-5325-00
Redpapers, published 27 April 2016, last updated 5 May 2016
|IBM Power Systems HMC Implementation and Usage Guide, SG24-8334-00
Redbooks, published 26 April 2016
|SQL Procedures, Triggers, and Functions on IBM DB2 for i, SG24-8326-00
Redbooks, published 25 April 2016, Rating: (based on 1 review)
|External Procedures, Triggers, and User-Defined Functions on IBM DB2 for i, SG24-6503-03
Redbooks, published 25 April 2016
|IBM Spectrum Archive Enterprise Edition V1.2: Installation and Configuration Guide, SG24-8333-00
Redbooks, published 25 April 2016
|How Walmart Became a Cloud Services Provider with IBM CICS, SG24-8347-00
Redbooks, published 22 April 2016
|IBM Private, Public, and Hybrid Cloud Storage Solutions, REDP-4873-02
Redpapers, published 19 April 2016
|New Approach to Analytics for IBM IMS Data , REDP-5313-00
Redpapers, published 17 April 2016
|Enable Compliant Electronic Invoicing with IBM Sterling e-Invoicing , REDP-5339-00
Redpapers, published 13 April 2016
|IBM System Storage DS8000 Performance Monitoring and Tuning, SG24-8318-00
Redbooks, published 7 April 2016
|IBM Reference Architecture for Genomics, Power Systems Edition, SG24-8279-00
Redbooks, published 5 April 2016
|IT Modernization using Catalogic ECX Copy Data Management and IBM Spectrum Storage, SG24-8341-00
Redbooks, published 5 April 2016, Rating: (based on 2 reviews)
|IBM CICS Performance Series: CICS TS for z/OS V5 Performance Report, SG24-8298-00
Redbooks, published 1 April 2016
|Active Archive Implementation Guide with IBM Spectrum Scale Object and IBM Spectrum Archive, REDP-5237-00
Redpapers, published 31 March 2016
|Smarter Asset Management for the Integrated Mill, REDP-5338-00
Redpapers, published 18 March 2016
|IBM Enterprise Content Management and Box, REDP-5230-00
Redpapers, published 9 March 2016
|IBM z13 and IBM z13s Technical Introduction, SG24-8250-01
Redbooks, published 8 March 2016
|IBM PowerKVM: Configuration and Use, SG24-8231-01
Redbooks, published 7 March 2016, last updated 3 May 2016
|IBM Spectrum Family: IBM Spectrum Control Standard Edition, SG24-8321-00
Redbooks, published 2 March 2016, last updated 15 March 2016, Rating: (based on 3 reviews)
|Configuring VMware Virtual Volumes for Systems Powered by IBM Spectrum Virtualize, SG24-8328-00
Redbooks, published 2 March 2016, Rating: (based on 3 reviews)
|Introduction to the New Mainframe: IBM z/VSE Basics, SG24-7436-01
Redbooks, published 2 March 2016, Rating: (based on 1 review)
|Cloud Security Guidelines for IBM Power Systems, SG24-8242-01
Redbooks, published 1 March 2016, last updated 9 March 2016, Rating: (based on 3 reviews)
|zPDT 2016 Sysplex Extensions, SG24-8315-00
Redbooks, published 29 February 2016, Rating: (based on 2 reviews)
|Installing Linux for z Systems on zPDT: A Short Cookbook, SG24-8330-00
Redbooks, published 29 February 2016
|IBM Spectrum Scale (GPFS) for Linux on z Systems, REDP-5308-00
Redpapers, published 26 February 2016, last updated 14 April 2016
|IBM DS8880 Architecture and Implementation (Release 8), SG24-8323-00
Redbooks, published 26 February 2016
|IBM z/OS V2R2: ServerPac, SG24-8500-00
Redbooks, published 23 February 2016, last updated 2 March 2016, Rating: (based on 1 review)
|Removing Barriers Between Devs and Ops teams with IBM CICS Transaction Server, REDP-5335-00
Redpapers, published 19 February 2016


text:
Activity on Dec 28, 2015
Activity on Apr 14, 2014
Activity on Jan 23, 2013
Activity on Oct 17, 2012
« Back to album
About us…
Developers interested in learning about and working with graph databases for social, spatial, hierarchical or other highly connected data sets. We host hands-on lab sessions, technology reviews, topical lectures, and plenty of social beer nights. Curious about graphs, want to pimp your non-RDBMS skills? Join us!
Register now for only $199!
The world's leading graph database
Download Free eBook!
2,510 Data Wranglers
1,592 DC PHPers
950 OpenStackers
1,639 Members
1,901 Spark DC
5,480 Technologists
Meetup members, Log in
By clicking "Sign up" or "Sign up using Facebook", you confirm that you accept our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy


text:
In addition, Lunsford will conduct book signings at the Clinton Public Library Sunday, and the Paris, Ill., Public Library Thursday, Nov. 10.
Lunsford will be at Kadel's, 1800 Fort Harrison Rd., Terre Haute, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., as part of its annual Holiday Open House.
He will also be at the Clinton Public Library, 313 S. 4th St., from 4-6 p.m., as part of the library's Centennial Celebration. The author will then be at the Paris library, 207 S. Main St., at 6 p.m. (CST).
Lunsford, 55, is a teacher and writer from rural Parke County. His human-interest column, "The Off Season," is regularly published in the Terre Haute Tribune-Star.
He was recently named the Wabash Valley's top columnist in the annual Reader's Choice contest.
"A Place Near Home," is a collection of more than 59 of his best stories.
He will also make his first two books, "The Off Season: The Newspaper Stories of Mike Lunsford," from 2008, and "Sidelines: The Best of the Basketball Stories," released in 2009, available for sale.
Locally, Lunsford books are for sale at Kadel's, BookNation, Barnes and Noble Bookstore, Union Hospital Gift Shop and Sue's Hallmark.


text:
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Cosby Decision May Affect Oral Agreements in Practice of Criminal Law
The decision by a Philadelphia suburban trial court that a previous prosecutor's publicly announced promise not to prosecute Bill Cosby was not enforceable has virtually no precedential value anywhere, but it may affect how prosecutors, defense lawyers, defendants and targets act throughout the nation. The rule of law from this case seems to be that a former prosecutor's (and perhaps a current prosecutor's) promise not to be prosecute, at least when not memorialized in a writing, is not binding, even when the target relies on it to his potential detriment. That promise can be disavowed by a successor prosecutor, and perhaps by the prosecutor himself.
Occasionally, cases arise where defense lawyers contend that prosecutors violated oral promises made to them and/or their clients. Such situations include those where a prosecutor, it is claimed, promised a lawyer making an attorney proffer that if his client testified to certain facts, he would not be prosecuted or would be given a cooperation agreement and favorable sentencing consideration. Often these instances result in swearing contests between the adversary lawyers: the prosecutor denies making any such promise and the defense lawyer says he did. In most instances, in the absence of a writing, the court sides with the prosecutor. With respect to plea agreements, some courts have set forth a black-letter rule that promises not in writing or on-the-record are always unenforceable.
The Cosby case is very different. There the (former) prosecutor in testimony avowed his promise, which was expressed in a contemporaneous press release, although there was no formal writing to defense counsel or a court, and expressly testified he did so in part in order to deprive Cosby of the ability to invoke the Fifth Amendment in a civil case brought by the alleged victim, he also said that he believed his promise was "binding." Cosby, according to his civil lawyer, testified at a deposition because of that prosecutorial promise. (Generally, prudent prosecutors, when they announce a declination to prosecute give themselves an "out" by stating that the decision is based on currently-known information and subject to reconsideration based on new evidence).
To a considerable extent, the criminal justice system relies on oral promises by prosecutors (and sometimes judges) to defense lawyers and defendants, especially in busy state courts. And, in federal courts, while immunity agreements are almost always in writing, federal prosecutors (and occasionally, but rarely, federal judges) often make unrecorded or unwritten promises. Sometimes such prosecutorial promises are made in order to avoid the time-consuming need to go through bureaucratic channels; sometimes they are made by line assistants because they fear their superiors would refuse to formalize or agree to such a promise; sometimes they are made to avoid disclosure to a defendant against whom a benefiting cooperator will testify. Based on the Pennsylvania judge's decision, some defense lawyers (and some defendants) will believe that prosecutors' oral promises are not worth the breath used to utter them, and, perhaps, since there appears to be no dispute that such a promise was made here, that written promises are barely worth the paper they are written on.
Defense lawyers are frequently asked by their clients whether they can trust the prosecutor's word in an oral agreement. My usual answer is that they can: most prosecutors are reliable and honest. Defense lawyers are then sometimes asked a variant question about what will happen if the promising prosecutor leaves the office or dies. My usual answer is that if there is no disagreement as to whether the promise was made, it will be honored. The Cosby decision has made me reconsider that response.
There are certain highly-publicized cases of celebrities of little precedential or legal value that have a considerable effect on the practice of law by both prosecutors and defense lawyers. The case of Martha Stewart, who was, on highly disputed testimony, convicted of 18 USC 1001 for lying in a voluntary proffer to prosecutors investigating her purported insider trading (which, assuming it occurred, was most likely not a crime), is still invoked by prosecutors in cautioning witnesses not to lie to them and by defense lawyers in cautioning witnesses about making a voluntary proffer. The Cosby case will likely be cited by defense lawyers and their clients concerning the uncertain value of oral agreements with prosecutors. The skepticism of many defense lawyers about the reliability of agreements with the government and trustworthiness of prosecutors will grow. I suspect the sarcastic refrain of some defense lawyers, "Trust me, I'm the government," will be said more often.
I assume that the decision will be appealed, and also that a motion will be made to exclude Cosby's deposition because it was a consequence of the promise. That latter motion is likely to be denied based on the judge's decision on the issue discussed here, although since the judge failed to set forth any reasoning for his decision, there may be room for distinguishing that issue from the one decided.
Although the judge's ruling has no doubt pleased those clamoring for Cosby's conviction and those desiring a decision on the merits, it may have a considerable negative effect on the perceived integrity and reliability of prosecutorial non-memorialized promises and the actual practice of criminal law. And it reveals once again how celebrity cases often make bad law.
February 4, 2016 in Celebrities, Civil Litigation, Current Affairs, Defense Counsel, Martha Stewart, Privileges, Prosecutors | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
BuzzFeed and the BBC Expose Evidence of Match-Fixing in Tennis
White collar crime in sports has been a topic of much discussion over the last year, including the widespread coverage of corruption allegations against high ranking officials with FIFA (discussed here). Now it appears that the tennis word is coming under greater scrutiny as a BuzzFeed and BBC article is released discussing what they describe as "widespread match-fixing by players at the upper level of world tennis."
The article, entitled The Tennis Racket, was released over the weekend and immediately provoked much discussion. The story details evidence of match-fixing, including the involvement of Russian and Italian gambling syndicates. According to the authors, tennis's governing body has been repeatedly warned about the activities of a core group of sixteen players, each of whom has ranked in the top 50 and some of whom are winners of singles and doubles at Grand Slam tournaments. According to the report, none of the sixteen have been sanctioned and more than half will be playing in the Australian Open, which started today. Included in the article is a fascinating discussion of a 2007 match in which the betting was so suspicious, Betfair (the world's largest internet betting exchange) suspended the market and announced for the first time in its history that all bets on the match were void.
After the release of this article, it appears all eyes over the next couple of weeks will be on both the matches at the Australian Open and these serious allegations of misconduct. The question now is whether this story will mark the beginning of a journey for the tennis world similar to the one the soccer world has experienced over the last year.
January 19, 2016 in Corruption, International, News, Sports | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday, January 15, 2016
Supreme Court Will Review McDonnell Case
The U.S. Supreme Court granted cert limited to Question One on the Petition. See here. The Hill here.
See Scotusblog for Petition - here
January 15, 2016 in Corruption, Judicial Opinions | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) Seeks Comments on Blue Ribbon Panel Report
The Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) released a special Blue Ribbon Panel report, Principles and Practices of High Quality Ethics & Compliance Programs. The report is a discussion draft, and they are seeking comments and suggestions from colleagues and other members of the public. The draft report can be found here - Download FinalBRPReport
The deadline for comments is January 8th, but they asked that those needing more time to contact their office.
January 5, 2016 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, January 4, 2016
Here Is Your $547 Million Check From Swiss Santa
Guest Blogger - Dmitriy Kamensky, Fulbright Faculty Development Fellow, Stetson University College of Law; Professor of Law, Berdyansk State University, Ukraine.
On Dec. 30, just as corporate and the rest of America was getting ready to celebrate the New Year, one of the top-tier Swiss banks, Julius Baer Group, announced (see here) that it had reached an agreement in principle with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, related to a long and extensive investigation into aiding American customers to evade millions of tax dollars. The bank said it set aside $ 547 million to settle the matter with the Justice Department and expects to enter a final settlement in the first quarter of 2016.
This final development of the Julius Baer case is the latest of about a dozen Swiss financial institutions that came under DOJ scrutiny for allegedly providing American customers (and taxpayers) with numbered accounts that were protected by Swiss bank-secrecy laws, thus effectively helping U.S. taxpayers underreport their taxes.
In February of 2009, UBS AG, the largest Swiss bank worth over $ 1 trillion in assets, entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the Department of Justice for $780 million (see here). The bank has acknowledged that between 2000 and 2007 it has participated in a cross-border scheme with the purpose of defrauding the United States and the Internal Revenue Service. The scheme was designed to aid American customers in evading federal taxes, by dodging their money to numbered UBS accounts. Under growing pressure from the U.S. authorities, the bank and later the Swiss government agreed to cooperate, by granting access to American accounts and later relaxing bank secrecy laws altogether.
Then in 2014 another larger Swiss lender, Credit Suisse Group AG, moved to settle a similar criminal probe by pleading guilty to conspiracy to aid its American clients in filing false income tax returns with the IRS. The bank agreed to pay $ 2.6 billion in criminal fine, restitution and other penalties (see here).
With the case of Julius Baer outlining the final part of multiyear aggressive probes by DOJ into the Swiss banking industry and tax dodging operations, it becomes clear that bankers across the globe are being given a serious (and quite expensive) warning: do not mess with American tax laws; federal prosecutors and tax agents have long arms.
January 4, 2016 in Deferred Prosecution Agreements, International, Settlement | Permalink | Comments (0)
Saturday, January 2, 2016
2015 White Collar Crime Awards
Each year this blog has honored individuals and organizations for their work in the white collar crime arena by bestowing "The Collar" on those who deserve praise, scorn, acknowledgment, blessing, curse, or whatever else might be appropriate. With the appropriate fanfare, and without further ado, The Collars for 2015:
The Collar for Make-Believe Julius Caesar – To Deputy AG Sally Yates who issued a "new" corporate divide and conquer memo, pitting companies against their employees in a supposed effort to "get tough" on high-level corporate wrongdoers, only to see it followed up by GM's Deferred Prosecution Agreement. She came, she saw, she whimpered.
The Collar for Forced Government Product Recall—To Preet Bharara who was ordered by the Second Circuit to recall his spoiled brand of insider trading prosecutions.
The Collar for Bargain Shopping – To DOJ, which might consider shopping its insider trading cases out of Manhattan following the Newman decision.
The Collar for Newspeak (aka the Orwell Collar)—To DOJ's Office of Public Affairs for its press release celebrating the Don Blankenship verdict.
The Collar for Best Singing of "Silence is Golden" – To DOJ for issuing press releases when there is a conviction and nothing when the jury returns a not guilty or a court dismisses the case.
The Collar for Arm-Twisting—To Deputy AG Sally Yates, whose memo spawned a sudden outbreak of corporate throwing--under the bus.
The Collar for Wishful Thinking—To Karl Rove for speculating in his Wall Street Journal column that Hilary Clinton might be indicted.
The Collar for Delusional Thinking—To "bad boy" Martin Shkreli for complaining to the Wall Street Journal that the indictment against him, "doesn't tell my side of the story at all."
The Collar for Hallucinatory Thinking—To Representative Trey Gowdy for thinking that anybody, on either side of the political aisle, really cared about the substance of his special committee's findings.
The Collar for Favorite Don Quixote Judicial Noodge (aka the Tilting Against Windmills Collar)—To Judge Alex Kozinski who bravely and repeatedly urges his fellow federal judges to deter Brady violations where they matter--in the courtroom.
The Collar for Creative Writing (aka the E.E. Cummings Collar)—To the New Orleans U.S. Attorney's Office, whose prosecutors made anonymous prejudicial comments in local online newspaper stories about the defendants they were prosecuting.
The Collar for Creative Storytelling—To the same New Orleans U.S. Attorney's Office, whose prosecutors denied in open court all knowledge of anonymous prejudicial comments. This resulted in a dismissal with prejudice upheld this year by the Fifth Circuit.
The Collar for Prejudicial Law Enforcement Statements (aka the John Ashcroft Collar)—To the F.B.I. for its spokesperson's public "anonymous" comment that the charges against Martin Shkreli represented "a trifecta of lies, deceit, and greed."
The Collar for Professional Irresponsibility—To the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York for allowing the FBI to perp-walk Martin Shkreli in front of television cameras.
The Collar for the Fishiest Title on a DOJ Press Release — "Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee Abandon Tuna Merger After Justice Department Expresses Serious Concerns"
The Collar for Forcing the DOJ to Call Soccer "Football" – To FIFA for the ongoing corruption investigation in the United States and Europe
The Collar for Defending the Attorney-Client Privilege – To the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for overturning a lower court decision in the case of In re Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. that "generated substantial uncertainty about the scope of the attorney-client privilege in the business setting."
The Collar for Attempting to Make the Guinness Book of Records for the Longest Investigation – Yet again, to Congress for its investigation of the IRS.
The Collar for Food for Thought in Sentencing – To Stewart Parnell, who received a sentence of 28 years in prison after conviction on charges related to his involvement in a deadly nationwide salmonella outbreak
The Collar for the Case Most Needing Review – Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's conviction.
The Collar for Rat-Catching – To Antitrust for having the highest percentage of substantial assistance motions in the 4th quarter.
The Collar for Judicial Watchdog—To EDVA District Judge Gerald Lee. When the EDVA U.S. Attorney's Office sent an official letter to potential defense witnesses informing them that they were actually victims, Judge Lee made prosecutors prepare a corrected version setting the record straight.
The Collar for the Best Child– To Don Siegelman's daughter, who continues to fight to Free Don.
The Collar for the Best Parent - Retired years ago and renamed the Bill Olis Best Parent Award –not awarded again this year since no one comes even close to Bill Olis, may he rest in peace.
(wisenberg), (goldman), (LED), (esp)
January 2, 2016 in About This Blog | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, December 28, 2015
Call for memorial judges for the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition (IEMCC)
The Stetson IEMCC, now in its 20th year, is the world's largest moot court competition devoted exclusively to global environmental issues. This year's problem focuses on the return of confiscated poached elephant ivory and implicates UNCAC and UNTOC. We are seeking knowledgeable volunteers to evaluate memorials (briefs) submitted by student teams.
There is one more opportunity to judge: For the International Finals, judges will receive their assignments at the end of February/beginning of March. The due date for evaluations is Monday, April 11. We expect that each judge will read six to eight memorials.
If you are interested in assisting, please contact Prof. Brooke Bowman at email@example.com. General information about the Stetson IEMCC is available at http://www.stetson.edu/law/international/iemcc/index.php. Many thanks for your consideration and happy new year!
December 28, 2015 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Pirela Pirela, Where You Been So Long?
Title 18 U.S. Code, Section 1546(a) prohibits a person from using a document prescribed by statute or regulation for entry into the United States if the document was "procured by means of" a false claim and false statement. In U.S. v. Pirela Pirela, out of the Eleventh Circuit, Pirela Pirela obtained a visa to enter the United States from Venezuela and intentionally failed to mention his Venezuelan criminal conviction. Charged with a violation of 1546(a), he argued that the statute requires the government to prove that he would not have obtained the visa but for his false statement. The government argued that it need only prove the materiality of the false statement. The government won.
December 24, 2015 in Judicial Opinions | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
The Day Oriole Magic Was Killed
Here is the Ninth Circuit's opinion in U.S. v. Douglas DeCinces. Absolutely no surprise that the district court's exclusion of 404(b) evidence was overturned. Like, duh. Here is the real lesson. There is no such thing as a tentative ruling. You exclude the evidence or you don't. All evidentiary calls are tentative in nature until the parties close. If you sense a favorable ruling but don't want the government to get an interlocutory appeal, ask the judge to carry the motion with the trial. Ask the judge to allow you to approach the bench and argue admissibility. Ask for anything but an actual pre-trial ruling, because, nine times out of ten, you are going to frigging lose on interlocutory appeal. I wouldn't even call this inside baseball. More like Pee-Wee Leagues.
December 23, 2015 in Judicial Opinions | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Boy-Boy Strikes Out--For Now
Today in U.S. v. Gregory Bell, aka Boy-Boy, the D.C. Circuit denied appellants' consolidated petitions for rehearing en banc, which challenged the sentencing court's use of acquitted conduct to dramatically enhance appellants' sentences. Two separate and outstanding concurrences are worth a view. Judge Patricia Millett incisively critiques current sentencing jurisprudence which condones such horrific results. Judge Brett Kavanaugh agrees with Judge Millett and provides guidance for district courts who find by a preponderance of the evidence that acquitted conduct occurred, but do not want to enhance the sentence. What is the guidance? In a nutshell, utilize Booker to downwardly vary the sentence. Hopefully the Supreme Court will grant certiorari and end this appalling vestige of sentencing law.
December 22, 2015 in Judicial Opinions, Sentencing | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, December 21, 2015
Ninth Circuit Willfully Inserts Footnote Two
Paragraph two of 18 U.S.C. Section 1542 criminalizes the willful and knowing use of a passport secured by reason of a false statement. Long ago, in a galaxy far away, the Supreme Court held that "willfully and knowingly" in the context of paragraph two means "deliberately and with knowledge" and not a damn thing more. The case, as every schoolboy knows, is Browder v. United States. (I was discussing one of Browder's more subtle points just yesterday with my haberdasher.) In U.S. v. Aifang Ye, the Ninth Circuit dealt with the appeal of Ms. Ye, who was convicted under Section 1542, paragraph one, of willfully and knowingly making a false statement in a passport application. The Ninth Circuit held that what's good for paragraph two is good for paragraph one. And what about those pesky intervening Supreme Court decisions seeming to indicate that willfulness requires "bad purpose" and a "knowledge that the conduct was unlawful"? You know, cases like Bryan v. United States and Safeco Insurance Company of America v. Burr? Not to worry. All disposed of in footnote two of the Ninth Circuit's opinion. Since Browder "directly applies" (although it dealt with a different paragraph of a predecessor statute), its ruling controls, even if its reasoning has been rejected in subsequent Supreme Court decisions.
December 21, 2015 in Judicial Opinions | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, December 20, 2015
The Importance of a Record in Guidelines Variances
Last week in U.S. v. James Wendell Brown the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed a Booker upward variance in a child pornography case. The majority found Judge Richard Leon's sentence procedurally unreasonable, even under the plain error standard. The problem? Judge Leon was too general, and generic, in explaining how the four (out of seven) 3553(a) factors that he referenced applied to the defendant and justified an upward variance. As a white collar practitioner I always get nervous when a variance of any kind is sent back. Case law supporting upward and downward variances is substantial, and generally very favorable to the defense, and any chink in the armor of broad district court sentencing discretion is worrisome. Here there should be no great cause for concern. While talismanic recitation of all Booker factors is not required in any federal circuit to justify an upward or downward variance, there has to be some specific effort to link the factors relied upon to the individual conduct or character of the defendant standing before the sentencing court. Making sure that the court performs this linkage is the practitioner's job. Here, Judge Leon was simply too vague in reciting the 3553(a) factors and explaining why they justified a significant upward variance, and no practitioner chose to fill in the details, because the variance was opposed by both the prosecution and defense. In the mine run case, where defense counsel is arguing for a downward variance, it is his or her job to convince the trier of fact and, if necessary, help the court articulate, on the record, the reasons for the variance, such that the sentence will stand up on appeal. To fail is to screw your own case up and create a bad precedent for your peers.
Judge Edwards, writing for the majority, distinguished U.S v. Ransom. In writing about Ransom here last year, I noted that the DC Circuit "rejected appellants' argument that the sentencing court improperly relied on factors in varying upward that the Guidelines had already accounted for. Joining some sister circuits the Court held (internal quotes and citations omitted) that:
It is not error for a district court to enter sentencing variances based on factors already taken into account by the Advisory Guidelines, in a case in which the Guidelines do not fully account for those factors or when a district court applies broader [Section] 3553(a) considerations in granting the variance.
Notice that there are two alternative prongs to this portion of Ransom. The Brown court seems to indicate that the failure of the Guidelines to fully account for certain factors will only occur when the sentencing court sees and identifies special additional factors that exist in a specific defendant's particular circumstance. Thus, in Ransom, although the Guidelines already assessed two points for committing the offense while on probation, the sentencing court stated on the record that the offense of conviction (embezzlement) and the identity of the co-defendant were identical to the violated probationary offense and that this (and other things) justified an upward variance. Contrat this with Brown, where Judge Leon failed to articulate anything about Brown's particular offense/conduct/background that was not fully accounted for in the applicable Guidelines provisions.
The other prong of Ransom is completely undisturbed. A sentencing court can apply broader Section 3553(a) considerations, that is, broader considerations than those contained in the Guidelines, in granting an upward or downward variance. Again, there must be an explanation by the sentencing court. The sentencing court is always free to articulate its disagreement with the Guidelines' approach, and as long as that disagreement is rational and reasonable, the sentence cannot be disturbed. Two classic examples of this are family circumstances and aberrant conduct, both of which are nearly impossible to achieve as grounds for downward departure, but which regularly enter in to downward variance judgments in the post-Booker-Gall-Kimbrough world.
Judge Sentelle, who wrote the majority opinion in Ransom, dissented in Brown, because he did not see plain error.
December 20, 2015 in Judicial Opinions, Sentencing | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Dewey & LeBoeuf Case to be Retried
Not surprisingly, New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office has announced it will after a hung jury retry, albeit in slimmed-down form with fewer defendants and counts, the criminal case involving the defunct firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf's alleged misrepresentations in seeking financing during its desperate dying days. Prosecutors rarely admit defeat in big cases after a single hung jury. Double jeopardy does not apply.
The major defendant, against whom (as often happens with the highest-ranking officer) there is the least evidence, Steven H. Davis, its former chair, has been pared from the case and apparently will receive a deferred prosecution. "Deferred prosecutions" are rarely, if ever previously, given to individuals by New York state prosecutors, at least by that name. Although the terms have not been announced, this disposition, I suspect will essentially be just a dismissal dressed up so that the prosecutor can save some face and not admit a total loss.
The prosecutor, as is a custom in New York County, announced publicly on the record his plea offers to the three defendants remaining. I find this custom repugnant and sometimes in return I announce the defendant's terms for a final disposition - such as, a dismissal, an apology by the prosecutor and a testimonial dinner in the defendant's honor.
The plea offers here were a felony plea with a one-to-three year jail term to Joel Sanders, a felony plea with 500 hours of community service to Stephen DiCarmine, both of whom spent six months at the trial that ended in a hung jury, and a misdemeanor plea with 200 hours of community service, to Zachary Warren, who was severed and has not yet gone to trial. I would not be surprised if these cases were settled before trial, not necessarily at the offered price.
December 8, 2015 in Current Affairs, Deferred Prosecution Agreements, News, Prosecutions, Prosecutors | Permalink | Comments (0)
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Total Defense Victory in EDVA Health Care Fraud Trial
Congratulations to the defense team members and their client in U.S. v. Bajoghli. After a 16 day trial, the dermatologist defendant was acquitted on all counts--over 40. Dr. Bajoghli was represented by Peter White and Nicholas Dingeldein of Schulte Roth & Zabel and Kirk Ogrosky and Murad Hussain from Arnold & Porter. The jury was out a day and a half.
There was some interesting motion work during the pre-trial phase, for those of us interested in government efforts to affect witness testimony. Six weeks before the original trial date, the government sent "victim impact notification" letters to several of Dr. Bajoghli's patients. Dr. Bajoghli complained that the patients, many of whom were scheduled to be defense witnesses, were not victims and that the letter was intended to prejudice the patients against him. Judge Gerald Lee granted the motion and issued a corrective letter. Here are the relevant papers: Bajoghli Motion in Limine Seeking Corrective Witness Instructions, Exhibit A Ogrosky Letter to DOJ, Exhibit B to Bajoghli Motion, Order Granting Motion for Corrective Witness Instruction, Court's Corrective Witness Letter.
December 5, 2015 in Defense Counsel, Fraud, Judicial Opinions, Prosecutions, Verdict | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday, December 4, 2015
Plea Bargaining and the Trial Penalty
This morning's Wall Street Journal contains an opinion piece I wrote on the subject of the "trial penalty." Entitled "The Injustice of the Plea-Bargaining System," the commentary examines the manner in which the trial penalty induces too many defendants to give up their constitutional right to trial. In examining the issue, the piece includes a discussion of the tragic case of Orville (Lee) Wollard. Wollard, who was charged with a crime after firing a warning shot in his home into the wall next to his daughter's allegedly abusive boyfriend, turned down a plea offer of five years probation and ended up receiving a sentence of twenty-years in prison after conviction at trial. I hope you will have an opportunity to read the entire piece.
December 4, 2015 in Media, News, Sentencing | Permalink | Comments (0)
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Not Guilty on Two Counts and Conviction on a Misdemeanor Count in CEO's Case Following Deadly Mining Accident
It is interesting to see the headlines from the NYTimes - Former Massey Energy C.E.O. Guilty in Deadly Coal Mine Blast and Politico - Coal baron convicted for mine safety breaches. Both headlines focus on the conviction of the CEO. The Wall Street Journal headline says - Jury Convicts Former Massey CEO Don Blankenship of Conspiracy - but does say in smaller print below this headline "Former executive found not guilty of securities-related charges after deadly West Virginia mining accident."
Yes, it is important to note that a CEO was convicted here of workplace related safety violations and this was after a deadly accident. But what is also important is that CEO Blankenship was found not guilty of the serious charges that he initially faced. What started as a 43 page indictment by the government (see here), ended as a misdemeanor conviction on one count. William W. Taylor, III of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP was the lead on this defense team.
December 3, 2015 in Defense Counsel, News, Prosecutors, Securities, Verdict | Permalink | Comments (0)
21-Day Insider Trading Sentence to Cooperator Considered Harsh
The New York Times reported today (Goldstein, "Witness in Insider Trading Inquiry Sentenced to 21 Days, see here) what it called a "surprising" 21-day prison sentence imposed by Judge P. Kevin Castel upon a felony conviction broke "what has been the standard practice" in insider trading cases in the Southern District of New York. Anyone not familiar with the customs of that court's prosecutors and judges might think that such a sentence was out-of-the-ordinary lenient. However, as the article makes clear, that sentence, for a major cooperator, was apparently considered out-of-the-ordinary harsh.
The defendant, Richard Choo-Beng Lee, was a California hedge-fund owner who, after being approached by FBI agents with evidence that he (and his partner, Ali Far, who was later sentenced to probation by a different judge) had broken securities laws, cooperated with the government by recording 171 phone calls with 28 people, including Steven A. Cohen, DOJ's no. 1 target, who has not been indicted (although his firm, SAC Capital Advisers, was and pleaded guilty and paid a multi-billion dollar fine).
New York City is the cooperation capital of the world. As the Times article indicates, cooperators in white-collar (and other) cases in the Southern District of New York are given considerable benefits for cooperating (far greater than in most jurisdictions) and the default and almost uniform sentence for them is probation and not jail. To be sure, cooperators make cases, and many of those cases and the individuals charged would go undetected without cooperators looking to provide assistance to the government to lessen their own potential sentences.
However, the cooperation culture in New York has many deleterious consequences. To the extent that deterrence is achieved by jail sentences (and I believe it is in white-collar cases, but not in many other areas), its effect has been minimized. The clever white-collar criminal (and most but not all are intelligent) knows that he has in his pocket a "get-out-of-jail card," the ability to cooperate against others and get a non-jail sentence. The mid-level financial criminal can commit crimes, enjoy an outrageously lucrative, high-end life style, and, when and if caught, cooperate, stay out of jail and pay back what assets, if any, remain from his wrongdoing.
Knowledgeable white-collar defense attorneys are well aware of the benefits of cooperation. It is often good lawyering to urge cooperation, at times even in marginal cases, to avoid jail sentences. Indeed, more than a a trifling number of those who plead guilty in white-collar cases are actually innocent, often because they lack the requisite mens rea (a difficult, even when accurate, defense). And sometimes, at the urging of their lawyers, they admit guilt and tailor their stories and testimony to what the prosecutors and agents (who usually see only the dark side of equivocal facts and circumstances) believe actually occurred so that others actually innocent are convicted (or also choose to plead guilty and perhaps cooperate against others). The bar for indictment and conviction has been lowered. The adversary system has been turned sideways, if not upside-down.
To many, probably most, lawyers, cooperation is personally easier than going to trial. Cooperation avoids the stress of battle and the distress of (statistically probable) defeat at trial. No longer do lawyers walk around with "no-snitch" buttons. The white-collar bar has become generally a non-combative bar. To the extent it ever had one, it (with notable and not-so-notable exceptions) has lost its mojo. The first (and often only) motion many lawyers make upon being retained is to hail a taxi to the prosecutor's office.
I write about the role of the bar as a lament more than a criticism. I too represent cooperators when I think cooperation is to their benefit. There is a great penalty (or, to put it gently, "loss of benefit") for not cooperating. Those accused who choose not to cooperate, or those whose own scope of criminality and knowledge of wrongdoing of others is so limited that they cannot, receive (in my opinion sometimes, but far from usually, appropriate) severe jail sentences. Those who cooperate, except for the unfortunate Mr. Lee, almost always avoid jail.
Lawyers and professors talk about the "trial penalty," the extra, often draconian, prison time one receives for exercising his right to trial. The principal "penalty" in white-collar cases is not the trial penalty, but the "non-cooperation penalty." Even those who choose not to go to trial and plead guilty are punished much more severely than those who cooperate.
December 3, 2015 in Current Affairs, Defense Counsel, Insider Trading, Judicial Opinions, Prosecutors, Sentencing | Permalink | Comments (0)
Felony Charges Dismissed in a BP Deepwater Horizon Case
Remaining in this case is a single misdemeanor charge following the court's dismissal of homicide charges against a BP engineer on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. (see here) Eleven charges were dismissed by the government in 2014 premised on the statute not applying to the operator of a drilling ship and eleven other charges were now dismissed by the court as the "government agreed" to this dismissal of charges of "'involuntary homicide' based on lack of evidence and other arguments. Initially, this individual faced 22 felony homicide charges, plus one misdemeanor charge of water pollution. The remaining misdemeanor charge is scheduled for a February trial. David Gerger from Quinn Emanuel represented the accused. See also Smyser, Kaplan & Veselka, LLP lawyers David Isaak, Shaun Clarke, and Dane Ball's role in this case (see here).
December 3, 2015 in Defense Counsel, News | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, November 30, 2015
Former New York State Speaker Silver is Convicted
Longtime New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, was found guilty today by a Southern District of New York federal jury on corruption charges, including honest services theft and extortion under color of law. As Speaker and majority leader, Silver was one of the "three men in a room" who controlled the New York Legislature (the others being the Governor and Senate majority leader, almost always a Republican, one of whom, Dean Skelos, is now on trial on corruption charges in the same courthouse as Silver was - an apparent show of federal prosecutorial bipartisanship).
Silver had requested and received case referrals to the tort specialty law firm where he was counsel from a doctor to whose university-affiliated clinic he later directed a half-million dollar state grant. He also requested from two major real estate firms that they send business to a different law firm from which he received large referral fees. Although the doctor and the real estate firm officers testified that they made the referrals to curry favor and influence Silver, no witness testified that there was an explicit quid pro quo or specific agreement that Silver would perform a specific (or even unspecific) act, although the government maintained that Silver did perform official actions that benefited the doctor and the real estate firms.
The defense argued that there was no quid pro quo, that the referrals were made out of friendship and respect, and that the official acts performed by Silver were legitimate and not performed because of the referrals.
The verdict was no surprise. Although the defense portrayed the incidents as "politics as usual," the "politics" just stunk. Silver had clearly received benefits, referrals to law firms from which he received millions of dollars only because those who had provided these benefits thought that Silver as a powerful official would do things - unspoken, unspecific and perhaps then unknown - that would benefit them. The cases, on which Silver did no actual legal work, were not referred to him because of his reputation as a lawyer.
On the one hand, as one who loathes corruption, I am somewhat gratified that it now appears (subject to judicial reversal of the jury verdict) that a public official may not request a substantial valuable benefit, direct or indirect, if he or she knows or believes, that the donor is conferring the benefit because the donor believes that the official will exercise his or her official power to the donor's advantage, even in the absence of an agreement that the official do anything in his official capacity.
On the other hand, I am concerned about what in effect is legislation by prosecution, even if it is good legislation. However unwholesome Silver's conduct was, he might have been convicted for what had been generally perceived as acceptable conduct in his world that he believed was not criminal. For better or worse, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has essentially changed the rules. A corruption conviction does not require as a quid pro quo that there be an agreement by a public servant to do a specific act or at least generally to act favorably in the future when circumstances arise, as many prosecutors had believed for years (and some still do). While the "new" rule is certainly better for society as a deterrent to corruption, I have some concern whether it is just to convict, and likely imprison for a considerable time, someone who acted within what he believed the rules were.
Perhaps this case will embolden prosecutors to go further in charging public officials. Here, Silver clearly solicited benefits, received benefits, and, at least in the case of the doctor, in return provided a benefit, even if not pursuant to an agreement. Will cases now be brought where public official receive monetary or equivalent benefits from those intending to influence them even where there is no evidence of solicitation by the officials and/or no evidence that the officials did anything in return for the benefits received? And what about cases involving campaign contributions made by donors and accepted by a candidates in the expectation that the candidates will act favorably toward their causes, and the candidates (if elected) do so act? (Or should there be an exemption for cases involving campaign funding?)
(Note - Silver, whom I have never met or spoken with, reappointed me three times as his designee to serve on the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, but did not reappoint me a fourth time.)
November 30, 2015 in Corruption, Current Affairs, Prosecutions, Prosecutors, Verdict | Permalink | Comments (0)
Britain's First DPA Approved by Court
According to Reuters, a judge approved Britain's first Deferred Prosecution Agreement today. The below is from the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) press release.
The Serious Fraud Office's first application for a Deferred Prosecution Agreement was today approved by Lord Justice Leveson at Southwark Crown Court, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice.
The counterparty to the DPA, Standard Bank Plc (now known as ICBC Standard Bank Plc) ("Standard Bank"), was the subject of an indictment alleging failure to prevent bribery contrary to section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010. This indictment, pursuant to DPA proceedings, was immediately suspended. This was also the first use of section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 by any prosecutor.
As a result of the DPA, Standard Bank will pay financial orders of US$25.2 million and will be required to pay the Government of Tanzania a further US$7 million in compensation. The bank has also agreed to pay the SFO's reasonable costs of £330,000 in relation to the investigation and subsequent resolution of the DPA.
In addition to the financial penalty that has been imposed, Standard Bank has agreed to continue to cooperate fully with the SFO and to be subject to an independent review of its existing anti-bribery and corruption controls, policies and procedures regarding compliance with the Bribery Act 2010 and other applicable anti-corruption laws. It is required to implement recommendations of the independent reviewer (Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP).
DPAs are a new settlement vehicle in the U.K., as discussed in my article International White Collar Crime and Deferred Prosecution Agreements. One should expect that now the first DPA has been approved, U.K. enforcement bodies will begin aggressively using DPAs in the coming years. As the Director of the SFO, David Green, said of the Standard Bank DPA, "This landmark DPA will serve as a template for future agreements."
The press release and links to the Standard Bank DPA are available on the SFO website.
November 30, 2015 in Deferred Prosecution Agreements, FCPA, International, News, Settlement | Permalink | Comments (0)


text:
See Kai Run
'Connor' Sneaker (Baby, Walker & Toddler)
Product not available
Have questions?
Chat with us or call 1.888.282.6060.
HideDetails & Care
Creamy leather shapes a handsome little sneaker made for developing feet. A wide silhouette allows tiny toes to move freely, while a flexible rubber sole adds stability and support.
- Adjustable hook-and-loop closure.
- Leather upper and lining/rubber sole.
- By See Kai Run; imported.
- Kids' Shoes.
'Connor' Sneaker (Baby, Walker & Toddler)
Write a Review0 Reviews
Enter a valid first name.
Enter a valid last name.
Enter a valid email address in the format: firstname.lastname@example.com.
Close modal


text:
Your baby is constantly adapting to life inside the uterus. By this week, the umbilical cord has formed. It will be your baby's connection to you throughout your pregnancy, providing oxygen and nourishment for your baby and disposing of your baby's wastes. In addition, your baby's digestive tract and lungs continue to form.
Are you waiting impatiently to see your baby's face on his or her birth day? You have a long way to go until then, but in the meantime, your baby's face is taking shape. The mouth, nostrils, ears, and eyes are some of the facial features that become more defined this week.
Dreaming of a son or daughter to play ball with? The arm bud that developed just last week has a hand on the end of it, which looks like a tiny paddle.
Pregnancy causes many changes in your cervix. By this week you'll have developed a mucous plug, which forms in the opening of the cervical canal and seals off the uterus for protection. (Eventually you'll lose this plug as your cervix dilates in preparation for labor.)
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses and treatment, consult your doctor.
© 1995–2015 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. All rights reserved.
Find out by selecting your child's symptom or health condition in the list below:
In This Issue
Download Spring 2016 (PDF)
Cyberbullying is bullying that happens using electronic technology. It can include mean or embarrassing photos, videos or comments posted on social media or sent by text. Sometimes teens don't want to admit to experiencing cyberbullying because they think that bullying only happens to younger kids. Ask your child to tell you about their...
Play Video
From healing paws to poetry programs, see the innovative and inspiring ways Seattle Children's goes beyond traditional medicine to heal kids. The KING 5 HealthLink special "Healing the Spirit" is hosted by Jean Enersen.
Meet Seattle Children's Hospital patients who experienced hope for healthier lives because of
. Hear from other kids about why research matters to them and should matter to you.