About
Professor Ellen S. Podgor is the Gary R. Trombley Family White Collar Crime Research Professor and Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law. She is a former deputy prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, who teaches and writes in the areas of White Collar Crime, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure: Adjudication, Ethics, and Computer Crimes. She is the lead author of the Hornbook on White Collar Crime. Her bio can be found HERE and her SSRN page HERE.Contact Me
Ellen S. Podgor-
Professor Jennifer Taub, in her recent piece “How the Law Protects and Promotes Corporate Misconduct,” discusses the panel she moderated at Stanford’s 2025 Global Capitalism, Trust, and Accountability Conference. She uses the term “accountability theater,” to describe the failures of not prosecuting corporate criminal conduct. (esp)
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Professor David McGowan’s article Fealty Oaths can be found on SSRN here. He provides the following abstract – “In Spring 2025 President Trump issued one memorandum and five executive orders targeting six law firms for adverse government action. The orders prompted four successful suits by targeted firms but a greater number of agreements between firms…
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Perhaps one of the busiest offices at the Department of Justice is the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Here is the list of pardons and grants of clemency since January 2025 – here. Some observations about these recent pardons and clemency grants: (esp)
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As anticipated (here), attorneys for James Comey filed Motions to Dismiss the Indictment premised on selective and vindictive prosecution (here) and on the improper appointment of the U.S. Attorney (here). The latter Motion can be summed up with their presented argument that “[t]he President and Attorney General appointed the President’s personal lawyer as interim U.S.…
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The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in U.S. v. Ryan affirms a bank fraud conviction under § 1344 (and also conspiracy – § 1349 and making false entries in bank records – § 1005). “Jurors were presented with evidence that [the defendant] conspired with others to misrepresent the ability of borrowers to repay their debts…
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George Santos’ 87-month sentence was commuted by the President. Former Congressman Santos had plead guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft (see here). Unlike a pardon, a commutation means that the conviction will remain on his record. He will not, however, have to serve the remainder of his sentence. In the president’s rationale for…
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The Indictment and Report of Failure to Return Indictment are likely to be focal points in determining whether this case should be dismissed. Some of the likely issues include: (esp)
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Welcome to the White Collar Prof Blog! The original blog was part of the Law Professors Blog Network that was started in November 2004, and ended in September 2025 with the closing of the Typepad platform. Throughout the years, the blog had over 5.5 million page views. With this new start of the White Collar…
Links & Resources
Criminal Law
Congress• Federal Criminal Law (Title 18)
• Federal Securities Laws (Title 15)
Executive Branch
• Code of Federal Regulations (Dept. of Justice)
• Justice Manual
Agencies
• U.S. Department of Justice
• Offices of the U.S. Attorneys
• U.S. Department of Justice: Criminal Division
• U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
• Department of the Treasury
• Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
• Internal Revenue Service
• Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
• Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR)
• United States Secret Service
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
• Federal Bureau of Prisons
• U.S. Customs & Border Protection
• Commodities Futures Trading Commission
• Federal Trade Commission
• FINRA
Courts
• Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
• Federal Grand Jury Practice Manual
Organizations
• ABA Criminal Justice Section• ABA Business Law Section
• Association of Federal Defense Attorneys
• National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• National District Attorneys Association
• National White Collar Crime Center