Tag Archive for: investigation

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Tracking Kim’s Mercedes: It’s All About What’s Not There

Not for the first time, the most compelling piece of information in an investigation is what isn’t there. We’ve written often before about the failure of databases and artificial intelligence to knit together output from various databases…
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College Admissions Scandal: More Indictments Coming?

Get ready for college admissions scandals phase II, and maybe III, IV and V. The reason I think so? Because of the way it was discovered. Prosecutors didn’t break up the ring of bribing college coaches and exam proctors by using vast computing…
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Artificial Intelligence: In Law, Logic Only Goes So Far

Do you ever wonder why some gifted small children play Mozart, but you never see any child prodigy lawyers who can draft a complicated will? The reason is that the rules of how to play the piano have far fewer permutations and judgment calls…
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AI in the Law Firm: The Ethics of Who’s Running the Show

We’ve had a great response to an Above the Law op-ed here that outlined the kinds of skills lawyers will need as artificial intelligence increases its foothold in law firms. The piece makes clear that without the right kinds of skills, many…
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EB-5 Visa Due Diligence: How to Spot the Warning Signs of Fraud

Another EB-5 visa fraud, more burned investors. For people outside the United States trying to pick a reputable investment that will get them permanent residency in the U.S., sorting through hundreds of projects is often the hardest part of…
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Is Your Law Firm Creative Enough? If Yes, Guess Again

We don’t usually think of the law as the place our most creative people go. Lawyers with a creative bent often drift into business, where a higher risk tolerance is often required to make a success of yourself. Some of our greatest writers…
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A Manual for How to Blow Your Due Diligence

Step one: don’t have a manual. That’s the message in an information-packed new book about the inner workings of the SEC just after the Madoff and now largely forgotten (but just as egregious) Allen Stanford frauds. In his memoir of five…
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The Best Picture Mix-Up and Artificial Intelligence

What will it take for artificial intelligence to surpass us humans? After the Oscars fiasco last night, it doesn't look like much. As a person who thinks a lot about the power of human thought versus that of machines, what is striking is…
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The Yelp Defense: Internet Garbage Isn’t Our Problem

When your defense is that the law allows you to publish garbage without fear of prosecution, one takeaway is simple: the internet is filled with garbage that needs to be well verified before you rely on it. This blog thinks the Ninth Circuit…
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FINRA and Due Diligence: On-Site Checks Are Indispendible

Due diligence is all about following up on red flags, but if you don’t find them, there’s nothing on which to follow up. Thus, our tireless refrain: turn over every piece of public record information you can about a person, and don’t…