The NCAA Division I Board of Directors has approved new guidance clarifying how schools can engage with student-athletes in the constantly evolving name, image, and likeness (NIL) arena on their campuses. The NCAA first implemented the Interim NIL Policy on July 1, 2021. In November 2021, the NCAA released a Q&A document, which declared that...
For the first time since the NCAA issued its Interim Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) Policy on July 1, 2021, the NCAA Board of Directors issued new guidance in an attempt to place some limits on the involvement of boosters in the rapidly growing NIL landscape. The new guidance, issued on May 9, 2022, provides...
Inaction in Face of Sexual Assault Allegation A 20-year-old player in the Chicago Blackhawks organization, Kyle Beach, filed a lawsuit against the team in May 2021 alleging he was sexually assaulted by the team’s video coordinator in May 2020, while the team was involved in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The senior management of the Blackhawks,...
The Special Agent in Charge of the Boston office of the FBI, Joseph Bonavolonta, has issued an advisory aimed at alerting and keeping individuals and companies safe in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. His memo reported on emerging schemes and frauds being perpetrated by criminals looking to capitalize on the current crisis. The FBI...… Continue Reading
Several current and former federal officials recently sent letters to the President and the Attorney General urging action to protect persons in custody or facing arrest and detention during the COVID-19 crisis. In response, Attorney General Barr has issued separate directives to all U.S. Attorneys and DOJ Department Heads and to the Director of the...… Continue Reading
As large numbers of people turn to video-teleconferencing (VTC) platforms to stay connected in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, reports of VTC hijacking (also called “zoom-bombing”) are emerging nationwide. The FBI has received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language. For example, two schools in Massachusetts reported...… Continue Reading
In a letter to the President dated tomorrow (March 27, 2020), several hundred federal judges, former U.S. Attorneys, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials are asking the government to implement a plan to dramatically reduce the number of incarcerated individuals in the federal prison system and to address “the threat of disastrous...… Continue Reading
Following a month-long trial in Hartford, Connecticut, before Chief U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson, a jury returned a split verdict in a case charging two defendants with conspiracy and theft of trade secrets. The jury completely exonerated one of two defendants, Jay Williams, represented by Jackson Lewis, while returning guilty verdicts on certain counts against...… Continue Reading
Just days after retail sales of recreational marijuana became legal in California, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new marijuana enforcement policy that calls for rescinding the long-standing, lenient policy set by the Obama Administration. Now it is up to the individual U.S. Attorney’s Offices to determine whether and how to pursue criminal prosecutions in...… Continue Reading
The Trump Administration believes that Obama-era guidance regarding sexual assault on college campuses created a “failed system” that was a “disservice to everyone involved,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said on September 7, 2017. According to DeVos, “There must be a better way forward.” Enacted in 1972, Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination...… Continue Reading
