By Sara Kropf Working for the Department of Justice used to be a safe bet. You’d get great experience serving the country. Veteran prosecutors would train and closely supervise newer prosecutors to bring (mostly) meritorious cases. Prosecutors were expected to follow...
By Sara Kropf A lawyer’s credibility with the judge is one key to courtroom success. Far too often though, I observe federal judges treat DOJ lawyers as credible (until proven not credible) and treat defense counsel as not credible (until proven credible). Judges...
By Sara Kropf As the year draws to a close, KMS extends our warmest wishes for a peaceful and restorative holiday season. We recognize that 2025 has brought its share of challenges and uncertainty for many, and KMS remains committed to providing steadfast advocacy...
By Sara Kropf On September 25, 2025, former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The charges stem from his September 30, 2020 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee...
By Sara Kropf The Department of Justice recently caught my eye, and made headlines, when it announced that it had issued subpoenas to doctors and clinics involved in providing medical care to transgender minors. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in her statement that...
By Sara Kropf The Sean “Diddy” Combs criminal case has garnered plenty of attention for its salacious allegations. Rather than parsing the RICO and other charges, however, I’m going to capitalize on the case to explain some of the nuts and bolts of pretrial practice...
By Rebecca Guiterman Last week, the Second Circuit upheld Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking conviction and 20-year sentence. On appeal, one of the questions presented was whether Mr. Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the United...
By Sara Kropf In late 2017, I represented a client who participated in a protest against the inauguration of Donald Trump in the District of Columbia on January 20, 2017. She was charged with conspiracy to engage in felony rioting, among other things, and faced the...
Note: A shorter version of this post was published by Bloomberg News on May 14. You can find the article here. By Sara Kropf I’ve written before about the Department of Justice’s questionable tactics in an FCPA case against two former executives for Cognizant...
By Sara Kropf Note: A similar version of this article was also published in Law360. When the Department of Justice indicts a defendant or prevails at trial, the Office of Public Affairs issues a press release. Those press releases tout the seriousness of the charged...