The pivotal figure in the most wide-ranging insider-trading prosecution in history was given a break by Judge Richard Holwell, who pronounced sentence after ruling for the government on virtually everything it wanted in calculating the sentencing range, which he agreed was between 19 1/2 and 24 1/2 years in prison.

The full 11th Circuit has decided to take up a question about the scope of a 2010 federal statute designed to reduce the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences. The en banc review is remarkable because the government has signed on to the defense position in the cases to be reheard.

John Rogers, a former Seyfarth Shaw tax partner who now has his own practice in Chicago, has been prohibited by a federal judge from offering clients tax shelters that the government claims improperly reduce the income of U.S. taxpayers.

The 9th Circuit has ruled that the government violated the constitutional rights of an Islamic charity in how it blocked its funds and designated it as a terrorist group. But the panel rejected the argument that the government wasn’t entitled to use classified information in designating groups as terrorist organizations.

In its crackdown on online gambling, the Justice Department has raised the stakes for Full Tilt Poker.