White-Collar Defense

The White-Collar Defense Blog highlights recent developments and analysis from white-collar cases around the country, including healthcare fraud, procurement fraud, cryptocurrency fraud, computer fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, import fraud, insider trading, investment fraud, and money laundering.

Scott Armstrong 12/5/25 Scott Armstrong 12/5/25

Border Searches of Electronic Devices in 2025 and a look into 2026

A border search of an electronic device, like an iPhone, allows law enforcement agents to inspect a traveler’s digital data without a warrant. But the scope of that authority, and the level of suspicion required, varies across the federal circuits. This inconsistency in the law creates a fractured and increasingly consequential landscape for privacy and navigating criminal investigations.

Scott Armstrong 6/1/25 Scott Armstrong 6/1/25

Another EDNY decision striking down a warrantless border search of an iPhone

Judge Nina Morrison in EDNY recently published another decision striking down federal agents’ authority to conduct a warrantless “border search” of an iPhone. She held that “the government must have a warrant and probable cause to search a cell phone at the border.”

Scott Armstrong 4/26/25 Scott Armstrong 4/26/25

Warrantless “Border Searches” of Cellphones: A Decision on Deck with the Second Circuit

Warrantless cellphone border searches are at the center of a major case scheduled for oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on June 24, 2025. In United States v. Smith, No. 24-1680 (2d Cir.), the court will decide whether federal agents can search a mobile device at the border without obtaining a warrant—and whether evidence from such a search should be suppressed if a constitutional violation occurred.