Welcome to our Bad News, Good Lawyers podcast series, where we discuss the very latest news at the intersection of law and politics.
Hosted by Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, each episode provides a unique perspective on the legal and political developments of interest to businesses across the globe.
Follow how the latest geopolitical developments, sanctions and economic policy, and domestic and international regulatory shifts are impacting global businesses. Join us for insightful discussions with industry experts from around the world highlighting how good lawyers are developing creative solutions to the toughest problems.
On this episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, partner Giancarlo Pellegrini, former senior counsel to the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, discusses his experience leading high-profile congressional investigations, including in relation to the Jeffrey Epstein crimes.
Speaking with host Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, Giancarlo provides an insider’s perspective into what it is like to question some of the most prominent witnesses to appear before a congressional oversight committee, including former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Drawing on a career at the center of congressional oversight, Giancarlo explains the unique challenges facing lawyers and clients in congressional investigations, and why companies should prepare now for a likely increase in scrutiny following the US midterm elections.
On this episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, host Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, is joined by longtime friend Jamison Firestone, founder of the first independent foreign law firm in post-Soviet Russia and author of Rule of Lies: My Wild Ride Through Chaos, Corruption, and Murder in Putin’s Russia.
Jamison reflects on building a pioneering legal practice in Moscow during the early 1990s – one of the most dangerous times to reside in Russia – and navigating the corruption and personal dangers that defined the era.
The conversation also explores the lasting impact of the Magnitsky sanctions, Jamison’s work advancing the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, and his current efforts to support Ukraine through the use of frozen Russian state assets.
On this episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, retired FBI Special Agent Séamus McElearney discusses his new book, Flipping Capo: How the FBI Dismantled the Real Sopranos.
He joins host Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, to share how he and his colleagues flipped Mafia soldier Anthony Capo and several other members and associates of the notorious DeCavalcante organized crime family – leading to the solving of 11 murders and the conviction of 71 defendants.
With television show The Sopranos largely based on the DeCavalcante crime family, Séamus offers a unique perspective on the real-life events that inspired the series, and how members of the organization reacted to depictions of their lives on screen.
Under the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, introduced in Australia in December 2025, social media platforms are now required to take steps to prevent children under the age of 16 from accessing their services.
In our latest episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, Tanvi Mehta Krensel, who leads our Data Privacy, Cybersecurity & Digital Assets Practice in Australia, joins host Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, to discuss this controversial new social media ban. They engage in an insightful conversation on who and what the minimum age rules prohibit, whether the law works in practice and what changes are expected in the future, particularly as the UK and the EU consider implementing similar legislation.
In our latest episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, Lauren Briggerman, a partner in our Antitrust & Competition Practice, joins host Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, to discuss how antitrust enforcement has evolved under the second Trump administration.
Against a backdrop of perceived pullbacks in broader white collar enforcement, they explore why antitrust may be a notable exception, offering practical insights into what these developments mean for companies navigating compliance risk in an increasingly complex and politicized enforcement environment.
In this episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, host Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, is joined by Anna Morris, former acting assistant secretary of the US Treasury for terrorist financing and a principal in our Public Policy Practice.
Anna shares her views on the successes and failures in the US war on terror, the role of sanctions in US foreign policy and the future of economic statecraft.
On April 12, Péter Magyar defeated Viktor Orbán, the longest-serving head of state in Europe, in a stunning landslide upset. Magyar’s election has ramifications for US policy toward Russia, Ukraine and the EU.
In our latest episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, host Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, is joined by David Kostelancik, a career US State Department diplomat and former chargé d'affaires at the US Embassy in Budapest, who discusses what changes we can expect in Hungary and what Magyar’s election means for US business.
In this episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, host Tom Firestone is joined by former Supreme Court clerk and co-chair of our Appellate & Supreme Court Practice Keith Bradley, who provides an in-depth legal analysis of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, more commonly known as the “IEEPA decision.”
In this episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, New York Times contributing opinion writer and best-selling author Jeffrey Toobin discusses his latest book, The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy, with host Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice.
Jeffrey engages in a wide-ranging and deeply researched discussion around the evolution of the US presidential pardon – from President Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon to President Trump’s current term – and his conclusions as to why presidential pardon power should be preserved even though it has often been abused for political purposes.
In our latest episode of Bad News, Good Lawyers, host Tom Firestone, head of our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, is joined by Benjamin Nathans, Alan Charles Kors Endowed Term Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania.
They discuss Professor Nathans’ Pulitzer Prize-winning book, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement, and explore the role of law in dictatorships, including the concept of “civil obedience” and how a dictatorship’s own laws can be used to combat it.
In this opening episode of our Bad News, Good Lawyers podcast series, partner Tom Firestone, from our Government Investigations & White Collar Practice, speaks to Rob Zachariasiewicz (Zach) of Elicius Intelligence. Zach spent 22 years with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), primarily with the Special Operations Division (SOD), where he developed and managed some of the DEA’s most significant and high-profile cases, including many related to Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela.
Join us for a fascinating discussion, where Zach, who is also a lawyer, shares his unique perspectives on the Maduro case.
