Practice Areas
Banking & Finance LawTax Law
This program provides trial attorneys with a thorough grounding in the three principal currency reporting regimes that drive federal financial crime prosecutions: IRS Form 8300, Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs), and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). Drawing on the Bank Secrecy Act and related federal statutes, the program examines each form’s legal basis, filing triggers, responsible parties, deadlines, and civil and criminal penalty exposure — equipping practitioners on both sides of the aisle to handle the full range of BSA-related matters with confidence.
Attendees will learn to identify when each reporting obligation arises, understand the critical distinctions between the three regimes, and recognize how violations are charged and prosecuted. The program addresses six key federal criminal statutes — including structuring (31 U.S.C. § 5324), money laundering (18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 and 1957), and willful BSA violations (31 U.S.C. § 5322) — and presents a robust framework of trial defenses, from the willfulness standard and the Ratzlaf doctrine to constitutional challenges and good-faith reliance on professional advice.
Four detailed hypotheticals anchor the legal analysis in real-world fact patterns, including a cash-heavy car dealership, a restaurant owner charged with structuring, a cryptocurrency exchange operator who violated the tipping-off prohibition, and an attorney who accepted a large cash retainer with potentially criminal consequences. Each scenario is examined from both the prosecution and defense perspectives.
Topics covered include:
Who Should Attend: Trial attorneys in federal criminal practice, white collar defense counsel, prosecutors, in-house counsel at financial institutions, and compliance professionals seeking the litigation perspective.
Presenter Bio
Michael DeBlis is a trial lawyer. He graduated Cum Laude from The Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Summa Cum Laude from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law with his Masters of Law in Taxation. Michael is known for his charismatic personality and his unyielding dedication to his clients.
Michael spent the first six years of his legal career as a public defender in the NJ Office of the Public Defender cutting his teeth on some of the most serious felony cases to pass through the state courts of New Jersey. He then joined his father’s law practice, DeBlis Law, expanding the practice into civil tax controversies and international tax compliance.
As a graduate of the National Criminal Defense College, Michael has trained under some of the best-known criminal defense attorneys in the country. When he’s not in the courtroom, you can find Michael on stage. He is a professionally-trained actor who has performed in off-Broadway productions and on-stage at Shakespeare in the Park. Michael’s passionate about helping trial lawyers harness the power of persuasion and positive communication in the courtroom in order to connect to the jury on a human level.
Michael’s training as an actor allows him to combine a unique blend of left-brain thinking with right brain artistry to make even the most dull and abstract areas of the law come to life. Michael is a prolific writer and a frequent lecturer at CLE and CPE programs throughout the country. He has written articles that have been featured in leading tax journals and “Law 360.”
Michael is a living example of the tremendous power that comes from combining passion, preparation, persuasion, and positive communication in the courtroom. His courage and relentless work ethic have earned him a reputation as a zealous advocate and one of New Jersey’s rising stars of the legal profession.
Attendees will learn to identify when each reporting obligation arises, understand the critical distinctions between the three regimes, and recognize how violations are charged and prosecuted. The program addresses six key federal criminal statutes — including structuring (31 U.S.C. § 5324), money laundering (18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 and 1957), and willful BSA violations (31 U.S.C. § 5322) — and presents a robust framework of trial defenses, from the willfulness standard and the Ratzlaf doctrine to constitutional challenges and good-faith reliance on professional advice.
Four detailed hypotheticals anchor the legal analysis in real-world fact patterns, including a cash-heavy car dealership, a restaurant owner charged with structuring, a cryptocurrency exchange operator who violated the tipping-off prohibition, and an attorney who accepted a large cash retainer with potentially criminal consequences. Each scenario is examined from both the prosecution and defense perspectives.
Topics covered include:
- Form 8300 filing obligations and the related-transactions rule
- CTR aggregation mechanics and exemptions
- SAR thresholds, red flags, and the good-faith safe harbor
- The absolute tipping-off prohibition and its discovery implications
- Structuring as a standalone offense
- Money laundering nexus and the “specified unlawful activity” element
- Willfulness as the central battleground in BSA prosecutions
- Defenses including Ratzlaf, lack of knowledge, entrapment, and constitutional challenges
- Attorney-specific obligations and the tension with privilege
Who Should Attend: Trial attorneys in federal criminal practice, white collar defense counsel, prosecutors, in-house counsel at financial institutions, and compliance professionals seeking the litigation perspective.
Presenter Bio
Michael DeBlis is a trial lawyer. He graduated Cum Laude from The Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Summa Cum Laude from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law with his Masters of Law in Taxation. Michael is known for his charismatic personality and his unyielding dedication to his clients.
Michael spent the first six years of his legal career as a public defender in the NJ Office of the Public Defender cutting his teeth on some of the most serious felony cases to pass through the state courts of New Jersey. He then joined his father’s law practice, DeBlis Law, expanding the practice into civil tax controversies and international tax compliance.
As a graduate of the National Criminal Defense College, Michael has trained under some of the best-known criminal defense attorneys in the country. When he’s not in the courtroom, you can find Michael on stage. He is a professionally-trained actor who has performed in off-Broadway productions and on-stage at Shakespeare in the Park. Michael’s passionate about helping trial lawyers harness the power of persuasion and positive communication in the courtroom in order to connect to the jury on a human level.
Michael’s training as an actor allows him to combine a unique blend of left-brain thinking with right brain artistry to make even the most dull and abstract areas of the law come to life. Michael is a prolific writer and a frequent lecturer at CLE and CPE programs throughout the country. He has written articles that have been featured in leading tax journals and “Law 360.”
Michael is a living example of the tremendous power that comes from combining passion, preparation, persuasion, and positive communication in the courtroom. His courage and relentless work ethic have earned him a reputation as a zealous advocate and one of New Jersey’s rising stars of the legal profession.
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