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First Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Decision
In the first ruling applying the whistleblower protections of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 18 U.S.C. ' 1514A, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ordered a bank holding company to rehire its former Chief Financial Officer (CFO), after finding that the company fired the CFO in retaliation for reporting alleged accounting misconduct to the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), outside auditors, and others. Welch v. Cardinal Bankshares Corp., No. 2003-SOX-15 (Dep't Labor, Jan. 28, 2004) (hereinafter “Op.”) The sole reason given by the company for the firing was the CFO's refusal to attend an internal investigation interview regarding the allegations without his personal attorney, which the company alleged constituted a failure to cooperate with the company's internal investigation instigated in response to the CFO's allegations of wrongdoing. The ALJ found the company's stated reason for the firing was mere pretext and that the CFO, David Welch, was, in fact, fired in retaliation for reporting the potential accounting misconduct he had discovered.
Significance of This First Decision
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.