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Creating the Office of Technology Counsel
It appears that the law and technology are conspiring to make life difficult for corporate counsel and IT departments. Invariably, the stresses of electronic discovery have been exacerbated by the increased demands placed on counsel through the promulgated amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). Specifically, the amended rules require exponentially more information about the technical framework of a corporation at the earliest stages of litigation. The more focused or litigious corporations are quickly recognizing the need to bridge the gap between law and technology to ensure compliance with these ever-changing legal requirements and advancing technologies. This pinpoint nexus between law and technology is creating the need for an Office of Technology Counsel (OTC).
In a legal sense, this new role will become accountable for managing the flow of documents beginning at the point of the litigation hold through production, recognizing the common efficiencies between different cases. On the technology side, the OTC will guide policies around document creation, preservation and destruction to ensure protocols are defensible and documented. The person or persons leading the OTC must be grounded in the law and clearly understand the technological make-up of their company. This department will help build the legal compliance roadmap and advance the efforts of both the general counsel and IT departments in identifying and building repeatable, defensible processes for managing the electronic discovery process.
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.