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Counsel Concerns
Disqualification Motion. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York granted a defense motion to disqualify the plaintiffs' counsel in an investors' suit against a company that develops patented software for multimedia entertainment. Forbes v. NAMS International Inc., 3:07-CV-0039 (TJM/DEP). The investors claimed they had been defrauded by NAMS' statements regarding patent-pending technology to stop entertainment-industry losses from peer-to-peer file sharing.
Plaintiffs' attorney Ronald R. Benjamin of Binghamton, NY, had previously represented NAMS well into trade-secret litigation against Spectra.Net Communications. Non-consensual attorney-disqualification motions require a high burden of proof. When NAMs moved to have Benjamin disqualified from the investors' suit, the district court noted: 'The information currently available to the court suggests that despite the passage of over eight years since Attorney Benjamin withdrew from representation of NAMS, there is nonetheless a substantial interrelationship between the issues raised in the two cases [i.e., the current investors' suit and the Spectra.Net litigation] and a high probability that during the course of his earlier representation of the company he had access to confidential communications enshrouded by the attorney-client privilege. In its complaint in the Spectra.Net litigation, NAMS claimed to possess sensitive and trade secret information regarding the company's technology and business which was disclosed to and misappropriated by the defendant during the course of merger negotiations.'
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.
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.
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.