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Congoleum Corp. v. ACE American Ins. Co.: No Coverage When Cooperation and Consent Obligations Are Violated
Coverage litigation in the case of Congoleum Corp. v. ACE American Ins. Co. ('Congoleum'), Dkt. No. MID-L-8908-01 (N.J. Super. Ct. May 18, 2007), provides a cautionary tale for insureds tempted to attempt a strategy to foist financial responsibility for asbestos or other mass tort liabilities upon their insurers.
Congoleum, a manufacturer of flooring products that once contained encapsulated asbestos, made a business decision to enter into a global agreement with asbestos plaintiffs' counsel that essentially had Congoleum paying very little money of its own, but generated thousands of asbestos claims, many of them more than dubious, against Congoleum. The global settlement was part of Congoleum's larger plan to use '524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code and a so-called prepackaged bankruptcy or 'pre-pack' to rid itself of current and future asbestos liabilities. The deal sounded too good to be true, and it was. The business decision was a legal disaster for Congoleum.
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.
Compliance Officers: Recent Regulatory Guidance and Enforcement Actions and Mitigating the Risk of Personal Liability
This article explores legal developments over the past year that may impact compliance officer personal liability.