Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Anyone Can Whistle
While 2012 didn't bring the Mayan Apocalypse, it did live up to its promise as a good year to be a whistleblower. A former UBS banker imprisoned for tax fraud received a whistleblower award of $104 million ' reportedly the largest individual federal payout in U.S. history. See http://goo.gl/vmHFe. The federal government boasted a new record in recoveries from cases filed under the False Claims Act (FCA), noting that whistleblowers initiated more new FCA matters in 2012 than any prior year on record. See http://goo.gl/Oi8NQ. And despite making only one award in its first year of business, the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower reported receiving 3,001 complaints. See SEC Annual Report on the Dodd Frank Whistleblower Program Fiscal Year 2012, November 2012.
The wave of federal legislation continues to provide significant financial incentives and protections to whistleblowers for reporting corporate misconduct to law enforcement. And the wave shows no signs of diminishing in 2013. On Jan. 2, 2013, the new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was signed into law, with enhanced whistleblower protections for employees of contractors and subcontractors working for other federal agencies. Notably, President Obama, who has been lauded for the whistleblowing protections enacted under his administration and who as recently as November signed a new whistleblower protection law for federal employees, objected that the provisions might be read to interfere with his authority to manage and direct executive branch officials. See http://goo.gl/i1tkD0.
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.