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Your Best Precedent Is Unpublished: Now What?
Imagine counsel representing litigants before a court. An attorney for one party takes a position on the issue. The court responds that, in a previously filed pleading, counsel had taken the opposite position on behalf of his or her client. The attorney responds, “No, Your Honor, that was an 'unpublished' filing. Not only am I not bound by it, in this jurisdiction, you are not even permitted to bring that unpublished filing to my attention.”
The court would likely hold the attorney in contempt or sanction him or her for frivolous conduct. Yet, courts often do this to litigants and counsel by filing an overwhelming majority of their opinions ' including lengthy, important ones ' as unpublished decisions. These are not binding precedent and, in many jurisdictions, litigants and counsel are prohibited from even revealing the existence of these prior decisions to the court.
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.