Questions Surround Expanded Government Authority to Seize Russian Assets
July 01, 2022
The purpose behind the Biden Administration's proposals to seize assets of Russian oligarchs is to punish a specific action by a state actor — Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The proposals, however, do not appear to be limited to this conduct alone and would outlast Russia's invasion. In times of war, it at least arguably may be appropriate to pass laws to expand the executive's authority to address specific hostile conduct. Such laws, however, should end with the conflict.
The FRCP Rule 9(b) Standard In False Claims Act Cases
July 01, 2022
In recent years, federal circuit courts of appeals have set forth somewhat different standards that civil FCA complaints brought by private citizens, known as relators, must meet to satisfy Rule 9(b) — especially regarding whether representative examples of allegedly fraudulent claims must be included in a complaint.
Climate Change Risk and Disclosure: A New Focus for SEC Enforcement
June 01, 2022
Given the massive amount of dollars being poured into ESG funds and the SEC's renewed focus on both the funds and the companies in the funds, there is no time like the present for companies to engage in an assessment of their climate risks and how these risks and the status of the companies' ESG goals are being relayed to investors.
Individual Liability and Criminalizing Cybersecurity Response
June 01, 2022
To date, cybersecurity has generally been viewed as an organizational responsibility, and data breaches similarly have been treated as organizational weaknesses or failures. Against this backdrop of organizational responsibility, the Department of Justice has brought a noteworthy criminal case against an individual for his personal response to a corporate data breach.
Repairing the Foreign Agents Registration Act
May 01, 2022
In recent years, mostly due to the well-publicized prosecution of Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, FARA has become more of a focus for federal prosecutors. As a result, white-collar attorneys have been consulted more often about whether particular conduct requires registration under the Act.
