Foreign Sovereign Immunity May Be Obstacle to DOJ Enforcement Efforts
July 31, 2025
In May, Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, issued a department-wide memorandum setting forth the department’s enforcement priorities in the white-collar crime sphere. In it, the department announced an effort to combat crime that “poses a significant threat to U.S. interests,” including the “enabling of shadow-banking and sanctions evasions by hostile nation-states and terror regimes.” A potential obstacle to these enforcement efforts is the doctrine of foreign sovereign immunity. This doctrine, as its name suggests, has been used by courts to grant judicial immunity to foreign states, their instrumentalities, and their respective heads of state.
New and Conflicting Regulations, Not Tariffs, Are Top Concern for Compliance Pros
June 30, 2025
As regulatory shifts grow more unpredictable, corporate legal departments are stepping up their role in risk management — even as many feel they’re navigating in the dark. Their top concern? A surge in new — and often conflicting — regulations spanning everything from consumer privacy and AI governance to tax and trade.
Breaking Down DOJ’s New FCPA Enforcement Guidelines
June 30, 2025
On June 9, the DOJ released its Guidelines for Investigations and Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, ending a months-long pause on FCPA enforcement and outlining DOJ’s go-forward criteria for evaluating whether to bring FCPA actions. Here’s a breakdown of the key themes in the guidelines.
Foreigners Can Use Trump’s Policies As Defense to Extradition
June 30, 2025
One defense that foreign courts have given substantial weight when evaluating a request for extradition to the United States is the risk of inhumane or unfair treatment, including the denial of substantive or procedural rights, as well as the conditions and length of punishment an extradited person faces if convicted. The administration’s resistance to complying with federal court orders taking the contrary view may provide further support.
High Court Expands the Reach of the Wire Fraud Statute (Part III)
June 30, 2025
On May 22, 2025, the Supreme Court endorsed the “fraudulent inducement” theory of wire fraud in Kousisis v. United States, departing from its recent trend of narrowing the scope of broadly worded criminal statutes, including the wire fraud statute. This decision appears to allow the government to obtain a conviction even where the defendant did not intend to cause economic harm to their counterparty, so long as the defendant made material false statements in order to obtain property from another.
Theranos Whistleblower Tyler Shultz: A Tale of Courage and Ethical Duty
May 31, 2025
In the annals of corporate fraud, few stories resonate as powerfully as that of Theranos, the Silicon Valley biotech startup that promised to revolutionize blood testing but collapsed under the weight of its own deception. At the heart of this saga is Tyler Shultz, a young whistleblower. This article recounts Tyler’s extraordinary journey and invites legal professionals to explore its lessons through our CLE program, which bridges his real-world experience with the ethical obligations enshrined in the Rules of Professional Conduct.
DOJ Shifts White-Collar Crime Enforcement Strategies
May 31, 2025
The DOJ announced on May 12, 2025, a strategy shift in its approach to white collar enforcement, identifying specific high-impact areas of focus; an expansion of whistleblower and self-disclosure incentives; and a narrowed use of corporate monitorships. These strategic shifts present significant opportunities for companies and individuals currently facing government investigations, particularly where those investigations no longer align with DOJ priorities.
