Features
Ninth Circuit Pumps Brakes on CA Climate Change Disclosure Law
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit pumped the brakes on a California law requiring the state’s biggest companies to disclose their climate change-related financial risks. The law, referred to by its legislative number, SB 261, was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.
Features
ACC Panel: Internal Investigations About Protection, Not Checking Boxes
At this year’s Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, a panel of experienced in-house counsel walked through the high-stakes realities of internal investigations. The panel stressed that investigations are less about checking boxes and more about protecting people, reputations and companies.
Features
State Legislatures Take on FARA with New FARA-Style Bills
This year has seen a wave of proposed bills in state legislatures across the United States aimed at regulating foreign-influenced political activity at the state level. While stylized to mirror portions of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), in reality, many of these laws are broader than FARA and lack the core exemptions that companies may have grown accustomed to relying upon.
Features
Third Circuit: CFAA Not a Backdoor Mechanism for Punishing Employees
By aligning with the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Van Buren v. United States,the Third Circuit emphasizes that the CFAA should not serve as a catchall enforcement tool for employers. The decision draws a clear boundary between criminal conduct and employment disputes, reinforcing that the CFAA is not a backdoor mechanism for punishing employees.
Features
Does the Volume of Qui Tam FCA Enforcement Mean the System Is Working, or Prove That the ‘Rogues’ Have Gone Rogue?
A functioning enforcement environment must prevent fraud without unduly hindering good business. While the future of FCA enforcement unfolds, all companies can proactively limit their risk by continuing to maintain robust compliance programs to detect and prevent misconduct.
Features
Second Circuit Gives U.S. Broad Jurisdiction Under Commodities Exchange Act
Phillips is another in a line of decisions that expansively permit U.S. prosecutions for conduct taking place overseas, while paying little heed to the extra hardships imposed on defendants forced to defend themselves in a foreign courtroom.
Features
Report: SEC’s Whistleblower Program At Six-Year Low
A powerful incentive to rat out corporate misconduct waned in the latest fiscal year, as payouts under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Whistleblower Program fell to their lowest level in six years, a Law.com analysis found.
Features
Firms Refocusing White-Collar Practices Based On Trump Administration’s Enforcement Priorities
While whole swaths of white collar defense work are drying up under the Trump administration, law firms are redeploying or refocusing these attorneys to matters with rising demand, such as compliance counseling and civil litigation.
Features
Keeping Up With Shifting SEC Priorities
The best advice for SEC trend watchers might be summarized using the golf interjection, “fore!” The developments are happening so rapidly, one of the best things to do is to be aware that these shifts are incoming and stay alert to the changes.
Features
Cyberattacks on U.S. Courts System Affect White-Collar Criminal Clients
The federal judiciary’s electronic case management system, known as CM/ECF, was hacked in large-scale cyberattacks this summer. Although court officials are mum on the possible perpetrators, news reports have said investigators suspect that the hacking could possibly have been perpetrated by Russian state-linked actors. The far-reaching breach has exposed the identities of cooperating witnesses and victims.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe 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.Read More ›
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe 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.Read More ›
- What Happens to Surplus Funds in Tax Lien Foreclosures?When a sale follows a municipality's foreclosure on a tax lien, who is entitled to sale proceeds that exceed the amount of the tax lien?Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis 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.Read More ›
- Marketing Analytics: More Is Not Always BestIn the past few decades, law firms have made great strides in catching up with the rest of the corporate world and are reaping the benefits of all kinds of marketing. This acceptance by firm management is in great part due to an increased appreciation of analytics, made possible by digital marketing and social media.Read More ›
