Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
How to Make the SEC Disgorge Exculpatory Evidence
In the post-Enron world, the SEC is ratcheting-up the stakes in many of its cases. With millions of dollars in increased funding and hundreds of additional staff, it is bringing more cases, seeking harsher penalties, and generally litigating more aggressively. If recent press releases are indicative, it is also increasingly coordinating its civil enforcement activities with criminal investigations by the Department of Justice. As one SEC district administrator stated in a recent newspaper interview: “People are looking for heads. And we're going after them.”
The SEC's ever growing prosecutorial assertiveness means that defense counsel in SEC civil actions need to compel the SEC — by negotiation or court motion — to produce impeachment evidence, ie, evidence that directly proves innocence (Brady material) and proof that undermines the evidence supporting the SEC's theory of the case (Giglio material – see Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972)). Federal prosecutors are required to produce impeachment evidence during a criminal case, but the SEC does not readily produce it in a civil action, even though it is asking courts to impose crippling fines, order disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and impose lifetime employment bans based upon allegations of fraud. Moreover, SEC civil proceedings often set up a criminal case, with its deposition transcripts becoming the roadmap for conviction. Thus, the same due process that compels disclosure of exculpatory evidence in criminal cases should apply in proceedings initiated by the SEC.
This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
- Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
- Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
- Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
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.
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.
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.
Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent Trolls
With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.