Carnival Execs May Face Criminal Charges Over Compliance Failures
July 01, 2019
Once again a company has felt the pain that comes when it is caught violating an agreement with the Department of Justice. After taking a tongue lashing from a federal judge for repeatedly violating the law, Carnival Corp. executives have until autumn to hire a chief compliance officer and begin meaningful compliance reforms at the world's largest cruise line.
How to Respond to a Search Warrant
June 01, 2019
Imagine you are in-house counsel, working on a transactional document, when you receive a breathless call from a manager at one of your warehouses that a search warrant is being executed on the premises. What do you do?
Carrot Replaces Stick: Corporate Crime Enforcement In the Trump Administration
May 01, 2019
Elections have consequences, and the election of President Trump has resulted in a significant shift in law enforcement priorities. Corporate enforcement activity is at lows not seen in decades, despite an overall increase in federal criminal cases. This is a product of a change in priorities, both in terms of types of offenses and types of offender. So, for the time being, there will be almost unprecedented opportunity to achieve favorable resolutions for corporate clients.
Judicial Skepticism Mounts Over the Use and Reach of Appellate Waivers
May 01, 2019
A defendant who pleads guilty is usually required to waive a host of constitutional and statutory rights, such as the right to a jury trial, the right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses, the right to testify and present evidence. However, many defendants are also required to waive their right to appeal in order to receive a favorable plea agreement with the government.
Should Trump's Foreign Policy Affect Criminal Prosecutions?
May 01, 2019
Business has gone global. So too has business-related crime. In the interconnected business environment, white-collar criminal investigations and prosecutions frequently present cross-border issues and affect U.S. foreign relations. Indeed, in some recent high-profile cases, the Trump administration has implied that it sees law enforcement — or the lack of it — as one of the tools in its foreign policy arsenal.
In the Courts
May 01, 2019
Seventh Circuit Distinguishes Between Truth and Truthiness
"Spoofing" as Fraud: A Novel and Untested Theory of Prosecution
April 01, 2019
The DOJ has signaled its intent to pursue prosecutions for spoofing — which the law defines as "bidding or offering with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution" — aggressively. This article begins with a brief discussion of the elements that the government must prove to establish commodities fraud and wire fraud. It then examines recent spoofing prosecutions that raise important questions about the applicability of the traditional fraud statutes to spoofing-related activity. How the federal courts answer these open questions will have significant implications for participants in the commodities markets.
