The Rise of the Travel Act
October 02, 2017
The DOJ continues to prioritize health care anti-fraud enforcement through the aggressive use of different statutes and investigative methods. Now, the government is putting a 60-year-old tool to a new use: It is using the federal Travel Act to pursue criminal charges against health care entities in connection with health care bribery/kickback schemes. This article discusses these recent actions and the potential ramifications of the expansion of the scope of the Travel Act.
<b><I>Escobar's</I></b> Effect on False Claims Act <b><I>Qui Tam</I></b> Actions
October 02, 2017
The Supreme Court, in <I>Universal Health Servs., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar</I>, altered the landscape for FCA litigation. In this case, the Supreme Court instructed lower courts to scrutinize the materiality of the false statements to the government's decision to pay a claim; in doing so, the Court raised the bar for successful prosecution of <I>qui tam</I> claims.
In the Courts
October 02, 2017
A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit upheld the conviction of Mathew Martoma for insider trading and, in doing so, overruled part of <I>United States v. Newman</I>, thereby removing one obstacle for prosecutions of insider trading.
Antitrust Corporate Dispositions
September 02, 2017
This article provides critical background on DOJ policy and practice, and highlights some of the steps corporate counsel — as well as "spin-off" counsel for individual employees — can take during leniency or plea negotiations to secure non-prosecution protection for the company's employees as part of any antitrust corporate disposition.
The Trump Administration and Compliance
September 02, 2017
<b><I>What Can We Tell So Far?</I></b><p>How can companies plan for enforcement under the Trump administration? Here are five areas of compliance to consider.
The Alien Tort Statute
September 02, 2017
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide the long-awaited issue of whether corporations can be liable under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), enacted by the First Congress more than 225 years ago.
In the Courts
September 02, 2017
A look at a case in which the first trader charged and convicted under Dodd-Frank's anti-"spoofing" provision lost his appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Business Crimes Hotline
September 02, 2017
Analysis of a case in which a German national admitted to taking part in a 2001 to 2004 scheme to pay roughly $3 million in bribes to Haitian officials in return for favorable treatment from Teleco, a state-owned telecommunications company.
The Role of Encryption in Law Firm Data Security
August 01, 2017
Encryption can play a vital role in securing data, but it needs to be considered within the context of a firm's overall IT security strategy. Whether, when and how to encrypt requires a careful look at what data the firm keeps, and how much protection it needs. This article explains how encryption can be used to guard against the reputational, financial and legal damage a breach of sensitive data can cause to law firms.
