department of justice – White-Collar Criminal Law

October 10, 2019July 21, 2020 by Duane Morris

Three Years After Policy Shift, Still No Wage-Fixing or No-Poach Prosecutions from DOJ

In an October 2016 guidance document, the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission alerted human resources professionals to potential violations of the antitrust laws in hiring and compensation decisions. The guidance included the announcement that, “Going forward, the DOJ intends to proceed criminally against naked wage-fixing or no-poaching agreements.” A naked agreement is one that is not ancillary to a broader, legitimate collaboration between businesses.

The DOJ’s decision to proceed criminally against such agreements is significant. Although the Sherman Act allows the DOJ to proceed either criminally or civilly against antitrust violators, before the guidance was issued the DOJ had treated agreements between competitors not to solicit each other’s employees as merely civil violations. Following the guidance, companies and individuals suddenly had to worry about criminal fines and potential jail sentences for entering into such agreements. Nevertheless, three years have now passed without a single such indictment being filed.

View the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.

January 4, 2019January 16, 2019 by Duane Morris

DOJ Implements 2018 Granston Memo on False Claims Act

In early 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a new policy encouraging prosecutors handling False Claims Act (FCA) cases to seek dismissal of qui tam complaints that threaten the government’s interests. However, it was unclear how and to what extent prosecutors would carry out that directive. Now a year later, federal prosecutors appear to be embracing the new policy—and it is already having an effect on one case involving a drug manufacturer.

The January 2018 Granston memorandum outlined the Department’s new approach to handling FCA prosecutions in “in light of the government’s limited resources.” Under the new policy, prosecutors are encouraged to move to dismiss qui tam claims as a way to “advance the government’s interests, preserve limited resources, and avoid adverse precedent.” This marked a departure from the Department’s previous policy of rarely exercising its statutory authority to dismiss such claims. To guide prosecutors, the memorandum offered a nonexhaustive list of factors as to when a motion to dismiss a qui tam claim is proper. Those factors include: (1) “curbing meritless qui tams”; (2) “preventing parasitic or opportunistic qui tam actions”; (3) “preventing interference with agency policies and programs”; (4) “controlling litigation brought on behalf of the United States”; (5) “safeguarding classified information and national security interests”; (6) “preserving government resources”; and (7) “addressing egregious procedural errors.” Overall, the memorandum instructed prosecutors to seek dismissal when the litigation does not serve the government’s interests.

Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.

December 10, 2018 by Duane Morris

DOJ Eases Yates Memo’s “All or Nothing” Approach to Corporate Cooperation Credit

On November 29, 2018, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein announced the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) much-anticipated revisions to the September 2015 Memorandum on “Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing,” commonly known as the “Yates Memo” and named for Rosenstein’s predecessor, Sally Q. Yates. The Yates Memo emphasized the importance of holding individuals accountable for corporate misconduct, and set forth principles for DOJ prosecutors to follow in determining when corporations would qualify for “cooperation credit” in corporate criminal and civil investigations. The most significant—and controversial—provision in the Yates Memo required that “in order to qualify for any cooperation credit, corporations must provide to the Department all relevant facts relating to the individuals responsible for the misconduct.” The new policy announced by Rosenstein modifies this “all or nothing” approach to cooperation credit by giving DOJ prosecutors and civil attorneys more flexibility.

In announcing the new policy, Rosenstein reaffirmed the Department’s commitment to prosecuting individual wrongdoers, stating that, “The most effective deterrent to corporate criminal misconduct is identifying and punishing the people who committed the crimes.” However, he stated that the lack of flexibility in the Yates Memo’s approach impeded resolutions and wasted resources, and in some cases was not strictly enforced.

Visit the Duane Morris LLP website to read the full Alert.

April 12, 2017April 12, 2017 by Karen Lehmann Alexander

Supreme Court Hears Argument In Honeycutt

The Honeycutt brothers run an operation selling iodine to methamphetamine dealers. One brother makes $269,000 in total profits. The other brother gets paid a weekly salary, but otherwise takes home nothing. They are both charged in a drug conspiracy. The first brother reaches a plea deal with the government, and as a result gets to keep most of the money he made. The second brother loses at trial. At his sentencing, the trial court orders the second brother to forfeit (i.e. give back to the government) an amount equal to the total $269,000 in profits – even though he never saw a dime. Continue reading “Supreme Court Hears Argument In Honeycutt”

April 5, 2017 by Karen Lehmann Alexander

New Scrutiny of Civil Forfeiture Laws

The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released a report on March 29, 2017, faulting the DOJ for failing to systematically evaluate its forfeiture data to determine the extent to which seizures benefit law enforcement efforts or present potential risks to civil liberties. While the Inspector General’s (“IG’s”) report specifically focused on the forfeiture activities of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), its conclusions may likely be extended to other arenas in which the federal government initiates civil forfeiture activities, including white collar crime. Continue reading “New Scrutiny of Civil Forfeiture Laws”

August 26, 2016August 26, 2016 by Duane Morris

Duane Morris’ Michael E. Clark to Present at ABA’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Mock Trial Institute

Duane Morris special counsel Michael E. Clark, who is this event’s co-chair, will also present during several sessions at the American Bar Association’s (ABA) First Annual Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Mock Trial Institute, to be held on November 16–17, 2016, in Houston, Texas.

On Wednesday, November 16, Mr. Clark will participate in the following sessions: “Jury Selection and Voir Dire,” at 8:30 a.m.; “Initial Jury Charge and Opening Statements” at 10:00 a.m.; “Government Witness Two: FBI Agent” at 10:45 a.m.; and “Defense Witness One – Henry Hornsby” at 2:00 p.m. On Thursday, November 17, Mr. Clark will be a panelist on the topic, “Session One: Discussion of Key Strategies, Issues and Themes in the FCPA Trial,” at 8:30 a.m.

Continue reading “Duane Morris’ Michael E. Clark to Present at ABA’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Mock Trial Institute”