Category Archives: DOJ Guidance

On October 28, 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco released a memo setting out “Initial Revisions to Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policies.” The memo indicated that the Department of Justice would place greater emphasis on a corporation’s “history of misconduct” in reaching determinations about whether to criminally charge a corporation. Noting that past misconduct is potentially indicative of the strength of internal controls to prevent criminal activity,… More

Text messaging is convenient.  It is an informal and instant mode of communication now available through numerous apps, which allow an individual to use their synced phone, tablet, and computer to quickly fire off messages.  It’s no wonder that text messaging has extended beyond the realm of friends and family, taking hold in our daily business communications.

However, intra-company text messages and other off-channel business communications have drawn scrutiny from the federal government because they undermine a company’s ability to maintain effective recordkeeping.… More

Last week, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco delivered remarks on corporate criminal enforcement, announcing revisions to DOJ’s policies for addressing corporate ethics and compliance matters. These changes reflect an increased focus on holding individuals accountable for corporate wrongdoing, guidance on handling corporate recidivism, further transparency regarding the appropriateness and necessity of monitorships; incentives for voluntary self-disclosure of misconduct; and a recognition of compensation related incentives to garner a corporate culture of compliance.… More

As we anticipated last spring, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has signaled that it will utilize civil enforcement of the False Claims Act (FCA) to address new and emerging cybersecurity threats. On October 6, 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced the launch of a new cyber-fraud initiative led by the Fraud Section of DOJ’s Commercial Litigation Branch. The new initiative will focus FCA enforcement against federal government contractors or grant recipients who fail to follow required cybersecurity standards.… More

Federal prosecutors continued to quickly respond to PPP loan fraud, bringing two additional cases that allege clear misuse of the funds intended for small businesses.  In one case, prosecutors in Georgia charged reality TV personality Maurice Fayne, aka “Arkansas Mo” of “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” fame, with bank fraud for allegedly using $1.5 million of a $2 million PPP loan to maintain his luxury lifestyle. … More

Editors’ Note: This is the fourth in our start-of-year series examining important trends in white collar law and investigations in the coming year. Our previous entry discussed  anti-corruption trends in 2020. Up next: a look at State Attorney General trends. Look for additional posts throughout the month of January.

More than halfway into the Donald Trump administration,… More

This is a follow-up to our September 13, 2019 post discussing the DOJ guidance on corporate claims of inability to pay.

On Tuesday, October 8, 2019, the Department of Justice provided guidance on how its prosecutors should evaluate claims of corporate poverty.  This comes on the heels of Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matthew Miner’s comments last month suggesting that further guidance on corporate poverty claims was forthcoming. … More

Please see our follow-up concerning the DOJ’s October 8, 2019 guidance.

On September 12, 2019, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matthew Miner signaled that the Department of Justice may provide further guidance to prosecutors—and companies—on how to evaluate claims of corporate poverty.  In a speech at the University of Texas School of Law’s 6th Annual Government Enforcement Institute,  Miner stated that the DOJ has been considering the issuance of “concrete guidance or factors to consider” to assist prosecutors in their evaluation of companies who claim that they are unable to pay DOJ-assessed fines and penalties for their misconduct. … More