Given my practice as an ethics and compliance lawyer, white-collar defense lawyer, I am getting barraged with questions on the college scandal: Why would someone pay a bribe like this? Why would someone accept a bribe? Where are the people with integrity? Did they not think they would get caught? How did the colleges “let”…
A lot of organizations have helplines where employees or others can call to ask questions or raise ethical or legal concerns. Anyone who has ever reviewed the information from these helplines or responded to the calls know just how diverse and, frankly, crazy some of the calls can be. It is not surprising that crazy…
I cannot look back on the happenings of corporate crime these past few years without commenting on the best bond revocation of possibly ever. Pharma Bro posted $5 million in bond to remain free pending his trial. (See 2018’s Most Noteworthy Conviction) However, while out on bond, on his Facebook page, which has about 70,000…
How a company treats employees who bring forth concerns is strong evidence of that company’s propensity to make legal and ethical decisions. A company that welcomes hearing about concerns and issues breeds trust with its employees and other stakeholders like investors and regulators. As a result, employees may share their concerns with an organization before…
The FBI raid on Michael Cohen’s law offices is the most noteworthy search warrant of 2018 for two reasons. First, because Michael Cohen was the president’s lawyer for years. Second, because it opened the eyes of many, to include some lawyers, to the fact that although there is an attorney-client privilege, it can…
From my worldview, one of the most noteworthy “when the writ hits the fan” convictions of the year was the conviction of Pharma Bro’s (Martin Shkreli) lawyer and big law partner Evan Greebel. A jury convicted Mr. Greebel of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud for his actions in helping…
There are times when companies that have Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting requirements AND that perform classified work for the U.S. federal government find themselves in a quandary because… The SEC requires companies to file financial reports in certain instances so the public has the information it needs to make decisions about investing in the…
Sports apparel company Under Armour instituted a new policy in 2018 that in my opinion wins as the best new corporate policy of 2018. According to the Wall Street Journal, Under Armour’s chief financial officer sent employees an email explaining that Under Armour would no longer reimburse expenses for adult entertainment, limousine services and gambling….