Given my practice area, people often ask me why people commit white-collar crimes. I ask myself this question; and, just as often, I ask myself how can I help my corporate clients mitigate the risks of committing a crime? Despite my lifelong quest to answer both these questions, I have no good answers. Unfortunately, the…
According to FAR Part 16, the Federal Government uses fixed-price contracts when it wants to place most of the risk and responsibility for performance on the contractor. This means that fixed-price contracts are generally not subject to being adjusted as a result of the contractor’s costs or profits increasing or decreasing in performance. As a…
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….
Over the last couple of years, media reports about Uber exemplified a corporate culture without concern for following the law, acting ethically or just otherwise being a decent corporate citizen. Some examples: Uber has faced allegations of sexual harassment in its executive ranks and allegations of failing to manage drivers accused of improper behavior. …
Overview The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), housed at Syracuse University, researches and distributes data about the federal government’s enforcement work. As TRAC itself explains, it seeks to answers questions about government enforcement work – questions that burn in the souls of lawyers who defend companies and people being investigated or prosecuted for crimes or…
The Federal Government wants employees of contractors and subcontract and independent contractors to disclose to the government instances of fraud, waste, abuse of authority; violations of law, regulations or policies; or substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. Once someone makes a disclosure of this nature, laws and regulations protect them so they…
My good friends and esteemed colleagues over at Law Offices of Sara Kropf, Sara Kropf and Dan Portnov, recently wrote a blog post asking the white-collar defense community whether they have encountered federal government contractors rather than government employees, prosecutors and federal agents conducting government investigations. Read the full post: Government Contractors Conducting Investigations: A…