Insights

Washington – August 17, 2023: The 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 47 firm lawyers as "Best Lawyers" and 41 lawyers as “Ones to Watch.”

Washington – June 1, 2023: Crowell & Moring earned 82 rankings for 68 lawyers across 48 categories, as well as 37 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2023 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

On February 22, 2023, United States Attorneys for the Southern and Eastern District of New York announced a new, nationwide United States Attorneys’ Offices Voluntary Self-Disclosure (“VSD”) Policy. The policy applies to all United States Attorney’s Offices and is effective immediately. The implementation of the policy follows Deputy Attorney General Monaco’s September 15, 2022 memorandum instructing each component of the Department of Justice that prosecutes corporate crime to review, or draft and publicly share its policies on corporate voluntary self-disclosure and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr’s remarks on revisions to the Criminal Division’s Corporate Enforcement Policy. The VSD policy incentivizes companies to voluntarily disclose misconduct and offers significant benefits for timely disclosure.

On January 17, 2023, Kenneth A. Polite, Jr, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Criminal Division, delivered a speech at Georgetown Law School announcing the first significant changes to the Criminal Division’s Corporate Enforcement Policy (“CEP”) since 2017. The changes answer the call of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and provide companies with new and concrete incentives to self-disclose wrongdoing and meaningfully cooperate with DOJ investigations. Most notably, DOJ is offering both a new path to avoid prosecution, and, in cases where a criminal resolution is warranted, the opportunity to obtain as much as 75% off the low end of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines fine range. The revisions also include incentives for companies that do not voluntarily self-disclose, but still fully cooperate and remediate—even these companies can obtain a 50% reduction in fines.

On January 9, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in In re Grand Jury. In this case, the Court is asked to decide the appropriate test for determining whether documents that include legal advice, but also discuss other non-privileged issues, are protected by the attorney-client privilege. The question before the Court is whether a “dual purpose” communication is privileged only if its “primary purpose” was obtaining legal advice, or if the privilege extends to documents that have only a “significant purpose” of obtaining legal advice. While the case arose in a criminal context and relates to tax advice, the Court’s decision could have broad implications across the legal profession. The case has drawn an enormous amount of attention, as evidenced by the thirteen amici briefs filed in the case.

The White Collar Crime Conference will have a full program that includes several “ethics” and “skills” sessions to satisfy the CLE requirements of all state bars. The much-acclaimed panels of United States District Judges, general counsel of leading corporations, and of the Directors of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as senior representatives of the Department of Justice Criminal Division will all return. In addition, on Friday morning, distinguished speakers will explore the ethical issues and challenges that have confronted prosecutors and defense counsel in recent high-profile white collar crime cases.Rebecca Ricigliano will be speaking on the panel, "Brady - How to Actually Get it All." Panelists will explain what constitutes Brady evidence and examine the most effective ways to successfully obtain Brady evidence from the government, including the timing and content of the initial request, motions that should be filed, timing for involving the court, and the record to create in order to be useful if a conviction were to occur.

The White Collar Crime Conference will have a full program that includes several “ethics” and “skills” sessions to satisfy the CLE requirements of all state bars. The much-acclaimed panels of United States District Judges, general counsel of leading corporations, and of the Directors of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as senior representatives of the Department of Justice Criminal Division will all return. In addition, on Friday morning, distinguished speakers will explore the ethical issues and challenges that have confronted prosecutors and defense counsel in recent high-profile white collar crime cases.

Over the last decade, insider trading has been a critical area of criminal and civil enforcement, and it will likely remain so for some time to come. Attend this program and learn the implications of Blaszczak, Martoma, Newman, Salman, and other recent decisions.

Recent pronouncements from top Department of Justice (“DOJ”) officials, and corresponding updates to the DOJ’s corporate criminal enforcement policies, highlight the Department’s focus on incentivizing voluntary disclosures and the increasingly critical role that a robust compliance program must play in companies today.  Our panel discussion with seasoned Crowell White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement, Investigations, and Labor and Employment attorneys will provide background and context to the updated policies, break down the new developments, and discuss actionable, practical steps that companies can take now to ensure alignment with the updated DOJ guidance—particularly when it comes to calibrating corporate compliance programs to incentivize good behavior and avoid misconduct. 

Please join us on Friday, May 6, 2022 for a webinar on Paycheck Protection Program appeals.  We’ll discuss the process by which the Small Business Administration has been evaluating PPP loan forgiveness applications, the types of PPP final loan review decisions currently still being issued in response to forgiveness requests on initial PPP loans, and the PPP appeals process. 

Courthouses across the country are restarting and rethinking trials amid the coronavirus pandemic. This webinar will address what actions judges and courts are taking to conduct safe trials, including all virtual proceedings. Crowell & Moring’s experienced trial attorneys will discuss both best practices and important considerations to consider as matters navigate through the system. This panel of experts will weigh in on:

In this episode, hosts Jason Crawford and Mana Lombardo talk with Rebecca Ricigliano and Steve Byers, both partners in the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Group, about key considerations for navigating parallel criminal and civil False Claims Act proceedings. "Let's Talk FCA" is Crowell & Moring’s podcast covering the latest developments with the False Claims Act.