Colin Jennings

Photo of Colin Jennings olin R. Jennings has been selected as primary outside counsel for global compliance work by more than 35 public and privately held global companies, and regularly provides guidance and counseling in connection with these companies’ ongoing compliance efforts for both their domestic and international operations, including, when necessary, investigation and defense of compliance-related concerns. View full website bio.

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DOJ Updates Ephemeral Messaging Guidance

By Kathleen McGovern, Colin Jennings, Marisa Darden and Nic Gunton on Posted in Compliance Program, corporate compliance, cybersecurity, Department of Justice
On Friday, March 3, 2023, the DOJ released its updated Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, which included new guidance on ephemeral messaging platforms and other issues. This new guidance was released contemporaneously with Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr.’s (‘Polite”) speech at the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) 38th Annual National Institute on White Collar … Continue Reading

Department of Justice Continues to Stress Importance of Robust Corporate Compliance Programs

By Marisa Darden, Ally Rich, Kevin McCart and Colin Jennings on Posted in Compliance Program, corporate compliance, Department of Justice, United States, US Department of Justice
At last week’s American Bar Association’s 38th Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, both Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. provided additional insight into the DOJ’s continued focus on corporate criminal enforcement. Our previous blog post details the expansion of DOJ’s National Security Division and the … Continue Reading

DOJ Announces New Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy for U.S. Attorney’s Offices

By Colin Jennings, Benjamin Glassman and Ayako Russell on Posted in Compliance Program, corporate compliance, Department of Justice, United States
On February 22, 2023, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the new United States Attorneys’ Offices Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (“VSD Policy”).  Following on the heels of the Criminal Division’s revised Corporate Enforcement Policy, the VSD Policy was also developed in response to the “Monaco Memo,” which directed each component of the DOJ that prosecutes corporate … Continue Reading

DOJ’s Criminal Division Announces Revised Corporate Enforcement Policy

By Kevin McCart, Jerrob Duffy, Kathleen McGovern, Colin Jennings, Sanaa Bayyari and Lauryn Durham on Posted in Department of Justice, Government Investigation, United States, US Department of Justice
On January 17, 2023, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division (“AAG”) Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. announced significant revisions to the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, corporate criminal enforcement policy (“CEP”).[1] The new CEP changes offer additional incentives to companies for voluntary self-disclosures, cooperation, and remediation.  The new CEP reflects an increased emphasis on … Continue Reading

DOJ Announces New Corporate Enforcement Strategy

By Colin Jennings, Vipal Patel and Nic Gunton on Posted in Compliance Program, corporate compliance, Department of Justice, Sentencing, United States, US Department of Justice
On September 15, 2022, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced updated guidelines for the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) corporate criminal enforcement in a speech at New York University Law School. Monaco previously announced in October 2021 that DOJ would take a tougher stance on white collar crime. Shortly thereafter, Monaco formed an advisory group … Continue Reading

Series: How to Respond to the Threat of Trade Secret Loss

By Colin Jennings and Marisa Darden on Posted in Data Protection & Privacy, Intellectual Property, Uncategorized
The authors would like to thank Nicole Brenner for her contribution to this post. Trade secrets offer companies an invaluable advantage over competitors, but only if the company maintains secrecy and responds promptly to threats. If a company’s success depends on its trade secrets, the protections in place to maintain those secrets will be scrutinized … Continue Reading

Series: Remedies available to companies harmed by industrial espionage

By Colin Jennings, Benjamin Glassman and Vipal Patel on Posted in Courts, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Intellectual Property, Sanctions, Technology, United States
The authors would like to thank Thomas Fogarty and Anya Bharat Ram for their contributions to this post. Section 1832 of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (the “Act”) criminalizes the theft of trade secrets “intended for use in interstate or foreign commerce, to the economic benefit of anyone other than the owner.” 18 U.S.C. § 1832(a). … Continue Reading

Series: Overview of Ways to Legally and Practically Protect Your Company from Industrial Espionage

By Woli Urbe, Colin Jennings and Benjamin Glassman on Posted in Economic sanctions, Intellectual Property, Technology, United States
As we discussed in a previous article, companies can be at risk from internal and external sources of industrial espionage, in an attempt to gain an unfair competitive advantage or disrupt operations. Legal Protections Owners of a trade secret have a federal cause of action against an individual or company that misappropriates their trade secret … Continue Reading

Series: Types of Industrial Espionage

By Benjamin Glassman, Colin Jennings and Woli Urbe on Posted in cyberattack, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Intellectual Property, Uncategorized, United States
Industrial espionage refers to various activities performed to gain an unfair competitive advantage, rather than for national security purposes.  As we discussed in a previous article, the ways in which industrial espionage can affect a company are numerous and include theft of trade secrets and disruption to operation. Section 1832 of the Economic Espionage Act … Continue Reading

New Law Requires 72-Hour Notice for Cyber Incidents

By Colin Jennings and Ericka Johnson on Posted in Compliance Program, cyberattack, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Uncategorized, United States
We recently shared a timely post on Consumer Privacy World that, given the focus of, we wanted to call to your attention. “President Biden has recently delivered on a long stated priority of his presidency: requiring the disclosure of cyber security incidents for companies that operate critical infrastructure. After announcing an executive order in May … Continue Reading

DOJ Ends “China Initiative” Targeting Economic Espionage

By Nic Gunton, Ally Rich and Colin Jennings on Posted in China, Department of Justice
On February 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the end of an initiative to prioritize suspected Chinese economic espionage. The intent of the initiative was to prevent China’s intelligence apparatus from stealing U.S. technology, specifically from research institutions and universities. However, DOJ National Security Division Chief Matthew Olsen stated the initiative “fueled … Continue Reading

Series: Economic Espionage and Theft of Trade Secrets

By Benjamin Glassman and Colin Jennings on Posted in China, corruption, Department of Justice, Government Investigation, Russia, United States, US Department of Justice
In 1996, President Clinton signed the Economic Espionage Act (the “Act”). At the time, the principal proponents of the law included business leaders from the then burgeoning Silicon Valley as well as from the aerospace industry. Proponents of the Act claimed foreign entities were actively attempting to steal trade secrets and that the existing laws … Continue Reading

Preparing an application for the SBA’s Community Navigator Program, from a compliance perspective

By Colin Jennings and Ericka Johnson on Posted in Compliance Program
The American Rescue Plan Act allocated $100 million to the Small Business Administration to be distributed to various “Hub” organizations to further disseminate among their “Spoke” partners. The purpose behind this funding structure is to better reach small businesses in underserved communities, which may not have received the full benefit of COVID-19-related economic relief in … Continue Reading

4 Compliance Tips Amid Increased Ransomware Scrutiny

By Colin Jennings and Ericka Johnson on Posted in anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism financing laws, Compliance Program, cyberattack, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, FinCEN, OFAC, ransomware, US Treasury
In light of two new US Treasury Department advisories signaling increased oversight of ransomware payments, victim companies and their third-party response teams considering making payments should follow certain due diligence and compliance best practices, write Colin Jennings, Ericka Johnson, Dylan Yépez and Elizabeth Weil Shaw in an article for Law360.… Continue Reading

Executive Responsibilities and Consequences: A Case Study of Uber’s Data Breaches

By Colin Jennings and Ericka Johnson on Posted in Anti-corruption, cyberattack, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Department of Justice
Every organization is at risk of a data breach, and can learn something from Uber’s data privacy missteps. In an article for Corporate Compliance Insights, Squire Patton Boggs lawyers Colin Jennings, Ericka Johnson, and Dylan Yépez offer key takeaways from the company’s high-profile data breaches and the criminal charges that followed.… Continue Reading

DOJ and SEC Release Second Edition to FCPA Resource Guide

By Colin Jennings and Ayako Russell on Posted in Anti-corruption, FCPA Jurisdiction, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Securities Litigation and Enforcement, US Department of Justice
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quietly released updated guidance on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) before the Fourth of July holiday weekend.  Entitled A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Second Edition[1] (“Guide”), the Guide is the first update to the original document published … Continue Reading

New DOJ Expectations: Does Your Corporate Compliance Measure Up?

By Colin Jennings on Posted in Compliance Program, corporate compliance, US Department of Justice
On June 1, 2020, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Criminal Division released an update to its “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” guidance for federal prosecutors, its first change since April 2019. Although the update did not fundamentally alter the structure of the guidance, the revisions directly impact how companies should assess and monitor their compliance … Continue Reading

Lying in Wait: Cybercriminals’ COVID-19 Tactic

By Colin Jennings and Ericka Johnson on Posted in COVID-19, cyberattack, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy
As business slowly and cautiously reopens, cybercriminals lie in wait.  A case study into a massive unemployment insurance fraud shows that cybercriminals patiently hunt for  lucrative opportunities to strike.  For that reason, companies reopening should consider conducting a cyber-audit to identify their cyber vulnerabilities and thwart cybercriminals lying in wait.… Continue Reading

DOJ and SEC – Aggressive Measures on Coronavirus Fraud

By Colin Jennings and Ayako Russell on Posted in COVID-19, Fraud, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, US Department of Justice
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have taken legal actions to combat fraud arising out of the COVID-19 health emergency. DOJ Restraining Order On March 23, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Western Division of Texas issued a temporary restraining order to halt a predatory wire fraud scheme … Continue Reading

2019 Year-end White Collar Updates

By Colin Jennings, Ayako Russell, Rebecca Worthington and Chase Goldstein on Posted in Anti-corruption, corporate compliance, Department of Justice
In 2019, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal regulators continued to emphasize the importance of effective compliance programs, self-disclosure of violations of the law and cooperation with regulators during investigations. In a new client alert out this week, we shed light on some of the updated guidance from various government agencies released last year, landmark state and … Continue Reading

Threat of Iranian Cyberattack Matters to Your Organization

By Ericka Johnson and Colin Jennings on Posted in cyberattack, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy
The ongoing Iran-US tensions, and potential for retaliatory cyberattacks, alert each organization to prepare to defend against a cyberattack. Iran has a history of sophisticated cyberattacks in response to increased tensions. In a new client alert, our Data Privacy & Cybersecurity team recommends a thorough review of your people, facilities, networks, and data procedures in response … Continue Reading

Is Your Data Breach Report Protected?

By Colin Jennings and Ericka Johnson on Posted in cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Data provider
Responding effectively to a data breach requires an organization to obtain a thorough forensic report about what happened and why.  Yet this report can damage the company further if it becomes public inadvertently.  Members of our cross-practice data protection team discuss how to protect a forensic report under privilege.  The insights of Leah Parsons, Ericka Johnson, and Colin Jennings can be found here.  A related … Continue Reading

DOJ Pursues More Electronic Health Records Cases

By Colin Jennings and Ayako Russell on Posted in corporate compliance, cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy, Department of Justice, False Claims Act (FCA), US Department of Justice
On May 31, 2019, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas announced a $250,000 settlement with Coffey Health System, after two whistleblowers filed qui tam suit against Coffey for violations of the False Claims Act. The settlement resolved allegations that Coffey submitted false claims to Medicare and Medicaid pursuant to the Electronic Health Records … Continue Reading
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