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Recent Discover Lawsuits Provide Compliance Lessons

In September, a class action lawsuit (Mannacio v. Discover Financial Services, et al., No. 23-cv-06788 (N.D. Ill.)) was filed against Discover Financial Services (“Discover”) alleging Discover and certain current and/or former executives violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Specifically, the class action complaint alleged that the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed … Continue Reading

VARA’s Strict Application of its Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023

The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) has long been at the forefront of embracing technological and financial innovation.  For example, Dubai has emerged as a global hub for virtual assets (“VAs”) and cryptocurrencies.  Earlier this year, the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (“VARA”) adopted its first Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023 (the “Regulations”), along … Continue Reading

United States Departments of Treasury, Commerce, and Justice Issue “Tri-Seal” Compliance Note on Voluntary Self-Disclosures of Potential Violations

Earlier this year, we published a post on the first Tri-Seal Compliance Note (“First Note”) issued by the United States Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) National Security Division (“NSD”), the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”), and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”).[1]  When issuing the First Note, … Continue Reading

Live Event:  Avoiding Litigation and Navigating Regulatory Challenges Amid Growing Privacy, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence Scrutiny

Join subject matter experts across policy, litigation, and regulation for an engaging discussion around privacy, cybersecurity, and AI.  This live event will be in our Washington DC office and will include perspectives from in-house leaders, a former FBI agent, an incident response forensic expert, world-class public policy experts, and our privacy and cybersecurity professionals.  The … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Restricts the Scope of the Aggravated Identity Fraud Statute

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Dubin v. United States, No. 22-10, 2023 WL 3872518, at *1 (U.S. June 8, 2023), in favor of the defendant. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the opinion for the Court, which held that 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1), aggravated identity theft, is violated only when the … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Clarifies Knowledge Requirement for False Claims Act Liability

Earlier this year, we previewed two significant False Claims Act (FCA) cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, United States ex. rel. Schutte v. SuperValu, Inc., No. 21-1326 (“SuperValu”), and United States ex. Rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc., No. 22-111 (“Safeway”).  The FCA provides that “any person who knowingly presents, or causes to be presented, a … Continue Reading

Can a Private Person Defraud the Public of Honest Services?

Last month in Percoco v. United States (U.S. May 11, 2023), the Supreme Court reversed the petitioner’s judgment of conviction for conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud for allegedly accepting $70,000 from a developer in return for asking a state agency to drop its labor peace agreement requirement. Joseph Percoco had previously served as Executive … Continue Reading

Sports Betting and the NCAA: What You Need to Know

“If you put something at risk (such as cash, entry fee, dinner or other tangible item) on any amateur and/or professional sporting event with a chance to win something in return, you violate NCAA sports wagering rules.”[1] Once the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the federal law[2] prohibiting sports betting in Murphy v. Nat’l Collegiate Athletic … Continue Reading

Women’s Sports on the Rise

The 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball national championship averaged 9.9 million viewers, becoming the most-watched women’s college basketball game and ESPN platforms’ most-viewed college basketball game (men’s or women’s) on record, and it was not even playing in a prime-time slot. This shows a tidal shift in the interest and growing opportunity in women’s … Continue Reading

Proposed Changes to Federal Rule of Evidence on Expert Witness Testimony

Expert testimony can play a crucial role in the trial process. Consequently, parties often file motions to disqualify the opposing side’s expert witnesses. The success of these motions in federal cases is controlled by the Federal Rules of Evidence (“FRE”), which stipulate that expert testimony must meet certain standards of reliability to be admissible. In … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Limits Anti-Kickback Claims Brought Under False Claims Act

Last week, the Sixth Circuit issued an important decision limiting the scope of claims alleging violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute that are brought under the False Claims Act.  See Shannon Martin, M.D., et al. v. Hathaway, et al., No. 22-1463 (March 28, 2023).  Chief Judge Sutton wrote the opinion for the Court, which Judge Siler … Continue Reading

UAE Ministry of Justice Confirms Reciprocity with the English Courts

On September 13, 2022, Judge Abdul Rahman Murad Al-Blooshi, Director of the International Cooperation Department of the UAE Ministry of Justice, issued a communiqué to His Excellency Tarish Eid Al-Mansoori, Director General of the Dubai Courts, directing the Dubai Courts to enforce judgements issued by the English Courts (the “Directive”).  This follows the English Courts’ … Continue Reading

Series: Remedies available to companies harmed by industrial espionage

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

Travelers Beware – Compelled to Open Your Phone?

Recent rulings conflict on whether police can force individuals to unlock their smartphones. The result depends upon where you are located, with differing rulings from Massachusetts and California. Further, there is an international dimension, illustrated by a recent decision from Israel. In short, as described below, the traveler must beware.… Continue Reading

Linguistic Clues Narrow Identity of Country A in Mueller Probe

Fascination continues about the identity of Country A in Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference.  An unidentified corporation is a witness in the investigation and is owned by Country A. Recent developments provide clues in the unredacted portions of unsealed court rulings and party filings.  Based on linguistic analysis of court rulings and pleadings, Kristina … Continue Reading

Circuit Rejects Expansive Use of Conspiracy for FCPA

The Second Circuit issued its judgment on the case we have been monitoring, U.S. v. Hoskins. The court held that the “government may not expand the extraterritorial reach of the FCPA by recourse to the conspiracy and complicity statutes.”… Continue Reading

Amendments to U.S. Rules of Criminal Procedure

The U.S. Supreme Court has adopted three amendments to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (“Rules”). They affect Rule 12.4 (Disclosure Statement), Rule 45 (Computing and Extending Time), and Rule 49 (Serving and Filing Papers). The changes do not reflect particularly large shifts in criminal procedure, but attorneys should be aware of them since, as … Continue Reading

Cell Phone Warrant – Issues in Split Decision

Riley v. California sparks disagreement about a cellphone warrant in United States v. Griffith, No. 13-3061, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15636 (D.C. Cir., Aug. 18, 2017). In Riley, the Supreme Court requires a warrant to search a cellphone found incident to arrest. Issues in Griffith include requirements for a cellphone warrant in a suspect’s home, whether a phone … Continue Reading

First Company Convicted of Bribing Foreign Officials Ordered to pay £2.2 million

Smith and Ouzman Ltd and two of its directors, were convicted by a Jury under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 (POCA) in December 2014, although the company was finally sentenced on 8 January 2016. The company was convicted under the previous legislation because the offences pre-dated the Bribery Act 2010. The small family run … Continue Reading

Cooperation is Key – Scottish Company receives civil penalty for contravention of Bribery Act

Brand-Rex Limited, a Scottish company specialising in developing cabling solutions for network infrastructure and industrial applications, has become the first UK Company to be penalised for contravention of Section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010. The company avoided criminal prosecution and was instead ordered to pay £212,800 by way of a civil recovery order after … Continue Reading

SMEs and the UK Bribery Act – Compliance may not be as difficult as you fear!

Despite the fact that the Bribery Act 2010 (the “Act”) came into force on 1 July 2011, a recent government study has found that only two-thirds of SMEs are aware of the Act or its corporate offence for failure to prevent bribery (under section 7 of the Act). Of those that were aware of the … Continue Reading

Is the First UK Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) on the Horizon?

The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has publically announced that it has sent out the first invitation letters offering DPAs to corporations. In this blog we discuss: the definition of a DPA; the new attitude in relation to DPAs and movement towards the first DPA; and co-operation with the SFO– dos and don’ts. Quick Recap: … Continue Reading
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