White Collar Briefly

In this episode of White Collar Briefly, Perkins Coie’s Barak Cohen, David Fletcher, and Alexander Canizares discuss the landscape for increased fraud investigations and enforcement actions related to COVID-19 stimulus spending, including False Claims Act investigations and qui tam whistleblower litigation, as well as steps companies can take to reduce their potential exposure. Barak, David, and Alex discuss new and emerging enforcement issues related to Paycheck Protection Program loans and other spending under the CARES Act and anticipated areas of focus for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with respect to the False Claims Act. The episode also provides an overview of recent DOJ fraud enforcement related to COVID-19 and the expected roles to be played by new and existing investigative entities, including the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee and special inspector general for pandemic recovery.

In Part 2 of our examination of internal investigation trends in India, Perkins Coie partners Markus Funk and Chelsea Curfman speak with Arpinder Singh, a partner with EY Forensics & Integrity Services and head of their India and Emerging Markets group. Topics discussed include trends in both the subject matter and scope of internal investigations in India; the increasing number of whistleblower reports being lodged in India and how companies are responding to those reports; and tips on how companies and outside counsel can best investigate potential wrongdoing, including where to look for relevant data.

Continuing our series of episodes regarding investigation and enforcement trends around the globe, Perkins Coie partners Markus Funk and Chelsea Curfman interview Sherbir Panag, firm co-founder and head of the Compliance and Investigations Practice at the Law Offices of Panag & Babu, in New Delhi, India. Sherbir discusses recent trends in enforcement of corruption-related cases in India, as well as how changes to India’s anti-corruption laws over the past few years are being implemented. Sherbir also addresses the importance of involving local counsel early on in any India-based investigation, in light of India’s stance on legal privileges and trial-based approach to enforcement.

In this first of our series of episodes regarding trends in, and the future of, internal investigations and enforcement around the globe, Ilaria Curti, head of the Internal Investigations Group at Portolano Cavallo in Rome, and Perkins Coie partner Chelsea Curfman discuss how recent amendments to Italy’s anti-corruption laws are starting to affect both when and how companies choose to conduct internal investigations, as well as attitudes toward self-reporting of potential wrongdoing. Curti also addresses the 2019 European Directive on Whistleblowing and its implications for companies operating in Europe and offers a word of caution to foreign companies whose conduct, thanks to a recent court decision, may now be subject to enforcement by Italian authorities under Italy’s anti-corruption laws.

Ben Purser, chief risk officer for mortgage lender, Roundpoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation, and Barak Cohen, partner in Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations practice and lead for the firm’s Commercial Litigation in Washington, D.C., discuss the challenges of legal compliance and risk in an industry that has been directly affected by two global financial crises in one decade. Ben has 34 years of experience in financial services, including service as chief audit executive in two public companies, chief compliance officer in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and chief risk officer at two different mortgage companies. Barak is a former corruption prosecutor who has both conducted government investigation in the financial services industry and represented clients in the industry. Drawing on their unique insider perspectives, Ben and Barak discuss the delicacy of balancing consumer needs against profitability, and whether regulators, particularly today, address or impede achieving this equilibrium. In the wide-ranging discussion, Ben and Barak touch on anticipated CARES Act investigations and how these may compare to TARP oversight; managing conflicting guidance from state and federal regulators; and predictions for imminent enforcement in the wake of the coronavirus stimulus funds. They cap their discussion with straightforward advice for companies in the industry that are navigating the uncharted path of legal compliance in the current global pandemic.

On this episode of White Collar Briefly, Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations practice attorneys Markus Funk and Lili Timmermann interview special guest (and colleague) retired Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Bender. A true original, Justice Bender discusses far-ranging topics, including his important civil rights work in the 1960s, his representation of white supremacist David Lane, who was charged with the 1984 murder of original “shock jock” Alan Berg, what caused Justice Bender to move from his New York home to Colorado, his ascension to the bench, the inner workings of the Colorado Supreme Court, life in BigLaw, and tips for practitioners young and old. We also examine the long-term impact of the pandemic on the practice of law and major changes in the art of advocacy over the past half-century.

Dave Eggers and Perkins Coie’s Firmwide White Collar & Investigations Chair (and former Chicago federal prosecutor) Markus Funk have a candid and probing conversation about today’s calls for fundamental criminal justice reform. Dave and Markus cover a wide range of topics, including why we need to fundamentally rethink the state’s treatment of suspects, defendants, and inmates; whether non-violent offenders like actress Lori Loughlin and Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff ought to receive prison sentences; what it means to “defund” the police; the tragic George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Ariel Roman, and Ahmaud Arbery cases; how to improve law enforcement recruitment and training; whether it is time to reconsider arresting DUI, shoplifting, and other suspects in the absence of a threat to the public; the epidemic of criminalization and mass incarceration; the importance of empathy in law enforcement; qualified immunity; procedural justice and the need to ensure systemic legitimacy and creditworthiness; and the pros and cons of including imprisonment as part of an incremental punishment regime.

The University of Colorado’s Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer, Patrick O’Rourke discusses experiences including his path from private practitioner to the GC and then COO of one of the Nation’s premier educational institutions, the reality of higher ed in the age of covid, his most memorable matters (including the “Aurora Theater Shooter” James Holmes investigation and the trial involving infamous former Colorado professor Ward Churchill), what a GC looks for in outside counsel, and tips for attorneys seeking to succeed in a higher-ed in-house position.

A conversation with Ross Mansbach, Deputy General Counsel at Avanos Medical, an publicly traded medical device and technology company about the impacts of COVID-19, the transition to remote working, and what it all may mean for corporate legal departments and their relationships with outside counsel. White Collar partner Kevin Feldis and Ross discuss a variety of topics including how law firm updates on the evolving COVID legal issues have been a genuine help to busy in-house counsel, and the potential efficiencies and limits to our increasingly virtual way of working under “the new normal.”

This episode features a candid conversation with Joel Esquenazi. Joel, joined by Perkins Coie White Collar & Investigation lawyers Chelsea Curfman and Markus Funk, reflects on, among other things, his time as a defendant in the high-profile US v. Esquenazi trial and follow-on appeal, the prosecution of his case, the attention his case has received, FCPA enforcement generally, and what it feels like to be out of prison and in home confinement.