Corporate Compliance

Broadcom CFO’s Talks With Law Firm re Backdating Probe Weren’t Privileged

A former chief financial officer of Broadcom Corp. says he expected his 2006 conversations with Irell & Manella about stock options grants to be confidential, because the law firm was representing his employer as outside counsel in an internal probe. And a federal district court judge found that Irell &…

Sep 30, 2009 10:32 PM CDT

Sears Roebuck Agrees to Record $6.2M ADA Settlement With EEOC

A federal judge today approved a consent decree in which Sears Roebuck & Co. agrees to a record-breaking $6.2 million settlement of an Americans with Disabilities Act case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In an e-mail today, the EEOC says the settlement of claims that the giant retailer…

Sep 29, 2009 6:18 PM CDT

Fact-Finder or Legal Shield? Internal Probe a Tough Gig for In-House Counsel

In-house counsel are in a tough position when they oversee an internal corporate investigation. On the one hand, the company needs to understand the facts to make appropriate determinations. But, on the other hand, the facts may establish liability to third parties for any corporate wrongdoing. That essentially was the…

Sep 15, 2009 9:31 PM CDT

Pfizer GC Loses Compliance Chief Role Under $2.3B Drug Marketing Settlement

The general counsel of Pfizer Inc. will no longer oversee the drug manufacter’s compliance program under the terms of a record-breaking $2.3 billion criminal and civil settlement by the company with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that it illegally marketed several drugs. Instead, a corporate integrity agreement (PDF)…

Sep 11, 2009 6:58 PM CDT

Why Did the Bank of America Fire Its GC After Merrill Merger Vote?

Four days after the Bank of America’s shareholders approved a merger with Merrill Lynch, the bank’s general counsel, Timothy Mayopoulos, was suddenly fired and escorted from the building without being permitted to return to his desk, reports the New York Times. His firing came on the same day that the…

Sep 9, 2009 6:22 PM CDT

N.Y. AG Calls Bank’s Privilege Claims ‘Indiscriminate,’ Seeks Waiver

Stymied in his efforts to determine whether the Bank of America and executives complied with disclosure requirements concerning its merger with Merrill Lynch by what he terms an “indiscriminate” use of attorney-client privilege, the New York attorney general is calling for the bank to make its inside and outside counsel…

Sep 8, 2009 9:45 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Balks Again, Further Delays Ruling on SEC’s $33M Pact With BofA

A proposed $33 million settlement by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve allegations that the Bank of America didn’t disclose to investors that it was to pay $3 billion in executive bonuses when acquiring Merrill Lynch & Co. “might be approvable,” a federal judge said at a hearing…

Aug 10, 2009 11:22 PM CDT

Blank Rome Settles Malpractice Case for $20M Without Admitting Liability

Without admitting liability, Blank Rome has agreed to settle for $20 million a malpractice claim brought by a former client’s trustee in bankruptcy. Trustee George Miller, who also sued the company’s former officers and directors, was reportedly seeking more than $700 million in compensatory damages from the law firm and…

Aug 10, 2009 5:14 PM CDT

Law Firm Won Tax Case, But Says Ex-KPMG Partner Still Owes $1.3M Bill

A law firm is suing a former KPMG partner, saying that he hasn’t paid $1.3 million of the legal bill that Kostelanetz & Fink racked up while successfully defending him in a high-profile criminal tax case concerning illegal tax shelters. Although Richard Smith obtained a settlement from KPMG that was…

Aug 7, 2009 6:04 PM CDT

GE Pays SEC $50M, Professionals $200M to Settle Financial Statements Complaint

It cost General Electric Co. $50 million to settle—without admitting liability—a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint that the company materially misstated information in 2002 and 2003 financial statements. But resolving the matter cost the company another $200 million or so in legal and accounting fees, notes the Am Law…

Aug 4, 2009 9:52 PM CDT

Lawyers for Sen. Stevens and Ebbers on Ethisphere’s ‘Hall of Fame’ Lawyer List

The lawyer who helped Sen. Ted Stevens win a reversal of his conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct is one of five lawyers named to a “hall of fame” list of attorneys who matter by the magazine Ethisphere. Brendan Sullivan, a senior partner at Williams & Connolly, had claimed the government…

Jul 31, 2009 5:40 PM CDT

Craigslist Sues South Carolina AG in Showdown Over Erotic Services Ads

Threatened with potential criminal prosecution over its role in allegedly promoting prostitution through Internet ads posted by third parties on its website, Craiglist Inc. has responded with a pre-emptive strike. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in South Carolina today, the national classified advertising website seeks a declaratory judgment…

May 20, 2009 10:44 PM CDT

New SEC Focus: Painting the Barn, Not the Sistine Chapel

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may soon be using more discretion in civil investigations, focusing on the big fish rather than the small fry. Speaking today at a program on corporate investigations sponsored by the American Bar Association, an SEC official and the general counsel of the FBI said…

May 7, 2009 8:48 PM CDT

Lawyer Predicts ‘Miranda Warnings’ by Law Firms in Corporate Probes

A judge’s recent decision to refer Irell & Manella to the California State Bar for an ethics probe has corporate lawyers speculating it will lead to more detailed warnings by law firms conducting corporate probes. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney said Irell had conflicts of interest when it represented both…

Apr 13, 2009 4:40 PM CDT

US Sues BP Sub Over Alaska Oil Spills, Seeks Maximum Penalties

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit against a subsidiary of a global oil company, contending that two discharges totaling some 200,000 gallons of crude oil into Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope in 2006 violated federal clean air and water laws and seeking maximum penalties. Filed in federal…

Apr 1, 2009 9:15 PM CDT