Uncategorized

The SEC cannot send anyone to prison. That limitation defines the entire architecture of federal securities enforcement and, in particular, the relationship between the Commission and the Department of Justice that most people under…

The SEC cannot put anyone in prison. That limitation, which is statutory and absolute, provides less comfort than one might expect. The Commission's Division of Enforcement conducts investigations, compels testimony, collects documents, and assembles…

The person who cooperates most willingly with an SEC civil investigation is, in a considerable number of cases, the person who furnishes the evidence for their own criminal prosecution. This is not a paradox.…

The five factors enumerated in Section 5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines are the least interesting thing about a 5K1.1 departure. Every federal practitioner can recite them. What separates a meaningful sentence reduction…

The room where a federal proffer session convenes is smaller than most clients expect. A conference table at the United States Attorney's Office, fluorescent lighting, no windows in some offices, and on the government's…

Should I Cooperate With Federal Prosecutors? The decision to cooperate with federal prosecutors is one you cannot reverse. Once you have entered a room with an assistant United States attorney, once you have begun…

Most of what determines the outcome of a federal arraignment occurs before the defendant enters the courtroom. The hearing itself, governed by Rule 10 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, is brief. In…

Target Letter vs. Grand Jury Subpoena: What Is the Difference? The Paradox at the Threshold The document that announces worse news carries no legal authority whatsoever. A target letter from the United States Attorney's…

The False Statement The lie does not need to be elaborate. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, a single false statement to an SEC enforcement attorney, delivered in what appears to be a routine interview,…

The penalty is never the point. The penalty is the instrument the Commission employs to extract something more durable than money: a change in conduct, a public record of wrongdoing, a signal to the…