In the first installment of our cybersecurity series, we discussed the importance of developing and implementing practical Information Security policies and procedures within your organization as well as the ethical and legal obligations you have to protect sensitive data within the organization.
On February 22, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new nation-wide policy to incentivize companies to self-report criminal activity. Among the cited benefits of self-reporting are discounts on fines and non-prosecution agreements. This new policy arrives on the heels of the “Monaco Memo,” issued in September 2022 by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, which directed each prosecutorial DOJ component to review its policies on corporate voluntary self-disclosures and update to reflect the guidance’s core principles. The policy also is in addition to guidance from Attorney General Merrick Garland, who in December 2022 emphasized prosecutorial leniency in criminal cases. Together, these memos show a shift from prior administrations, which emphasized prosecuting the “most serious, readily provable offense,” not leniency for self-disclosures. Notably, the new policy does not impact individual actors, who, since the 2015 Yates Memo, still are a DOJ priority. Indeed, the new policy emphasizes that crediting voluntary self-disclosure by companies will help DOJ “ensure individual accountability” for individual criminal conduct. We break down key elements of the DOJ’s policy below, including our quick thoughts on how this policy may impact corporate decisions going forward.
Over the past few months, the OIG shorts series focused on structuring and implementing a comprehensive and effective ethics and compliance program. Many times, this requires a mindset shift from a checking-the-box mentality to a wholistic approach in which everyone feels they have an important role to play. Nowhere is this more apropos than in the area of cybersecurity including developing a data security strategy and maintaining an effective incident response plan.
Continue Reading Ethics & Compliance: Let’s Talk About Cybersecurity
This blog was originally published in Law360.
On November 18, 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila sentenced Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes to over 11 years in
Continue Reading When Organizational Culture Goes Wrong: A Federal Judge’s Vivid Description of Cultural Decay Inside Theranos
There is a compliance obligation that is sometimes honored in the breach: regular compliance self‐assessments. In this edition of OIG Shorts, the Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP Organizational Integrity
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Compliance Self-Assessments
Many business leaders still view Ethics & Compliance as a cost center rather than a cost reducer. This thinking can create quite the hurdle for CECOs looking to secure a
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Ethics & Compliance Program Funding
Previous installments of OIG Shorts addressed practical approaches to creating a more effective Ethics & Compliance program. The sixth installment of OIG Shorts focuses on the importance of measuring the
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Measuring The Efficacy Of Your Ethics & Compliance Program
Discipline is a complicated thing. Ask any parent. The fifth installment of OIG Shorts focuses on discipline as a core component of an effective Ethics & Compliance Program.
Click here
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Let’s Be Disciplined About Discipline
In our decades working with complex organizations on their Ethics & Compliance (E&C) programs, my colleagues and I have seen a wide variety of structures. While we readily concede there
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Structure Matters
Welcome to our third installment of OIG Shorts. Ethics & Compliance programs that buck up against an employee’s reality—whether that reality is real or perceived—have less chance of succeeding. In
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Reality Based Ethics & Compliance Programs
Welcome back to our second installment of OIG Shorts. In this post, the Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP Organizational Integrity Group focuses on the difference between Checking Boxes and
Continue Reading Organizational Integrity Shorts: Everyone Benefits When An Ethics & Compliance Program Is Integrated Throughout An Organization