Firm in the belief that the best legal counsel prevents problems rather than reacts to them, we apply our regulatory know-how and years of experience to design compliance programs for companies of all sizes and in various industries throughout the United States and abroad. Our former senior Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement attorneys and former officials of the Department of Justice regularly advise clients on all aspects of corporate compliance programs, including designing and implementing corporate compliance procedures, providing training programs and seminars, and auditing those procedures to measure compliance.
If a violation is alleged, our attorneys also have broad experience conducting domestic and international internal investigations to assess the validity of a claim and advise on remedial steps, including whether to self-report the conduct to the government.
Designing Corporate Compliance Programs
Both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission vigorously investigate and bring actions against individuals and entities for conduct that could be prevented by a close adherence to properly drafted and implemented prevention policies. We assist clients in designing and implementing robust compliance programs and internal controls and procedures that identify and limit risk. We have significant experience in advising companies on the development and implementation of the following policies:
- Codes of conduct
- Corporate governance policies
- Insider trading policies
- Privacy policies
- Record-retention policies
- FCPA compliance
- Other anti-corruption policies and procedures, including policies related to compliance with foreign laws, such as the UK Bribery Act and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions
Monitoring Compliance
We have also designed protocols to effectively monitor compliance with these policies and have trained employees and agents in adhering to and implementing those policies. Our ability to design these protocols and train employees in implementing and monitoring those programs is based on both our experience as defense lawyers and our experience as former government lawyers – we have more than a dozen former DOJ lawyers and still more with experience at many other regulatory agencies in Washington. We have also been engaged by clients to conduct audits to determine compliance with their internal policies and procedures.
Practice Focus
- Preventing violations
- Compliance
- Due diligence
- Internal investigations
- Record retention
- Defense of organizations and individuals
Client Focus
- Public companies
- Individuals (CEOs, CFOs, corporate officers, directors, and employees)
- Audit committees
- Special committees of the board of directors
- Broker-dealers
- Investment advisors
- Hedge funds
- Financial institutions