Insights & News

If you’ve been charged with a white collar crime (i.e., financial fraud, insider trading, etc.), then you may be facing overwhelming and life-changing consequences.  A conviction for a white collar crime may carry with it significant penalties that could include years of imprisonment and full restitution for the monetary losses incurred. Your potential sentence could vary quite a bit, however, depending on the presence of mitigating factors.  Let’s take a closer look. Sentencing Guidelines Judges first evaluate the offense level of a white collar crime in accordance with the applicable sentencing guidelines (federal or state).  It’s important to note that […]

If you’re involved in a business dispute over a breach of contract, then it’s possible that the underlying agreement is voidable.  Voidable contracts give certain parties additional rights to terminate the contract and to avoid liability for breach, but the circumstances giving rise to a voidable contract are specific and limited. Void vs. Voidable — Understanding the Difference Those who are involved in a breach of contract dispute may not realize that there is a functional difference between void and voidable contracts.  This difference could have significant implications for the case at-hand. Void contracts are fundamentally unenforceable.  They are invalid […]

The False Claims Act (FCA) criminalizes fraud, waste, abuse, and regulatory violations, and enacts provisions that protect whistleblowers from retaliation (and that give them an opportunity to bring a lawsuit against the violator).  Under the FCA, qui tam actions may be brought against wrongdoers on behalf of the government.  This can expose the purported wrongdoer to significant criminal liability. If you’ve been sued pursuant to a qui tam action, the stakes are quite high.  Liability under the FCA can lead to penalties of up to three times the losses incurred by the government (as well as additional penalties for each […]

If you or your organization has been accused of having bribed a foreign official in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), then you may be concerned about the repercussions of conviction.  FCPA violations can give rise to significant criminal penalties that include up to $2,000,000 per violation (for entities) and up to $250,000 per violation and five years’ imprisonment for individuals.  This is not accounting for civil penalties, which may be imposed separately. Given the high stakes nature of FCPA anti-bribery litigation, it’s important that you understand the basics.  Let’s take a quick look. The Foreign Corrupt Practices […]