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HEADLINE NEWS:
Specter Bill Seeks to Alter DOJ Corporate Fraud Investigations
Jason McLure - Legal Times
Law.com. December 8, 2006
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EXCERPT: In an attempt to pressure the Justice Department to alter the way it investigates corporate fraud, a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday formally introduced legislation aimed at preventing prosecutors from forcing companies to waive the attorney-client privilege in order to avoid indictment. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the outgoing chairman of the committee, said on the Senate floor that the DOJ had not moved quickly enough to change policies that he said encroached on corporate defendants' constitutional right to counsel. "I see no need for the Justice Department to publicly express a policy that encourages waiver of attorney-client privilege," Specter said. "Especially where the policy is backed by the heavy hammer of possible criminal charges." Specter was joined by former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and lobbyists from a number of business and legal groups, who said that forcing a change in the DOJ's policy could lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies to review their policies on privilege waivers. "I have no doubt, if DOJ changed policies, it would lead to backtracking by agencies that have followed suit," Thornburgh says. Specter's move comes as Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty is leading an internal review of the government's corporate-fraud prosecution policies in the wake of a concerted lobbying effort by business groups and a court decision in New York that found one of the policies to be unconstitutional. Given that companies would still be granted credit for "voluntarily" waiving their privilege, however, it's unclear whether Specter's bill would have any real effect, says Andrew Hruska, a former DOJ lawyer who helped draft the current controversial policies. And with the Senate set to adjourn on Dec. 8, the bill appears to be aimed squarely at pressuring McNulty. "How far they'll go, I don't know," Specter said of the DOJ's review. In a statement, a spokesman for the Justice Department said it would examine Specter's bill. "We have met with a number of individuals and organizations who have raised concerns or suggestions about our current guidance," said the statement, issued by DOJ spokesman Brian Roehrkasse. "Currently, we have not made any final decisions." |
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