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To restate the obvious, hospitals operate in a risky environment. They face a variety of risks and a blanket of government regulations. You have to admire the Chief Compliance Officer at a hospital. They learn to live with these risks. In response to our new Internet age, the government has
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The FCPA world is fast-becoming the leader in new compliance strategies. The Justice Department and the SEC have embraced the requirement for conducting “proactive audits.” Recent settlements have included new compliance program requirements for a company to conduct proactive audits of high-risk areas. It is a new and
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It is hard to know whether the government’s aggressive enforcement of insider trading laws deters criminals from violating securities laws. One key factor in this equation is the risk of getting caught. The Obama Administration can certainly point to an increase in enforcement – civil and criminal. Judges have been
Events
When: January 22, 2013, 12 Noon EST Sign Up HERE The Department of Justice and the Securities Enforcement Commission have issued important guidance on compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The message to every business was clear -- if you adopt and implement an "effective" compliance program, you
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Many people ask “Why do I need a lawyer?” Candidly, sometimes it is hard to answer that question. (I often ask myself the same question). On a more “sophomoric” note, I often think of the attorney-client privilege as the “cone of silence” often used by Agent 86, Maxwell Smart,
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I always like to make predictions at the beginning of each year. My track record is plus and minus – sometimes on target, sometimes off-target. The biggest story in the last five years has been the rise of FCPA enforcement. That story was eclipsed last year by the LIBOR scandal,
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Healthcare suppliers and service providers live in a regulated world. They are constantly under audit scrutiny. Sometimes federal agencies (i.e private contractors) conduct the audits; other times state agencies conduct the audits. The audits also vary in focus – claims, coding, privacy, and compliance. The industry is constantly being audited.
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I am happy to welcome back Tom Echikson, a partner in LeClairRyan's Environmental Practice. Tom's bio is Here. Shortly before the end of the year, EPA released its annual review of its civil and criminal enforcement results for the Fiscal Year 2012. See Here. Touting massive
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In keeping with “tradition” (even if it is a one-year tradition), I like to start out the year looking back on the person of the year in 2012. As we look through the developments of 2012, there is no question of the increasing importance – and protection of – whistleblowers is
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In the last five years, law firms and companies have aggressively added resources and capabilities to respond to increased FCPA enforcement and compliance needs. Outside counsel have established practice areas dedicated primarily to FCPA enforcement and compliance issues. Five years from now is an eternity in the law enforcement and
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The federal government faces overwhelming challenges in trying to stem the tide of fraud in the health care system. The problem is massive, and even with the increase in resources, and adoption of new tools to fight fraud, the government’s ability to reduce fraud is intractable.As the government’
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One of my favorite “Seinfeld” episodes is when Jerry and George go to NBC to pitch their new television show which is about “nothing.” There are some parallels to this posting. FCPA settlements have dwindled during 2012. Even if I try to stretch some of the “important” cases such as