Aristotle said “well begun is half done.” About 2,300 years later, Mary Poppins shared the same advice with her young charges, Jane and Michael. The adage generally is understood to mean that a thoughtful and disciplined...more
The research is clear. A good decision with a bad outcome is likely to be viewed – by others and by the decision-makers themselves – as a bad decision in hindsight. Equally so, a bad decision with a good outcome is likely to...more
Let’s say you’re a publicly traded manufacturer of a popular medical device, which you sell commercially as well as to a number of VA hospitals. You receive an anonymous internal hotline complaint alleging that certain...more
Many lawyers — and most humans for that matter — have a fundamental misunderstanding about persuasion. We are convinced that if we have the better, more logical, more legally sound, more morally righteous argument, we will...more
Welcome to the 10th edition of OIG Shorts. In this post we discuss why it’s important that Chief Legal Officers (and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officers) have meaningful, real-time involvement in the key legal, organizational,...more
7/20/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Chief Ethics and Compliance Officers (CECO) ,
Chief Legal Officers ,
Corporate Culture ,
Corporate Governance ,
Decision-Making Process ,
Diversity ,
Investors ,
Risk Management ,
Thought Leadership
Welcome back to the 9th edition of OIG Shorts, a publication of the Sheppard Mullin Organization Integrity Group (OIG). This post discusses the importance of a targeted, multi-layered compliance program focused at individual...more
Welcome back to the seventh edition of OIG Shorts, a publication of the Sheppard Mullin Organizational Integrity Group. Today’s discussion focuses on the thorny issue of Ethics & Compliance (E&C) program funding.
Arguing...more
Good morning, and welcome back. This is the sixth edition of OIG Shorts, a publication of Sheppard Mullin’s Organizational Integrity Group. Previously, we discussed several practical approaches to creating a more effective...more
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.
...more
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 is no one way to structure an E&C...more
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 this third edition of our...more
Welcome back to our second installment of OIG Shorts. In this post, we focus on the difference between Checking Boxes and Solving Problems from an Ethics & Compliance (E&C) perspective. We all know what attributes an E&C...more
U.S. companies spend millions on Ethics and Compliance (E&C) programs every year. While the exact cost varies by industry, company size, etc., there is general consensus that the cost of such programs has increased...more
In an “update” that reads more like a teaser to a B Movie, the OMB on Friday advised that it will have more guidance on EO 14042 for us soon. What precipitated this official warning that more guidance would be forthcoming?...more
With apologies to Jaws II, just when you thought it was safe, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has released a shark back into the EO 14042 waters.
On Friday, August 26, the 11th Circuit published a 66-page...more
9/13/2022
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Injunctions ,
Likelihood of Success ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations
The inattention some companies pay to their ethics and compliance program never ceases to surprise us. You’d think the frequency of DOJ press releases and prosecutions holding companies accountable for employee wrongdoing...more
Just when you didn’t think things could get any weirder, on Friday, January 21, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a ruling clarifying its prior EO 14042 injunction (currently on appeal...more
1/26/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
DFARS ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Georgia ,
Injunctions ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Social Distancing ,
Vaccinations
On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court reinstated the nationwide injunction of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). (Technically, the Court overturned the...more
1/19/2022
/ Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Healthcare Workers ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Government enforcement efforts are on the rise. In December 2021, the Secret Service announced an initiative to more aggressively counter pandemic-related fraud. Empowered by new personnel, new funding, and new legislation,...more
Federal contractors and subcontractors across the country were forced to rethink their COVID-safety efforts when, on December 7, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia enjoined enforcement of Executive...more
12/9/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Injunctions ,
Masks ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
OSHA ,
Social Distancing ,
State and Local Government ,
Stays ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On September 9, 2021, the President issued Executive Order 14042, which applies new rules – including vaccination mandates – to Federal contractors and subcontractors. EO 14042 does not include a weekly testing option and is...more
11/17/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
OSHA ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
Colleges and universities with U.S. government-sponsored research or other non-grant funding take note. On September 9, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14042 to implement COVID safety protocols for Federal...more
11/1/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employees ,
Executive Orders ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Professors ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Mandates ,
Students ,
Teachers ,
Universities ,
Vaccinations
On September 9, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) to implement COVID safety protocols for Federal service contractors and subcontractors. While the EO did not outline specific rules, it did direct a Federal...more
10/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employer ,
Employees ,
Employer Mandates ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On September 9, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) to implement COVID safety protocols for Federal service contractors. While the EO did not identify specific safety protocols, it did direct a Federal task...more
9/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Contractors ,
OSHA ,
Prime Contractor ,
Subcontractors ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
In 1657, mathematician Blaise Pascal commented in a letter to his church leaders “I have made this longer than usual because I did not have time to make it shorter.” More than 100 years later, another Frenchman, Napoleon...more
6/17/2020
/ Best Practices ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Crisis Management ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Fraud ,
Health Care Providers ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Internal Investigations ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Shareholder Litigation