Hiring a lawyer is never an easy thing to do. Knowing which attorney has the right skillset and experience for your needs can be incredibly difficult to figure out. But it gets even trickier when you need whistleblower...more
A whistleblower action under the federal False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq.) against a U.S. pharmaceutical company has settled for an amount that can be as high as $50 million. The incident highlights the value and...more
Each year, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) initiates several enforcement actions targeting companies, financial institutions, and individuals in the United States and abroad. These enforcement actions can present...more
Individuals and companies that receive a cease and desist letter face the very real potential for legal liability if the letter is not handled appropriately and effectively. For business owners and stakeholders, there is no...more
Blockchain presents unprecedented challenges around national security. This is true not only for the federal government, but also for businesses in the private sector. From cross-border transactions involving cryptocurrency...more
9/26/2023
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
CFIUS ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Criminal Liability ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Defense Production Act ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FINSA ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular
Financial institutions and companies that are subject to oversight from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) need to prioritize compliance. OFAC has become increasingly active in recent years, and it is devoting...more
9/20/2023
/ Compliance ,
Compliance Commitees ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Documentation ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Risk Assessment ,
Sanction Violations
For financial institutions and businesses that are subject to the oversight of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), compliance needs to be a priority in 2023. OFAC is playing an increasingly active role in overseeing...more
9/8/2023
/ Blocked Entities ,
Compliance ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Entities ,
Foreign Policy ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Personal Liability ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
SSI List
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has oversight of financial transactions involving U.S. and foreign entities. It exercises this authority in several ways, including (i) through the administration of its various...more
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has played an increasingly important role in the federal government’s national security efforts in recent years. As transactions funding terrorist activities, criminal enterprises,...more
If you need to appeal the outcome of a federal criminal case, you need to know that you are making informed decisions. Filing an appeal in the appropriate U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is one of the last opportunities to...more
Company executives and stakeholders in charge of making decisions to insulate their business from legal liability by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the U.S. Department of Treasury have a difficult choice to...more
Before filing a criminal or civil action under the False Claims Act, or FCA (31 U.S.C. § 3729), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) can start with a civil investigative demand or CID. Similar to subpoenas, Civil...more
On May 11, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the launch of its Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) Environmental Crimes Task Force. This new task force will focus specifically on combating...more
6/14/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
Chemical Spills ,
Criminal Liability ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Departments of Commerce ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Environmental Crimes ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Violations ,
FQPA ,
Fraud Abuse and Waste ,
Hazardous Substances ,
Marine Life Protections ,
Natural Resources ,
Navigable Waters ,
Oil Spills ,
Public Corruption ,
Puerto Rico ,
Virgin Islands ,
Water Pollution ,
Wetlands ,
Wildlife Protection
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has conducted several publicized investigations focused on broker and investment adviser or advisor cherry-picking in recent years. Most recently, the SEC announced on August...more
Always on the lookout for unapproved drugs and supplements being sold, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ramped up its enforcement actions against selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), which are banned...more
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) investigations present significant risks for broker-dealers. Not only can FINRA take enforcement action—including the imposition of penalties and barring broker-dealers from the...more
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that it is investigating allegations that a 60 Minutes segment on the popular body weight loss drug Wegovy was actually an advertisement promoting the...more
4/19/2023
/ Advertising ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Investigations ,
Marketing ,
Novo Nordisk ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigates publicly-traded and privately-held companies for a broad range of statutory and regulatory violations. SEC investigations can target issues ranging from...more
4/4/2023
/ CEOs ,
Civil Liability ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Penalties ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Defense Strategies ,
Investigations ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Statutory Violations ,
Subpoenas ,
Wells Notice
As a doctor or other licensed medical professional, the prospect of losing your license to practice medicine can be overwhelming. But, to protect your license—and your career—to the fullest extent possible, you need to act...more
3/21/2023
/ Defense Strategies ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Investigations ,
Licensing Boards ,
Medical License ,
Medical Malpractice ,
Physicians ,
Professional Disciplinary Actions ,
Professional Liability Insurance ,
Professional Responsibility ,
State Medical Board
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has broad authority to evaluate and approve drugs for medical use or prescription drugs. It also has the authority to investigate fake or counterfeit medicines and substances in the...more
Similar to other types of healthcare entities, clinical laboratories have been facing enhanced scrutiny from federal authorities over the past couple of years. While this is due in part to fraud concerns related to COVID-19...more
3/8/2023
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Civil Liability ,
Clinical Laboratories ,
Clinical Laboratory Testing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Liability ,
Defense Strategies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Evidence ,
False Billing ,
FBI ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Internal Audit Functions ,
Investigations ,
Risk Assessment
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently taken a renewed interest in management services organizations (MSOs), including physician-syndicated MSOs in which physician-owners provide medical services in exchange for...more
Below is an excerpt from Nick Oberheiden's latest book, "The Law of Tomorrow: Bitcoin, Tokens, Blockchain - An Introduction for Lawyers"
Blockchain is the next technology that lawyers shouldn’t ignore. Mainstream acceptance...more
2/21/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Blockchain ,
Corporate Records ,
Criminal Records ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Discovery ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
e-Discovery Professionals ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Financial Transactions ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Land Registries ,
Law Firm Associates ,
Law Firm Partners ,
Legal Fees ,
Legal Project Management ,
Legal Technology ,
Popular ,
Proof of Service ,
Settlement ,
Smart Contracts
If you need to appeal the outcome of your federal criminal case, you have lots of factors to consider. While there are a variety of grounds for pursuing appeals, not all grounds are available in all cases; and, even if you...more
Getting convicted for a federal crime in district court is not a situation that defendants want to find themselves in. However, the conviction or the sentence that it leads to do not have to be the end of your case. You have...more