White Collar Briefly

JurorSearch CEO and Co-Founder Dan Johnson sits down with White Collar & Investigations Partner Markus Funk to discuss all things jury. They talk about how ever-evolving customized software solutions help prosecutors, civil litigators, and jury consultants better understand what makes their potential jurors tick, as well as help them ask the right voir dire questions to avoid bad selections. Dan and Markus also discuss how the solutions create real-time records of thinking and strategy to help ward off unforeseen jury issues down the road.

In this second episode of a Perkins Coie White Collar & Investigations series regarding False Claims Act (FCA) enforcement, firm attorneys Barak Cohen and Alex Canizares are joined by their guest, Pete Jensen, global chief compliance officer for Arthrex, Inc., one of the world's largest medical device companies. In the podcast, Pete discusses the myriad challenges healthcare companies face when managing compliance risks, including related to whistleblowers. Barak, Alex, and Pete also discuss how current enforcement positions by the U.S. Department of Justice are especially troubling given the densely regulated muddle of law, sub-regulatory guidance, and policies that compliant healthcare companies must navigate.

In this first episode of a series that will explore emerging developments related to the False Claims Act (FCA), Perkins Coie attorneys Barak Cohen and Alexander Canizares are joined by guest Marc Bonora, general counsel of a consortium of companies in the healthcare services and nursing industries, to discuss practical issues and effective strategies for companies to mitigate risks related to FCA investigations and qui tam whistleblower lawsuits. As the general counsel of Fastaff LLC, US Nursing Corp., trustaff Management Inc., CardioSolution LLC, and Stella.ai Inc., and a former DOJ trial attorney with experience in private law practice, Marc shares his perspectives on how companies can reduce their risks of exposure to allegations of fraud, work effectively with outside counsel in FCA matters, communicate with internal company stakeholders, and develop strategies to respond to whistleblower complaints. Barak, Alex, and Marc also address emerging issues in FCA enforcement and the roles of in-house attorneys and outside counsel in handling complex government investigations and litigation.

Perkins Coie LLP White Collar & Investigations partners Lee S. Richards III and David B. Massey are joined by Eric F. Grossman, the Chief Legal Officer of Morgan Stanley, for an in-depth discussion of hot topics in the financial services enforcement area, including big banks' readiness for another financial crisis; Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing; the “gamification” of trading; SPACs; corporate criminal investigations and resolutions; and the influence of politics on law enforcement. Mr. Grossman also reflects on the importance of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.

In this episode, Perkins Coie White Collar & Investigations partners Gina LaMonica and Caryn Trombino are joined by Dr. Brenda Ingram, EdD, LCSW, of the University of Southern California, to discuss the use of trauma-informed investigation techniques during internal investigations at higher learning institutions and in corporate settings. Dr. Ingram, who serves as the director of relationship and sexual violence prevention and services at USC Student Health, shares her experience in conducting survivor-centered investigations in cases of sexual and racial trauma and other instances of power-based harm. She reflects on how corporate employers can deploy trauma-informed investigative techniques and foster a work environment that addresses power imbalances that can lead to employee trauma.

Perkins Coie LLP White Collar & Investigations partners Lee Richards and Margaret Meyers are joined by the Hon. Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to discuss litigating in the federal district and appellate courts. Informed by his 26 years of federal experience, Judge Chin shares some best practices for attorneys appearing in the district and appellate courts, describes his experience sentencing white-collar criminal defendants under the post-Booker guidelines, and reflects on the importance of diversity in the legal profession.

Perkins Coie White Collar & Investigations partner Caryn Trombino talks with Stephen Ravas, Counsel to the Inspector General at AmeriCorps, about his experience in various roles at several federal Offices of Inspector General—including at the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and now AmeriCorps. Stephen provides several insights for individuals (and their counsel) who may find themselves involved in an OIG investigation, including what to expect from agents and investigating attorneys, and how various strategies might lead to less favorable outcomes. Stephen also addresses some common misconceptions about OIG investigations and authorities and highlights recent work in the enforcement space that is expected to continue well into the future.

White Collar Partner Kevin Feldis speaks with Tony Davis, chief executive officer and chief information officer of Inherent Group, a value-based investment company that uses environmental, social and governance factors to make investment decisions. Kevin and Tony outline key ESG factors, describe how focusing on these factors can create value for companies, and also discuss the risks involved with failing to do so. Additionally, they offer insights into how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s creation of a new Climate and ESG Task Force within the Division of Enforcement may affect how companies evaluate and disclose ESG compliance.

Chelsea Curfman and Markus Funk are joined by Professor Mike Koehler, better known as the “FCPA Professor.” In 2009, Koehler launched his “FCPA Professor” blog, described as “the Wall Street Journal concerning all things FCPA-related.” During the conversation he reflects on his professional road to becoming “The FCPA Professor,” tracks the evolution of the blog, shares his critical views on what he terms “FCPA Inc.,” and charts what he sees as future U.S. Department of Justice enforcement under the Biden administration.

Antitrust lawyers Jon Jacobs and Kevin Schock join host Markus Funk to discuss the fundamental legal principles applicable to no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, explore current government enforcement priorities related to these types of agreements, and evaluate examples of recent enforcement activity in the no-poach and wage-fixing space.

Today's guest is Cam Simpson. Cam is an award-winning London-based writer and investigative journalist who has focused on supply chain, corruption, and forced labor and trafficking issues. He is the senior international correspondent for Bloomberg Businessweek in London and Bloomberg News. Previously, he worked for The Wall Street Journal, with posts in the Middle East and Washington, and as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. Cam and Perkins Coie White Collar & Investigations Chair Markus Funk discuss Cam's diverse career, with a particular focus on Cam's work relating to human trafficking and other forms of forced labor. They also share their thoughts on the growing trend towards sustainable investing (specifically, on "ESG," or environmental, social, and governance investing), and on the past, present, and likely future enforcement of U.S. and foreign laws and regulations aimed at stemming corruption, forced labor, and related supply chain and compliance misconduct.

In this episode, Perkins Coie White Collar & Investigations partners Gina LaMonica and Caryn Trombino discuss the role of artificial intelligence in anti-bribery and anti-corruption (ABAC) compliance programs. Our guest, Megan Zwiebel, from The Anti-Corruption Report (anti-corruption.com), joins us to discuss her research into the use of AI in compliance programs, including trends in AI-based compliance, steps companies can take to utilize AI in their compliance programs, and how regulators view the use of data and AI in compliance programs.

In this episode, Paul Hirose, former president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and co-chair of Perkins Coie’s Supply Chain Compliance and Corporate Social Responsibility practice, speaks with Leyla Seka about her leadership in confronting gender equality and racial equity issues in the tech industry.Leyla Seka is a partner with Operator Collective, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, and co-founder of the Black Venture Institute. She was one of the most senior female executives at Salesforce when she tackled pay equity.

In this episode, Perkins Coie partner and former dean of the University of San Diego School of Law, Stephen Ferruolo, speaks with Pradeep Khosla, chancellor of the University of California San Diego (UCSD), and Kurt Schmoke, president of the University of Baltimore, about how they, and the universities they lead, have confronted the challenges posed by the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism. President Schmoke and Chancellor Khosla speak compellingly about the important role universities can play in combatting both of these pandemics, as well as about their visions for the future of higher education in a post-pandemic world.

In this episode, we discuss management’s view of compliance and legal functions with Jim Stutelberg, president of primary products at Tate & Lyle, PLC, a U.K.-headquartered, global supplier of food and beverage ingredients. Partners Markus Funk and Gina LaMonica talk to Jim about his experience at Tate & Lyle and discuss how white collar practitioners can collaborate with management to foster a compliance-oriented atmosphere, while helping business units to accomplish their goals.

Perkins Coie partners Markus Funk and Kevin Feldis speak with Corey Norton, Vice President for Supply Chain Legality at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), about the important role that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can play in corporate supply chain compliance. NGOs have both outside credibility and an insiders on-the-ground understanding of local supply chain issues that can be invaluable to companies when it comes to understanding and protecting their supply chains for everything from raw materials to commodities to finished consumer products. Corey explains how WWF and other NGOs engage with corporations to help them improve traceability and better understand and mitigate risks related to forced labor, environmental degradation, and more. While some have traditionally viewed NGOs and corporations as acting with very different interests in mind, this podcast explores the many areas of overlap and mutual interest, and suggests that NGOs, corporations, and corporate outside counsel can, and should, actively work together on these important, complex, and still-evolving areas of corporate compliance.

Education trailblazer Lana Israel, Ph.D., and entertainment legend Bob Doyle, co-founded and closely collaborate on Nashville-based education technology (edtech) company Muzology. They join host Markus Funk to discuss their disruptive platform. Using the power of music and videos to make math fun and accessible, Muzology challenges students to learn and retain the math concepts critical to their progress. The trio discuss topics such as the significant impacts Lana and Bob’s company has had on the lives of children and young adults, how COVID-19 has affected schooling and education, generally, and edtech, specifically.

In this episode of White Collar Briefly, Perkins Coie’s David Biderman, firmwide chair of the Consumer Products & Services Litigation group, sits down with Craig Lackey, general counsel of Rushmore Loan Management Services, a major servicer of residential mortgages nationwide. Their discussion covers topics such as the COVID-19-related downturn on the economy and mortgage servicer responses to COVID-19 and the CARES act. Craig and David also discuss what to expect from enforcement arising from COVID-19 and how to best respond, as well as the likely changes to the enforcement environment in the event of a change in administration.

Perkins Coie partner Kevin Feldis, a former federal prosecutor, talks with retired Special Agent Colton Seale about recent research on conducting interviews in a way that improves results. Colton spent 22 years with the FBI, including serving as a member of the High Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG), interviewing suspects around the world. The goal of any interview is to learn accurate and complete information, but rigid approaches and common misconceptions about how to conduct interviews can go nowhere and lead to incomplete and inaccurate answers. This podcast provides a first-hand account of how to add science into the art of interviewing. Kevin and Colton discuss what it really means to build rapport and how to get in sync with the person in a way that opens the door for meaningful factfinding.

White Collar Briefly host, Markus Funk, chair of Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations Practice, welcomes two Chicago-based guests. Jeremy Gottschalk is general counsel for Sittercity.com and founder of the education, networking, and information-sharing platform Marketplace Risk. The Hon. Virginia M. Kendall of the U.S. District Court for the District of Northern Illinois is a former federal prosecutor and one of the nation's leading experts in the area of child exploitation. The episode discussions include potential threats facing companies operating in the childcare space, concrete steps companies can take to identify and root out potential abusers from their online platforms, and cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

In this episode of White Collar Briefly, Perkins Coie’s Barak Cohen, David Fletcher, and Alexander Canizares discuss the landscape for increased fraud investigations and enforcement actions related to COVID-19 stimulus spending, including False Claims Act investigations and qui tam whistleblower litigation, as well as steps companies can take to reduce their potential exposure. Barak, David, and Alex discuss new and emerging enforcement issues related to Paycheck Protection Program loans and other spending under the CARES Act and anticipated areas of focus for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) with respect to the False Claims Act. The episode also provides an overview of recent DOJ fraud enforcement related to COVID-19 and the expected roles to be played by new and existing investigative entities, including the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee and special inspector general for pandemic recovery.

In Part 2 of our examination of internal investigation trends in India, Perkins Coie partners Markus Funk and Chelsea Curfman speak with Arpinder Singh, a partner with EY Forensics & Integrity Services and head of their India and Emerging Markets group. Topics discussed include trends in both the subject matter and scope of internal investigations in India; the increasing number of whistleblower reports being lodged in India and how companies are responding to those reports; and tips on how companies and outside counsel can best investigate potential wrongdoing, including where to look for relevant data.

Continuing our series of episodes regarding investigation and enforcement trends around the globe, Perkins Coie partners Markus Funk and Chelsea Curfman interview Sherbir Panag, firm co-founder and head of the Compliance and Investigations Practice at the Law Offices of Panag & Babu, in New Delhi, India. Sherbir discusses recent trends in enforcement of corruption-related cases in India, as well as how changes to India’s anti-corruption laws over the past few years are being implemented. Sherbir also addresses the importance of involving local counsel early on in any India-based investigation, in light of India’s stance on legal privileges and trial-based approach to enforcement.

In this first of our series of episodes regarding trends in, and the future of, internal investigations and enforcement around the globe, Ilaria Curti, head of the Internal Investigations Group at Portolano Cavallo in Rome, and Perkins Coie partner Chelsea Curfman discuss how recent amendments to Italy’s anti-corruption laws are starting to affect both when and how companies choose to conduct internal investigations, as well as attitudes toward self-reporting of potential wrongdoing. Curti also addresses the 2019 European Directive on Whistleblowing and its implications for companies operating in Europe and offers a word of caution to foreign companies whose conduct, thanks to a recent court decision, may now be subject to enforcement by Italian authorities under Italy’s anti-corruption laws.

Ben Purser, chief risk officer for mortgage lender, Roundpoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation, and Barak Cohen, partner in Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations practice and lead for the firm’s Commercial Litigation in Washington, D.C., discuss the challenges of legal compliance and risk in an industry that has been directly affected by two global financial crises in one decade. Ben has 34 years of experience in financial services, including service as chief audit executive in two public companies, chief compliance officer in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and chief risk officer at two different mortgage companies. Barak is a former corruption prosecutor who has both conducted government investigation in the financial services industry and represented clients in the industry. Drawing on their unique insider perspectives, Ben and Barak discuss the delicacy of balancing consumer needs against profitability, and whether regulators, particularly today, address or impede achieving this equilibrium. In the wide-ranging discussion, Ben and Barak touch on anticipated CARES Act investigations and how these may compare to TARP oversight; managing conflicting guidance from state and federal regulators; and predictions for imminent enforcement in the wake of the coronavirus stimulus funds. They cap their discussion with straightforward advice for companies in the industry that are navigating the uncharted path of legal compliance in the current global pandemic.

On this episode of White Collar Briefly, Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations practice attorneys Markus Funk and Lili Timmermann interview special guest (and colleague) retired Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Bender. A true original, Justice Bender discusses far-ranging topics, including his important civil rights work in the 1960s, his representation of white supremacist David Lane, who was charged with the 1984 murder of original “shock jock” Alan Berg, what caused Justice Bender to move from his New York home to Colorado, his ascension to the bench, the inner workings of the Colorado Supreme Court, life in BigLaw, and tips for practitioners young and old. We also examine the long-term impact of the pandemic on the practice of law and major changes in the art of advocacy over the past half-century.

Dave Eggers and Perkins Coie’s Firmwide White Collar & Investigations Chair (and former Chicago federal prosecutor) Markus Funk have a candid and probing conversation about today’s calls for fundamental criminal justice reform. Dave and Markus cover a wide range of topics, including why we need to fundamentally rethink the state’s treatment of suspects, defendants, and inmates; whether non-violent offenders like actress Lori Loughlin and Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff ought to receive prison sentences; what it means to “defund” the police; the tragic George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Ariel Roman, and Ahmaud Arbery cases; how to improve law enforcement recruitment and training; whether it is time to reconsider arresting DUI, shoplifting, and other suspects in the absence of a threat to the public; the epidemic of criminalization and mass incarceration; the importance of empathy in law enforcement; qualified immunity; procedural justice and the need to ensure systemic legitimacy and creditworthiness; and the pros and cons of including imprisonment as part of an incremental punishment regime.

The University of Colorado’s Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer, Patrick O’Rourke discusses experiences including his path from private practitioner to the GC and then COO of one of the Nation’s premier educational institutions, the reality of higher ed in the age of covid, his most memorable matters (including the “Aurora Theater Shooter” James Holmes investigation and the trial involving infamous former Colorado professor Ward Churchill), what a GC looks for in outside counsel, and tips for attorneys seeking to succeed in a higher-ed in-house position.

A conversation with Ross Mansbach, Deputy General Counsel at Avanos Medical, an publicly traded medical device and technology company about the impacts of COVID-19, the transition to remote working, and what it all may mean for corporate legal departments and their relationships with outside counsel. White Collar partner Kevin Feldis and Ross discuss a variety of topics including how law firm updates on the evolving COVID legal issues have been a genuine help to busy in-house counsel, and the potential efficiencies and limits to our increasingly virtual way of working under “the new normal.”

This episode features a candid conversation with Joel Esquenazi. Joel, joined by Perkins Coie White Collar & Investigation lawyers Chelsea Curfman and Markus Funk, reflects on, among other things, his time as a defendant in the high-profile US v. Esquenazi trial and follow-on appeal, the prosecution of his case, the attention his case has received, FCPA enforcement generally, and what it feels like to be out of prison and in home confinement.

On today's episode we will hear from Chicago-based U.S. District Judge (and former Assistant U.S. Attorney) Virginia Kendall. Judge Kendall and Perkins Coie firmwide White Collar & Investigations chair (and former AUSA colleague) Markus Funk's conversation covered a wide range of topics. In addition to discussing Judge Kendall's journey from being a federal prosecutor to getting involved in the challenging field of fighting human trafficking, indentured servitude, child labor, and other forms of forced labor that taint the supply chains for goods and services we use every day, Judge Kendall also shared her perspective on common public misconceptions when it comes to the day-to-day realities of this particularly pernicious form of human exploitation. Judge Kendall also discussed the anti-trafficking and supply chain-focused book she and Markus co-authored back in 2012, and that was republished in its second edition in 2017; the realities of organized forced labor in supply chains during the COVID-19 era; anti-forced-labor compliance perspectives; and why, despite great public attention, enforcement of laws and regulations in the US and abroad concerning forced labor appears to be lagging. Their conversation ends with Judge Kendall providing in-the-trenches advocacy and litigation tips to more junior attorneys perhaps making their first foray into a courtroom. We hope you enjoy this candid, fascinating dialog.

On this episode of White Collar Briefly, Perkins Coie’s White Collar & Investigations Attorneys Markus Funk and Chelsea Curfman interview special guest Caroline McMichen, Global Ethics and Compliance Chief for Molson Coors Beverage Company, about the hallmarks of a successful internal investigation. Topics include tips for outside counsel on how best to be an effective partner in internal investigations and predictions regarding how the current pandemic and related economic challenges may change the structure of internal investigations in the future.