S. White Collar Investigations and Prosecutions

In this course, we will explore some of the many legal and practical challenges that await an attorney conducting investigations and prosecutions. We will begin by asking why clients conduct internal investigations, who they should ask to conduct them, and what attorneys conducting those investigations should be wary of. We will then discuss the Department of Justice, its policies, and what an attorney can do to shape the Department’s case to favor a client. Next, we will discuss specific criminal statutes that any white-collar practitioner must know and understand. We will look at how the interpretation of those statutes has evolved over time, and where the evolution might progress next. Finally, we will explore the main event to which an investigation and prosecution build: the criminal trial. Among other topics, we will discuss pretrial discovery, jury instructions, and criminal sentencing. Throughout, the instructors will draw upon their deep reservoirs of experience to contextualize the materials and explain how the abstract ideas apply in the rough-and-tumble of criminal practice.