• Is the Goldman Sachs suit the tip of the iceberg?
• I can be rest assured that the next time the DOJ wants to read my Yahoo email, it will have a warrant.
• This e-discovery article has been getting a lot of play all over the interwebs.
• How big is Twitter really?
• Will Duke University be the birthplace for changes to the “changes” of Federal e-discovery rules?
• ESI BYTES latest podcast: Lessons on E-Discovery in Canada.
• “The company for women” seems to be getting in more trouble in China.
• Lastly, I want to give a special thanks to Ed Valio, who has really done a great job in keeping this blog afloat of the last few weeks. I had suffered a loss in my family, which had kept me away from blogging as well as many other things. I am looking forward to life getting back to normal again.  Have a happy Sunday.

From The Posse List:

As we have indicated in numerous posts over the last year, foreign language document reviews have dominated the U.S. contract attorney market due to the continuing increase in FCPA cases and IP litigation.  It has provided a stream of work from firms such as Baker & McKenzie and Kirkland & Ellis which have strong FCPA practices, and now more work from Arnold & Porter which last year added a major FCPA partner.  And an even bigger factor: other countries are starting to enforce laws similar to the FCPA.

Note: we try to cover the FCPA “marketplace” best we can (see all  our FCPA posts on this page) but we rely on two of the most influential and cited FCPA blogs:  Tom Fox (our “Mr FCPA Nuts & Bolts”) and his blog FCPA Compliance and Ethics (click here)  plus Richard Cassin, FCPA guru and author of The FCPA Blog (click here).   Incidentally, both blogs were cited as the “go to blogs” for FCPA coverage at last week’s BizNow FCPA event with the DOJ and SEC.

The Posse List – The surge in foreign language document review projects

• “if the second-largest city in America could make a commitment to a so-called cloud computing solution, why couldn’t everyone else?”
• FCPA:  “The Justice Department brought a record 26 actions in 2009; the Securities and Exchange Commission brought another 14, its second-most ever. The DoJ’s cases included prosecutions of 44 individuals—a huge surge from just nine in 2008, 10 in 2007, and six in 2006.”
• Posse List posts their “Top 10… Plus More” Links of the week.
• Speaking of the Posse List, be sure to follow them on Twitter, as well as IntegreonEDD and Rob Robinson. All three post great e-discovery content.
• “One of the largest and most innovative events in the area of social media – the South By Southwest Conference, Interactive Tract, in Austin, Texas – yearly provides a forum for thought leaders and technology innovators to come together and share their thoughts on key topics in the world of online interaction.”

]]> http://gabesguide.com/2010/03/14/lazy-sunday-links-3-14-10-dude-wheres-my-hour-edition/feed/ 1 http://gabesguide.com/2010/03/05/to-all-the-corrupt-corporations-of-the-world-a-heartfelt-thanks/ http://gabesguide.com/2010/03/05/to-all-the-corrupt-corporations-of-the-world-a-heartfelt-thanks/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:39:55 +0000 Gabe Acevedo http://gabesguide.com/?p=818

Good news for attorneys, especially those with foreign language backgrounds.  It seems that FCPA enforcement is not slowing down one bit.

From George J. Terwilliger, III, Darryl S. Lew, Daniel Levin and G. William Currier of White & Case LLP:

On the heels of the US Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) massive sting operation, which resulted in the indictment of 22 individuals for conspiracy to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”),1 the DOJ and US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) appear close to settling half-a-dozen investigations involving corrupt payments to foreign officials made by Alcatel-Lucent, BAE Systems plc, Daimler AG, Innospec Inc., Pride International, Inc. and Technip S.A.2 If concluded, these anticipated settlements could result in more than US$1.1 billion in criminal fines, civil penalties and disgorgement—nearly double the more than US$646 million in fines, penalties and disgorgement recovered in 2009, and more than ever recovered in a single year since the FCPA’s enactment in 1977. And it’s only March 3…

Here are two great stories that signify an encouraging trend for anyone working in complex FCPA litigation and e-discovery.

First, from Robert Trigaux of the St. Petersburg Times:

John Benson Wier III, 46 and president of St. Petersburg’s SRT Supply, was in Las Vegas this week hawking military equipment from Booth 26506 at the 2010 Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade show.

His sales pitch was short lived. He was one of 22 arrested in a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting Monday and charged with attempting to bribe foreign officials and money laundering.

FBI agents posing as defense officials of an African country proposed a scheme in which U.S. companies would pay 20 percent “commissions” to equip a presidential guard with pistols, tear-gas launchers, bulletproof vests and other supplies.

Wier, says the U.S. Department of Justice, was supposed to provide 1,800 grip-mounted laser sites. Also arrested was Andrew Bigelow, 40, managing partner and director of government programs for a Sarasota company called Gun Search that sells machine guns, grenade launchers and other small arms.

This week, 150 FBI agents executed 14 search warrants in locations across the country, including St. Petersburg.

The 16 indictments unsealed Tuesday represent the largest single investigation and prosecution against individuals in the history of the Department of Justice’s enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Also from Amy Miller at Corporate Counsel:

In what’s billed as the first large-scale undercover investigation into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department has netted 22 executives, including the general counsel of a company that makes military equipment. They were charged with attempting to pay bribes to win lucrative overseas contracts worth $15 million.

“The fight to erase foreign bribery from the corporate playbook will not be won overnight,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said in a press release. “But these actions are a turning point. From now on would-be FCPA violators should stop and ponder whether the person they are trying to bribe might really be a foreign agent…”

…Usually, possible FCPA violations come to the department’s attention only after companies report them, or they’re reported by the news media. So companies that may be trying to comply with the law are often hit hard. That’s not the case here, she said…

Among those indicted was Jeana Mushriqui, 30, general counsel for Mushriqui Consulting, a company in Upper Darby, Pa., that makes and exports bulletproof vests and other law enforcement and military equipment. She and her brother, John Mushriqui, the company’s director, face six counts of violating the FCPA, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering…

Both of these stories add weight to and are consistent with the Attorney General’s speech on financial fraud from roughly two weeks ago.