At stake in the ruling? Only the rule of law concerning the criminal prosecution of corporations.

Put simply, should corporations be held account vicariously when criminal acts are committed by an employee in violation of company regulations.

Thus far in the case the answer seemed to have been yes, and with this most recent ruling business interests were hoping for a reversal. They didn't get it.

More from the WSJ Law Blog...

-- MDT

Labels: Andrew Weissmann, corporate crime, Ionia

Should corporations be held liable for the actions taken by employees that violate company regulations? That is the question at the heart of a case currently before U.S. Court of Appeals in New York. In the middle is Greek shipping company, Ionia Management, which was recently convicted in Connecticut for illegal dumping.

In an interesting twist, Ionia is being represented by former Federal prosecutor, Andrew Weissmann, who's name may be familiar to you for his former role as the Director of the Justice Department's Enron task force. All the talk is that the Ionia case is headed straight for the Supreme court, but that would first require a ruling for the government at the appeals level.

For a learned opinion on th arguments in the case and what a ruling in Ionia's favor could mean for coporate prospections, check out Mark Godsey's post over at the always interesting CrimProf Blog. See also this post from Ellen Podgor over at the White Collar Crime Prof Blog, which was written back in June of this year as Ionia approached it's current appeal.

-- MDT

Labels: Andrew Weissmann

Many have compteted over the last few years to write the tale of Enron's legacy for America's business community and the economy at large. Andrew Weissmann, the former director of the Department of Justice's Enron Task Force and a partner in the New York office of Jenner & Block has offered the benefit of his experience at Law.com. His feeling? Compliance is catching on as good business:

..."good business dictates good compliance. Even the hint of scandal can send the price of a company's stock plummeting. Academic reports are showing a correlation between compliance and stock price: Corporations that perform effective checks on their internal controls actually outperform those with weak internal systems. Moreover, an effective ethics and compliance system is the best means to prevent a scandal from occurring in the first place. As a board member observed at a recent ethics and governance training session I conducted, the lesson he learned was that "managing" a major corporate scandal is an oxymoron, and consequently the best solution is preventing it from ever happening."

More good here.

-- MDT

Labels: Andrew Weissmann, Enron

A well-publicized changing of the guard:

Enron Task Force Director Andrew Weissmann To Step Down, Sean Berkowitz Named Director

July 20, 2005
I-Newswire.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Acting Assistant Attorney General John Richter of the Criminal Division announced today that Andrew Weissmann will step down as Director of the Justice Department’s specially-formed Enron Task Force, after more than three-and-a-half years on the prosecutorial team, including 17 months as director.

Click here for the full news release.

-- MDT

Labels: Andrew Weissmann, Enron