On May 9, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order No. 14294, “Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations” (EO), which reinforces the administration’s deregulatory agenda. While sweeping in scope, the EO has...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
On September 9, 2015, then U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates issued a memo, “Individual Accountability for Corporate Wrongdoing,” that sent shivers down the spines of those in the workplace safety community....more
Attorney General Merrick Garland recently delivered remarks to the ABA Institute on White Collar Crime, reinforcing previous commitments by top DOJ officials to an increased emphasis on prosecuting corporations and...more
On March 3, 2022, at the 37th Annual American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section National Institute on White Collar Crime in San Francisco, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland emphasized that “the prosecution of...more
The Environment and Natural Resources Division (“ENRD”) of the United States Department of Justice released on April 30th its “Accomplishments Report” (“Report”) for 2017. ENRD describes the Report as highlighting its...more
Recently, John C. Cruden, DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), which oversees DOJ’s environmental litigation, voiced a heightened commitment to enforcing...more
Reporting that 13 workers in America die each day on the job due to injuries and 150 workers succumb to exposure to carcinogens and other toxic and hazardous substances while working, the United States Department of Justice...more
On September 15, 2015, we wrote an OSHA Bulletin that summarized a memorandum issued by Deputy Attorney General Yates. You can read the Bulletin here. On December 17, 2015, Yates issued another memorandum that will impact all...more
On December 17, 2015, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates issued a memorandum to all 93 U.S. Attorneys urging federal prosecutors to work with the Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resource Division (ENRD) to...more
Companies with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) citations may face criminal charges going beyond those allowed under the OSHA statute, under a new Worker Endangerment Initiative and Memorandum of...more
The US Department of Justice has issued a memorandum to all of its prosecuting Divisions, directing changes to the principles applied by DOJ in prosecuting civilly or criminally individuals who engage in corporate misconduct....more