And That’s a Wrap! ABA White Collar Crime Conference Ends, DOJ Still MIA in MIA

As always, the 40th ABA White Collar Crime Conference offered the hallmark opportunity of the year to catch up with colleagues in the white collar bar, meet new acquaintances, and explore pressing issues and breaking developments with peers at the top of the profession. But the conference’s main draw (besides the various networking events) historically has been the panels with senior officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and other law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, our friends from DOJ were conspicuously absent this year. We think that was a shame.

For decades, public servants have taken worthwhile advantage of this large annual gathering of white collar practitioners to formally announce new initiatives or redefine policies and priorities; to participate on panels where they’ve clarified or explained their perspectives on and approach to enforcing particular statutes or regulations; and to attend events where they’ve had the chance to hear directly from private practitioners about how government policies are actually being implemented in the field.

For attorneys in private practice — especially in white collar practice — knowing the law and the regulations just isn’t enough. Competently advising clients on the rules of the road requires a nuanced understanding of the perspective of those who enforce them. And, in that way, the yearly pilgrimage — by Attorneys General, Deputy Attorneys General, Assistant Attorneys General, section chiefs, U.S. Attorneys and their Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Directors of Enforcement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, senior officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and other agencies — became an increasingly critical component of outlining and enforcing every administration’s law enforcement agenda.

But the benefits went both ways, of course. It is very much in the government’s interest to have an educated and informed defense bar. For example, as the ethos of corporate enforcement increasingly has revolved around the notion that corporations and other entities should have robust compliance programs, law enforcement officials have made clear that the lawyers who advise those institutions, their boards, and their executives are in the best position to shape and change their clients’ behavior.

To be clear: the conference was useful and well attended. We were able to hear from judges, former DOJ officials, regulators, lions of the bar, and of course Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. But the DOJ folks were sorely missed. And we worry that for the hard working public servants in government interested in crime prevention, this has turned into a big lost opportunity. 

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